In the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento, Community Shop Class serves as a hub for neurodivergent learners. Its founder, Chad Orcutt, created the space to give youth with different learning styles a resource where they can meet, build and recognize their full potential.

As someone diagnosed with ADHD, Orcutt saw the need to provide an alternative to traditional schooling. 

“I spent all this time as a young kid just feeling so far behind and so left out of the entire school process — I needed a place where I could learn and where I could help kids like me learn,” he said. 

Community Shop Class offers courses including 3D Printing, Tiny Home Building and Ceramics Hand Building. They also offer ADHD Support Groups, open mic nights, and host community events such as Toolbox 101 and Oak Park Fix-it-Cafe, which are free and open to everyone.

Although Community Shop Class was created for neurodivergent kids, it is a space for everyone, especially those who need support. 

“This idea of being a good neighbor is essential,” Orcutt said. “ At the heart of this place is the idea that we want to take care of the people around us, we want to share with them, we want to make other people’s lives easier. … Being a good neighbor is at the center of everything we do here.”