WE GROW DREAMS - Key Persons
Alex is one of the longest employed staff, having started as a team member when the greenhouse first started. He loves to be at the greenhouse and enjoys almost any task, but especially working the soil machine in the soil house. He knows the nuances of the ancient filling machine and just how to get the soil flowing. He is willing to do anything you ask, and doesn't mind getting dirty.
He is also a delivery expert, along with Laz, in loading the box truck with plants, baskets, mums and whatever else needs to go someplace other than on property. He enjoys the field trips and is always willing to come in extra early or stay late, to build up that paycheck!
Andrew has been with We Grow for many years and is our ‘clean and scrub' guy. His favorite name for everyone is "Trouble" and has an infectious laugh. Ask him about hockey - he loves the sport!
Billy has been here from the start when he was just a teenager! His big smiles and generous hugs are always welcome. Billy has grown so much in his abilities since he first starting coming with his mom.
Brian has been coming to WGD for over 10 years with his mom, Barb. He is generally in charge of making sure we have enough boxes built for our customers, but likes to work off-site sales in the spring and fall. We can depend on Brian and Barb to be willing to do anything that needs to be done.
Cole is recently back with us after a year at home due to Covid 19. Cole comes to us independently with an aide, but was formerly introduced to us through Soaring Eagle Academy in Glen Ellyn. It's so nice to have him back with us.
Crys Hum Craft Guru Crys is the creative, detail-oriented designer of our custom stepping stones, handmade greeting cards, garden decor and more. Her attention to detail on personalized stepping stones is outstanding. You can often find her up to her elbows in concrete, or else moving plants into retail, working the register or out and about the property. Crys and her husband, Ben, are critical to the ongoing operations at the greenhouse. Ben serves on the board, and son Eric, is the chief assistant on the craft items. The Hum Family was one of the founding families of WGD and continues to serve our mission with dedication and passion.
Denys has helped in the greenhouse planting seasons for the past several years and we would be lost without them. When we have to plant over 300,000 plants, it takes lots of hands and hours and hours of time. Most of our plant plugs come 288 to a tray which have to be disassembled and planted into larger pots for retail and wholesale. Although we only have Denys with us during prime planting seasons, we appreciate her speed and thoroughness in making sure each plant is handled properly to maximize its happiness!
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Board
Donna is one of the founders of We Grow Dreams dating back to 2006, when her son, Justin was aging out of the area high school Transition Program and she recognized the need for a place for individuals with disabilities to go to learn viable job skills and training. The entire Jarmusz family became involved in doing whatever was needed to keep the greenhouse functional and strong for the Team Members
Donna F. Jarmusz possesses over thirty years of extensive healthcare and corporate experience and is the founder and president of IBIS Enterprises. Although Donna and her family now reside in North Carolina, she is still invested in the overall operations of the greenhouse, fundraising efforts and continued growth of the program to support young adults with disabilities.
One of the early team members, Eric has been coming to the greenhouse for 15 years! He is our resident specialist in concrete mixing, pot making and paper crafts! You might even find him working the register on some days.
Eric has been on the board for a few years now, after starting in 2008 as a parent volunteer for a family member who was working there on weekends. He enjoys gardening and feels that WGD is a good organization to volunteer for.
Outside of WGD, he is a mechanical engineer and likes to do home vegetable gardening, working on cars and completing some minor home projects.
There is always a list waiting for Eric when he arrives at the greenhouse to fix, assemble, move or improve whatever needs some attention that week. He attention to detail is greatly appreciated because once Eric is done with something, you know it was done right and will last a very long time!
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Member of the Board
Gregg has been the Executive Director of We Grow Dreams since 2015 after being ‘retired' for about a year and needing something to do. He has always had a passion for working with individuals with disabilities as well as gardening, so when the opportunity came up, he jumped on the wagon. He thoroughly enjoys working with the team members, staff and volunteers, but can't wait for customers to walk in the doors to learn about why they came and what they need.
Gregg is a nine year veteran as Executive Director of We Grow Dreams. His life's work until joining the greenhouse was in industrial sales covering the Midwest territory for manufacturers of engineered components. He volunteered years ago with Western DuPage Special Recreation Association as a basketball coach and loved working with the disabled population.
