We Can’t Keep Up
Our weekly CAN DO stories are meant to uplift, inspire and encourage you. This week, we are coming to you to ask for your help.
Our staff has spent countless hours over the past 3 months working to grow our capacity at the same rate our family enrollment is growing. The stark truth is - we can’t keep up. Not alone.
Just in the past 3 months as we were making programming changes, adding respite events, innovating ways to take more children at each event and adding more staff, 35 new families enrolled equaling 73 ADDITIONAL children who need support. While these numbers may surprise you, they aren’t surprising us at all.
You’ve read the headlines of the national increase of mental health challenges, suicides among youth, families struggling more than ever before - these statistics don’t escape our special needs families, they just add to the already present challenges and stressors. The work Pause does is more important now than ever before and needed more today than we have seen in our 8 years.
Pause creates environments for kiddos to interact with each other and gives them a space to belong. Being around peers with similar stories and experiences at a young age helps kids know they are not alone and are worthy of love and attention - things we all need and deserve to be our best selves, but also important to child development and building self esteem and life skills.
One Pause family shared, “Our kids feel normalized being among peers with similar challenges. After the first event we attended, my child was almost in tears. Happy tears. She said ‘Mommy there are kids like me. Their brain moves too fast for their body. I thought I was the only one because I had not met anyone like me before. Someone else even had trouble with their letters and words like I do. When can we go back?’”
These breaks also give caregivers a CRITICAL break to recharge. Three hours. THREE. It may not seem like a lot, but to a caregiver who needs to rest their brain, body and soul - it’s literal oxygen.
We do have good news. Volunteers needing and wanting fun and meaningful service hours are out there. They just don’t all know we exist yet. We want every struggling parent to get a break and want every child who feels alone to find a friend. We CAN do this - we have done it for thousands of kids and caregivers already. We just need your help to spread the word.
How can you help Pause in October?
1. Help us spread the word about our volunteer opportunities by being a Pause affiliate!
We need affiliates who are willing to post our volunteer opportunities on their social media accounts. So many students need volunteer hours and by sharing the opportunity in your warm circle you help grow our reach!
Three ways to be an affiliate!
Copy the graphic and text below to your social media accounts or go to our main Facebook page and share our volunteer opportunity post.
Share the opportunity with connections you have. We know you, but you know so many others. If everyone reading this connects us with ONE possible student who needs volunteer hours we will have our events covered for the rest of the year!
Request printed color flyers for your office, school or business. Simply email questions@pauseforparents.org with how many you need, where you would like them dropped off or if you are requesting an electronic copy.
2. Say YES to giving us 3 ½ hours in October. Bring a friend and do it together - double win!
SATURDAY, October 15th from 9:30-1:15pm
SATURDAY, October 15th from 2:00-5:45pm
SUNDAY, October 16th from 1:30-5:15pm
SATURDAY, October 22nd from 4-10pm!
These sweet faces are counting on our yes - so we humbly are asking you for yours.
