Walk Into the Room. You’ll Understand in About Thirty Seconds.
A karaoke king. A rockstar. A comedian. A cowgirl stuck in Atlanta. This is what belonging looks like when it is actually working.
Troy will make you laugh. That’s not an accident — he’s been working on it. T-Dog is a comedian, an oatmeal raisin man, and on Tuesdays, he heads to the sanctuary to clean the pews and prepare them for the congregation. He does this because he wants to. Because contributing matters to him. Because that is who Troy is.
Lily always comes prepared. Coloring books, Disney Princess UNO cards, a notebook for recipes and song ideas. She mixes cookie dough with real focus, plays a mean game of pickleball, and brings baked goods in to share with the staff. She is, in the words of the people who know her best, a rockstar.
Thomas is Wonderfully Made’s dedicated dishwasher and its number one Disney fan — two facts that coexist perfectly. He is a member of Jerry’s Habima Theatre, takes pickleball seriously, and will tell you without hesitation that hanging out with his friends is the best part of showing up each week. The friends feel exactly the same way.
Ian celebrates everyone’s birthday. Not just the ones he knows well. Everyone’s. He is a genuinely impressive pickleball player, dances through Zumba like it was designed specifically for him, and counts St. Lucia as his favorite vacation destination. His strongest opinion is about Chick-fil-A fries, and it is not up for debate.
Scottie loves dogs, the color blue, and talk shows — and shows up to bake, do Zumba, and build friendships with the consistency that real community requires. Sophia is a talented athlete who loves the beach and gluten-free oatmeal butterscotch cookies. Kennedy plays guitar, sings in choir, and came to Wonderfully Made already knowing how to build community from her time in Riverwood’s Best Buddies chapter.
Maya graduated from Georgia Tech’s Excel Program and works at Steeple Cafe. She is enthusiastic, creative, and helpful in every corner of the building — bakery, art table, science activity, Zumba floor. She approaches everything with genuine care.
Maddie plays the keyboard and loves music the way some people love breathing. Julia graduated from the UNC Greensboro ISC program, works at Publix, and can talk about theater and musicals for as long as you are willing to listen. Sophie loves to sing and dance, makes cookies with full commitment, loves the color pink, and will make sure you know it.
“You can find a job for high-functioning people with special needs, but you can’t find community for them.”
That observation came from a parent in our program. It cuts straight to the center of why Wonderfully Made exists.
Each of these men and women came here because the world did not have a room for them after school ended. Not a room that felt like this, anyway. Not a room with a karaoke king and a Zumba floor and a kitchen full of chocolate chip cookies and a volunteer playing kickball and meaning every minute of it.
That room exists now. Wonderfully Made built it — with Peachtree Church’s generous donation of space, a renovation funded by the community, and a group of families who refused to accept that their adults had nowhere to go.
It took nearly two years of baking in Kitty’s kitchen, visiting other programs, listening to parents, and praying for every door to open. The doors kept opening. They still are. We have 22 families in our first year, Wonder Makers employed at Crumbl Cookie, Publix, and Steeple Cafe, and a pumpkin snickerdoodle that shouldn’t work but absolutely does.
Walk into the room. You’ll understand in about thirty seconds.
Support the Wonder Makers
Wonderfully Made is growing — and every gift makes this room possible for one more person. Donate at wonderfullymadecommunity.org, order cookies from our bakery, or reach out about bringing a chapter to your community.