(upbeat theme music) - Celebrating vibrant people, captivating places, and remarkable things.

This is "Living West Michigan."

(upbeat theme music continues) - [Narrator] Celebrating our vibrant community together.

Powered by your dedicated support.

Thank you.

- Paws With A Cause is a nonprofit organization that provides service dogs for people with disabilities.

They offer custom training for each client, ensuring that the service dog meets their specific needs.

Let's go meet Madge, Cooper, Dolly, Kingsley and the people that make it all happen.

- If you have extra love to give raise a puppy for a good cause.

Let's go visit Paws With A Cause.

(gentle music) Tell me about Paws With A Cause.

- Yeah, so Paws With A Cause is a nonprofit organization based right here in West Michigan, but we serve the nation and we've been around since 1979.

We're actually one of the first organizations in our country that started training and placing service dogs for people with disabilities.

We actually have placed over 3,300 service dogs in our 40 plus year history.

- How important is what you do?

- It is critical in terms of helping people live their best independent life.

We take it for granted, being able to get out of our house and hop in the car and run to the grocery store and all of those things.

And if you're a person with a disability, a dog that can be custom trained to respond to those needs means that you get to do all the best things in your life.

I love meeting a client six months later when they're like a team and then they just come in and they're standing up a little bit straighter.

That dog is right next to 'em.

It's just this really powerful experience for everybody and it's just really life changing.

- How can it be that I understand, the human that receives their service animal doesn't have to pay?

- No.

One of the things that we wanna make sure is that our dogs get in the hands of the people who need them.

And we actually invest $35,000 in a dog to get it from birth, to training, to that person.

So that's really cost prohibitive for most people, let alone somebody who maybe would be on a fixed income.

So there's a $25 application fee, but otherwise we don't charge our clients anything.

- All right, tell us about Madge.

- Madge is my ambassador dog.

She is actually really special.

She went out and actually served a client for about two years.

Unfortunately, her client passed away from cancer and the family couldn't keep her, which is so unusual, but Madge ended up coming back to PAWS 'cause we'll always take one of our dogs back.

So I said, well, how about if she becomes my ambassador dog?

And we can go out in the town and show people what our dogs can do.

So she is our official spokesperson for PAWS or Spokes dog, I guess.

- How unique is Paws With A Cause?

- We are in the top third of organizations and the number of dogs we can place every year.

So, we always talk about the need so far outpaces what we can serve.

We get over 400 qualified applications every year.

We can serve maybe 25% of those people.

So we know that the need is out there and we're just one of the few that's been doing it and we're one of the first.

(gentle music) - So what does Cooper do for you?

- He'll pick up stuff that I drop, like if my phone drops on the ground, he can pick that up.

Paper, a pencil, if I drop some coins, he can pick that up.

My wallet, if I drop that, he could pick that up.

And then the other things he does is like when I get up in the morning, he can pull me up into a sit up position so then I can stand up with my walker easier.

We have a door at home that has straps on it where he can open it and close it from the outside.

But having him, is just a joy to have.

I think a service dog for somebody that's got a disability is really a wonderful thing because it does help that person survive out in the world.

He usually lays by the door where I go out and wait for me to come back in.

He's always looking for me, he feels lost, I believe when I'm not there.

And I'm sure if he's not around, I'll feel lost.

Yeah, it's a true bond and plus it's the companionship of having such a wonderful helper.

(gentle music continues) - A staff trainer is responsible for teaching dogs custom tasks that they then match with a client that could have a various disability.

It is really important for the trainer and the dog to be one-on-one together and communicate together because every piece of the dog's training is custom fit to the client.

The breeds we use are happy to do their job.

They're all retrievers, so their job is to pick things up and bring them to people or to tug on things.

And they are very reinforced by physical praise and verbal praise, but not as much as food.

I was working with Dolly, and Dolly is being trained for a client that is nonverbal.

So what you saw was us practicing her nonverbal cues for retrieve sequence.

(gentle music continues) My job essentially is to help guide our foster puppy raisers through all the highs and lows of raising a foster puppy through PAWS.

So this is Kingsley, he's about nine months old.

He's a standard poodle.

He's in training in the foster puppy program right now.

So he does classes a couple times a month and does different outings to get different exposures to different things in day-to-day life in a variety of different environments.

So going places like grocery stores, libraries, coffee shops, that kind of thing.

It's very important for our foster puppies to be able to make sense of the world and get exposure to different things that they might encounter someday later on with their client.

We have a bunch of different options for raising as well.

