Helping families in need

Providing services to all families regardless of their ability to pay is a constant challenge. There is nothing more difficult for us than knowing a needy family wants to follow the REACH Home Program and not having the funds to help them. REACH receives not a penny of financial assistance from the local, state or federal governments. We depend completely on private and corporate donations and parents who can afford it paying for our services. In an attempt to help everyone, REACH keeps the Home Program fees as reasonable as possible.

But, of course, for some this is still not enough. Some parents give up and settle for services they can get at no cost even though they are not satisfied with their child’s progress. Others become creative and find ways to raise funds. These parents see the REACH Home Program as an important investment in their child’s life. They discover that our Home Program is a lot less expensive per year than private therapy and they get much more therapy and much better results.

We appreciate the extra costs parents have when their children have developmental difficulties. Recently a local doctor referred a six-year-old boy born with half a heart to us. As if the heart problems were not enough, a year ago during his fifth heart surgery he suffered four strokes leaving him with a number of functional problems. You can imagine the medical expenses this young family is facing! So finances were an issue.

Last week, determined to give him a chance at a better future, his family partnered with us to hold a fundraiser called “Piknic in the Parking Lot”, an event that included a silent auction with live music, face painting and a jump house. It lasted for three hours and raised enough in donations to cover the costs for the entire first year of consultations. The families and children had a wonderful time and left feeling proud of the help they were giving to such a deserving family. Now that is what I call a community taking care of one another.

For parents who want to organize a fundraiser to cover their child’s consultation fees with REACH, we are happy to partner with you. The advantage of partnering with REACH is that your community knows that the donations will be used for the intended purpose and they are tax deductible. If you are considering partnering with REACH and would like more information please feel free to contact us. Finally, we are always looking for ways to raise more funds so that we can help more children. If you have any suggestions for us and for parents who need financial help please leave a comment.