About Us
The “First Steps” of Stepping Stone
Stepping Stone Support Center was created by Bryn Galisewski, Barb Ziegler and a group of supporters in November of 2013. Bryn grew up in Littleton, CO and attended Bradford Elementary School, Deer Creek Middle School, and Chatfield Senior High School. When Bryn was in middle school and high school she frequently volunteered to help her fellow students with developmental disabilities. She went onto college at Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins and got involved in several communities supporting individuals with developmental disabilities. Through her college experience and some internships, she learned about the adult medicaid waivers supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She graduated from CSU in Spring 2013 to find herself back with her middle school and high school peers at a new stage in life.
Barb is a parent of an adult with a developmental disability and like other families, she was searching for a productive program with close proximity. Barb had a unique background of running several businesses in her lifetime and was the perfect mentor for Bryn. With Bryn’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies and interest in Occupational Therapy, Barb’s M.A. in Communications and Business background, and the support from family, friends and the community, they explored ways to create a world where these participants could find purpose and community. Barb and Bryn’s favorite quote is “Put a baby boomer with a millennial, and nothing is impossible.”
Stepping Stone started in November of 2013 with just 4 participants and has now grown to serve over 150+ families!
The Heart
Stepping Stone’s guiding principle is that adults with developmental disabilities have an amazing amount of potential. They just seldom have the opportunity to blossom. Perhaps you have had difficulty finding employment and have dreams of living independently. Maybe you are afraid that if you express yourself freely, you won't be taken seriously…. We want to put an end to these doubts and put the steps into motion that will make dreams a reality.
We LOVE our participants and their families and want to provide activities that are productive, not just busy work. We also know that without a strong team of providers we would be not be able to provide the quality supports we strive for. Our 5 main values at Stepping Stone are…
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We strive to honor the individuals we support by providing person-centered supports in a compassionate, dignified manner. It is equally important to us to be providing this same respect to all our providers, families, and community members. We recognize that we all come from different life experiences and therefore may have different opinions on topics discussed. We believe that we must coming into every situation with respect for another and honor where each person is coming from. Through this mindset we have seen wonderful things happen in our team at Stepping Stone! We aim to uphold the values of the organization by appropriately reflecting Stepping Stone in all settings.
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Communication is a high value for us at Stepping Stone. We recognize that without effective, credible, and positive communication, we would not be able to reach our community in the ways we strive for. This is critical to building better relationships and meeting immediate and long-term goals. Along with this, we humbly recognize that this is always an area of growth for us as well. We are constantly talking of ways to improve our communication as a team and value constructive feedback from our community so we can continually grow in this value.
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We understand that as human beings, we ALL need a sense of belonging and support to overcome the stressors of daily life. The Stepping Stone community shares a common goal—to become the best versions of ourselves. We highly value community and are constantly striving to create opportunities for growth, support, and connection.
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We have learned over the years that in order to have a strong team, we must empower our providers and participants in their roles. All the of growth Stepping Stone has seen is from all our amazing providers and participants who have been with Stepping Stone throughout the years. It was because of their ownership and ideas that we have expanded into where we are now! We strive to continually provide the tools, encouragement, and motivation to succeed. We believe that when we all empower those around us in an authentic way, it increases self-awareness, self-confidence, and engagement.
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We strive to create an environment that welcomes innovation—a catalyst for growth and success. This allows us to create approaches for industry-leading services and care. We are big on thinking outside the box!
Purpose
To meet the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in an authentic and creative way.
Our Space
We are located just southeast of Ken Caryl and Garrison in the Villager Square Shopping Center. This is Stepping Stone’s main office and space for our onsite programming. We also provide many services in the community or in the participants’ homes. At our main location, we have a large community room, three program/team rooms, and a spacious kitchen for programming needs. We have office space for administration and a conference room for scheduled meetings.
We also partner with Calvary South Denver Church and utilize their food bank and coffee shop. Our main facility and the church are located in the same shopping center, which gives us the best of both worlds with just a short walk away. We run our Stepping Stone CO-OP Coffee and Marketplace, A Latte Love out of Calvary South Denver’s coffee space. We also run Calvary’s food bank, The Littleton Food Bank. Come visit our coffee shop on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at 9052 West Ken Caryl Ave. Littleton, CO 80128.
Location, Hours, and Phone
9032 West Ken Caryl Ave., A-1
Littleton, CO 80128
Hours
Monday–Thursday: 8:00am–4:00pm
Friday: 8:00am-1:00pm
Phone
Main Number: (303) 872-6882
If you need to get ahold of someone for on-site programming immediately, please call our Stepping Stone On-site Front Desk: (303) 997-4846
Stepping Stone Emergency On-Call after hours number: (720) 329-0209