BEXLEY—There's a social enterprise in central Ohio that has created its own pattern for success.

• Keepsake Theme Quilts runs primarily on American Sign Language, creating an inclusive environment for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals
• The company has made over 10,000 quilts
•  Keepsake Theme Quilts has employed more than 100 people

Keepsake Theme Quilts creates memory-filled treasures, while investing in a community need.

In this case, it’s employing and assisting the deaf and hard-of-hearing. 

It’s an initiative that’s weaving its way into the hearts of its customers. 

“Director and Founder Meredith Crane, she has two children that are deaf, and raising two children, she saw the struggles that deaf people have, so she came up with this idea to form a non-profit where deaf people could come and work free of communication barriers and we’ve been open 20 years now,” said Shelley Gogen, Keepsake Theme Quilts employee.

The goal was to create a product that was both hands-on and visual.

And making and selling personalized t-shirt theme quilts was a perfect fit. 

“We made that quilt…the t-shirts arrived and we processed the t-shirts and we communicated with the customer to make sure it was exactly what they wanted and as you can see this one is a breast cancer theme so it all t-shirts that have to do with breast cancer and it’s really cool because we have appliqués,” said Gogen.

Liz Piper was adopted from China when she was six months old.

She has worked at Keepsake Theme Quilts for 5 years and says their set-up creates an environment that encourages collaboration and allows them to be self-sufficient when dealing with customers. 

“We are a barrier-free workplace, so as you can see, everything is very visual here, we have open work spaces, it’s easy to get feedback from our coworkers,” said Piper. “We’re also able to communicate with our customers with the video phone.”

Shonna Collins has been working at Keepsake Theme Quilts for 10 years and wears many hats—overseeing much of the production and daily tasks. 

Responsibilities she said would not have been possible in her former work environment. 

“In the past I worked in retail and there were so many communication barriers because there was no one else that knew how to sign, so I would either have to write back and forth to them, and often times I felt left out of the conversations…everybody else seemed to know what was going on and I either didn’t know of I was the last person to know what’s going on…where as here, I know everything that’s going on because everything is open to me,” said Collins.

Gogen, who is hard-of-hearing, has worked at Keepsake Theme Quilts for the past decade and has seen first-hand both the difficulties the deaf can face, as well as the benefits to a work environment that stitches together all aspects of their lives.

“Their lives are very challenging, but to come here and be able to sign and all of their friends are signing, they’re all friends outside of the office, they’re given responsibilities they may not be given in a work place of hearing people, they make a good pay check, and they don’t rely on any assistance from the government because they can come here and work a full-time job,” Gogen said.