Once Upon a Seed...
Story & Seed is a vision for a community-rooted bookstore in Tigard, Oregon where books and people are cultivated together to create opportunity, belonging, and lifelong learning. We will provide inclusive access to community work-shops, skill-building, and volunteer or employment pathways for individuals who experience communication differences, disabilities, or other barriers to traditional job training, while also serving the broader community through books, programs, and shared learning experiences. At its heart, Story & Seed is about expanding access: to books, to skills, and to a community where everyone has room to grow
Help Plant the First Seed
Every big dream starts small... with a single idea, a little courage, and someone willing to believe in what it could become.
Story and Seed is still in its beginning stages. Before we can open our doors, bring books into the hands of children, operate engaging community events, create opportunities for individuals with communication differences, and become a community bookstore, we first need to plant the seed.
We are currently raising seed money to establish Story & Seed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and build the foundation for what comes next. These first gifts will help cover the legal and operational costs of getting Story & Seed off the ground and create the capacity needed to begin building programs, partnerships, and a sustainable future.
You don't have to fund the whole dream. You can simply help plant the first seed.
Whether you give $25, $50, $100, $500 or make a larger investment in this vision, your support helps this nonprofit grow.
And someday, when Story & Seed is a thriving community space, when a child chooses a book, when a young person with a communication difference gets their first opportunity to build job skills, or when you participate in an engaging book club, you will be a part of the story.
Help us plant the first seed.
Venmo: @svann82
PayPal: https://paypal.me/svann82
Email at storyandseedcommunity@gmail.com
A Future Tigard Nonprofit Bookstore & Community Growth Space
Story & Seed is a future community space in Tigard, Oregon where learning, opportunity, and connection are cultivated together. While rooted in a thoughtfully curated bookstore, our vision extends into plant propagation and sales, hands-on workshops, book clubs for all ages, and inclusive skill-building and employment opportunities designed for individuals who experience communication differences, disabilities, or barriers to traditional job training.
At its core, Story & Seed exists to expand access—to meaningful work, to learning experiences, to fun, and to community participation that builds dignity and independence in those seeking it. Our model also includes sliding scale access and donation-supported programming (including products for sale) to ensure inclusivity for individuals and families with limited resources.
We are also developing a long-term vision of community impact through school partnerships, including efforts to help ensure every child can participate in school book fairs by receiving support to select a book of their choice. Through books, plants, skills, and shared space, Story & Seed is designed to cultivate something lasting for the entire community.
Rooted in Community Experience.
Inspired by Life.
Story & Seed was born at the intersection of Sarah Vann's lifelong dream of opening a bookstore and her career as a speech-language pathologist, nonprofit founder, and community advocate. As a proud Tigard resident of nearly 20 years and mother of four children, Sarah has spent more than a decade helping individuals and families build communication, skills, and opportunities for meaningful participation in their communities. She is also the co-founder and Executive Director of Camp More, a Pacific Northwest nonprofit serving youth who stutter since 2016.
Throughout her work with children, teens, and adults, Sarah observed two persistent gaps in the community. First, individuals with communication differences, learning disabilities, neurodivergence, and other barriers often face significant challenges accessing meaningful employment opportunities. Second, during her eight years working in public schools, she witnessed far too many children miss out on the simple joy of choosing a book at a school book fair because their families could not afford it.
Story & Seed was created to address both challenges. By combining a community bookstore, inclusive employment opportunities, educational programming, and giving initiatives, Story & Seed aims to create a place where learning is accessible, work is supported, and every person feels welcomed and valued. Whether through a first job, a free book, sliding-scale services, or a gathering space for neighbors, Story & Seed exists to cultivate belonging, opportunity, and community for all.