Families that include a person with disabilities or special needs may often feel alone or isolated in the world, wondering how to find help and help themselves as well.
The McLean Bible Church has provided not only a sanctuary for those who feel uncomfortable bringing someone with a disability to religious services, but, for the past six years, has brought together experts in several fields specializing in helping those families with the Accessibility Summit, which is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, this year.
“It started to as an opportunity to bring together all the families in the D.C. area who have a family member with disabilities, churches, friends, caregivers, the Special Olympics, the ARC of Northern Virginia, Easter Seals, other resource organizations that serve people with disabilities,” said Teri Hoehn, a coordinator of the event this year.
Two of the major partners in the event from the beginning have been the National Organization of Disabilities and PEATC, which stands for Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center, she said.
“We try to bring all these people together so families could find services and connect with other families,” she said.
There are three main purposes of the summit: allowing families to meet with others in their same situation, to inspire people with disabilities to live the fullest life possible and to provide workshops and sessions to make contacts with resources and learn how to make life more manageable.
Special speakers this year include Coach Harold Jones and James “Radio” Kennedy, who were brought to national attention two years ago in a film where they were portrayed by Ed Harris and Cuba Gooding Jr., respectively. They will be speaking during Friday night’s opening session; the main speaker Saturday morning will be Joel Sonnenberg, a young man who suffered burns over 80 percent of his body following a car accident when he was a child and has had over 45 operations to repair or cover the scars.
THE SUMMIT WAS the idea of Lori Solomon, a pastor at the church who has a daughter with disabilities. “We reach out to over 700 families to provide respite care, we offer babysitting services during services. It’s an outreach program, completely supported by volunteers,” she said.
There are 14 bible classes offered at McLean Bible Church, to allow children to receive religious instruction in a safe, comfortable setting while providing their parents the peace of mind that their children are safe, Hoehn said.
“Because we’ve grown as a program, we help other churches to build their own respite care system,” she said. “Most families have gone to other churches and been asked to leave. That’s where the heart of MBC is, we want to provide a place where families can worship together. Part of our mission is to be able to help other churches welcome these families.”
Cindy Wolf has been a regular attendant of the Accessibility Summit since it began in 1999, shortly after the death of her husband left her a widow with three disabled children.
“My children will be in daycare the whole time, so I get to be an adult,” she said.
In the past, she’s enjoyed attending seminars given by professors on mental illness and how to help children with challenging behavior, she said. As a special education teacher in Loudoun County, she’s been able to learn strategies she can take into her classroom to help her students as well as her own children.
An upcoming move makes her a bit nervous about finding the sort of welcoming and helpful community in her hometown in Pennsylvania.
“This has been a lifeline for the past six years, they know how to help and incorporate us in the church,” Wolf said. “There are not many other churches or people who can help us.”
There are workshops she’s attended that give guidelines on starting respite programs, information she hopes to put into good use after she moves.
“There are workshops that didn’t apply before, like learning to run a disability workshop in our church,” she said.
“It’s a big support group,” she said of the friends she’s made at MBC and through the summit. “I’ve learned to be a better advocate for my children and how to be a better teacher to my students.”
Kathy Sanders has also attended the summit before, although she is not going this year.
“There’s always lots of great information for families with disabilities, and I
love the guest speakers, they’re wonderful,” she said. The only trying aspect of the weekend has been deciding which workshops to attend.
“A LOT OF THE WORKSHOPS are church-based, but there are plenty that are set up for those not of the Christian faith,” she said. “They provide a lot of information and have child care available to allow the parents to get the information they need without worrying about their children.”
She has referred friends to the summit in past years because she’s learned so much from the summit.
“My son’s teacher is actually going this year because he hasn’t gone before,” she said. “People with disabilities in their families really should go at least once, there’s so much information available. It’s got everything a parent or caregiver needs to know. It gives teachers great information and strategies for dealing with the children.”
Sanders said she’s especially been impressed with the sessions dealing with being advocates for disabled children.
“My son is a survivor of shaken baby syndrome, he was shaken by his babysitter when he was eight weeks old and has been in therapy since he was three,” she said. “These summits help me network with other people. Plus there are workshops on getting along with the schools to get your child the help he needs.”
The summit, sponsored by MBC’s Access Ministries, will begin on Friday night, April 8 at 7 p.m. with Coach Harold Jones and James “Radio” Kennedy. Workshops will be held throughout the day on Saturday, featuring a performance by Jenny Owens, a DOVE award winner who has not let her blindness impair her talents, Hoehn said.