08/31/2026
Yet so ever grateful.
The displacement of not being in our home because of a house fire, having second and third-degree burns, still caring for my children with disabilities while caring for our community of disabilities.
All I could do was go downstairs to not feel like my body couldn’t sit still in that tiny room. Mind going faster and faster, I sat in the lobby taking control of the only thing I had control in. My work!
My daughter by my side because I still have to think of her.
And my mind?
Thinking about ways to help our community of disabilities have more accessibility in the community. How we structure environments within environments with disability in mind from the very beginning, not as an afterthought.
I’ve seen it work.
That’s the only thing I had control of—in everything that was out of control!
And when I walked into The Floor Trader Outlet of Baton Rouge, I was already carrying a heavy load of overstimulation and overwhelm.
Dakota had a way of just knowing.
And I know he didn’t know.
When I needed certain things and had questions, he would help set up and lay out the tile to help me visualize the look.
The way he would go about it.
He didn’t come to me like I’m a sales pitch.
He came to me when I was ready!
Even in something as simple as his customer service, saying,
“Take them home. I trust you. I know you’ll bring them back!”
His personality made me feel comfortable enough to ask,
“Hey, have you ever sponsored or thought about sponsoring a 501(c)(3)?”
I told him a little bit about who we are and what we’re doing in our community, alongside our community partners, with our disability community in mind.
You—You believed in what we’re doing.
You became part of not only believing in what we’re doing, but became part of creating it with me through your sponsorship.
So thank you. 🙏🏼
Thank you, Floor Trader of Baton Rouge, for believing in what we’re doing and helping us add another layer of accessibility for individuals with disabilities in our community.
And Dakota—
thank you for how you treated the person who walked through your doors when you had no idea what she was carrying.
In your being you—
in treating me as if you just knew…
in the universe of unknown.
And that’s part of why it meant so much more.
By:
The Partially Unfiltered Mind of ADHD
This was not easy for me to share.
But it was bigger than me.
Together W3 Bee-Long
