About Us
sparkbird.hands began with three brothers, one family, and more than two decades of learning what meaningful support really looks like.
We are Steve and Dr. Rebecca Morgan, parents of three sons on the autism spectrum.
Like so many families, our understanding of autism did not come from a textbook. It developed around our kitchen table, during school meetings and therapy appointments, through difficult days and wonderful ones, and through years of learning how differently each of our sons experiences the world.
Along the way, we learned something else: families cannot—and should not have to—do this alone.
Several years ago, we created SLO & Steady Management LLC. SLO stands for our three sons: Sam, Linus, and Owen. What began as a way to build the support our own family needed became something much more.
We assembled a team of caregivers who became part of our son's lives. Together, we developed and continually refined systems for companionship, supervision, tutoring, meal preparation, personal care, community activities, overnight support, and collaboration with other professionals involved in their care.
We also learned just how important the caregiver is.
The right caregiver does much more than supervise someone. They build trust. They learn routines. They recognize subtle changes. They celebrate accomplishments others might overlook. They discover interests, encourage independence, create memories, and become a trusted extension of the family.
And when you find people capable of doing that work, you should invest in them.
That realization became the foundation for sparkbird.hands.
We created sparkbird.hands to take everything our family has learned and build something capable of serving many families: an organization committed not only to exceptional care for individuals on the autism spectrum, but to exceptional training, support, opportunity, and careers for the people providing that care.
Our story began with our three sons.
Our hope is that it will ultimately help thousands of sons, daughters, parents, siblings, caregivers, and families.
Why sparkbird.hands
Was Created
There is a question many parents of a child with lifelong support needs eventually ask themselves:
What happens when I'm no longer here?
For our family, that question changed everything.
It led us to think beyond the support our sons need today and begin thinking about the lives they might lead decades from now.
Who will know them?
Who will understand their routines, their communication, their interests, their fears, and the things that make them happy?
And perhaps most importantly: who will care?
We came to believe that answering those questions begins long before a parent is gone.
It begins with the people standing beside the individual and the family today.
That is why we created sparkbird.hands.
The hands represent the people doing this extraordinary work: skilled hands, compassionate hands, understanding hands—the hands that help, teach, encourage, protect, and become an extension of the family.
Our goal is to recruit people with the character and potential to become exceptional caregivers, provide them with meaningful training and continuing education, compensate them as professionals, and give them opportunities to build careers doing work that matters.
Because if we want extraordinary people caring for individuals on the autism spectrum, we must build an organization where extraordinary people want to stay.
But sparkbird.hands is only the beginning of the vision.
As a child grows, their needs, interests, abilities, and dreams change. Imagine if the people supporting that child could grow alongside them—learning who they are, discovering what they love, helping them develop skills, creating experiences, and accumulating years of knowledge that does not have to disappear when they reach adulthood.
That is where Sparkbird enters the story.
Sparkbird is our companion nonprofit created to develop and operate residential homes for adults on the autism spectrum. Our long-term vision is to create a bridge between the two organizations: from respite and family support through sparkbird.hands to lifelong residential support through Sparkbird when that becomes appropriate.
Instead of beginning again with strangers at one of life's most difficult transitions, imagine arriving with years of knowledge already there—and perhaps even familiar caregivers standing beside you.
That is the future we are working toward.
sparkbird.hands is about the hands that support someone today.
Sparkbird is about what can become possible tomorrow.
Together, we hope to build a continuum of care in which individuals are known, families are supported, caregivers are valued, and every person is given the opportunity to discover their own potential.
Fledge. Fly. Soar.
Our Mission
At sparkbird.hands, our mission is to provide compassionate, exceptional respite care that strengthens families, empowers individuals on the autism spectrum, and builds a more inclusive community where every person is valued, supported, and given the opportunity to thrive.
We exist to lighten the daily responsibilities carried by families through trusted, personalized care delivered with dignity, patience, consistency, and genuine human connection. By building meaningful relationships with the children and adults we serve, we seek not only to provide families with moments of rest and renewal, but to become a trusted part of each individual's support system—learning who they are, what brings them joy, where they need support, and what they may someday become.
We are equally committed to the people who provide that care. sparkbird.hands invests in caregivers through meaningful employment, competitive compensation, ongoing education, and clear pathways for professional and career growth. We believe that when caregivers are valued, supported, and given opportunities to grow, they are better able to focus on what matters most: providing exceptional care.
Through dedicated caregivers, strong family relationships, community partnerships, and donor-supported innovation, sparkbird.hands seeks to transform respite care from a temporary service into a lasting source of trust, stability, growth, and possibility—supporting individuals and the people who love them through the many stages of life.
Board & Leadership
Rebecca Morgan
PHD, President & Chairperson Â
DR. REBECCA MORGAN HOLDS A PH.D. IN DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY AND SOMATIC STUDIES, ALONG WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN ENGLISH. THROUGHOUT HER CAREER SHE HAS SERVED AS A CHILDBIRTH EDUCATOR, DOULA, MASSAGE THERAPIST, AND PROFESSIONAL ACTRESS, BRINGING COMPASSION, COMMUNICATION, AND A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT TO EVERYTHING WE DO.
Steven D. Morgan
 Secretary & Treasurer Â
STEVE MORGAN HOLDS A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT AND SPENT MORE THAN THIRTY-FIVE YEARS LEADING RESTAURANT TEAMS IN POSITIONS RANGING FROM ENTRY-LEVEL EMPLOYEE TO GENERAL MANAGER. HIS EXPERIENCE BUILDING TEAMS, DEVELOPING PEOPLE, CREATING SYSTEMS, AND MANAGING COMPLEX OPERATIONS HAS SHAPED THE ORGANIZATIONAL FOUNDATION OF SPARKBIRD.
Joanna Lovinger
Co-Founder & ChairpersonÂ
Joanna builds bridges, connecting our volunteers, partners, and communities to create a strong, supportive ecosystem. She believes that community engagement is the heart of systemic change.