According to Kathy Cook, she has the best job in the world, and not many would disagree. Kathy spends her days working with adults who have disabilities, helping them to enhance their lives and become more independent. Kathy is the CEO of All R Friends, a company that started in Westerville, Ohio and has expanded into Dublin and into Delaware this spring.
The mission of All R Friends is to allow the participants of Kathy’s program to develop life goals and have fun in the process. Each participant develops goals to work on while in the program, from learning to cook to living out on their own. Each morning participants are picked up from their homes and brought to All R Friends where they spend the first 30 minutes of their day participating in what they like to call Breakfast Club. Participants are brought together for coffee, breakfast and good conversation.
Kathy is a firm believer in physical activity and allots time throughout the day where participants are able to vote on games to play as a group. Activities range from kickball, dodgeball, basketball as well as workout videos. “Not only are these games fun,” Kathy says, “but they also help with developing social and teambuilding skills.”
All R Friends was developed by Kathy in memory of her brother, Ralphie, who was faced with disabilities and sadly passed away. The ‘R’ in All R Friends was inspired by Ralphie’s signature, which was a simple ‘R’. The picture that is seen in the All R Friends logo is the last image that Ralphie drew for Kathy before his passing. It was Ralphie’s dream to make as many friends as he could, and enabling other adults with disabilities to meet friends of their own, Kathy is allowing Ralphie’s legacy to live on.
“Through all that Ralphie endured, he always had a smile on his face,” Kathy says. She knows that this program is what she was meant to do. “There have been so many doors opened for me because of All R Friends, I feel blessed.”
Kathy is a wife and a mother to two children. She has a daughter, Julie, as well as a son, Ryan, who is currently the director of All R Friends in Dublin. Kathy’s family is the leading inspiration in her life and continues to support her both morally and financially. Her family is always there to provide her with a sometimes much-needed confidence boost.
It is Kathy’s goal to continue helping others for as long as she is able to. Making an impact on this world is important to Kathy and she wishes that people would see that just because someone has a disability, doesn’t mean that they don’t have a voice.
All R Friends is working with area schools to provide support for those with disabilities within the school system. Currently, Westerville, Dublin and Worthington school districts all work with All R Friends.
Kathy adds that the biggest compliment she ever receives is getting hugs from those that she works with and seeing the smiles on their faces.
To learn more about All R Friends, please visit http://www.AllRFriends.com.