MANATEE COUNTY (WSNN) – What began as a hobby turned into a Bradenton business helping people with special needs.
“When you purchase from Rustic Flamingo, you are helping provide jobs for people with disabilities whose unemployment rate runs about 80-percent,” Rustic Flamingo co-owner, Jacque Ruch said.
Rustic Flamingo is a wood-and-wine studio, creating Do-It-Yourself or DIY projects while offering employment to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities on the Suncoast. From her background as a therapist, Ruch discovered how limited people with special needs are.
“What I found was those people were often really relegated to certain types of jobs,” Ruch said. “So they’d often work in cleaning or they’d often work in food service or they’d work in landscaping. Something that maybe wasn’t an interest of theirs, but it was something that was available.”
All her current employees have a disability.
Employee, Robert Mahurin says, “I give people their aprons.”
Mahurin is 16-year-old and has an intellectual disability. He is the greeter and this is his first job. He says his favorite part is, “Making signs and giving people coffee.”
Mahurin’s paycheck goes towards his savings for when he lives in a supported-living group-home as an adult.
“I think that it’s really awesome that they’re helping other people in the community,” Bradenton resident, Dana Lorentz said. “They’ve got so many different abilities, and I think it’s great to offer them something a little bit different, give them something they can enjoy doing every day.”
Lorentz has a daughter with autism and says she fully supports the business.
Rustic Flamingo offers a variety of workshops and trendy techniques to create farmhouse-inspired home décor. It’s located in Braden River Plaza on SR 64.
The studio partners with agencies providing employment services for people with special needs.