This dream is being fulfilled by providing job training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The founders recognized the lack of employment opportunities for people with disabilities and came together to creatively address this need. A greenhouse was identified as a labor-intensive, multiskilled business - something necessary for a dynamic job vocational training ground. Individuals with disabilities were envisioned working with volunteers and greenhouse employees, learning the business, and developing a variety of work skills. This vision became the support model for the venture.
We Grow Dreams has been providing job training and employment to young adults with disabilities for over sixteen years. We Grow Dreams was founded in 2004 when the founders purchased this greenhouse, formerly called WeGo Greenhouse. Since then the greenhouse has provided countless hours of job training and development.
The We Grow Dreams job-training program provides opportunities for our Team Members to learn a variety of tasks in the day-to-day operation of a wholesale and retail greenhouse business. Over 45 specific jobs have been identified for the job-training program including deadheading plants, filling pots with soil for seeds/seedlings, transplanting, spacing plant materials, watering, stocking plants/supplies, greeting & assisting customers, running the cash register, folding cartons, clerical tasks and maintenance tasks. In addition to these jobs, our Craft Program produces greeting cards, hypertufa pots, personalized garden bricks, and bird feeders for sale to the public. Team Members develop valuable work, communication, and social skills that will facilitate their employment in the future.
This overhead view of the property is a few years old, but the basics haven't changed a bit. You can tell we have cleared out all the summer plants in preparation for stocking with fall mums and other decorative plants.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer of the Board
- Member of the Council for Exceptional Children
Holly is one of the co-founders of We Grow Dreams. Along with Donna Jarmusz and Art Swanson, she envisioned a safe environment where individuals with disabilities could learn work skills in a community-based environment. She has been a school social worker in the Plainfield IL school district for over 20 years and is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, with a Master's degree in Educational Leadership.
Holly is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, the National Association of Social Workers, and the Illinois Association of School Social Workers. She is currently a member of the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Events) committee and the Building Autism Team for the Plainfield (IL) School District. Holly and her husband, Mark, have four grown children and some grandchildren thrown in, and reside in Naperville. For her, We Grow Dreams is her "fifth child."
Job Titles:
- Project Manager and Pest Controller
James has been with the greenhouse for more than 4 years, and has grown in skills and leadership ability with our team members. He is responsible for assorted greenhouse projects ranging from moving pots and plants to pest control to mum field preparations, and more. Now that he has a few years under his belt, he can recognize when something needs attention and will take charge to get it fixed.
When not at WGD, you can find him at Jewel or at the Wheaton HomeGoods store…working 3 jobs is a lot to manage but James enjoys being busy until he can join some friends for weekend get-aways.
Jossy Gabriel Flower Queen Jossy has been at the greenhouse location since before it became We Grow Dreams….formerly this site was We-Go Nursery. She loves what she does here and it shows. Our plants are nurtured by her and she is vigilant about which plants which need what….more water here, less sunshine here. Her 25+ years of growing plants makes her quite an expert! She has 4 children and one very special grandson, but she treats all our plants like her children too. Annually, Jossy handles over 265,400 plants ordered through suppliers, but also propagates 3,800 plants from stock plants and grows almost 24,000 plants from seeds. Add to that over 13,500 mums and plants each fall. So, doing math…300,300 each year times 18 years at We Grow Dreams equals a whopping 5,405,500 plants Jossy has planted! She deserves every vacation day she gets, don't you think?
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Board
Karen is a retired actuary, after 30 years working in Property and Casualty Insurance. Since 2006, she's been active with many volunteer activities, most of which involve gardening and sustainability. Karen has been a U of I Extension Master Gardener volunteer since 2009 and began volunteering at WGD that same year.
She helps out with the annual Bowlathon fundraiser and heads up a group of Master Gardener volunteers who work at the greenhouse providing gardening expertise and guidance to team members during the school year. During the summer, they help team members manage 12 raised beds on the property, where they have grown hundreds of pounds of food for the Northern Illinois Food Pantry.
Karen's husband, Don, is also an avid gardener and can occasionally be found planting seedlings or doing chores at WGD…they both enthusiastically support our mission and have a personal connection through their own family member with challenges.
Katie started at WGD over 4 years ago and has come such a far way in her leadership skills. She is a great help to us with almost any project we have, and is usually the only girl amongst the fellas, so she typically is in charge, or tries to be! She is very detail oriented and an expert geranium dead-header when she isn't helping move plants from the back into retail benches. She is part of the team that works almost year-round now, having started as a once-a-week team member through her school. Nothing seems to phase Katie, and she is willing to do whatever she is assigned.
