Molly’s Reach

11/11/2023

This is the first photo I took of Molly on the property ♥️ It was such a beautiful surprise when one of my best friends surprised us with a housewarming present of a beautiful painting she did of the photo 🥹 Thank you to the amazingly talented .art 💓 or Auntie Heron as she is referred to around here! We will cherish this painting forever!! 🌈

11/07/2023

Last March, while doing ‘The Artists Way’ there was a question asked of ‘what would you do if you weren’t too scared to do it?’ I immediately wrote ‘write and perform a one woman play’. I had never thought about doing one before but it just came to me and 7 months later we are only 10 days away from it happening. ✨

I’m still scared to put myself out there creatively but my reasons for wanting to do it far out weigh the fear. ‘Her Beautiful Brain’ takes you on the journey of my life as a mom with Molly but it’s also meant to make the audience think about their own life and how they may relate. It’s meant to start conversations and my ultimate intention is for an audience member to walk away and want to meet people with more compassion.

The reality is when you walk into a room there is no doubt many people in that room who are neurodivergent—i.e. who have ADHD, Autism, Tourette’s, Learning Disabilities etc. The more we learn from one another, the more understanding and acceptance will come and that’s a beautiful thing 💓.

*This photo was taken this morning after an hour long meltdown and the only thing that calmed Molly down was watching Bob Ross 😂. I’ve never been more thankful for Bob Ross!

🎟️Tickets in Bio

11/03/2023

It took…
Sean 37 moves…
Me ( Steph) 21 moves…
Gunner 8 moves…
& Molly 6 moves…

To get to our forever farmhouse and forever property. We are so thrilled to finally say that Molly’s Reach Retreat has found its forever home. We have A LOT of work to do. We have a lot of land to clear but we are determined to make this dream come true and just wanted to thank you all for your support—it will be a slow build but a mighty one with a lot of heart and care going into it.✨ Even though the original location of Big Baddeck didn’t work out, we want to thank everyone who supported us there especially and and Norm and Mary Campbell. 💓

We are thrilled to be in SW Margaree and can’t wait to meet more neighbours and be a part of what we keep hearing is a magical community—and we definitely feel that already!✨

I (Steph) will be doing a one woman play .art’s Togetherland Art Gallery 💕. The play is a one woman show that I am putting on as a fundraising effort for Molly’s Reach. After the play .art will be hosting a Q&A and I am really hoping we can gather as many people as we can —if you or anyone you know may be interested in the play please come on out! Ticket link in Bio! 💙

07/19/2023

A year ago today we moved to the most special island in the world: Cape Breton.

It’s so wild to think back on the year and and the ups and downs and the eventual excitement of moving to Big Baddeck.

I remember saying to Sean that we needed to change our vocabulary and stop saying ‘if we ever have the retreat’ to ‘when we have the retreat’ and that subtle shift really started us on our way to manifesting this safe haven we are embarking on building.

Trusting.
Seriously living in a place of trust and not the fear of the unknown. This is when it all shifted and we are so grateful.

Thank you for all of your support in the past few weeks —we are getting more and more excited for next summer when we hope to host families from all over the 🌍!

📸 our dear friend and also known as .art 💫

07/16/2023

TODAYS THE DAY!!! We are so so excited for our first Molly’s Reach Music and Art Soirée 💙 Molly wanted to bust out the megaphone this morning to show her excitement 😂

The last painting that will be available tonight is entitled ‘Inner Child’ and it was created by who is an incredible neurodivergent Artist who loves making sensory paintings. She told us: ‘I work with modelling paste to make textured art and love to paint with my hands and avoid brushes where possible’ 🎨🌈! How awesome is that? We will definitely have some sensory paintings for the kids to experience here at Molly’s Reach!

Thank you for your beautiful donation 💕💫 ‘Inner Child’ will be a available tonight and if you can’t make it and want to make a bid send us a message !

07/15/2023

Next up we have .higgins.art who donated these amazing paintings that go beautifully together entitled ‘Yellow Sunset’ and ‘Orange Sunset’ 🌅 We are so honoured to have Bailee donate these for our Silent Art Auction.

Bailee is currently completing her Bachelor of Education degree at CBU and we are so excited to have her come to Molly’s Reach to host Art workshops ! She is a Cape Breton gem.🎨

These two paintings will be at the show tomorrow night and if you can’t make it and want to make a bid just send us a message! 💫

*Molly’s new stuffed chicken that plays the ‘chicken dance’ song over and over all day long not included but we wish it was 😂😂😂

07/14/2023

The next piece for our Silent Art Auction was lovingly created and donated by an incredible artist

Chanelle entitled this painting ‘Strength’ 🌻Her words resonated with me when she said the following about the painting :
‘Planted together, growing together yet each uniquely individual’

We are all uniquely individual and there is a quote that we love that was said by Dr. Stephen Shore: ‘when you meet one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism’. 💙

‘Strength’ will be available to bid on at the show and also if it speaks to you—you can always send us a message and make a bid. 💫

Thank you a million times over 💕

07/13/2023

Thank you to the Education Department, Cape Breton University for highlighting our story !! I (Steph) am a super proud alumni of Cape Breton University!

Being a teacher really sparked my love for working with special needs kiddos 💙🌈. We hope to have the teachers in training come visit when we are all up and running !! 🙌🏼

Stephanie McNamara is a CBU Bachelor of Education alumna who is taking a decade of experience as an educator and turning to creative solutions to address a lack of vacation destinations that are designed with neurodivergent children in mind. Inspired by her sweet daughter, Molly, who has autism, Stephanie and her husband Sean are in the process of building accessible cabins and a sensory barn for a new retreat in Baddeck, Nova Scotia.

If this is a project near and dear to your heart, they are raising funds to assist with building costs on their GoFundMe page. The Tune and Song Circle Concert in Baddeck on July 16th will also take place in support of this incredible initiative! Visit the Molly’s Reach page Molly’s Reach or links in our bio to learn more!

Watch the interview about Molly’s Reach retreat on CTV News Atlantic: https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/molly-s-reach-cape-breton-couple-to-build-retreat-for-neuro-divergent-children-1.6470031.

Congratulations Steph and family! We wish you all the best with this incredible project!

07/11/2023

The Molly’s Reach fundraising show is quickly approaching this Sunday July 16th! We are super excited to not only have , and .band playing but also to have a silent auction simultaneously happening featuring beautiful art pieces from .art, and .higgins.art 💓
art made this beautiful painting called ‘The Reach of the River’. 🥹💕We are so grateful to Kristen for capturing the spirit of Molly’s Reach in this painting and if it speaks to you, you can make a bid at the show or send us a message ! 💕