You can go to our website or give us a phone call.

It's very easy to apply.

Foster puppies will be in the foster program for about a year or more and we understand that's a very big commitment for a lot of people.

So we have different possibilities for raising options.

Whether you want to start a foster puppy for the first six months, if you love the puppy stage, once they're older, then you can pass that puppy along to another raiser.

It's a long time commitment, but there are ways that you can really still get involved.

Even if you can't commit to raising a puppy for the next year.

It is life changing.

Having been a former foster raiser before starting here, my first foster puppy I ever raised went out to be an assistance dog for a client.

And being able to actually talk to her now afterwards, it blew my mind how important the work that I did with that foster puppy was for her life.

It's really amazing to be a part of that process.

(gentle music continues) (bell ringing) - Let's keep the fun going now with some true Olympic spirit.

Special Olympics Michigan host world-class athletes from near and far as they go after the gold and winning can look different for everyone.

Kylie took a visit to the group's United Sports and Inclusion Center to chat with some of our local athletes and key players in the Special Olympics movement.

- The Special Olympics have been around since 1968 empowering people with intellectual disabilities to seek new heights in their sports and grow lasting friendships along the way.

But did you know that here in West Michigan, we host the world's largest Special Olympics training facility?

Today we're talking with Special Olympics Michigan to learn more.

(gentle music) - Special Olympics Michigan is really an inclusion movement and we utilize the power of sports to change the world.

We wanna essentially end discrimination for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

In the summer of 2019, we purchased a former high school with the goals of transforming it into a Special Olympics Michigan training competition facility.

It had multiple gymnasiums, got an auditorium and on 17 acres.

So it is the world's largest Special Olympics facility that's dedicated to athletes in training.

We never really had our own place to practice.

So for our athletes, anytime they would go to a competition, it's because we were renting out a facility and they were practicing on someone else's fields and gyms.

The other great component is that is it's not just a special Olympics Michigan building, we have the word inclusion in there because we want this to be a place in welcoming from others.

We have 10 amazing other organizational partners that have space right here that run programs and services.

So someone may be able to come and have a basketball practice, but they wanna know about benefit services or independent living.

So you have disability advocates of Kent County.

They're wondering, maybe, what's the step for residential services?

There's a Thresholds, families who have a loved one, child, a support member on the autism spectrum.

We have two amazing organizations, Autism Support of Kent County and Autism Alliance.

So really it's a spot for where families can come in and learn and support.

So trying to take some of the ease out of navigating some difficult systems.

The innovation, the programmatic collaboration has been fantastic.

And so we really want it to be a spot for Special Olympics Michigan, but really the entire West Michigan community as well.

One of the great things about Special Olympics is that there's something for everyone, right?

So we have athletes that are just learning a specific sport and it's individual or team sport and we have skills and developmental.

Then one of the things that separates us from sports organization is divisioning.

And so we have athletes at a extremely high level of competition and again, athletes that are learning and all of them is working to strive to be better and compete and train.

Just next year in February is the Special Olympics International World Winter Games, 2025 Torino.

And we have four athletes from Michigan that are gonna make our state so proud, that they're gonna be competing in alpine skiing and cross country skiing.

And so we love it that it's a grassroots level organization, but also has opportunities for the world to see, our athletes.

(gentle music) The athletes are really the true leaders of Special Olympics and the Special Olympics movement.

I get to have the nice title, but every day I'm the one that's learning from our athletes and leadership and perseverance and grit and joy.

We've got fantastic athlete leaders all throughout our state programs.

(gentle music continues) - Currently I play in basketball, but after basketball, I'm gonna get into volleyball too, this year.

I got involved because I have a disability and sometime it's hard for me to try to focus on schoolwork and all that.

Special Olympics helps me get my mind off of it and it helps me stay active and healthy and move around a lot.

I've been with SOMI for 10 years I started out at eighth grade.

For years we traveled around, we didn't really have a place to call home, but now this building, SOMI, it's nice because we can call this home.

For being an athlete leader helps guide the way for all the other athletes lighting the torch, giving that pride and hope and feels nice.

Hopefully playing here and playing basketball and guiding them, help him make easier in life.

(gentle music continues) - So Brittan, he was the first athlete who was employed by Special Olympics Michigan at this facility.

And it's really cool because I'll see him during the day he's always got a great smile on his face and the staff love being around him.

And then I'll see him at poly hockey practice and he's a different person because he is out there and going down the court and slapping shots and so it's really cool to be able to see the different sides.

