Daughter Nominates Dutton Farm Founder Mom for Ellen DeGeneres Show

Rochester, MI — Michele Smither, the founder of Rochester nonprofit organization that teaches vocational and living skills to developmentally disabled citizens, could be a guest on “The Ellen Show.”

That’s if Smither’s daughter, Jenny Brown, is successful with a YouTube video appeal to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, a longtime champion for inclusion.

Smither is founder of Dutton Farm, which serves individuals with mental, physical and emotional impairments. Brown, the program director at Dutton Farm, said in the video that she created it to “nominate my mom as a special person who has impacted the Special Needs community in a big way.”

---

• NEWSLETTER & REAL TIME NEWS ALERTS: Get the latest Rochester area and Michigan headlines from Patch editor Beth Dalbey
• SOCIAL MEDIA: Like Rochester-Rochester Hills Patch on Facebook

---

She also wants her mom to be a guest on the show to spread awareness of the organization that “celebrates, employs and educates” people with developmental, mental and emotional impairments.

Dutton Farm’s clients often live on the margins, don’t fit in and are excluded from events and activities enjoyed by others.

“We include the unincluded,” Brown said in the video. “We make a place for them here.”

Dutton Farm has asked people to share the post announcing the campaign on Facebook.