Making A Difference: HOUSE OF PINS SERVING ALL ABILITIES ALL THE TIME

BY ANGIE ARLINGTON

HOUSE OF PINS IS A PRIVATE 4,000 SQ FT recreational rental building that is attached to Jason and Sarah McMillan’s home. It houses a 2 full lane bowling alley, karaoke, billiards, Foosball, air hockey, movie theater screens & much more! This intimate space is for families, friends, service organizations or local businesses who are desiring a unique, exclusive location for entertainment. House of Pins is especially passionate about serving those who would not otherwise have the opportunities to experience bowling and/ or recreational entertainment in the traditional capacity. Regardless of age or ability, their sensory friendly, limited capacity environment solidifies their inclusion model.

Sarah McMillan expands on her vision, “It is our goal for House Of Pins to be a recreational venue where all diagnoses are left at the door and ALL abilities can come together to have fun all while building community. Our son taught us that blessings are better served when shared. Our mission is to be apart of changing the lens to which the world sees special needs. By being a business that is accessible for all abilities all the time, we can be an added voice to our community.”

“Our passion is partnering with organizations that serve individuals with special needs. This partnership allows House Of Pins to better serve our community by hosting events held by these organizations. We host monthly themed adaptive socials separately for adults, high school students, and middle school students. Our goal is to connect these individuals to each other every month in a supported and fun environment.”

“House Of Pins also provides visual PECS resources, first and then cards, social stories for each recreational activity, noise canceling headphones, fidgets, adaptive seating, light dimmers, adaptive bowling accessories, sensory boards and much more. House Of Pins is also ADA compliant. Since we are a new business, we are still in the works of establishing adaptive bowling teams for all ages, adaptive speed dating and date nights, as well as community outreach events.

“Since we are a new business, we hope that House Of Pins will grow to become an instrumental part of bettering our community for special needs. We hope that with hard work, heart, and dedication we will establish relationships with other organizations that serve special needs and become an untied force along side of them. We pray that by providing a recreational space where individuals with special needs can come and enjoy activities that they may not have otherwise been able to in a traditional recreational venue, they will feel valued and heard. We hope that other recreational businesses will see how little it takes to provide a conducive environment for all abilities to enjoy ALL the time, not just once a month “sensory night” or adaptive special one time event, but all the time! This paradigm shift will bring community unity and change the lens to which our world sees special needs.”

SUPPORTING HOUSE OF PINS:

Donations are needed to expand. “Our future goal is to create a sensory room that is connected to the recreational area that will allow our guests to be able to take a break and re-regulate during a rental or event. With 17ft ceilings our goal is to also include sensory swings in this space for kids and adults. Having a quiet zone, along with sensory swings for adults and children, as well as other sensory resources would greatly allow more of our special needs community to be able to participate in the events we host. We would also be able to host play dates, support groups, retreats, a dad support group and a mom support group. The list of ways we could use House Of Pins to serve our special needs community would be endless if we had a sensory room.

House Of Pins is unlike any other business in Fort Wayne. Large public sensory rooms for adults and children are a growing need in Fort Wayne. Our community’s support and partnership would help establish House Of Pins making it possible for us to be apart of building bridges and creating a paradigm shift in our community. We are immensely blessed and grateful for support in any capacity.”

Sarah concludes by adding, “One of our most special testimonies is of our son, Camden. Camden has autism. Bowling alleys have never been a family experience for us, recreational centers, a rarity, but now with the tremendous blessing of House Of Pins, Camden is bowling for the first time now all the time! Watching the joy on his face and witnessing the beauty of all 4 of our children on earth having a blast together bowling is one of the greatest joys a parent can witness. My husband and I want so much for all parents to have more places in Fort Wayne to experience just this with their children!!!”