(gentle music continues) - My dad's family, not my mom's side of the family grew up bowling, doing tournaments and then also they were big on just, it was their passion, so that's when I started.

When I was born, I started to think of, okay, what do I wanna do?

So I did bowling for a lot of years.

So bowling was the biggest part of our family.

(gentle music continues) SOMI was a big part of my life because I interned here, but not only in the building, but in three different organizations, so it's important because not only in my building friendships, but a lifetime and I feel loved around people that are in the building.

Being around here makes me a better person every day.

So it makes me not only a better athlete, but a better teammate and a better staff member.

(gentle music continues) - As we say, special Olympics Michigan, we're not a charity, our athletes aren't looking for a handout, they're looking for a hand up.

Our goal is that other programs will see this by example.

The value of collaboration, the value of partnerships, the value of athlete led leadership.

And that's what I'm really excited for.

We have over 20,000 athletes who participate in sports and activities, but we don't have that without coaches, without chaperones.

And so really encourage folks to connect with Special Olympics Michigan to get involved.

And as we continue to expand, so expand with this beautiful facility.

We have over 500 schools here in Michigan that are Unified Champion Schools that have programming of Special Olympics.

But it also means we need more volunteers to get involved because they're really the backbone of the services that we have.

- We, of course, wish those fantastic athletes the best of luck as they continue to train right here in West Michigan.

Okay, so if you are part of the gluten-free gang, then this next segment is right up your alley.

Papa Chops eatery in Grand Rapids says they're fun-food-friendly boasting an entirely gluten-free menu that everyone can enjoy.

Join me as we explore and taste test this local restaurant.

(upbeat music) - Order up.

- So Aaron, let's talk about Papa Chops.

Is this first of all, the only totally gluten-free restaurant that we're aware of in the Grand Rapids area?

- I think it's actually more than that.

I think I'm the only quick service restaurant dedicated gluten-free in all of Michigan.

And to be frank, I've never found one outside of Michigan so we might be the first, just period.

- Let's start with your story.

Why is there a Papa Chops?

- I was diagnosed as a celiac late in life and found it beyond challenging to live a gluten-free lifestyle.

The only medicine for celiac disease is gluten-free food.

So I have to maintain a vigilance in everything I eat.

But when you go out to eat, you lose control of that.

It's not my kitchen, it's going back and other people are preparing it.

You are very limited on your experience.

Your experience is caution.

It's not indulgence, it's not getting to enjoy the food.

It's "Am I gonna get sick?

What's gonna happen this time?"

And that's a terrible way to eat out.

- And even the smallest amount of gluten in your food could cause a serious reaction, right?

- Yes, so the FDA mandates that gluten-free has to have 20 parts per million or less.

So the irony is, although the gluten-free movement has benefited from some attention for celiacs, it's actually backwards.

Because what's gluten-free is not celiac safe because 20 parts per million is too much.

- What was it that made you say, "You know what I'm gonna have to take this into my own hands and figure this thing out?"

- I had been in business, but I had actually never worked in a restaurant before.

So this was a large deviation from my past.

The early diagnosis of celiac, I not only discovered I can't eat anywhere, but my relationship with food took a massive turn.

Food represented something negative because every interaction with food was a failure.

I realized that this cannot be an Aaron problem this is a broader problem.

And that's what Papa Chops is, is what does it look like if someone stops in their tracks and says, "You know what we're not moving forward until we fix this."

- [Jennifer] So what's behind the name Papa Chops?

- Once I decided we're going to take this route and I started going to school, the first thing that we work on is sauces and soups and knife skills.

So you're chopping all the time.

And I'd come home and my children noticed a improvement in my mood.

I'd be singing, I was happy again.

And because I would just constantly cut up vegetables, they gave me the alter ego of Papa Chops.

And I thought if you're going to do something that is absolutely out of bounds, like creating a gluten-free restaurant, you gotta give it a really crazy name.

- And so your kids basically came up with the name they did for this?

- They did, yes.

- I love that.

I see you have a wall of crayon drawings and is that from children who have come here?

- That's from children who have never eaten at a restaurant that is come from kids that have never had a mac and cheese at a restaurant, never had fries, never had a mozzarella stick, never sat down with their family members and ate the same food.

That is a big thank you from a lot of kids that are excited.

But for me, the trophy is always giving these kids what they deserved all along to just be a normal kid.

- So this is an inclusive environment.

So for those who really are on that edge of, I really need this to be 100% gluten-free, - Yes.

