Our guest this week is Hutch Matteson of Cumming, GA a pastor for 37 years and more recently the founder of The Pier Center Foundation, opening doors for adults with intellectual disabilities.

Hutch and his wife, Cindy, are the proud parents of four children; Julia (26), Jenna (28), Jonathan (30) and Josh (33), who has Down Syndrome.

We’ll hear about the poor advice the Mattesons received shortly after Josh's birth about all the things Josh would be unable to do. We learn about the supporting organizations that Josh benefited from, including: High Hope Early Intervention, Special Olympics, and their GA-based church, to name a few.

We also learn about how the Matteson family experience informed and inspired them in 2011 to create The Pier Foundation which has been opening doors of opportunity for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, including life & job skills training, and even some jobs, which provides these adults with different abilities a genuine sense of purpose, fulfillment, dignity and respect.

The most recent endeavor of The Pier Center Foundation is the creation of Ellie Mae Sweet Treats a dog treat business, started during COVID.

It's an uplifting and powerful story on this week's episode of the Special Fathers Network Dad to Dad Podcast.

Show Links -
Email – hutch@pierfoundation.org
LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/hutch-matteson
Facebook - http://facebook.com/hutch.matteson
Website – https://www.pierfoundation.org
Website - Elliemaesweettreats.com
YouTube – http://youtube.com/c/OneThingforMen/videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YA1FRvz6q4

Special Fathers Network -
SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Many of the 500+ SFN Mentor Fathers, who are raising kids with special needs, have said: "I wish there was something like this when we first received our child's diagnosis. I felt so isolated. There was no one within my family, at work, at church or within my friend group who understood or could relate to what I was going through."

SFN Mentor Fathers share their experiences with younger dads closer to the beginning of their journey raising a child with the same or similar special needs. The SFN Mentor Fathers do NOT offer legal or medical advice, that is what lawyers and doctors do. They simply share their experiences and how they have made the most of challenging situations.

Check out the 21CD YouTube Channel with dozens of videos on topics relevant to dads raising children with special needs - https://www.youtube.com/channe... Please support the SFN. Click here to donate: https://21stcenturydads.org/do...

Find out about Horizon Therapeutics – Science and Compassion Working Together To Transform Lives. https://www.horizontherapeutics.com/

Special Fathers Network: https://21stcenturydads.org/

Discover more about the Dads Honor Ride 2023 - https://21stcenturydads.org/2023-dads-honor-ride/