Our Story

My name is Cassie. I am Stormie’s mom! Stormie is 20 years old and attends the 18+ program at Hardin Jefferson. Stormie is Intellectually Disabled and is still learning basic life skills.

When she was a senior in High School and about to graduate, the talks and meetings about planning for her future became more of a reality. She needed to start training for a job. Honestly, that whole job thing kind of threw me off. I could not imagine dropping her off somewhere to work, and rely on other people to keep her safe. It’s a crazy world out there! She is my TINY 75 pound, happy, trusting, and VERY naïve girl!

So NOPE! Not dropping her off for a job.

But I’m not going to let her lay around on her phone and watch TV every day either.

So what gives!?

My husband and I own/operate a local trucking business, so this gives me the ability to work from home and always be available to my children. So one Saturday, as we were sitting at her little brothers football game, I see the forever long line at the SnoCone truck and think….THAT'S PERFECT!!!

It’s right in front of my face!!

SHE NEEDS A SNOCONE STAND!

This was late September 2020. So by the middle of November, I had researched, bought a trailer, found a spot in Sour Lake, and opened that sucker up for winter. 😂😂

She loved it, but had a few obstacles with not having bathroom facilities and limited space. So, in February 2021, the opportunity for our actual storefront arose!  This is REALLY perfect! It was going to require a lot of work to get it the way we needed it, but it was soooo doable.

Thanks to the help from family and friends, we were able to get a drive thru built and everything else done, and opened up on March 8, 2021.

It was a HUGE success!

NOW…having a special needs child (adult) I understand and know first hand how challenging things can be. Knowing they need a job, but also knowing they need more supervision, help, and understanding than your average employee makes it hard for them to obtain gainful employment. So it has now become our goal to make Stormie’s Sno-N-Go a place where not only her, but other individuals with special needs can work.

So yes, sometimes our line may be a little slow, or your SnoBall may not be just perfect. But, please understand that someone, somewhere in the process, may need a little more time, patience, and understanding. We are all working really hard to overcome obstacles and accomplish simple tasks to make your SnoBall for you.

They are trying to learn, and we are trying to learn how to teach them!

Things that we all take for granted are things that may be huge for our friends working. We are trying to provide a fun, safe, and happy workplace for everyone. And at the same time deliver a quality product with a smile!

Another goal is for our customers to get to know us. Sometimes we have moods, attitudes, and distractions, but we are learning how to appropriately greet, serve, and interact with our customers.

If you catch one of our crew at the window we encourage interaction! Ask questions. Let your kids ask questions!!

Our goals are bigger than SnoBalls! 

We want our community to get to know, and be comfortable interacting with the special needs community. You will be blessed with the purest and most honest friendship you have ever had! 

We thank you all for supporting our SnoBall venture. We appreciate EVERY. SINGLE. ONE OF YOU! Even the grumpy ones. 😊

It’s the reality of the world and we are learning that the world meets NOBODY halfway. 

Disability or no Disability- you have to work hard and make your way!

We are Finding the Ability In Disability One SnoBall at a Time! 

NOW…with all that being said, let's fast forward to March 2022. We are still in the 18+ program, but time is running out. She, and others, will age out soon. 

We have been through an entire year of learning and growing with our snoball stand. 

What we have learned…

SnoBalls are for the most part seasonal. 

That affects schedules. We can’t work if there is no demand for the product we are selling. In turn that effects the day to day lives of our friends who rely heavily on schedules and routine. They may not understand why they are suddenly not coming to work anymore. They think they have been fired! (true story!)