WHAT WE DO
Micro-Businesses
Working with individuals with disabilities to guide them towards building their own business
Support the creation of micro-businesses
You will be re-directed to our OneCause fundraising site to process donations
The first question we ask is, what is your passion? We learn about their interests and experiences. Then we develop a small business and partner with the community to get the word out.
micro-business owner
“I’m proud of myself. I’ve wished for this day for a loooong time. And it actually came true. If it wasn’t for y’all, I wouldn’t be here today. I want everybody to know that. Y’all family. That’s it.”
micro-business owner
“I’m crying because I’m just so happy and proud”
micro-business owner
“I’ve always thought of sometime having a business of my own and now I have one and it feels really good.”
Middletown Secret Sauce
What’s your passion?
Steven spent many years living in a place where he had very little control over what he did all day or what he ate. Nowadays Steven likes to go fishing, volunteer at the food pantry, work on the hotdog cart and eat delicious food. Food is good. So when we brainstormed about Steven’s business, he suggested a “secret sauce” for the hot dog cart.
Partners in the community
Steven worked with professional chefs in The Kitchen at Futures Inc., a commercial grade kitchen, to develop his secret sauce. Steven works at the hot dog cart in Middletown where he sells his secret sauce. He is very proud to talk to people about his sauce. His apron says “Chef Steven/Sauce master”.
What’s your business?
Middletown secret sauce was born in the commercial kitchen at Futures Inc. Many ingredients were tested, adjusted, rejected, increased...until Steven decided on just the right blend. He wanted his face on the label so everyone would know he made it! Congratulations to Steven, the creator and president of Middletown Secret Sauce!
Goose Grub
What’s your passion?
Toby has many interests including fish and fishtanks, listening to music and playing video games. Our process to help toby create his micro business included talking about his interests and things he enjoys but ultimately it was talking about his dislikes that led to his business idea.
Turning frustration into action
Toby was frustrated that people were not aware bread is bad for birds. He decided to do something about it. Toby researched and created a Fact list, which is on the back of his packaging, to spread awareness such as “bread has no nutritional value, birds fill up, and don’t get enough vitamins”. Toby replaced frustration with educating others.
What’s your business?
Goose grub is a bread alternative for birds. It contains mealworms and seeds. The outside packaging includes facts about why bread is junk food for birds. Inside the packaging is a bonus facts about dinosaurs (another passion for toby)! Goose Grub can be found at the crafty tool box in Meriden.
Happy Botellas
What’s your passion?
Marilyn started her bottle and can collection business in 2018 and wanted to expand it. She enjoys the extra income it brings her. She also enjoys creating art- particularly with purple!
Self Advocacy on Your Own Terms
Marilyn wanted to expand her business but she wasn’t always comfortable doing an “elevator pitch”. We worked with Marilyn to create magnets and flyers so she has the option to advertise her business with the amount of interaction she is comfortable. We designed a t-shirt and multiple recycling bins for Marilyn that have her business name in purple, her favorite color!
What’s your business?
Happy Botellas is a bottle and can collection company is Middletown, CT. Marilyn named her business “Happy Botellas” because having her own business makes her happy and Botellas (bo TAY lass) means bottles in Spanish. Marilyn’s business cards include her original artwork.
BCG Bottles
What’s your passion?
Bruce is a life long Niantic resident who is very passionate about his home town. Bruce enjoys taking walks on the Boardwalk along the ocean.
Changing a challenge into a strength
When asked what he wants his community to know about him, Bruce was hesitant. Sometimes he gets angry and it has impacted past jobs. We talked about how he copes with anger and how his insight on himself may help others.
On Bruce’s flyers, he added a section called “Life Tips From Bruce” which states “If you’re angry, take a walk by the ocean, watch the fishing boats and take long, deep breaths.” Helping others with our own experiences helps us connect and make us human.
What’s your business?
BCG Bottles is a bottle and can recycling business. Bruce says being President of BGC Bottles makes him feel “very interesting and that I can be in charge of a company of my own.” Bruce has Recycling bins at the town hall and on the Niantic boardwalk. Congratulations Bruce!
