At Mendo LEAP, we believe that every child deserves the chance to play, regardless of age, size, or ability. Our mission is to provide families, specialists, and social workers with a clean, safe, and unique space where they can learn through play. Our goal is to serve as an outlet for all those who care for or work with children through access to our therapeutic and educational play equipment to achieve their objectives.

We believe that play is a fundamental aspect of growth and development. Every child possesses the right to play, and we recognize that when we cater to their developmental requirements in an inclusion-focused center with shared resources, we create an environment that empowers caregivers, nurtures students, fosters professional fulfillment, and enriches the family and community as a whole.

Mendo LEAP aims to empower parents and caregivers to ensure they thrive in Mendocino County. Our initiative targets caregivers struggling with connection, challenging behaviors, diagnoses, isolation, and overwhelm. We provide equipment, tools, support groups, local guest speakers, and encouragement to instill confidence and skills in caregivers, enabling them to thrive while caring for their children. Most of all we provide a place of belonging and acceptance.

Our focus on play is strategic, as it's essential for the child's development. We provide a nurturing environment where children of all shapes, sizes, and developmental stages can thrive. Children affected by various diagnoses or struggling to fit in can unleash their potential with access to specialized equipment, our library of therapeutic resources, group classes, and a safe, clean place to play. We offer a climate-controlled environment where children can work through adverse childhood experiences and blossom into future leaders of the community.

Mendo LEAP empowers professionals and specialists working with children in the community. We provide developmentally stimulating, inclusive, and educational play environments where professionals can come together and share resources. Our facility offers private offices, conference rooms, reception check-in/out, and equipment tailored to their unique needs. With this added layer of support, we attract professionals and specialists who can pursue their objectives and passions in serving the children of Mendocino County.

Enriching our community is at the core of our mission. By accommodating the unique needs of specialists and agencies, we attract more practitioners to the area, easing the demand on existing practices. We free up funding for agencies by providing equipment and facilities, enabling them to better impact the community with their talents and missions. Families empowered by our resources can improve the educational system, while our easy access to resources can enhance the physical and mental healthcare system. Overall, we believe that our facility's resources and support will have a ripple effect across the County, easing burdens, encouraging collaboration, fostering growth, and stimulating development.

The “It Takes A Village” Initiative was birthed by Mendo LEAP founder Megan Peterson.

Megan was 9 months pregnant with her second child when the infamous Covid shut down happened in 2020.

Covid brought a traumatizing uncertainty of the birth experience: Being told that they would take her baby away if she tested positive to this new and unknown sickness at birth. Being told she may have to give birth alone without her support system. Unsure where she would be allowed to give birth.

The shut down happened on March 15th of 2020 and she gave birth on March 25th of 2020 at 41 weeks. The birth of her baby was traumatic; his shoulder got stuck coming out, and he was born gray and not breathing for what seemed like eternity. After coming home from the hospital with her son, Megan faced the reality that her support system could not come to her side during the crucial newborn months. The cherry on the cake was the denial of work for the family’s mobile welding business because of the covid shut down.

• She saw their savings they worked so hard for dwindle with what turned into 4 months of no income and over a year of drastically reduced income.

• The uncertainty of whether they would lose their home they had worked so hard for—the same home they had used when serving the community as foster parents many years before.

• Then, the stress of considering whether they should start working again (welding) regardless of being allowed to or not by the powers that be. (As hard working, law abiding local small business owners, this was an extremely difficult decision to ponder.)

• The fear mongering in the media.

• The loneliness and postpartum mental health struggles.

• The PTSD (from ACEs—Adverse Childhood Experiences) that was suddenly triggered by child rearing and knocked her backwards in unexpected and paralyzing ways.

• The denial of necessary services because of their income, a decision that was based off 2019 numbers.

• All the local gathering places for children and families shut down.

All these things added up, leading Megan to develop severe postpartum anxiety, depression, and C-PTSD. The inability to find or afford quality local care for that postpartum anxiety, depression and C-PTSD only made things worse.

• The fear of reaching out for help.

• The denial and discrimination when she did reach out.

• The unavailability of quality health care.

• The confusing journey navigating insurance.

• The social stigma of mental health struggles and the added stigma of postpartum mental health struggles.

Megan was left feeling paralyzed. Her faith, resilience and love for her children led her to not let rejection or stigmas determine her or her family’s future. She vowed to do whatever she could to:

• End the stigma on postpartum mental health struggles.

• Raise awareness of Complex-PTSD from ACEs

• Contribute to strengthening the communities support of parents and caregivers to end the effects of ACEs on the children of the community.

• And finally, to not let rejection stop her from contributing to her family’s future.

She wrote the Mendo LEAP business plan around the “It Takes A Village” Initiative and set to work, determined to enrich the lives of families in our community.