New Company In Maplewood Serves And Hires Kids With Special Needs

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — In 2000, Pam Kattouf and Patricia Miller met on the playground when their children were toddlers. It was a few years before their sons Justin and John were diagnosed with autism.

When an occupational therapist told Pam that a lavender salt bath would relax Justin, she shared the advice with Pat. The pair soon discovered that the boys were calmed, more centered, and happier after a soak with salt and lavender baths.

Soon each mom noticed something else: their children enjoyed creating the bath mixtures. Looking to expand on the boys' sense of accomplishment, they branched out into other products.

In 2016, aware that employment opportunities for adults with autism were scarce, they created Beloved Bath, an internet company that would mail out the remedies.

As the business grew, the pair partnered with school based vocational programs: Garden Academy in West Orange, Somerset Hills Learning Institute, Millburn High School, and the EPIC School in Paramus.

Recently, the pair opened a manufacturing facility at 220 Rutgers St. in Maplewood (moving out of Pam's Maplewood basement) to create multiple workstations to better fulfill their mission: to provide meaningful employment to more people.

Now the company has 12 employees, 10 of whom have autism, plus 15 trainees who volunteer from the local school programs.

"I love working at Beloved Bath because it is such a creative and relaxing job," said Kelly Carpenter, who is on the autism spectrum. "I love the good vibes Beloved Bath has."

Dr. Laura Grow, the Director of the Garden Academy (a West Orange school for children with autism), said, "Beloved Bath provides meaningful opportunities for our students at Garden Academy to learn vocational skills that will allow them to gain employment and volunteer positions in adulthood."

Roger Askins of Millburn High School said, "They provide great opportunities for students to develop skills that will help them to be as independent as possible. We have partnered together to give our students projects to work on that are beneficial and important to their growth as workers and as individuals."

Beloved Bath donates a portion of each sale to local non-profit groups and businesses, which provide vocational training for people with disabilities, especially the Friendship Circle— LifeTown in Livingston.

The products can be found at https://belovedbath.com and in local stores such as Perch Home in Maplewood, Linda's Creative Gifts in New Providence, and Kitchen a la Mode in South Orange.

"We love Maplewood," said Pat, who has three sons in total, and Pam, who has two. "The diverse community has embraced our mission from the beginning."