Families Helping Families SWLA is proud to be — as they say — a “one-stop shop” for those with any type of disability and their families. All free of charge.

Davelyn Patrick, a community resource specialist who has been with the group since 2010, said she discovered the organization when she and her husband sought information and resources to help their then-infant daughter — who was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect at birth. Their daughter is now 16 and thriving — thanks in no small part to the help their family received through Families Helping Families.

“It is very intimidating to be a parent or a person with a disability and meet with medical professionals,” Patrick said. “We need medical professionals — doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, all of them — but it’s intimidating sometimes when you’ve got to talk about your needs, how you’re feeling, the needs of your children.”

The mission of Families Helping Families is to enable and empower individuals with disabilities and their families by providing information, referrals, education, training and peer support.

The regional branch serves Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jeff Davis parishes.

Patrick said their staff — who all either have a disability themselves or have a child with a disability — can speak from personal experience when they connect with families looking for guidance.

Wallace Johnson, an education support specialist, joined the organization a year after the group’s launch in 1992. He’s now been with the organization for more than 30 years.

“It’s a wonderful organization,” said Johnson, who has Cerebral palsy. “Our lives are impacted by disabilities just like the families we serve. We have the family-to-family connection.”

Johnson said Families Helping Families serves all age groups.

“We can serve you from when you’re born until you pass away,” he said. “We encompass all disabilities or special health care needs — it can be cognitive, emotional, behavioral. From our own unique experiences we are qualified and committed to reach out and serve individuals with disabilities and their families.”

Johnson said the organization has been receiving a lot of calls lately from parents who need help navigating the special education system in schools.

“We provide a lot of training on the documents they will need for school, like the Individualized Education Program (IEP) or the Section 504 plan. We help parents understand what those documents are and how to use those to get services in the school system to help their child,” he said. “But not only do we do those, we do other disability-related topics, too, like the Social Security Disability Act to let people with disabilities know how they can apply.”

Their next Social Security Disability Act training program is March 13. For information, call 337-436-2570.

“Some of our other classes deal with a variety of other topics like ability awareness, educational rights and responsibilities, and transitioning from the Early Steps program into the school system or transitioning from high school into the adult world,” Johnson said.

They also offer webinars and workshops on communication skills and can help those who are able to drive take special classes to earn their driver’s license.

Patrick said the organization serves more than 2,000 families each year who are seeking information and referral about specific disabilities and services. She said when someone new comes in to looking for help, they’ll be meeting with someone “whose been there, done that.”

“That’s what makes the conversation far more relevant because we’re drawing from personal experience,” she said. “Peer support and advocacy looks like crying on the phone with someone or telling them they’re doing a good job even though it’s been a hard day, telling them that just because their child has this diagnosis and they don’t know anything about it yet it does not mean it’s a death sentence, it does not mean they can’t be a contributing member of society; it just means they may look a little different. We can be there through the different steps of the process.”

Raising a child with a disability or living with a disability can be overwhelming for many. Families Helping Families is here to help families to not be so overwhelmed.

Patrick said their role is to assure these families they are not alone.

“Everyone has the opportunity to live, work and play in their community,” Patrick said. “Yes, my daughter has a congenital heart defect, she has ADHD but that doesn’t change anything about how she accesses things or who she can be friends with and visit with and do life with.”

Patrick said the organization has made so many connections statewide that they often can help with other services, too.

“Families are desperate right now,” she said. “Eggs are expensive, electric bills are far more than they were at this time last year, the unhoused population is growing by leaps and bounds,” she said. “Not only do we help those with disabilities — that is what we are set up for — but we really do try to help everybody. We have a lot of connections to help everyone with referrals as to how they can get help.”

Everything the organization offers is free to the families and individuals they help. Partner agencies include Louisiana Development Disabilities Council, Department of Education, IMCAL Human Services Authority, Louisiana Department of Health, Early Steps, and Louisiana Family to Family Health Information Center.

Upcoming events include an Easter-themed trunk-or-treat drive-thru for families. The Bunny Stop & Hop is set for 10 a.m. March 22 at 324 West Hale St.

Families Helping Families is also a sponsor for the Bridging The Gap disability and resource fair set for 8 a.m. April 8 in the Lake Charles Event Center’s Contraband Room.

Patrick said the group relies on fundraisers, such as the Fore For Families Golf Tournament set for Sept. 19 at Mallard Golf Club, and community support to help fill any gaps.

Next Chapter  Book Club

Johnson said the Next Chapter Book Club for adults18 and older is a passion project of his.

“We use the book as just a tool to get them there so they can hang out,” he said. “We don’t teach them to read because we don’t want there to be any pressure. We just want them to get together and have fun.”

The group uses echo reading — a strategy where one reader reads aloud while others in the group repeat the reading.

“That way the nonreaders feel like they are a part of the club.”

Johnson said one member uses a DynaVox — a speech-generating computer device — and his mother was able to program the book the club was reading at the time into the device so that when it was his turn to read, the device would read for him, giving him a voice in the group. The book that month was “Dr. Doolittle” so the mother even programmed the animal sounds — to the delight of club members.

“Whenever we got to a sound in the book, we’d stop, look his way and he’d push the button,” Johnson said. “We try to make the book club work no matter what the disability is.”

There are two book clubs in the area. Each one has about 10 members.

Johnson said the book club that gathers in Lake Charles meets 5-6 p.m. on Thursdays at a local restaurant. He said the food and drink seems to help members relax and also it gets them out into the community among their peers.

The one in Sulphur meets 5-6 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Sulphur Regional Library.

The books are typically furnished by Families Helping Families — though there are opportunities available for community members and local businesses to partner with the group to provide a month’s supply of books — and the. The books are then given to club members so they can start their own libraries.

For information on Families Helping Families, visit www.fhfswla.org, email info@fhfswla.org, or call 337-436-2578.