Meet Lou

Louis is a young man with intellectual disabilities living in suburban Chicago. Several years ago we noticed he had an interest in working with his hands and watching his dad and uncles work on projects. For the past several summers, he has had the opportunity to work along side his Uncle John in Colorado as a part of the Alpine Log and Finishes team (Alpine Chinking). While on the job site, Uncle John would point out log home scraps and fallen trees and told us about how we could turn this leftover wood into something Louis could create, sell and ultimately create a micro-business to lead him on the way to financial independence. When we travel to Colorado we are always looking for resources and materials for this newly created business. We've also make contact with a log home building company in Wisconsin -- goldeneagleloghomes.com that has been gracious enough to let us pull leftover logs from their scrap pile. The more imperfect the log the better -- this makes for the most unique piece. In his free time Louis is a Special Olympics athlete participating in Alpine Skiing, Unified Soccer, Soccer, Flag Football, Floor Hockey and Track & Field. He is a great traveler with his family and also lived from age 9-12 in Montreal, Quebec. He's passionate about sports..a Bears, White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Rockies fan and for some reason loves USC. While in high school he met the best of peers and student athletes while managing the football and basketball teams all four years. He is currently enrolled in the school district Transition program and hopes to learn more about running his own business while he continues his education with a focus on education and community living.