Our Mission

To serve the Lord by creating sustainable therapy programming that promotes participation in healthy occupation to elevate the dignity and quality of life of those living with disabilities across the world.

Guided by St. Thérèse of the Little Flower, and sustained by the Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, Little Flower Catholic Therapy Missions seeks to reveal the tangible love and mercy of Christ to every person entrusted to our care.

Who We Are

Little Flower Catholic Therapy Missions is a Catholic, non-profit [501(c)(3)] organization comprised of occupational, physical, and speech therapists as well as assistive technology professionals and those we train. We serve internationally, bringing therapeutic opportunities to people who lack resources. Our work flows from a place of prayer.

Our Story

Shannon, Carla, and Sarah all started serving in Jamaica over 15 years ago as lay people with Mustard Seed Communities, a group of Catholic homes for children and adults with special needs. As they completed their training in Occupational Therapy their missions shifted to a therapeutic focus.

After being introduced to Missionaries of the Poor, Shannon and Carla visited for the first time in 2014. The love and hard work the Brothers and Sisters of MOP gave to those they served was apparent. It was that same love and hard work that showed their potential for more, for increasing the dignity and quality of life for those in their care. It has been an exciting partnership as they challenge us to grow in our love for the Lord, and we challenge them to grow as caregivers.

Meet the Founders

Shannon Hillestad

Shannon has been volunteering in Jamaica since 2005, citing her experience there as the biggest influence in becoming an Occupational Therapist. She has worked in outpatient pediatrics, home health and is currently working in acute care.

Carla Heinsch

Carla graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 2001 with a B.S. in Occupational Therapy and from Franciscan University in 2011 with her Masters in Theology and Christian Ministry. She primarily works in outpatient pediatrics. Her first trip to Jamaica was in 2001 and has been back many times since.

Grant Hillestad

Grant graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND with his Masters in Occupational Therapy. He has worked in post-acute rehab, home health, acute card, and currently works as a wheelchair specialist.

Sarah Gingrich

Sarah went on her first mission trip in Jamaica when she was 15. Fifteen years and 12+ trips to Jamaica later, Sarah is able to use her expertise as an occupational therapist in pediatrics, feeding, and neurological rehabilitation to serve the poor.

Our Projects

1/6

The pediatric population of the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) presented with severe physical deformities, contractures and bed sores. Some of the diagnoses noted were cerebral palsy, hydro/microcephaly, traumatic brain injury, and more. Most of these children were bed bound due to lack of suitable wheelchairs. The adult and geriatric populations of MOP presented with less physically severe positioning needs, but nevertheless required wheelchairs for mobility. With the help of Assistive Technology Professionals, we were able to evaluate each resident, collect and modify used wheelchairs to provide a specialized wheelchair for those in need, or purchase standard wheelchairs for the less physically involved. These chairs have allowed the residents to further interact with their environment while providing optimal support and positioning to reduce time spent in bed. Our continued goals include: training in wheelchair maintenance, providing new used chairs for new residents and those who have outgrown their current chair, creating more wedges for bed positioning, and creating affordable, supportive bath benches.

1/6

Our primary goal as an organization is to increase meaningful activity in each resident's daily routine. Our most recent project focused on one of the adult homes for the women. This home has a diverse population, but many have cognitive and/or emotional impairments. We began with cognitive testing using a modified version of the Allen Diagnostic Tile Tray Assessment. Based on the residents' scores, we introduced appropriate leisure activities including: dominoes, ring toss, lacing, coloring, fidget toys, and more. We hope lay volunteers will continue to lead these activities under the direction of the Sisters who run this home. By increasing meaningful activity in the residents' days, we hope to improve their quality of life. Our continued goals in activity development include: assessing functional cognition of all adult residents, providing appropriate activity kits to each home, and training the caregivers in how to lead activity groups.

1/3

The population of children and adults at MOP require very specialized care. The vast majority of the Brothers and Sisters and volunteer workers who serve as caregivers receive only basic caregiver training. We have identified a need for more in depth training on therapeutic interventions. Based on the needs of the residents, we developed our own therapy manual including chapters on: The Importance of Activity, Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Down Syndrome, Feeding, and Ergonomics. We've completed education in the homes with the brothers and community volunteers. To improve efficiency of education we've tried to target the novices during their training. Our continued goals for education include: continuing to provide education to the novices in addition to advocating for designated therapy staff to whom we could provide more in-depth education.

Our Patron

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, born in 1873, entered the Carmelite convent at age 15 and lived a hidden life marked by simplicity, trust, and love. Though she never left the cloister, her deep desire for souls and her “Little Way” of doing small things with great love made her a powerful missionary at heart.

She believed that prayer, sacrifice, and everyday acts of love were the foundation of missionary work. Through her writings in Story of a Soul, she taught that holiness is found not in great deeds, but in offering every small action to God with love.

St. Thérèse was canonized in 1925, named Patroness of Missions in 1927, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997 — the youngest ever to receive this title. We entrust our apostolate to her intercession, asking her to guide and protect our work as we seek to serve with her same spirit of simplicity and love.

"The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”