Good Morning Diet Coke
What’s your passion?
Jill enjoyed going into the community, especially to eat Mac n cheese. She also loved to drink Diet Coke. Jill had difficulty walking and had 2 staff members who helped her, enjoyed her laugh and tried to give Jill as much control and choice in her life as possible. Research for Jill’s business involved Mac n cheese taste tests in the community with the goal of increasing Jill’s quality of life each week.
What’s your business
With a little research, we found that a ton of people are diet coke fans- especially in the morning, in place of coffee! Jill had always been a huge fan of Diet Coke so we created a line of coffee mugs with “good morning Diet Coke” label.
Saying goodbye
Jill passed away in August 2022. Jill was one of Futures Inc.’s first consumers served and was like family. She was very loved and will be missed. For many of our entrepreneurs who live in group homes with limited funds, the micro-business program allows us to create a business plan that will increase the individual’s quality of life during the day as they fill their day with purposeful activities they truly enjoy.
Soap is Dope
What’s your passion?
Katie is a talented young adult who loves to spend time at the Futures Inc. art center. Her favorite art mediums include painting with acrylic and watercolor paint, drawing with colored markers and pencils. She experiments with mixing different colors together to create her own custom colors. She like hearts and rainbows to spread the love.
Trying Something New
Through the art center, Katie has created artwork that was put on reusable bags, keychains, hats, light switch plates and various other products. But she wanted to try something new. We did some research together and loved watching the YouTube videos on soap making, so relaxing to watch. We experimented with colors and scents, designs and soap making methods.
What’s your business?
Katie is sensitive to heavy scents so she designed her soaps with a soft scent. Her soaps are also available unscented. She packages her soaps with original artwork to further showcase her talents. Many soaps from the “Soap is Dope” line of soaps include original colors that Katie created herself.
Love You Big
What’s your passion?
Chris is a Waterford, CT resident who teaches those around him to be patient, flexible and creative. It is always a goal to increase Chris’s choices and control in his life and to continue to help him connect to his community. Chris does best when his day is filled with purpose. Chris likes spinning sensory input and enjoys his huge collection of baseball hats.
A Day with Purpose
Chris’s challenges include loss of hearing, limited eye sight, autism and intellectual disability. Chris needs breaks often so he took his time to develop his business. he spent time looking at and touching various types of hats until he picked a style he liked. Creativity was essential in Finding the right vehicle for artwork- spin art, box lit Pendulum painting, scooter riding- we tried it all. Including Chris in all aspects of his micro-business is necessary to make it purposeful to him. Chris’s micro-business is a work in progress that will continue to be tweaked to ensure it works for Chris.
What’s your business?
Chris is the Chief Executive officer of “love you big”. His business name comes from the deep relationship he has with family. Chris works with his local “Sportees Custom Apparel” In his town to create his sign language hats. The hat reflects the individual sign language letters for L-O-V-E and are embroidered so Chris can feel the texture of each letter. Way to go Chris!
Griswold Design
What’s your passion?
Angela lives in Griswold, CT. She enjoys drinking coffee and visiting the Buttonwood farm to see the sunflowers. She also likes to visit the elderly and play rummy.
Changing a Challenge into a Strength
Angela loves to play cards. She used to cheat. This resulted in fewer willing card partners. We talked about what she likes most about playing rummy and what she thinks other people like about playing cards too. For each pack of cards sold, Angela includes “Angela’s top 5 tips to playing fair”- a list of how and why to play fair. It’s a good reminder to everyone that when you do the right thing, winning is even sweeter!
What’s your business?
Angela is the president of Griswold Design. She sells playing cards decorated with her sunflower symbol. Because she has trouble with her hands, she sells a hands free card holder which works great for her and also for the elderly and children. She also sells a Lucky Green aventurine crystal. While packaging each product, Angela repeats an intention to wish luck to the buyer.
CT Horsepower
What’s your passion?
Ted works at the farmers market and on the hot dog cart but if you were to ask him about his passion he would say cars! He has a lot of knowledge about vintage cars especially mustangs.
