Meet Susan Fontaine | Founder & Director of Love.Craft Athens

We had the good fortune of connecting with Susan Fontaine and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Susan, what principle do you value most?
Individuality. I believe this is the core of existence. Each and every person is unique. That’s why we all make up the world the way we do. Some of us like to use our hands and build or grow or create space. Others like to research or test or manipulate scenarios. Some like to work with people, while others want to be alone. I believe our society strives to identify similarities and ways we relate to one another; but I believe we need to also actively acknowledge how we are different ! Differences don’t mean weaknesses; they just mean that I do something in a different way than you. I believe by shifting our focus onto the fact that it’s ok to be different & individual, we will actually work better together. By accepting each and every person as a unique individual, it changes the perception of individuals with disabilities, individuals with different religions, even gender & race. We are all supposed to be different, and that is what makes our world so cool.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Love.Craft Athens is a non-profit that serves adults with developmental disabilities. We are an art & music studio space where differently abled adults come throughout the week and develop adult skill sets and goals. We use art & pottery to create a consistent work environment that we can asses each individuals strengths and needs, so we can then advocate and support them in finding other community opportunities. Music is just an added bonus that greatly improves cognition, processing & communication skills. We are unique in the fact that all of the other services for this population are simply respite (basic needs) & recreation. Additionally, we are individual driven- this means we identify each person’s goals and then define how they will engage with the community. Do they want their own business, do they want to work directly with people, would they rather have a consistent set of tasks? It is all based on the individual’s wants & needs. I am most proud of having served 36 differently abled adults over the past 3.5 years, and finding 17 of them meaningful community engagement or job opportunities. Business-wise, we struggle, as it is a donation-based program and we do not have financial obligation from families or individuals to attend our program. But we sell our art and pottery, host community events and concerts, and continue to find ways to engage with the community to financially support our mission. I am passionate about keeping cost optional for our families as most services in the area either require the medicaid waiver (which currently has a 7,000 person waitlist in the state of GA) or have expensive fees & tuition.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
This is tough, there are so many amazing places ! Being a former Normaltown resident, we’d definitely pop into Sips for coffee an Agua Linda for Mexican food and margaritas. We would check out the music scene and see if there were any fun shows anywhere- GA theatre, 40 watt, Hendershots, Flicker, Southern Brewing Co. Because I have young kids, we’d probably go to the Botanical Gardens-Children’s Garden because its the most epic playground. I love to shop local, so just going downtown Athens to shop at Community & Dynamite and pop into the other unique stores. We’d probably end up at Creature Comforts and have dinner at the National or Chuck’s Fish. On a Saturday if the weather is nice we would go to Comer Coffee Co & have Cafe Racer donuts then go to Watson Mill Bridge for an outdoor adventure. Then we would definitely end up at White Tiger for lunch, it’s my boys favorite lunch spot. I could go on, there are so many cool businesses to support and outdoor adventure spots!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d love to shoutout to Athens, GA. This town rules, and has been so supportive of Love.Craft Athens as we’ve grown over the past 3 years. I’m super grateful for the Love.Craft staff who mostly started out as volunteers, and all still work & contribute overtime without extra compensation! Shoutout to our Love.Club members who donate monthly- $10-$100; because the truly keep the lights on. Also shoutout to Phil Hughes Honda, for not only being our first “corporate sponsor” but then going on to hire 2 of our differently abled adults ! They truly have stood by us on this journey. And I have to shoutout to my husband and family for supporting this “hobby” as it has grown into quite the mission, they continue to support and collaborate with Love.Craft in order to propel us forward.

Website: lovecraftathens.org

Instagram: @lovecraftathens

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-fontaine-726449195/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovecraftathens/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeKd2d-vo6K1ECBSCyYpe0A