Pictured, from left, are K21 Health Office Manager Angie Summers, K21 Health Grants Manager Jennifer Stewart, K21 Health President and CEO Rich Haddad, Magical Meadows Founder and Program Coordinator Tammy Stackhouse, Magical Meadows Executive Director Michael Kuhn and Kosciusko County Community Foundation Vice President of Programs Alex Hall. 

Text and Photos
By Madison Hart
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Magical Meadows hosted a press conference and celebration Thursday, Oct. 24, to celebrate and acknowledge the continued investment in the organization’s future.

“We don’t want Magical Meadows to have been here just as a mom and pop shop. We want it to be here forever. And we believe with your help and guidance, we’ll be able to do that,” said Magical Meadows Founder and Program Coordinator Tammy Stackhouse.

Eighteen years ago, Stackhouse founded Magical Meadows with a simple goal in mind — to help one of the children on her school bus get more out of his life as a young man with autism. All these years later, that young man is now an adult who still participates in therapeutic horseback riding at Magical Meadows each week, thus fulfilling and surpassing “Miss Tammy’s” original goal.

As it enters its 18th year, Magical Meadows has grown significantly and now serves over 150 individuals each year through therapeutic horseback riding. That growth would not be possible without the support and investment of the community surrounding the organization, including the K21 Health Foundation, Kosciusko County Community Foundation, and the Dr. Dane and Mary Louise Miller Foundation.

“We consider ourselves very blessed to have good organizations like you, serving our community,” said Kosciusko County Community Foundation Vice President of Programs Alex Hall at the celebration. Hall discussed the growth of the Community Foundation since its inception and announced that with its most recent grant, the Community Foundation has awarded $100,000 to Magical Meadows since 2010.

K21 Health President and CEO Rich Haddad added, “Magical Meadows is one of the key services in our community that make us special, make us unique, but also add to the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. As I was reflecting on the relationship (K21 Health has) had with Magical Meadows and the good work done in our community, it all starts with passion. Someone has to have passion for something they really care about, and that passion resides with Tammy Stackhouse.”

Haddad went on to say that passion leads to purpose and also requires partnerships to do “the good work” in the community. He said he hopes the latest funding will help support the “next phase” with the new leadership Magical Meadows Executive Director Michael Kuhn will bring to grow what Magical Meadows does. Haddad said K21 is happy it can play a part in Magical Meadows’ future.

Within the past month, all three of these staple foundations in the community have awarded grants to support the mission and growth of Magical Meadows in a variety of ways. Combined, their awarded grants total $50,000. Those funds will enable Magical Meadows to continue pursuing its vision of serving more people in new ways throughout the next 18 years and beyond.

“Make no mistake about it, big things are happening here. Like Miss Tammy said, ‘Buckle up.’ We don’t do things small, and we don’t do things slowly here. We’ve got passion, and we’ve got energy,” said Kuhn.

“We’re so excited for all of the things that are happening and the greater developments just on the horizon. Within the next year, I won’t give too many details, but we are going to launch a seven-figure capital campaign to expand our infrastructure, physical infrastructure and internal infrastructure of our campus and team, to ensure sustainable growth of our organization … In the meantime we’re always looking for ways to expand our services.”