Transform Your Anchor Business
Ted uses his job on the hot dog cart as his “anchor business” where he can feature products related to his true passion- cars. We experimented with a few products… our Car air freshener scent caused the ink to run, our hot dog stickers were not car related. But we finally settled on some great products that make ted proud. Ted goes to bed thinking of new products he can sell at the hot dog cart.
What’s your business?
CT horsepower is a play on words. Ted is proud to live in CT, his favorite car is a mustang (horse), and horsepower is the power of a car engine so CT horsepower was born. His business cards are metal, yet another car symbol. He sells car related products such as keychains. He also sells glass beer mugs and coffee mugs with his beloved mustang symbol. More products are coming- limited only by ted’s imagination. Congratulations ted!
Middletown Cares
What’s your passion?
The first thing you’ll notice about Billy is his jacket, a tribute to the victims of 9/11. He was about 5 years old on 9/11 but it had a deep impact on him. He struck up a friendship with the Retired Chief of NYC Police dept. Transit bureau, Joe Fox, whose godson, Firefighter Michael Roberts (engine 214, ladder 111) died on 9/11. James leary, a policy officer, also died on 9/11. Both names are memorialized on Billy’s jacket.
Passion Project Over Profits
We explored micro-businesses with Billy several times but didn’t hit on anything that interested him until we talked about 9/11. When we talked about 9/11, Billy was very passionate and motivated to do something to help. Rather than make a profit, he wanted his business to raise funds. We reached out to the town for ideas.
What’s your business?
Billy is selling car magnets and mugs with the Middletown town crest to raise money for a memorial bench to honor the victims of 9/11 . The bench will be in Veterans memorial park in Middletown where it can be visited and used for reflection by all.
West Hartford Soapy Foam
What’s your passion?
Sarah is a student at Futures school. She enjoys vegan food and loves her dogs, Lovey and Yogi. Dogs are cute, make you feel protected, and listen to you in a special way.
What’s your business
Sarah lives in west hartford and named her business “West Hartford soapy foam”. Sarah is sensitive to heavy scents so she designed her soaps with a soft scent. Her soaps are also available unscented. Square soap is boring to Sarah so she tried different soap molds and shapes. One set was tiny dog heads which became her single-use line of soaps for camping and overnights. She also sells larger dog shaped soap.
Consider what you want to do all day
Sarah considered doing a vegan food item as a business. But She doesn’t like the feel of latex gloves. She decided against wearing gloves as part of her business so we moved on from food to soap! Soap is more fun to work with and Sarah likes to experiment with different shapes. Sarah particularly likes dog shaped soap.
Shreds Firestarters
What’s your passion?
Ben enjoys sitting around a fire pit with friends. He loves pizza, pancakes, swimming and cupcakes. He loves music, going to the beach, into the community especially to restaurants and various stores in West Hartford.
Matching skills to a product
Ben could not deliver meals on wheels or work in a kitchen (or even near a bakery or restaurant) because he has food impulse issues. He cannot stand for a long period of time. He is nonverbal and cannot read or write. Ben has been told he is not a good fit for many programs. So we asked- what can Ben do? Ben likes to shred paper, one page at a time. A task that would drive some people crazy, relaxes ben.
What’s your business?
Ben combines crinkle cut shredded paper with local sawdust and soy wax, adding some dried apple and orange slices, rosemary or thyme for some sensory appeal and finishing with a pinecone he collected on a walk through the wood to create....Shreds firestarters! Break off an “egg” from the cardboard egg carton to start your fire pit, fireplace or campfire. No more smokey starts to a weak fire- these light up like little torches!
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go do that. Because what the world needs are people who come alive.”
— Harold Whitman
Featured Artist | Katie
Katie is a talented young adult who loves to spend time at the Art Center doing various projects. Her favorite medium include painting with acrylic and watercolor paints, drawing with markers and pencils. She experiments with mixing different colors together to create her own custom colors.
Katie also likes to exercise, eat out, explore new places, listen to music and spend time with her family.
Katie loves hearts and rainbows. She believes there is more love in the world than hate. Katie draws rainbows to spread the love.
Support the creation of micro-businesses
You will be re-directed to our OneCause Fundraising site to process donations