Also funded by the HALO foundation, the Family Circle Newsletter provides a wealth of up‐to‐date information about services, benefits, support groups, workshops, and other resources that help families meet the challenges of raising a child with disabilities.
This consultation service helps parents of teens and adults with disabilities plan for the future life of their child beyond the family home. Components of the service include:
- Professional assessment of short- and long-term needs
- Counseling that supports decision‐making and plan implementation
- Assistance accessing needed benefits
- Self empowerment publications: The Community Living Portfolio and the Special Needs Planning Guide
- The Housing Opportunities Network, an online exchange that provides timely information about affordable and accessible housing through a bi‐monthly newsletter and email notification of immediate opportunities
Funded by the Massachusetts Departments of Education and Developmental Disabilities Services, this program supports families of teens with autism and related conditions that want to keep their child at home rather than placing him/her in a residential school.
A leader in special needs services
The Special Needs Education Resource Center (ERC) is a groundbreaking program that provides education, family support, and specialized medical consultation services for children with special needs and their families in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.
Reared in the shadow of Soviet ‘defectology’ these children face a grim existence in Ukraine. Staff at the ERC work tirelessly to combat the children’s social marginalization and limited access to school, social services, and medical care. Without the ERC’s support, many families would be forced to institutionalize their children in the face of economic impoverishment and limited community resources.
Through a unique partnership with Beit Chana Teacher’s Training College in Dnepropetrovsk, Gordon College of Haifa, Israel, and a dedicated volunteer advisory committee from JF&CS of Greater Boston, the ERC has successfully delivered educational, social, and emotional support to the children and their devoted families for more than 10 years. This collaborative, international effort bringing needed and deserved services to these children with special needs and their families will continue to inspire, educate, and promote self-actualization for generations to come.
Funded by the HALO foundation, the Sunday Swim and Arts Program offers therapeutic recreation and socialization for children with moderate to severe neurological disabilities while providing three hours of weekly respite for their parents.
The mission of
Yesodot is to maximize the potential and build community foundations ("yesodot" is Hebrew for foundations) for children and young adults with disabilities throughout Greater Boston. Yesodot welcomes Jewish and interfaith families and is a family-centered and directed support program that provides a varied menu of services and programs to families whose loved ones have developmental, physical, learning, or other disabilities.