The HALI Project

Community Voices

Emphasis on:

-personal awareness

-knowledge

-skills

Summary:

Our first program was Empowered Parents. It is a 13-session counseling and education program designed to help parents of children with special needs come to terms with their situation, then learn skills and laws that will help them be positive advocates for their children. We work with local schools and other agencies to provide groups in the local community at no cost to the parents. These two factors make the training both affordable and accessible to our families.

 

To help parents of children with special needs manage the emotional, physical, communication, and institutional challenges they experience, we have developed a training program entitled "Empowered Parents." This 13-session program first helps parents come to terms with their child’s condition, then provides educational and skills training to help them become healthy advocates for their child. At the heart of the training is the desire to build healthy working relationships with the service providers who are so valuable to the progress of our children.

 

We are convinced that no one can advocate for Hali better than us, because no one should know her better than we do. Our goal is to help parents feel confident and competent in representing their child, regardless of the situation. We’ve heard many people say that parents need to be part of their child’s team. We agree with that, but our role on the team should be that of the coach because ultimately, she is our responsibility. As coaches, we only want players on our team who can share our dream for Hali’s future. We don’t mean that in an arrogant way – we respect and appreciate the need for each specialist on Hali’s team. Each person provides expertise in areas we don’t have, but they still don’t know Hali as well as we know her. Because of that fact, she needs us to speak up on her behalf. Our kids need and deserve that from us.

 

Along with Hali’s older brother, Justin, we are also working to develop a support program that helps siblings work through the emotions and challenges they experience as a result of their family situation.

To contact us:

806.352.5647

info@thehaliproject.org