Over the past 2 years, AJ and Janet Theuer have donated over 200 handmade baby quilts to the families in the Help Me Grow Early Intervention program at the Allen County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Chelsea’s Heart is their own personal program created to provide support to families of infants born prematurely or with a diagnosed condition.
Both AJ and Janet have a special place in their hearts for these families. From their own personal experiences, Chelsea’s Heart is dedicated in loving memory of their daughter Chelsea M ’Lynn Theuer and their sister, Patricia Jean Smith.
AJ and Janet want families to know they are not alone. The baby quilts offer comfort and warmth to both the child and the family. What a beautiful reminder to the family each time they use the quilt that others have walked this path.
Making the quilts has become their life mission. The basement is dedicated to quilt making. AJ and Janet each have a part in the preparation, quilting, and packaging. The best part is the origin of the material. Enjoying their retirement by traveling, AJ and Janet are taking trips throughout the United States and across the ocean. Quilting has become a central piece of each trip. Janet has been known to quilt during the long car rides and AJ frequents the local shops for material. Beautiful material has been shipped from as far away as Alaska, and there are future plans to shop in the Caribbean.
Once the quilts are completed, AJ and Janet deliver the quilts to the Help Me Grow (HMG) office. Each quilt is individually wrapped with a letter to the family. The Help Me Grow Service Coordinators then share the quilts with the families on the first home visit. Due to this, AJ and Janet never have the privilege of witnessing the families receiving their homemade quilts. They often ask if the families like the quilts. How do you answer that? Of course the families LOVE the quilts but this is difficult to put into words. Wanting to show AJ and Janet how much the HMG families love and appreciate the quilts, the HMG team decided to make a quilt for AJ and Janet. A fleece blanket was made using pictures of the precious HMG babies with their Chelsea’s Heart quilt. Families were more than willing to share pictures of their little ones with their quilt for AJ and Janet. One mother was quoted “We need more people in the world to do great things!”
May AJ and Janet always know:
“A family is pieced together With hope and faith, A family is quilted and bound With love and grace.”