Founder Friday
The #FounderFriday series is written by our founder so that you, a member of our Welcomed Co-mmunity, can learn who we are, what we’re doing, and why. If you have any thoughts or questions, we’d love to hear from you!
On November 1, 2022, Welcomed Co™ was incorporated.
This day also marked the two year anniversary of the day my oldest son was laid to rest.
Just as I felt that All Saints Day was the most appropriate day to say goodbye to my precious son, it was the most fitting day for the company he inspired to be born.
Welcomed Co™ is a manifestation of love that lives on.
When our family moved to Alabama in 2017, our new community welcomed, accepted, and loved my son just the way he was—regardless of ability.
This community acceptance was a first for him, and transformative for our entire family.
When my daughter and I were naming our company, we based it upon the company mission and that transformative experience of being welcomed and accepted by a community.
We want YOU to know/feel that you are loved just the way you are.
OUR NAME
WELCOMED - Accepted, Appreciated, Wanted, Invited, Encouraged, Permitted. Valued.
CO - Community, Collaboration, Cooperation, Coordination, Communication, Compassion. “Co in Latin, the form of com- "together, with". Taken in English as a prefix meaning "together, mutually, in common.”
The Co in Welcomed Co™ is not an abbreviation for “company” as in a business.
The Co in Welcomed Co™ is about togetherness.
OUR LOGO
The interlocking Co’s illustrate that the meaning of Co is togetherness. The image invokes the solemnity of wedding rings as tokens of togetherness, commitment and vows. In the case of Welcomed Co™ as a public benefit corporation, there is a legal as well as moral commitment to our community, mission, and values.
The Cardinal - There is a saying that, “when cardinals are here, angels are near.” The cardinal is symbolic of my son, who also happened to love cardinals and the color red. The heart-wing is a symbol of a love capable of flight/action. It is also a reference to my son who wore his heart on his sleeve, and was known as a “friend to all” (this is engraved on the plaque of the memorial bench at his elementary school). The open door is a reference to the first of our company’s values: “We open doors for others.
