09/02/2026
💜 FALL STAFFING & SCHEDULING UPDATE
THE GOOD NEWS!
Many of the same wonderful staff you know and trust are still part of our KC team!
We have been incredibly fortunate to have amazing college students work at Kaitlyn’s Cottage while pursuing careers in education, occupational therapy, social work, healthcare, and other helping professions.
And then… they graduate! 😊
We’re incredibly proud to watch them move into their careers — but it also means their availability at KC changes...or they INSIST on focusing on their new careers, and we have to say goodbye!
🍂 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR FALL?
As staff transition into full-time careers, doctoral programs, student teaching, nursing clinicals, college athletics, and other commitments, our staffing availability will look temporarily different — especially during weekday daytime hours.
Families may notice:
• Fewer weekday daytime openings
• Less availability for weekday overnights
• Dates and times filling more quickly
• Less flexibility for last-minute requests
• Some requests we simply may not have the staffing to safely accommodate
BUT DON’T WORRY — WE’RE STILL HERE! 💜
Kaitlyn’s Cottage is still providing respite, still serving our families, and still committed to accommodating as many requests as we safely can.
👋 WE’RE GROWING OUR TEAM!
We are actively hiring and training new staff — including Masen, an elementary education major at Defiance College who has volunteered with Kaitlyn’s Cottage Night to Shine for many years!
!!!! Finding the right people for KC matters !!!!
We can train skills. We have proven it time and time again.
But compassion, kindness, patience, and a genuine desire to advocate for our participants must come from the person. These are not trainable.
MY PROMISE: We will never compromise those qualities simply to fill a position!!
💜 SAFETY COMES FIRST
We know how important respite is to our families, and we never like saying that we don’t have availability.
But we will never compromise safe staffing ratios or the quality of care being provided in order to accommodate more hours.
The safety of our participants and staff will always remain our priority.
SCHEDULING AT KC
Jessica continues to manage our scheduling, and Jessica, Stephon, and Kelly work closely together to accommodate as many requests as we safely can.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this temporary staffing transition.
We appreciate our KC families more than you know! 💜
All My Best,
Kelly M. Tong, MEd
Manager- Kaitlyn's Cottage
[email protected]
419-783-4411 ext 1