Our greenhouse cats love when Katie is working because she always makes a point of finding them to bestow some loving pets and treats. Sometimes we have to remind her to get back on task because she would be content sitting with the cats her entire shift…can't say we blame her.
Laura Parra-Duran Planting Machine Laura has been with the greenhouse for years and simply puts her head down and plants and waters for hours on end. She knows everything about everything and is the second hand to Jossy both during the spring and fall, planting flowers, herbs and veggies day in and day out. Her extra super skill is building the tabletop reindeer for Christmas, which are time consuming and tedious and she just chats and builds without stopping. We value her skills and dedication to our efforts!
Laz came to us many years ago through the transition program at West Chicago High School and stayed on at the greenhouse when he graduated out of the program. He lives in West Chicago and has become an integral part of the staff, doing everything from assembling trays with empty pots, filling pots with soil, moving trays to greenhouses, moving benches all over the property, weeding and general "whatever needs to be done."
He tends to always be smiling and willing to do whatever tasks are needed, including assisting with deliveries to wholesale customers and fall mum fundraiser sponsors. You do have to be careful if you take him for breakfast or lunch on one of those runs….he can eat everything on the menu in record time. But he needs all that food to sustain his energy levels!
When he isn't at the greenhouse, Laz can be found at the Cinemark Theaters in Warrenville.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of the Board
Linda has been an integral part of the greenhouse since it started. Her son, Billy, started at the greenhouse when he was 18 and in the transition program but she was his job coach, coming every Saturday morning to help Billy become experienced at social settings and job tasks suitable for his abilities. She is a firm believer in what the greenhouse can do for a young adult with some limitations of skills since Billy is now living on his own with friends and is now comfortable coming to the greenhouse with a job coach instead of mom. This is a major accomplishment from years gone by when Billy would only come with Linda. There are tasks at the greenhouse that are perfect for Billy and he looks forward to coming to work.
The greenhouse annual fundraiser is the Bowlathon, and Linda recently joined the committee since her retirement. We are so glad she has because she brings new insights and enthusiasm, always willing to do whatever is needed. She is generous with her time and resources in support of our mission.
Maddy first started coming to the greenhouse with her brother, Matthew, as his job coach and general moral support, but as Matthew moved on, Maddy has stayed and we are so glad she did! Her quiet demeanor is a fooler…she is always ready to do whatever is needed and needs little guidance but just puts her head down and finishes the job.
When she's not at our place, you can find her at Blackberry Farms during their open seasons, or at home working in their family garden. She loves cats, so Basil and Rue always receive some loving pats when Maddy is here.
Job Titles:
- Office Manager, Phone Answerer, Bill Payer, Organizer and Class Instructor
Melanie is our office manager extraordinaire, handling wholesale and retail sales, plant ordering, project management for team members, bill payer, payroll manager….you name it, she does it! It's hard to remember what we were like before she walked in looking for a job. She and her husband, Scott, bought their first home here in West Chicago, and she was drawn to the greenhouse and its mission since the first time they drove by. Nothing seems to phase Melanie, whether it is phones ringing, customers waiting or deliveries requiring attention. Her smile is contagious and her desire to help others speaks to what we are trying to achieve here at the greenhouse.
Melanie also felt the greenhouse needed some resident cats, so after several attempts we now have Basil and Rue roaming the grounds, keeping the rodent population under control while basking in the sunshine among the plants.
When she is not working, Melanie enjoys spending time in her vegetable garden, volunteering with Badgerland Reptile Rescue out of Kenosha, reading and enjoying snuggle sessions with their four cats, numerous frogs and lizards (some fosters, but some fully adopted) and one very special tortoise.
Ryan started with WGD through the Wheaton-Warrenville District 200 Transition Program several years ago and has stayed on as a valued staff member. Sometimes his enthusiasm just makes you laugh, although he can get a bit distracted in the process! He loves to move extra trays and pots to the storage bins in the back of the property as well as practically any other task needing attention. Assembling trays and filling pots are just one of the tasks he likes to do, as well as loading the trailers and setting up the greenhouses to be ready for planting.
He can be counted on to add some extra hours when needed so he can connect with the rest of the group in moving, hauling and playing in the dirt.