At Macaroni KID Mountain House-Manteca-Tracy, we love spotlighting local moms doing amazing things in their communities! We’re thrilled to introduce our very first MOM of the Month, Monique Patton — a dedicated mom, professional, and autism advocate who co-founded a nonprofit that’s creating real impact right here in the Central Valley.
Tell us a little about yourself and your family.
My name is Monique Patton and I’m the CEO & Co-Founder of Manteca Moms Supporting Kids with ASD Inc. I’m a local mom to a 4 year old and we reside in Manteca. I’m currently an HR Specialist and celebrate 25 years with my company, in Sept 2025. As a business professional, mom and Autism advocate, I use my skills to bring autism awareness and acceptance to the Central Valley. My family moved to Manteca in 2022 from Riverside County, Southern California. My spouse and I have been SoCal residents since we were children. We are high school sweethearts and have 1 son. Fun facts about me: Christmas is my favorite holiday because it’s also my birthday. I also like to play Nintendo Switch’s Animal Crossing as my quiet time activity.
What inspired you to start your business (or get into your field)?
I’ve been leading neurodivergent hiring programs for my employer for over 6 years. In high school, I took several classes to prepare for early childhood education and childcare occupations. I had the unique experience to work in a Head start class, which fueled my passion to work with children. Once our son was diagnosed at 3, we felt we needed to enhance our social engagements so our son could learn from his peers and us, through modeled behaviors. I was inspired to create a play group where youth with ASD could grow together while parents learn from one another. Thankfully, other parents sought the same, so we created a play group then a nonprofit.
What does a typical day look like for you as a mom and business owner?
We are a team – we plan our life, my workload and therapy sessions to ensure that our son isn’t overloaded or we are too stretched. I am employed full time currently, and often commute to the Bay Area. My spouse is the full time caregiver for our son while we both work on the nonprofit together with our team.
What has been the most rewarding part of running your business?
We love seeing the same families attend our activities and events. We are thankful when a family reports that they’ve received an item from a grant we shared in our post. Small wins are huge to us because we’re on a journey as well, and it’s all new to us. I’m emotional each time we receive a grant approval, because despite the dollar amount, it’s paying for juice, snacks & art supplies for our next event. We love the feeling of providing free stuff for families that are already stressed out.
What challenges have you faced balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship, and how do you handle them?
I don’t take care of myself as much as I should. I had to change my self care habits recently due to major fatigue. We have to be mindful when planning the activities and events we can offer to the community as we have very few volunteers. I also have a career that I love so I also balance a corporate job in this work-life-entrepreneur situation. It is hard to provide family / caregiver support on days when I travel for work, so we plan easier routines on those days…