All in God’s “Thyming”

Time, and the timing of events, has always been a fascinating concept to me. “Don’t worry, things will happen according to God’s Time,”; “Just wait, your time is coming,” is what I’ve always been told. Timing, and more specifically God’s Timing, when it comes to “Thyme Away,” a local bed and breakfast in LaGrange, GA, has always been spot on. More recently, timing couldn’t have been better for New Ventures, Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment, and Bill and Karen Scarbrough.

When Bill and Karen Scarbrough remodeled the property into a bed and breakfast nearly 25 years ago, they had no idea of the legacy they were creating. “Thyme Away” brought them laughs, friendships, and too many stories to count. “Thyme Away” introduced the Scarbroughs to people of all walks of life and formed relationships that have stuck with them since the beginning. It wasn’t always Karen’s dream to own a Bed and Breakfast, but it quickly became a part of her life. Her fondest memories of owning the house are the people: “For the time that we were open, we had wonderful guests and still keep in touch with a lot of them.” 

Karen reminisced on one client from England: “He had worked with Milliken and had worked in LaGrange, and then he had also worked in Spartanburg and was pretty much retired, but contracted out, and he would come over once a quarter to stay for a week. And we would always know when Bill was coming because we would get packages from REI or golf clubs and whatnot. And we eventually got to know him pretty well because he would come and stay a week or so.” 

After nearly 20 years of being a part of the bed and breakfast business, The Scarbroughs decided it was time to retire and bring their business to an end. They put it on the market for sale, but no one took the bite. They knew it wouldn’t go back to being a bed and breakfast and didn’t want the property to go to waste. 

“We realized that it wasn’t going to sell. The market was not there for it. We wanted to do something right with the property and not give it to someone who would have let it go. So then, we started at looking at donating it.”

Different non-profits were tossed around in conversation, but then, as things happen, the timing fell right into place for “Thyme Away”. The Scarbroughs chose to donate the property to Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment, just as the organization was merging with New Ventures: “Really, it wasn’t so much that we were looking to donate to New Ventures, it was more to Calumet Center and it just all came together.”

New Ventures is “a non-profit organization that is a training facility for persons with disabilities and other barriers of employment.” The organization opened up in 1971 and was initially tasked with being a sheltered workshop for persons with disabilities. However, after joining forces with the Homeless Coalition in becoming a warming center for the homeless, New Ventures realized their calling to help others reached more than persons with disabilities. Barriers to employment include disabilities, and they also include “homelessness, lack of education, criminal history, lack of transportation, and lack of work experience.” 

Differing from The Exceptional Way, a recently formed nonprofit organization, New Ventures prides itself on training its participants solely for jobs. Anabeth Ivey, Marketing Specialist of New Ventures explained that: “The Exceptional Way is more like a day center that is catered more to persons with disabilities. That program is going to look more like social abilities and interactions. At New Ventures, it is a true job training facility.”

Now, throw into the mix Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment. Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment is another nonprofit organization that, according to its mission statement,  “helps women and children seeking recovery-support services for trauma, mental illness, or substance abuse.” Considering what New Ventures is doing, these nonprofit organizations go hand in hand because oftentimes, issues surrounding trauma, mental illness, and substance abuse are linked to employment barriers. 

Mike Angstadt, New Ventures’ Fundraising Consultant and Calumet’s board member, felt the same and presented the idea of merging the two organizations to Mike Wilson, the CEO of New Ventures. After several presentations, conversations, and signatures to seal the deal, the merging of two nonprofits, whose mutual mission is to increase opportunities for the marginalized in our community, came together. New Ventures is now the parent organization to Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment. In acquiring “Thyme Away,” the opportunities for New Ventures and Calumet Center for Healing and Attachment are endless. 

The Scarbroughs had no idea how timing would work to complete their story with “Thyme Away.” At the right time, these three different pieces of the puzzle have formed to become one. Imagine the possibilities these two nonprofits, along with a beautiful piece of property full of memories and relationships, can continue to provide in our community: a mission of job-skill training and helping those with barriers to create and write their own story.