Denise Crane places competed wool balls in a display in the SHALOM store while Debbie Pratley assists.

10 percent of our day-to-day needs,” Lohman says. “Capital improvements are mostly funded through grants, with significant additional designated funds from individuals.” Collaboration with other organizations is also welcomed. Students from WoodsEdge Learning Center, a special-education school in Portage, visit and help process donated clothing for the store. The Shepherd’s Barn hosts monthly meetings of the Aktion Club, a division of Kiwanis Clubs that serves adults with disabilities.

Visit the store What: S HALOM’s Connection Depot Thrift Store

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Where: 6276 N. Riverview Drive, Parchment When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday and Saturday Lohman expresses hopes for SHALOM farm, envisioning part-time job coaches who will help residents perform chores. Offering something different from city life, the farm is a place of refuge, Lohman says. Last year SHALOM built 25 raised vegetable gardens and topped the paths between the wooden units with hard-packed stone dust for wheelchair accessibility. Lohman hopes to extend the paths throughout the rest of the farm area, which includes an apple orchard, and around the barns. “Our intention is to keep doing what we’re doing and reach out to more and more people with disabilities,” he says.