A Season to Say Yes

April in Minnesota always feels like a turning point.

After a long winter, there’s something about the first signs of spring…longer days, melting snow, a little more light that reminds us that growth is happening again. That life is returning. That we made it through.

And in many ways, that’s what this season feels like for Jack’s Basket.

As we’ve been experiencing a lot of change (and construction) in the office over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself pausing and reflecting.

Watching the garage door open and a pallet of books roll in for baskets. Seeing our growing team gathered around what once felt like a big table. Volunteers moving inventory into the new space next door. The movement, the activity, all of it reminds me how far we’ve come.

It started around a kitchen table.

A simple idea, a deep conviction, and a belief that every baby with Down syndrome deserves to be celebrated and every family deserves to hear “congratulations.”

We’ve come a long way since those early days.

From that kitchen table, to a 300 sq ft office in the basement of a dental building, to a two-level office four years ago, and now to an expanded space totaling 5,000 sq ft.

Each step felt big at the time. Each milestone mattered.

And now, this next step is an invitation to bring more people into the work, to celebrate more babies, and to do it with the same love, joy, and celebration that has been at the heart of this work from the very beginning.

Getting here has taken a lot of hard work. There have been seasons of hearing “no” or “not yet.” Seasons where we’ve had to stay disciplined, trust the process, and keep showing up even when we couldn’t see what was ahead.

But we stayed the course.

Jack has taught me so much through the way he reaches his milestones what it looks like to try something new, to keep showing up, to ask questions, be patient, to trust the process. And in many ways, that’s what this season feels like for us.

And I believe we are stepping into a new season.

A season to say yes.

Yes to more babies.
Yes to more families hearing hope at the moment of diagnosis.
Yes to opening our doors wider and inviting others to be a part of this work.

This Hands on Hope space allows us to do just that.