BERGEN COUNTY, N.J.—The new Valley Kids Matter Foundation held its first event open to the public on Feb. 6, with New Jersey Disability Ombudsman Paul Aronsohn addressing a local group of parents of children with special needs.
Aronsohn encouraged and guided the parents on the paths that lie ahead as their young loved ones near adulthood.
Valley Kids Matter, created by an area couple who say they identified a need in the Pascack and Northern Valley areas for overall supports on special needs—including those for siblings—hosts a new speaker and/or event on the first Thursday of every month.
Programs include a parent coffee social, educational speakers, community events, and therapeutic, advocacy, and other supportive services
Its most recent event was Thursday, March 5 in Harrington Park. Guest presenters were:
• Marie Dembowski, an educator and learning disability specialist, who spoke on dyslexia and other learning disabilities;
• Kathleen Cable, executive director of Camp Excel, a summer program for children with high-functioning autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); and
• A representative from Paulie and Pals, a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to special needs families to help offset the costs associated with summer camp.
The April event is taking shape. Organizers said they were working to bring in first responders on the subject of safety and autism but to check the website for updates.
Meeting a need
Valley Kids Matter Foundation, launched in January, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping families in the Northern and Pascack Valley-area special needs community receive services and support.
The families share experiences and struggles—and offer strategic solutions to maintaining the supports and services their loved ones with special needs require.
Heather Garcia, a Valley Kids Matter Foundation founder, along with her husband, Daniel, told Pascack Press last week that the organization is unique in the region, particularly with regard to self-help and advocacy.
“Events are designed to “incorporate special needs families as whole units, including siblings of individuals with special needs, as they are often in need of support as well,” she said.
She added, “While our focus is on special needs, we are committed to helping all families in the Valley area.”
On the organization’s website, Garcia said she and Daniel own a business in the medical billing field. “As part of our daily work, we advocate tirelessly for many special needs families. We see firsthand the struggles they endure,” she said.
She added the couple has “unenviable ringside seats” to the battles such families fight to attain “the most basic forms of special services and supports.”
Garcia said, “Some of our very dear friends have children with special needs. We have watched these families struggle over the years, desperate to find a replenishing support system for themselves as they fight for the special needs of their children. The stories they have shared with us are brutal and heartbreaking.”
Garcia said the two undertook a search for an organization in their community “that genuinely serves the unique needs of special needs families. We hoped to volunteer our time locally while contributing to a good cause broadly.”
“Some organizations were too specific. They helped individuals with one specific type of special need while excluding all others,” she said.
Other organizations, she said, were “highly impressive but were established to serve special needs at a state and/or national level of scope and range.”
Garcia won election to the Norwood school board in 2018, winning victory in part on the basis of a claim of open communication, innovative ideas, and accountability.
She said her family has lived in the area since 1983. She and Daniel have three children.
The couple are working out funding and their board needs. For more information, including programs, events, sales, recognition awards, and volunteer opportunities, visit https://valleykidsmatter.com.
