Three Basketeers is based in Forsyth County and already planning to move into a larger space for the growing project.
Sandra Tanner, a special education teacher with nearly 30 years of experience in the classroom, says the tasks are ideal for the men.
“These people aren’t going to work a 9-to-5,” said Tanner, one of the founders of Three Basketeers.
Tanner is using her experience in the Fulton County classroom to help young people with developmental disabilities in her Forsyth community.
She and a few parents brainstormed and came up with the idea to start a gift basket business, called Three Basketeers, as a way to give three young men meaningful employment.
“Everybody wants to work. Everybody wants to feel like they’re making a contribution, and our kids do, too,” said Sue Swanson, Brett Swanson’s mother and CEO of Three Basketeers.
Now, the group spends much of its time putting together the handmade baskets, each carefully crafted in their workspace.
“This gives them time and space to show their abilities,” Tanner said.
The products are personal. Baskets include designs and handmade items from the basketeers or partner organizations that employ adults with special needs.
You can choose from the “Home, Sweet Home,” “Happy Birthday” or grief care basket, which was inspired by the sudden death of Brett Swanson’s dad in 2018.
The basket includes a journal with Swanson’s heart wreath design.
Each item sold is a gift in return.
“My mission is to employ every adult with a developmental disability in Forsyth County and North Fulton who wants a job,” Sue Swanson said. “Presume competence. Just because somebody can’t speak does not mean that they are not thinking and understanding everything that’s going on.”
You can visit the Three Basketeers' website to buy a basket or gift or donate to help the organization continue to grow.
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