An art project we did at Ben's group home this summer. Ben moved into an Easter Seals group home on September 12, 2022. Today, we celebrate one year with him not just living there, but thriving. Ben's formed friendships with his housemates and the staff who work there. The move to this Easter Seals group home was his second time moving out of our house. In 2021, Ben moved to Greensboro, 90 minutes from our home in Charlotte, North Carolina. He'd been living in an AFL - alternative family living - situation through a different agency. It didn't work out. For more details, read here . The day program has a living room for activities and relaxing. Ben moved home for six months while we searched for another living situation for him. During this time, we found an incredible day program. I happened to see a post on Facebook with photos of happy individuals involved in all sorts of community activities. I connected with the staff, and Ben started in June 2022. Swimming at
Walking in the neighborhood When it comes to locating resources for Ben, it's taken patience, time and energy. I've had the support of my husband, Ryan, and family to do the administrative work it takes to find resources for a person with disabilities. I'm fortunate to be able to have the time to hunt down resources for Ben – and I also enjoy it. I talk with families often, and I've seen a pattern in the ones who have a difficult time gathering information and resources. They come to me frustrated, disenchanted and sometimes with the wrong information. Here are my suggestions for finding resources and using them to best serve your child: 1. Ask the right people for assistance. Lately, I've been talking with parents who can't find information about certain topics. When they tell me who they've asked, it's the incorrect person. The parents are frustrated because they thought the person should know the answer. If you ask a doctor about community servic