About Kinera Foundation
What is Kinera?
Kinera is a compound word (Kin + Era):
KIN - Someone or something of the same or similar kind.
ERA - A date, or event, forming the beginning of any distinctive period.
Simply put, Kinera is a group of friends and family that lasts a lifetime. We are here to offer support to parents, caregivers, and families of those with special medical needs. Regardless of your child’s diagnosis or age, we are here to help. Kinera provides occupational and physical therapies, parent/caregiver support groups and workshops, and inclusive community activities to children with special needs and their families. We encourage continued education, and we promote an inclusive environment for those with special needs.
Why is Kinera's work so important?
Kinera Foundation is here to offer support. No one knows what the future holds, and that's why Kinera is here. We want parents to know that Kinera is a safe place and that we are here for the long haul. Regardless of the stage of diagnosis, regardless of the child's age, Kinera will provide the support parents, caregivers and families so desperately desire. We will strive to provide assistance to families in our community, encourage continued education and resources for our neighbors, and promote an inclusive environment for those with special needs.
Dedicated to serving families and individuals navigating disabilities and special health needs.
Additionally, in 35% of those families, at least one parent had to cut back or quit work altogether to care for their child. Furthermore, families from the Eastern Shore travel upwards of 250 miles monthly, weekly, and in some cases daily, to ensure that their child has access to quality, patient/family-centered, and coordinated care. The Kinera Foundation is here to help alleviate the disparity found between the systems of care in the urbanized regions of the State compared to the rural regions of the state by providing a coordinated, centralized, patient/family-centered hub of care.
Kinera Foundation is committed to ensuring that families raising children with disabilities and special health care needs have equitable access to therapies and treatments, within the Eastern Shore where our families reside. Services provided are geared toward children and youth with special healthcare needs, and are patient/family-centered, coordinated and centralized. Our therapists and specialists have years of training and experience in the pediatric field, and are focused on providing family-centered care.
The Kinera Foundation's facility design forgoes the traditional waiting area for a Family Lounge, which allows for families to interact in a more natural environment, with the intention of easing anxiety for children waiting, and is equipped with a sensory calming bubble column, free Wi-Fi, a lending library, play area and toys, and ADA compliant restrooms. Our Occupational Kitchen is also available for refreshments (water, coffee, tea). We also understand that new spaces, and the anxiety of upcoming appointments, can be too much for children to endure.
In addition to direct services, Kinera aims to provide families with a space to seek information and resources, network with other families, and establish an avenue for the greater community to learn how to create inclusive and community programs for children and youth with disabilities and special health care needs.
How has Kinera Foundation assisted your family? Or, would you like to get involved? Kinera Foundation asks that community members who support this project write a letter, or testimonial, describing the impact this project has had on your family and child with a special health care need, for example, the quality of life, access to services, and/or financial impact. Please include your county of residence. Letters can be submitted via email to: info@kinera.org. Thank you!