Today’s Disabilities Leadership Council spotlight is on the organization, Parent to Parent of New York State and its Executive Director, Janice Fitzgerald. This organization creates a support system for parents of children with disabilities by connecting them with other parents who have shared similar experiences. “We cannot underestimate the importance of providing emotional support when a parent begins their journey,” Janice said during our interview. Parents often “feel stressed after their child’s diagnosis,” so the organization aims to show these parents that they are not alone. Parent to Parent is primarily a “navigator,” teaching parents how to “navigate their way through the system” by connecting them to other support groups at no cost.
One of Parent to Parent’s defining characteristics is its system of “support parents.” Generally, the support parents have used Parent to Parent in the past and want to help others in similar situations. According to Janice, there is a training system to become a support parent; one must contact the coordinator of the training center and the coordinator will, in turn, send information for a self-preparation course. To gauge the organization’s success, a letter is sent to ten percent of the families to see if their needs were met.
Although Parent to Parent is “less well-known” than other organizations for people with disabilities in the area, it is unique because its members hail from all areas of New York. Other organizations are mainly centered in New York City, but Parent to Parent reaches all parts of the state, from the Finger Lakes to Long Island. “We have people accessing our organization from rural areas to metropolitan ones,” Janice said. The organization also has few language barriers; all printed material is available in other languages and many of the parents involves in the support program can communicate in more than one language. As Stuart Flaum, Chairman of the Disabilities Leadership Council said, “It is wonderful that Parent to Parent works with all families regardless of language, culture, or disability. There is strength in numbers, and the sharing of information and strategies benefit everyone.” In total, the Parent to Parent contains about 1,200 support parents who offer advice and somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 who seek assistance. As Janice said, the organization sustains itself because, “There are new babies born every year, so there will always be new parents calling us for help.”
Janice is already looking toward Parent to Parent’s future. She says that in five years Parent to Parent will, “still be there for parents, to help them make it through the emotional impact of having a child with disabilities.” Also, because social networking websites have become so prominent in America, she predicts that the organization will have “more of a virtual presence.” Stuart “applauds Janice for recognizing the importance of social networking—just look at http://especialmatch.com/ for an example of how social networking is making its way into our society.” Janice hopes that New York, as a whole, will “become more supportive” of families with children with disabilities and that there will be “less institutional placement” of children. Janice is also excited about the recent collaboration of Special Needs Family Planning, Parent to Parent, the Kiwanis, and Fordham University, because “more families will be helped.” She believes that their collaboration will “help [Parent to Parent] reach families that we are not already in contact with.” Stuart added, “Fordham University opened new doors for Parent to Parent, the Kiwanis, and Special Needs Family Planning at AXA. Now, families can gather together to see their strengths as opposed to their weaknesses.” For more information about Parent to Parent, please visit their website, http://www.parenttoparentnys.org/.
