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Our Funding
Many of our member organizations serve
communities that have very limited resources. Without
assistance, it is extremely difficult, if not sometimes
impossible, for these communities to afford the expensive
equipment, facilities, and one-on-one staffing that children
with special needs must have in order to thrive and reach goals
otherwise thought unattainable for them.
Partnering with SKF, these
organizations are able to provide the communities they serve
with unique, cutting-edge programs that are continually
opening new vistas and horizons for the physically and
educationally challenged.
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| Fundraising
Programs |
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| SKF Partners At Work |
Many of the programs that we help to support are unduplicated.
For example, in one program, youth at-risk are cared for by
pediatricians who act as surrogate grandparents. They monitor
these dysfunctional children with the avowed goal of raising
the self-sufficiency and self-esteem of both the child and his
or her family. This program is widely acclaimed: “…given
today's climate, it is a refreshing reinvention of the old family
doctor idea so long revered in America. We should all fan its
spark." (Pediatric News) |
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Here is another shining example of unique programming inspired
by our professionals: an on-campus volunteer, a 'Teacher of
the Month', organizes a group of colleagues to sit 'round the
clock' in the hospital with a little girl following surgery
to install a g-tube (for feeding). This little girl's only method
of communication was crying. The volunteers wanted to give the
mother respite relief. One of the volunteers started to cry
herself when seeing how people stepped forward to give up their
weekend, saying, "Isn't this incredible? There seem to
be Angels at work in the room!" |
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Here is yet another heartwarming example: summer camp counselors
fly in during their college “winter break” to visit
a camper with cerebral palsy who is recuperating from hip surgery. |
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And there is even more to the SKF partnership: electric wheelchairs
as well as adaptive and communication equipment are provided
to help fill the “funding gaps” for children with
multiple disabilities and profound deafness. State-of-the-art
computerized augmentative communication is developed and implemented
for non-verbal students, eventually allowing them to be mainstreamed
into regular schools.
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| Our Unique Vehicle Program |
Our unique program
for distributing wheelchair vans to clients and
their families. This benefit, to families not otherwise able to
afford a specialized vehicle, changes the lives of all involved;
facilitating care and making inclusion in family activities a
reality.
Recognized as
"Site of the Day" by About.com.
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The Leaders in Our Partnerships
Innovative
approaches are just one aspect of what SKF’s partnering
organizations do. Our affiliates are also led by individuals
with extraordinary sensitivity and compassion for others.
They see not only the disability and limitations of these
children, but, much more importantly, also their strengths
and unbounded exuberance of spirit.
Together,
SKF and its partners create an extraordinary and very special
world: a world of love, a kinder world, a more positive and
accepting
world that celebrates life and all of its diverse
challenges.
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