06/03/2026
🌻 Introducing Skills in Bloom — A New Pilot Program Through KindGrow Farms 🌻
Hi everyone!
I wanted to share a new opportunity we are beginning to develop for young adults and individuals with disabilities who may be interested in hands-on learning experiences focused on confidence, communication, customer service, entrepreneurship, and vocational skill development.
🌸 About the Program
Skills in Bloom is a small pilot program being developed through KindGrow Farms and Mockingbird Education. The program combines:
Flower farming--floristry (bouquet-making)
Farmers market experiences
Retail and customer service skills
Communication and workplace habits
Creative hands-on learning
Supported real-world work experiences
Participants learn through actual experiences preparing flowers, interacting with customers, helping at flower stands and bloom bars, and building practical life and employment skills in a supportive environment.
🌿 How This Began
This program grew out of our own frustration trying to find meaningful and viable employment pathways for Lily as a Deaf young adult. Like many families, we discovered that there are very few opportunities that combine flexibility, creativity, support, entrepreneurship, and genuine skill-building in ways that allow individuals with disabilities to truly grow in confidence and independence.
What started as helping Lily grow and sell flowers is turning into something much bigger.
Lily is currently:
Completing an internship at the East Texas Arboretum
Operating her own flower business through KindGrow Farms (and learning how to farm!!)
Selling flowers at local farmers markets
Bringing her business to the Dallas Farmers Market at the end of May
Watching her confidence, communication skills, independence, and workplace habits grow through meaningful real-world experiences inspired us to begin building a structured training model that could potentially help others as well.
🌼 The Long-Term Vision
Our long-term goal is to help participants learn the entrepreneurial, retail, and customer service skills needed to eventually operate small flower stands, bloom bars, or market-style flower businesses within their own communities.
The hope is not simply to create an activity — but to help create pathways toward meaningful work, independence, confidence, and community participation.
🌱 Early Pilot Stage
We are currently in the very early stages of developing a small pilot program with a few individuals to better understand what supports, coaching structures, and learning systems are most effective for participants.
This initial 6-week pilot will help us learn what works well, what needs improvement, and how to thoughtfully build a supportive program that creates meaningful opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
We are learning as we go and building this carefully and intentionally through real experiences.
🌷 We Are Looking For:
Young adults or adults with disabilities interested in participating
Families interested in learning more
Educators, transition counselors, and vocational professionals
Community partners who support disability employment and entrepreneurship
The program may be especially meaningful for individuals and programs who enjoy:
💐 flowers and creativity
🛍️ interacting with people
🎨 hands-on learning
🌻 outdoor environments
🤝 supported work experiences
If you are interested or know someone who may enjoy this kind of opportunity, feel free to message me!
Tamara Thompson
Mockingbird Education + KindGrow Farms
