By now, many of you have heard of the organization that has made a powerful impact on the world of special needs children in the Sephardic community. “Caring for a Special needs child and dealing with the impact that the child has on the entire family is CARE’s mission statement,“ says Michael Wahba cofounder of CARE. CARE has programs and events run for the parents—featuring dinners, lectures, support groups and entertainment—bringing together parents and connecting those that would otherwise feel so alone. CARE also has events that are geared to siblings, and wonderful events for the special needs children, themselves. CARE provides overall support for the entire family who share in this difficult struggle.
Founded by parents of special needs children, CARE is sensitive and understanding to the overall, complex needs of the family,” says Sarah Horowitz Director of CARE. Unfortunately with the prevalence of special needs today, CARE has been a vital community resource. “The world of special needs can be a confusing maze and we are here to hold parents hands for every step of the way,” says Sarah. Since CARE’s inception, more than 300 community families have reached out and are now part of the “CARE family.”
“CARE is more than just an organization—it’s family,” is what CARE parents say over and over.
The overall community impact of this relatively new organization has stunned many community members who proudly stand behind CARE.
“I don’t know where these community families would be without the shoulder of CARE to lean on,” says Harry Adjmi, CARE board member and advisor. Whether it’s guiding parents to the proper school for the child’s unique special need or helping families obtain state funded assistance and therapies at no cost to them, CARE has become the first phone call community parents make when faced with this daunting challenge.
THE REVOLUTIONIZED PERCEPTION OF SPECIAL NEEDS
Perhaps an unexpected impact that CARE has had on the community is how it has revolutionized the way special needs families are perceived by the community and how parents feel about themselves. No longer feeling alone and isolated, parents are now feeling emboldened and strengthened about their challenges and are more vocal about their struggles, coming forward and motivating others. CARE is breaking the so called stigma of having a child with special needs.
This was displayed during this past summer as parents began doing Instagram live shows hosted by Barbara Azrack, Lillian Monopola, and Ruth Hamway, opening up community members eyes to the challenges these families face and encouraging other families with similar challenges to come forward for help and join the “CARE family.”
“The experience of sharing our story not only helped inspire other families to reach out to CARE, but helped ourselves in the process, as well,” say Eli and Addy Yadid, CARE parents.
“For so long we kept our sons diagnosis a secret, which did nothing but stunt our spiritual growth. By speaking up, it allowed us to free ourselves from the shackles of fear and begin the process of acceptance,” adds Eli.
“Doing the live show was scary because I did not know how people were going to respond, but to my surprise, I did not stop getting calls asking me questions. It was amazing to see the response!“ says Hannah Sutton, a CARE parent.
With the recent pandemic and all the challenges people have been through lately, there has been an increased sensitivity to the plight of families that are struggling in dealing with these special children. CARE has been serving as a lifeline to these parents while helping bridge the gap, creating a strong awareness to the community at large.
If you would like to volunteer or get involved with CARE please contact them at 718.975.7171 or email info@careforspecial.org.