- That's what you provide.

- I am reassurance to the people that just want to be normal and eat normal.

I am also the last line of defense for the people that have all but given up on food.

They've given up on the food industry.

They're ready to sign off and just eat at home and not participate anymore.

I am the chance for them to see it can change.

- I was diagnosed celiac probably three or four years ago now.

And so this is just the way that I have to eat and Papa Chops actually tastes good.

So this is why I come here.

I love a good breaded piece of chicken that tastes good and that I actually enjoy.

The days that I'm craving chicken tenders, mozzarella cheese sticks, a good greasy fried meal I like to come here.

I actually saw it on TikTok one day.

A girl who's gluten-free in this area posted it.

And so I came here and tried it for the first time, probably about a year ago now, and I loved it.

- Now let's just talk about your food.

What are the options and the offerings that you have on your menu?

- I have staples, as a quick service joint I try to be convenient.

I have a large assortment of burgers.

I have wraps.

It took a long time to find a gluten-free wrap.

And we got amazing gluten-free wraps.

We got pizzas, we got salads and we got all sorts of finger food.

Chicken tenders to mozzarella sticks to chili cheese fries to even a Canadian classic poutine.

- All gluten-free?

- All gluten-free.

- All make from scratch or- - All made from scratch, yeah.

Papa Chops needs to be whatever Grand Rapids wants it to be.

It can't be what Aaron Muller wants.

It has to be what Grand Rapids wants.

And that's the ultimate objective.

- Wonderful.

Well congratulations on what you're doing here.

So thank you for allowing us to come in today.

- Yeah, appreciate you.

- Now it's time to talk with the one and only Mr. J Schwanke about one of my favorite things in the world and that is flowers.

Let's see what he's showing us today on "Living in Bloom."

(upbeat theme music) - So we've bought a bunch of flowers.

Now what do we do?

That's one of the biggest questions that I always get.

And I wanna make sure that I give you some good steps that are gonna help you create a beautiful bouquet.

We buy a bunch of flowers and we bring it home from the flower seller.

And in that bunch of flowers, there's typically a little packet like this.

This little packet is for a liter of water and there's instructions on the back so that we know exactly what to do.

So I save liter bottles just like this so that I can use those to create flower food water for my flowers.

I'll cut this off.

And so this whole packet goes inside that liter of water.

Now some people wanna be a little bit frugal about it and not use the whole packet, or maybe they want to use more than that.

That's not a good idea.

Always do it per the directions on the back of the packet.

I shake this up and then I add it to my vase.

I already have water in here today because I got ready to show you this, but this is great to keep in the refrigerator so that it'll keep it cool and I can use it to top off my bouquet.

Now this is our vase.

These are our flowers.

That's not gonna work.

So let's figure out exactly what we're gonna do.

My favorite trick is called the shortcut.

And the shortcut is also a shortcut for making beautiful flowers.

So this is gonna look great if my flowers are about that long.

So I've measured those with my hand.

I'm gonna take my bypass cutter which is the best thing to cut flowers with.

I never use a scissors and I always make sure I remove any of the leaves that are gonna fall below the waterline.

So after I've cut it, I'll grab a few of those leaves out and then we drop it into this bouquet.

Now you'll notice that it went out a little bit far and I wanna show you that it's okay to make a second cut.

It's okay to come back in here and say, "You know what?

I wish that was just a little bit shorter."

And we'll drop it down inside there and see, look at how much better that looks.

I've got those flowers a little bit shorter.

Or if you have one flower, you can even bring that out and trim it off a little bit shorter and stick it back in as well.

This is a great trick because the shortcut is always an easy way to make sure that we'll have beautiful flowers every time.

Every day, because our vase, we can't see that water go in and make sure to check it with your finger.

If it needs more water, get our trusty vase of flower food water and go in and top off the flowers.

I love a bouquet like this because it's full of beautiful long lasting flowers.

We have roses and chrysanthemums, we have alstroemeria, which is also known as the restaurant flower 'cause you see it all the time in restaurants because it lasts so long.

Statice, daisy pompoms and even a carnation, dianthus green trick.

We're gonna be able to enjoy 'em as long as possible.

So remember, the shortcut is a shortcut to beautiful bouquets and a great way to be "Living in Bloom."

(upbeat theme music) - More content can be found on WGVUs YouTube channel or the PBS app.

Be sure to also check out wgvu.org/livingwestmichigan, where you can submit ideas for future features on the show.

Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Jennifer Moss, and this is "Living West Michigan."

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