Join KAN
Our Goal
To create a community of 3-5 families in the region collaborating around full-time support for young adults like Margot, while sharing knowledge, training, staff, and resources
Click the boxes below to learn more about the activities and resources we are putting in place for KAN. Follow these links to learning more about Working at KAN or about the young adults and their families who we hope will Join the KAN Family.
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Help us to identify new volunteer programs that work for you and for others
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Help us to identify new recreation programs that work for you and for others
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Volunteer Programs
Join us to help develop innovative programs in Kennett and surrounding regions. Here are just a couple of examples
Help people with IDD feed families struggling with food-insecurity
Our hub is licensed as a limited food establishment, allowing us to assemble shelf-stable foods for sale and distribution. We have begun by breaking down large bags of rice for our local food cupboard, Kennett Area Community Services (or KACS) into one pound bags - like those delivered here by Margot. This could save KACS hundreds if not thousands of dollars per year.
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We have also begun to assemble a healthy, quickly cooked oatmeal packets for recently homeless families, and hope to expand to offer other options. Help us test the equipment and techniques needed to help Margot and others participate in this important work.
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Help to include people with IDD in environmental stewardship
We co-authored inclusion guidelines for the Land Trust Alliance, the pre-eminent organization responsible for training and accrediting land conservancies in the US. We are now meeting with land conservancies across the US to describe how people like Margot can volunteer to help improve our ecosystem.
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Here in Kennett, Margot has already begun to help by preparing to convert lawns to meadows, and control weeds around newly planted trees within riparian corridors. Join us as we work with local parks and preserves to identify new opportunities, and document their success. Join us in developing and testing new techniques with Margot and others.
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Help to include people with IDD in environmental stewardship
We co-authored inclusion guidelines for the Land Trust Alliance, the pre-eminent organization responsible for training and accrediting land conservancies in the US. We are now meeting with land conservancies across the US to describe how people like Margot can volunteer to help improve our ecosystem.
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Here in Kennett, Margot has already begun to help by preparing to convert lawns to meadows, and control weeds around newly planted trees within riparian corridors. Join us as we work with local parks and preserves to identify new opportunities, and document their success. Join us in developing and testing new techniques with Margot and others.
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Recreation Programs
If you love the outdoors, you will love working with Margot!
Check out Our Story to learn about Margot's many outdoor adventures
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If you like to bike you will love working with us!
We are especially interested in hiring at least one candidate who will like to bike for work. We have acquired a unique electric pedicab from Denmark (see right) to transport Margot within Kennett, as part of her work and volunteer activities. We hope that this will include the delivery of food and books to shut-ins in need, as part of our work with the Kennett Library and Kennett Area Community Services.
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If you love the outdoors, you will love working with Margot!
Check out Our Story to learn about Margot's many outdoor adventures
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If you like to bike you will love working with us!
We are especially interested in hiring at least one candidate who will like to bike for work. We have acquired a unique electric pedicab from Denmark (see right) to transport Margot within Kennett, as part of her work and volunteer activities. We hope that this will include the delivery of food and books to shut-ins in need, as part of our work with the Kennett Library and Kennett Area Community Services.
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We also like to bike for fun, and are open to candidates who would like to include a half-day hiking and/or biking adventure once a week. Whether pulled in her special trailer on an e-bike or regular bike, or on her adapted electric tandem, Margot enjoys exploring local paths. Hover over Paths, Trails and Routes on Kennett Outdoors - Margot has done every one of these paths.... and more!
If you love the outdoors, you will love working with Margot!
Check out Our Story to learn about Margot's many outdoor adventures
​
If you like to bike you will love working with us!
We are especially interested in hiring at least one candidate who will like to bike for work. We have acquired a unique electric pedicab from Denmark (see right) to transport Margot within Kennett, as part of her work and volunteer activities. We hope that this will include the delivery of food and books to shut-ins in need, as part of our work with the Kennett Library and Kennett Area Community Services.
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We also like to bike for fun, and are open to candidates who would like to include a half-day hiking and/or biking adventure once a week. Whether pulled in her special trailer on an e-bike or regular bike, or on her adapted electric tandem, Margot enjoys exploring local paths. Hover over Paths, Trails and Routes on Kennett Outdoors - Margot has done every one of these paths.... and more!
If you like to hike, you will love working with us!
We are seeking candidates who enjoy taking walks - especially walks in nature. Margot enjoys taking 1-2 hours to complete a 1-2 mile hike on a wide range of local paths and trails once or twice a week, all year round. As part of our work on Kennett Outdoors described in detail below, Margot will continue these hikes. She will help us to map our trails for use by others with physical and developmental disabilities across our county of Chester and neighboring New Castle County in Delaware.
Help people with IDD hike trails for health and adventure
Drawing on our own background in evidence-based intervention, we have been developing guidelines to help caregivers, educators, and adult service providers to identify the many different barriers that people with IDD might face when seeking to hike natural trails, and strategies for helping to overcome these.
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We have also been partnering with national experts in accessible trail design to create new ways to rate trail accessibility. As a member of our team, you would walk with Margot and rate trails across the county to help others interested in hiking know which trails fit their interests and abilities.
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This has resulted in the Fresh Air Self Care for All initiative, recently launched in partnership with Chester County. We are disseminating our model through a program of training and support, while also promoting the development of more accessible trail options. As a member of our team, you would have opportunities to coach others in learning to hike
If you like to ski, you will love working with us!
We hope to recruit one team member who is a skier. We ski several times per year, either day trips to local hills (like Camelback) or on 4-5 day trips to other east coast resorts (like Killington, Gore, and Mont Tremblant). For 2-3 hours a day, you help Margot and Peter ski together, by helping to carry her snow slider on and off the lift or gondola. Once that is done, you have another 3-4 hours to ski on your own. See a video of Peter and Margot skiing here.
Help to grow programs for fun and fitness at the YMCA
Over the past year, we have worked with our local YMCA to identify how the Y and its programs can become more accessible and inclusive. This resulted in a monthly respite recreation program - parents of those with IDD enjoy 2 hours out in Kennett, while Y staff and volunteers help their children move and connect with others through sports, dance, song, and crafts. We were recently awarded a grant to expand this program, making it more accessible to under-served families. As a member of our team, you would help to run respite recreation nights and develop new ideas.
Staffing
Margot is a young woman with IDD transitioning into adult life who LOVES the outdoors and giving back to her community. Read more about working with Margot here.
Other resources
Make this happen at our new hub on historic East Linden St. in Kennett
To help support futures planning for Margot and others, we have acquired several houses in downtown Kennett. We have dedicated a small 140 year-old house as a hub for Margot. This provides Margot a quiet place to relax and support her self-care needs, and includes space to complete other volunteer tasks (like re-packaging rice) . We are eager to discuss how other Kennett families with young adults like Margot might become involved in KAN's volunteer programs, and take advantage of the hub
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license as a food establishment
Sharing resources
Staffing
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Training and support
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Equipment and facilities
Mountains
Our hub on Historic East Linden St.
To help support futures planning for Margot and others, we have acquired several houses in downtown Kennett. We have dedicated a small 140 year-old house as a hub for Margot. This provides Margot a quiet place to relax and support her self-care needs, and includes space to complete other volunteer tasks (like re-packaging rice) . We are eager to discuss how other Kennett families with young adults like Margot might become involved in KAN's volunteer programs, and take advantage of the hub
Working and volunteering
Working
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Volunteering
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