Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandy Hruby.
Hi Sandy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
The dream and vision for Parents Inspired came from a strong passion of 4 people who have a desire to help families and children. We see a gap in what families are looking for and need, someone to walk along side them on their journey, to assist them in accessing community supports, filling out paperwork correctly, know the terminology of services and resources to ask for, and to build a trusting relationship with others for long term informal support. As a family resource center, Parents Inspired will serve as a community hub for family support promoting child, family and community strengths; building parenting skills; and providing access to community supports. Research has shown that children are more likely to thrive when they live in safe, sable, nurturing environments and in families that have the support and opportunities they need to thrive. Parents Inspired seeks to offer programs, services, and supports to families which promote child well-being and reduce risk factors for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s}. That was the fall of 2023. We applied for our 501c3 by December and received approval in August 2024. Everything fell into place and people were coming to us for all kinds of reasons, so we followed the needs of the community. People were in need of household items and clothing, we received donations from the community and gave back with no cost. We were approached by the Mid Minnesota Economic Development Commission to start a volunteer driver program, with the help of an AARP Community Challenge Grant we did that in August of 2025. In July of 2025 McLeod County United Way closed their doors, so we took on facilitating the Dolly Parton Imagination Library for McLeod County. We also saw a need for skill building and employment for youth and young adults with disabilities, so with the help of Central MN Jobs and Training we opened Inspired “dirty” Soda bar in November of 2025 run by youth and young adults with disabilites. We continue building connections in the community and are working collaborating with other nonprofits more needed programs in our community.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. As a nonprofit, funding programs and projects is an ongoing challenge. We have a pretty active board, but are always searching for volunteers to help with fundraising and reaching out to businesses and individual donors. We would really like to build a big and vibrant donor basis, and to work with other nonprofits on bigger fundraising efforts. Our other struggle has been recruiting volunteer drivers for the Ride program, which offers rides to persons 50+ or with a disability.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a Early Childhood Licensed Teacher by trade with a masters degree. I worked in Social Services for 5 years for a government agency and saw so many more needs that a government agency could not provide, so the nonprofit was the way to go. I serve at the Operations Director at Parents Inspired, supervise all the programs and work daily on community connections. My husband and I have 3 now adult children through adoption, 2 of them are diagnosed with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, as they were growing up I worked several part-time jobs so that I could be at home more with them. I also connected with many other parents with children with special needs. As I connected with parents, I started an ongoing support group, we have been together for over 15 years now, and have watched our kids all grow up together. What sets us apart from others is the journey that we have been on with our children getting them the supports they need in school, home and community has educated us on all kinds of services and that information we have been able to share with other parents and also with other individuals with disabilities trying to navigate the systems. Navigating the systems and finding resources is what we really specialize in when helping others.
Any big plans?
Parents Inspired is working with other nonprofits on exploring other project ideas that include a visitation center that parents may use when supervised visitation or a safe location to exchange children are needed. Also working on a transitional home or sober house for women coming out of treatment. Also, looking at ideas for youth programs in our community, and the possibility of a crisis nursery for our community. Working with other nonprofits makes programs and projects more manageable. Parents Inspired is always looking for ideas for fundraising, grant opportunities, and individual donors, with a potential big collaborative event to benefit as many as 10-13 nonprofits.
Pricing:
- Most of our services are free will donation
- Our rides program does charge rides by the mile.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.parentsinspired.info
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parentsinspired.org
