CCC event will show how to navigate special needs care
Community Cares Coalition will host a Community Resource Night at Grace Church in Berlin on Jan. 28 from 6-8 p.m., with its sights set on helping people gain insight into navigating the various special needs care programs available to them.
Recently, five different area organizations devoted to serving individuals with disabilities and their families and those facing mental health challenges united to form the Community Care Coalition.
The CCC will host a Community Resource Night at Grace Church on Jan. 28 from 6-8 p.m., with its sights set on helping people gain better insight into navigating the various special needs care programs available to them and the services they offer.
The event is free to the public, and no preregistration is required.
“It’s an evening to educate people about everything we have to offer,” said Griffin Long, director at Sacred Ground. “Maybe families have utilized one of our services but aren’t aware of the other members’ services and what they bring to the table. That event will be a night for them to learn a lot about everything that’s available to them right here close to home.”
The five core members of the new organization offer an array of services for individuals with special needs and their families, as well as those struggling with mental health issues.
Among the five are Sacred Ground, a caring center that provides services for adults with special needs and their families; Cardinal Therapy Group, a therapy company that provides contract care for agencies and home visits within the community for therapy needs; Pomerene Hospital, a local community hospital that offers staff and programs to assure best practices for the Plain community including nurse navigation, Amish liaison, pricing care plans and transportation; New Leaf Center in Mt. Eaton, which provides medical care to special needs children with inherited disorders; and Springhaven Counseling Center, which offers individual, couple, family and group counseling including mental health counseling.
The CCC members work together on a regular basis, and with each having its own set of gifts and areas of expertise, they felt a necessity to learn more about one another so they could recommend additional benefits the other organizations might offer that extend beyond their area of expertise.
Community Resource Night will begin with a short introduction, with each of the members sharing about their respective programs and benefits.
Pomerene will be first at 6:10 p.m., followed by New Leaf at 6:20 p.m. Springhaven will take center stage at 6:30 p.m., with Cardinal Therapy and Sacred Ground rounding out the short series of forums at 6:40 p.m. and 6:50 p.m., respectively.
The final hour will allow visitors to ask questions, mingle with the members, get light refreshments and participate in a raffle.
Booths will be set up in the Grace gymnasium, allowing for people to glean plenty of information.
“One thing we wanted to make sure we offered was some individual time for families to connect with all of us,” Angie Willard of Cardinal Therapy Group said. “Every individual and family’s circumstance are different and unique to them, and they all have their own unique needs.”
Willard said this coalition is a show of unity in each group’s mission to reach out into the community and help families.
“If someone has trust in one of us as a group and we can provide guidance to one of our other members, there is going to be a stronger sense of trust knowing that we’re all working toward the same goal,” Willard said. “This relationship will also let us get to know each other’s strengths too.”
Jon Bobley, clinical director at Springhaven, said if a family is new to engaging in services or a family has never navigated anything like this, the evening will present an opportunity to step into the water and gain insight.
“It can be overwhelming to know who to contact or who to trust,” Bobley said. “We believe allowing families to connect with so many great services in one place can be a comforting thing for people. They can see and experience it all at once and get a lot of questions answered.”
He said people trying to raise an individual with physical or mental challenges or anyone facing mental struggles will often try to do it on their own before recognizing there are many resources out there to help them.
He said when people realize they aren’t alone and others care, it can be a life-altering moment.
“It can be overwhelming, so exploring other options of help and finding people they know they can trust and rely on is critical, and the CCC was formed to bring all of us together to provide that help,” Bobley said.
Long said dealing with these types of life decisions for families can be complex and confusing, and the hope is this evening will provide answers in a setting that is not intimidating.
“So many people don’t know what is available,” Long said. “We’re here together to make it as easy to understand as possible.”