Sara's Garden

Sara's Garden provides HOPE through health and education services to families, who have been told that there is no hope for their loved ones to lead a healthy, independent life. At Sara's Garden, serving families is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to provide the highest quality medical and educational programming available to empower individuals with disabilities to reach their full potential and become as independent as they can possibly be.

On March 15, 2002, Sara Rychener-Burkholder died due to complications of childbirth.  Her son, Jackson David Burkholder, was deprived of oxygen during delivery, sustained brain trauma, and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP).  His doctors informed the family that Jackson's brain damage was permanent and that he would never improve.  They were provided a list of things he would never accomplish including walking, talking, and eating on his own.  His family refused to accept these grim predictions and while they researched treatment options, they met other families struggling emotionally, physically, and financially to meet the needs of their own loved ones.  To try to ensure that as many children as possible were given every opportunity to increase their abilities and independence, the family established Sara's Garden, a private, non-profit organization in Sara Rychener-Burkholder's memory in May of 2004. 

As of today, Sara's Garden is the only non-profit center in North America to provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy, early childhood intervention services, conductive education, autism intervention, sensory integration services, summer camps, and physical, occupational, and speech therapy all under one umbrella along with two fully licensed and chartered, regional nonpublic schools including New Horizons Academy-Springfield Campus in Holland, and a Career Center with vocational training through Special Grounds Coffee Shop in Wauseon.