Forest training center for adults with disabilities says thank you

Janet and Tom Cullen, founders of Forest Fritter Friends, invited supporters in Friday morning to say thank you.

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Tea non-profit training center for adults with disabilities opened in Forest’s downtown in September but the couple waited until Friday to hold a grand opening with a ribbon cutting, samples and expressions of gratitude.

“We couldn’t have done this without you,” Janet Cullen told a crowd of supporters.

Located in a former hairdressing shop next door to the Kineto Theatre, Forest Fritter Friends provides training for teams of adults with disabilities and sells apple fritters, other varieties of doughnuts, coffee, ice cream and other treats.

“It’s been more ups than downs,” Cullen said. “Some days have been slow, but some days have been wonderful.”

Doughnut varieties change every month.

“This month we have a graduation donut and a peanut butter one,” she said. “Next month, we’re going to have a smores one.”

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Forest Fritter Friends relies on volunteers and donations for its mission of helping young adults who have aged out of the school system prepare for more independent lives.

“Each one of you is so special to us,” Cullen said as she read a list of donors, supporters and often local suppliers before a ribbon cutting.

“I know we opened in September, it looked like, but we really didn’t know what we were doing,” she said. “Now I think we’re closer.”

Cullen said she and Tom “had never made a single doughnut in our lives until the day before we opened.”

They moved to Forest three years ago after about 30 years in Uxbridge where Tom was a pastor and Janet an allergy manager for a school lunch company.

They settled in Forest to be near their daughter, Nora Gordon, who lives in Thedford, and began working on the idea of ​​opening a training centre because there were few activities for their son Mark and other young adults with disabilities.

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“Janet is one of those people who is always looking for something to do to make Forest better,” Lambton Shores Mayor Doug Cook told the crowd.

“We are hoping this is going to be a long-term anchor for our community. It shows what can happen when people put their minds to it.”

With the help of donations, grants and volunteers, the Cullens created the centre around the idea of ​​making and selling apple fritters because of Forest’s history as an apple-growing area.

Small teams of young adults spend a few hours a week over a six-month term at Forest Fritter Friends training and working in the shop with the help of volunteers. The centre is working with its second team and is looking to fill out a third, Janet Cullen said.

“We’re meeting people from all over and they’re bringing family members with special needs — from little ones to older ones,” she said. “It’s just wonderful to talk with them and to encourage, and to hear their stories.”

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The training is going well, Cullen said. “We just need help afterwards finding them meaningful jobs.”

One member of the first team is now working part time at a local store.

“We stand behind them when they do go to their next employer,” Cullen said.

Cullen said customer traffic was slower over the winter but is getting busier and they’ve begun seeing summer residents coming into the store, which is open Wednesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We didn’t realize how much Forest is a tourist town” with folks from outside the area staying at lakefront cottages that often have been in families for generations, she said.

For now, Janet and Tom lead the center as volunteers but their hope is to eventually have paid managers take on their roles, she said.

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