Ladle of Ferns

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Ladle of Ferns strives to provide unique, community led support for people who might not fit all the boxes required to access traditional support services.

11/06/2026

Caregiving can be an act of love, responsibility, necessity, or some combination of all three. It can also require time, energy, flexibility, and emotional labor.

During National Family Caregivers Month, we're recognizing the people who provide care while remembering that caregivers have needs of their own. 💚

11/06/2026

🌿 Meet Rimi!

We're excited to introduce one of the newest members of the Ladle of Ferns Board of Directors!

Rather than tell you about her ourselves, we thought we'd let Rimi introduce herself. 💚

In her own words:

Hi Everyone,

I’m originally from Lebanon where I earned my degree in political science and
international affairs. My background includes humanitarian work, particularly in mine action, where I supported field operations and community awareness efforts to educate children and communities about the dangers of landmines and other explosive hazards. This experience taught me the importance of compassion, teamwork, and making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Moving to the United States was a new chapter in my life. Building a life in a new country, raising a family, and navigating unfamiliar systems helped understand how important connection, belonging and having a support system can be.

I believe everyone deserves to feel seen, valued and supported, especially those who may fall through the gaps of traditional support systems.

I’m excited to join the Ladle of ferns board, learn from its wonderful community and contribute my experience, perspective and passion for helping others.

Please join us in welcoming Rimi to the Ladle community! 🌿

11/02/2026

We want to hear from you! 🌿

What kinds of support, programs, and community connections would make a difference in your life?

We're inviting our community to share their perspectives as we prepare for our November 15 board meeting.

Your feedback helps us make thoughtful decisions about what comes next. Share your thoughts through our community feedback form by November 12.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxzpKQbbJrDnNdzujbi2iHs4q-41YlxXIMQYVyG4h96wLggQ/viewform?usp=header

10/30/2026

Support works better when it has room for real life.

For changing capacity. Complicated schedules. Tight budgets. Bodies and brains that don't behave predictably. Questions without immediate answers. Days when the original plan simply isn't going to work.

Every person who participates in Ladle—clients, volunteers, donors, community partners, board members, people who share our work, and people who tell someone else we exist—helps us keep building something that doesn't require people to have everything figured out before they walk through the door.

Because of you, we get to keep asking not “How do people fit into this?” but “How can we make this work better for people?”💚

Thank you for helping us build that kind of community.

10/29/2026

Maybe you belong at this table. 🌿

When people imagine serving on a nonprofit Board of Directors, they sometimes picture a very particular kind of person.

Someone with an impressive title. Years of leadership experience. An extensive professional network. All the answers.

But meaningful leadership also comes from curiosity, thoughtful questions, lived experience, a willingness to learn, and a genuine commitment to the community.

At Ladle of Ferns, we're working to build a future where adults navigating chronic physical and mental health conditions can access support that is relational, dignified, and responsive to real life.

And we're looking for people who want to help guide that work.

Board service comes with meaningful responsibilities, and we're interested in connecting with people who are ready to contribute their perspective, time, and care.

You don't have to arrive knowing everything.

You do have to care about what we're building.

Interested in learning more about serving on Ladle's Board of Directors? We'd love to start a conversation.

https://www.ladleofferns.org/serveonourboard

10/26/2026

This week, we're thinking about...

Independence doesn't have to mean doing everything alone.

Sometimes support is what makes more independence possible.

A ride makes the appointment possible. A reminder makes the task easier to remember. An accommodation makes the job sustainable. A second person makes the phone call manageable. A resource makes one problem smaller.

Interdependence doesn't erase autonomy. Good support can create more room for it.

Maybe the goal isn't to need nobody.

Maybe it's having enough support that you have more choice about what happens next. 💚

10/23/2026

Sometimes conversations about work get reduced to one question: Can you work or can't you?

Real life can be much more complicated.

Someone may be able to work with flexible scheduling. With remote options. With additional breaks. With changes to the physical environment. With assistive technology. With a different way of communicating or completing a task.

Capacity can also fluctuate and what works during one season may not work during another.

Accommodations aren't about lowering someone's value or contribution. They're one way environments can stop creating unnecessary barriers to participation.

Being able to do something and being able to do it under every possible set of conditions are not the same thing.

10/22/2026

We believe cost shouldn't automatically become another barrier between someone and support.

That's why Ladle uses a Pay What You Can model for our services. And we mean it.

If $0 is what works for you, $0 is an available price—not a debt, favor, or promise that you'll pay more later.

If you're able and choose to pay something, those payments help support the accessibility of the model. But we're not interested in deciding whether someone is “struggling enough” to deserve a lower price.

Pay What You Can is one way we're trying to build services around real lives instead of asking people to fit themselves into a system before they can receive support. 💚

10/22/2026

Support looks like...

Believing someone when they tell you what their body needs.

You don't have to fully understand someone else's experience to respect it.

If someone says they need to sit down, take a break, leave early, change plans, avoid a certain environment, or approach something differently, that information deserves to be taken seriously.

They shouldn't have to share their medical history, explain every symptom, or prove how difficult something is before their needs matter.

Sometimes support is simply listening, believing, and making room for what someone needs.

Belief is a form of care. 💚

10/19/2026

This week, we’re thinking about...

You don’t have to look like you’re struggling for your needs to be real.

Not every difficult thing is visible from the outside.

Someone can look well-rested and be exhausted. They can be smiling while managing pain. They can show up, participate, and appear to be doing just fine while using an enormous amount of energy to make that possible.

And sometimes, what someone can do today looks very different from what they could do yesterday.

During Invisible Disabilities Week, we’re thinking about how often people are expected to prove their needs before those needs are taken seriously.

But support shouldn’t depend on whether someone looks like they need it.

We can choose to believe people when they tell us what they’re experiencing. 💚

Address

Florissant, MO
63031

Website

http://ladleofferns.org/

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