Our daughters Nicole and Paige are flaxen haired beauties. Nicole has Angelman’s Syndrome, is non- verbal and needs constant supervision because everything looks enticing to her. She is more than a handful if I have to attend an outing with both children. When you are the parent of a child with special needs, your options are very limited; you cannot just leave your child with disabilities with a neighbor or a friend if you have a meeting or need some down time.

When we first turned to The Arc, our family was in a desperate state. We were at odds with trying to share responsibilities and our relationship grew strained. We desperately wanted to be good parents, but were clearly overwhelmed with responsibility and exhaustion. We withdrew from socializing because it was just too much work to take our girls in large or even small crowds.  Many families of children with disabilities become isolated and often even divorced.  We did not want to be one of the statistics. Having our contact at The Arc tell us we were qualified for extra help was like a breath of fresh air.

The Arc provides us with 2 services. The first is their wonderful overnight summer camp for children and adults with disabilities at Camp Harkness for 5 nights. There is a scheduled activity every day and evening!  Nicole loves it and our family gets complete respite and some focused time for our daughter Paige. We can also choose to visit and be part of Nicole’s experience.  Many of the camp counselors come back year after year and we look forward to seeing them.

The “aid in home” is an ongoing service without which we could not survive! At first we were a bit skeptical of having someone always around, but kept our minds open.  With the help of The Arc we have developed a workable schedule of help, some private hires and some aids from The Arc.  It is such a relief to have these people who have become like members of our own family, to rely on when we need help.   When we go on vacation, they come; when we do something as a couple or on our own, they are there; when Nicole is sick, they are available on work-days. They know Nicole so well we feel confident leaving her in their care.
Our family is so grateful when we think of how lucky we are to share our lives with our aides and their families.  We can now go to the gym, gospel choir, or to dental meetings and we can sing with our band “Denise and Tony Band” and not feel guilty that we had to say no to everything because we did not have the help.  We now have the energy to become who we want to be.  Because of The Arc our lives are enriched.

The benefits of having respite, camp and family support through the services of the Arc are boundless.  Your support is critical to help the many families who do not have these resources available to them! 

The Walstra Family – Tony, Denise, Nicole and Paige