Six women sit at a table at an otherwise empty restaurant. The Pines opened its doors on one of its off days just for the group to hold its first board meeting for the newly formed non-profit, Megan’s Kind Community. It’s inspired by one of the women that sits among them: Megan Heyen.
If you ask people that know her, the sound of joy and laughter just seems to follow wherever Megan goes.
“Megan has energy. She draws people and her love and her light for people, and wanting to help people is how the community has just grown to love her,” said Rachelle Cota.
The response the Mercer community has had to Megan has amazed Mary Jo Heyen, Megan’s mom.
Not knowing how people would treat her daughter was one of her biggest hesitations before their family moved from the Milwaukee area to Mercer in 2020.
“The mentality I had, or the knowledge I had, was Up North was narrow minded, sorry, that maybe they don't know about special needs as much as Milwaukee or as a big metropolitan city, and how will they look at her, and how will they treat her? And I was just slapped in the face. I mean, how wrong could I have been?” said Mary Jo.
That’s not to say that everyone immediately opened their arms.
When they first moved to the area, Megan worked with Highline, a group that supports employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
According to Mary Jo, her job coach went up and down main street to see if any would hire her. Margie and Erv Ervin, the owners of The Pines, were the only ones who said yes.
“Margie and Erv were the only ones who took a chance and said, ‘Yep, we will hire her,’ so that we're very thankful for that,” said Mary Jo. “She's really come a long way.”
Margie said Megan’s been the perfect fit as they needed help in the garden.
“When we found out, she wanted to do some stuff, do a little work, it was perfect. She comes in and she straightens chairs, and she cleans the tables, and she helps with the flowers, and cleans the bathrooms,” said Margie. “It's a perfect fit.”
“I'm an organizer person with the fire pit,” Megan added.
The longer Megan worked at The Pines, always saying hi to everyone, the more people got to know her.
And like how Mary Jo’s perception of a small town changed, Rachelle Cota believes many people’s perception of people with special needs has changed too.
“I bet you, if Highline walked up and down the street and asked these and businesses now, the story would be completely different. As far as to who, who would say yes. She's opened the eyes of a lot of people in the community,” said Cota. “Megan will be doing something, and they you kind of watch people, because I'm a people watcher, and you watch them, and they're watching her, and then all of a sudden, someone else's face lights up when they see her. Then it's like the connections start to happen.”
Between working at The Pines and starting “Be Kind, Be Nice” during the pandemic to help promote kindness in the community, Megan practically has celebrity status in Mercer.
“I don't think there's not a person that doesn't say hi to you. Everybody knows Megan. They'll go up and give you a big hug,” said Gail Orgas.
Megan’s push to spread kindness wherever she goes started back in high school.
“My school has a sign, not a bully,” said Megan.
“Megan's high school had the ‘Be a buddy, not a bully’ sign. That has stuck with her,” added Mary Jo.
Through Be Kind, Be Nice, Megan, her family, and community members have helped raise money and awareness for people and organizations in need.
They’ve supported families that had house fires or lost a family member to suicide. They’ve raised money for Mercer Fire and EMS, the local food pantry, and senior center.
They still plan to continue this kind of work, just now through a non-profit called “Megan’s Kind Community.”
“We've gone from the platform that got started, and we've grown into this blossoming, beautiful situation to help more and more in our community,” said Cota. “It is Megan's idea. The mission hasn't changed. It's just getting bigger.”
Mary Jo wanted to assure people that they can still reach out the same way as before if they or someone they know needs help.
Megan’s Kind Community will keep people updated through its website, and Facebook page.
