10 Ways That the Help in Hand Special Needs Foundation Helps
Web AdminLet’s face it, families with special needs children need help. The founder of the Help In Hand Special Needs Foundation, Emanuel Burcheci, was in this position himself, and he knows how important these things are. With this foundation, he hopes to raise awareness about these hardships and help to families in desperate need. Here are 12 of the ways he supports families, and he adds new support areas regularly based on feedback from the community.
Home Healthcare Equipment Repair
All electronics break at some point, and healthcare equipment is no different. What is different is that it is much more expensive to fix than just about any device, and it’s necessary. You can’t decide whether to fix it later or go without it. When there is no way to fix it, it becomes a constant problem with negative health implications.
Homecare Services
Mom and Dad want to have a night out every now and then, but home health nursing is expensive and is not covered by insurance in some cases. If not deemed extreme enough by the powers that be, parents are left to figure this out for themselves, adding to the stress and exhaustion.
Therapy Services
There are some therapy services provided by the state in my cases, but as you can imagine, it’s not the most comprehensive. Families with special needs children need a different level of therapy, not just including physical therapy for the family member that is compromised, but mental therapy for the siblings in the household, and couples therapy for the parents. These recommended therapies may not be readily available, and if they are, may not be at a high level.
Emergency Home Repairs
The parents are doing everything that they can to make sure their children have what they need and are never at more of a disadvantage than they already are but may deplete their savings in the process. When the furnace goes out or rodents find their way into the home, there may not be any funds available to take care of this pressing need. Parents should never have to make the choice between providing their children with necessities or evicting rats from their home.
Pharmacy Assistance
Co-pays can be brutal. Just when you think you’ve got everything under control, the pharmacist tells you that you need 400 bucks to get your child the medication that they need to take daily. In some cases, parents have not been able to get the medicine needed, and the child has passed because of it.
Home Modification
With a special needs child in the household, the home must be modified with a wheelchair ramp, bathroom accessibility, safety bumpers, monitoring equipment, and many other modifications. These refinements can be very expensive but are necessary.
Maid Services
Your home will get a little hectic and dirty even if you live by yourself. But imagine being a single parent with 2 special needs children. The laundry may pile up, dishes in the sink may start attracting flies, and the bathroom…oh the bathroom. Between going to work and taking care of your special needs children, it may be just enough to push you over the edge of insanity. Maid services for 5-10 hours a week can save the day but may be out of the budget.
Medical Visits
Getting to and from appointments is a battle within itself when the parents have jobs but walking into the doctor’s office and confronting issues like co-pays or new equipment can be a huge surprise and an unexpected expense.
Dietary Meal Support
Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that it can be pricey. But with a special needs child, it’s not a choice. Having a dietician plan meal, recommend portions, and give advice has its costs, but actually buying the recommended food can sometimes be impossible for families on a tight budget.
Special Programming
Children with special needs require different sources for education, and while some are provided by the government, many are not. In some cases, the development needs of the child exceed the help that insurance may offer, and at this point it is up to the parents to cover the cost of the education needs for the child. This cost may be outside of what the parents can cover, and the child is the one that suffers in the end.
