Freedom Commons in Naperville to Host Saturday Garden Market while Growing Dreams
April 12, 2010

Saturdays will be blooming this summer at Freedom Commons, the lifestyle center at the I-88 gateway to Naperville and home to Maggiano's, Morton's and the White Chocolate Grill. Freedom Commons will be the Naperville-area retail home to West Chicago's We Grow Dreams, a not-for-profit greenhouse and garden center providing a wide variety of premium quality plants and gardening accessories. We Grow Dreams was created to provide training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Team Members work side-by-side with the We Grow Dreams professional staff, learning valuable work skills, assisting customers, and contributing to the community while earning a paycheck. The Garden Market will be held from 9am - 1pm every Saturday from May 15 through October.

"This is a great opportunity to a offer prime retail location to an organization that serves so many Naperville area families with a vital service for young people with disabilities," says William Krug, developer of Freedom Commons. "We are pleased to offer them the space to sell their premium quality blooming plants, herbs, seasonal produce and garden decor and help the organization gain much needed exposure to the community. We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with such an important entity." We Grow Dreams will also provide materials to plant the many large planters throughout Freedom Commons.

Items for sale at the Garden Market will include annuals, perennials, herbs, houseplants, mixed containers, hypertufa planters with plants, fairy gardens, pumpkins, gourds and cornstalks, locally grown seasonal produce, birdhouses, customized garden bricks and pet memorial stones, craft items, handcrafted gift cards and bookmarks. Shoppers may drop off their own containers to be planted. All proceeds benefit programs of We Grow Dreams Greenhouse and Garden Center. The Grand Opening Celebration on May 15th will include entertainment, drawings and giveaways. Mayor Pradel will preside over the ribbon cutting at 10 am. Music will be provided by vocal ensembles The Fluffernutters and Main Melody from the School of Performing Arts, Naperville.

We Grow Dreams Greenhouse & Garden Center mission is to provide people with disabilities the opportunity to lead fulfilling lives and to train and work in a supportive, safe and caring environment while producing and providing products and services to the community. In this pursuit, we honor the concepts of human dignity, respect, hard work, fellowship and friendship. Donations and purchases help develop this new model for job training in the state of Illinois. The model can then be expanded into other enterprises intended to improve the lives of people with disabilities.