Hattie Larlham Quick Facts

Hattie Larlham is a nonprofit organization that provides care to 1,500 children and adults with developmental disabilities. Hattie Larlham's services not only benefit the people the organization serves, but also their families, loved ones and communities.

This mission of caring for people with developmental disabilities began when founder Hattie Lena Gadd Larlham took a neighbor's child who was born with inoperable hydrocephalus into her home to provide care. Word spread about what she was doing, and the demand for care led her to take more children into her home. Before long, she had a waiting list of 100 children, leading her to form the Hattie Larlham Foundation.

Today, the organization provides residential care to 130 children and young adults at the Hattie Larlham Center for Children with Disabilities in Mantua, Ohio, and to adults at community-based homes located throughout Ohio.

Hattie's Café & Gifts

Hattie Larlham operates coffee shops called Hattie's Café & Gifts that provide employment to people with developmental disabilities.

To the employees, their work is more than a job. It is an opportunity for them to empower their lives. Their employment gives them a sense of purpose and helps them build self-esteem.

Each café offers fair trade coffee, fresh baked goods, sandwiches and gifts. Some of the café's most popular products are its gift baskets. In 2009, employees with disabilities at Hattie's Café & Gifts assembled 1,996 gift baskets.

Hattie's Café & Gifts locations include Hudson, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, the Summit County Courthouse, the Akron Municipal Building, Canal Place and the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

Hattie's Café & Gifts also operates an online store.

Hattie Larlham also operates The Bakery at Hattie's Café & Gifts in Akron, which produces all bakery items sold at Hattie's Café & Gifts locations in Northeast Ohio. The Bakery features a storefront that sells grab-and-go lunches, baked goods and gifts.

Hattie's Doggie Day Care & Boarding

Hattie's Doggie Day Care & Boarding is a cage-free pet boarding operation that provides employment to people with developmental disabilities interested in pursuing a career in animal care. Job coaches work with the employees with developmental disabilities to teach them to care for the dogs. The employees gain self confidence and improve their social and communication skills through their jobs duties. Hattie's Doggie Day Care & Boarding prides itself on providing individualized attention to each dog.

Hattie's Doggie Day Care & Boarding locations in North Canton, Ohio and Twinsburg, Ohio are a home away from home for dogs. The Twinsburg location has 25 rooms for the dogs to stay in, as well as three outdoor play areas and two air-conditioned play areas inside. The North Canton location has 22 rooms, three air-conditioned play areas and two outdoor play areas. Each location offers full-service, professional dog grooming, as well as a retail area.

In 2010, Hattie's Doggie Day Care & Boarding won the award for best pet boarding in the Akron-Canton Fox 8 Hotlist. Additionally, Hattie's Doggie Day Care & Boarding was singled out as the winner in the pet boarding category in the 2010 Beacon's Best awards voted on by the readers of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Hattie Larlham Creative Arts

Hattie Larlham Creative Arts uses professional artists, called trackers, to work with young artists with disabilities at Hattie Larlham to create compelling works of art. Trackers work with the artists through a dialogue of yes or no questions and answers to uncover each artist’s creative choices such as color, shape, location and texture. The trackers remain neutral during the process to ensure that only the vision of the artist is expressed. The program gives participants the opportunity to work in a number of artistic disciplines, including painting, photography, sculpting, music, poetry and more.

Much of the artwork made by artists with developmental disabilities is available for sale, with the proceeds going directly to the artist.

The Play Center at Hattie Larlham

The Play Center at Hattie Larlham is a place where children and families who receive services from Hattie Larlham as well as members of the community are encouraged to play and interact. Some of Hattie Larlham’s popular camps for children with developmental disabilities are held at The Play Center. The Play Center is also a community resource for parties and field trips.

Hattie Larlham Autism Preschool

The Hattie Larlham Autism Preschool puts children with and without disabilities in the same classroom setting and provides both one-to-one and group instruction. At the end of each week, after four days of curriculum-based programs approved by the Ohio Department of Education, students engage in a sensory camp that encourages exploration and socialization.

The goal of the preschool is to prepare children with autism for a typical kindergarten class with as little need for an individualized education plan as possible.

The Hattie Larlham Autism Preschool is a collaborative effort between the Hattie Larlham Research Institute, the Portage County Educational Services Center and Kent State University. This preschool marks one of the first attempts to combine HighScope (an education curriculum used by Head Start) and SCERTS (a therapy model that blends social communication, emotional regulation and transactional support).

Hattie’s Vending Company

Hattie's Vending Company employs people with developmental disabilities. The vending company employees load carts with products, fill vending machines, check the dates of items in the machines to make sure they are fresh and ensure the machines are properly functioning. The employees with developmental disabilities keep track of which items generate the most sales in order to provide the products for which the highest demand exists. Sales volume determines how often each machine is serviced.

The company services nearly 100 vending machines in Akron, Ohio, and surrounding areas. The vending machines are leased in collaboration with AVI Foodsystems, Inc.

Constant Companions

Constant Companions focuses on the mutually beneficial interaction between people with disabilities and various domestic animals such as cats, rabbits, birds and fish. These animals are used as teaching aids to encourage participants to nurture and learn about the animals in their care.

Ways to Support Hattie Larlham

Donor Opportunities
Corporate Partnerships
Research Projects
Advisory Committees
Volunteer Programs
Event Sponsorship
Third-Party Fundraisers
Attend Events
Shop Our Brands
Shop Online

Hattie Larlham employment planning services and organizational employment services programs are CARF accredited.