Support for individuals and families living with disabilities and special health care needs
Did you know that 1 in 4 families on the Eastern Shore have a Child with a Special Health Care Need (CYSHCN)? 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 resource computers, a lending library, play area, ADA compliant restroom and water fountains. We also understand that new spaces, and the anxiety of upcoming appointments, can be too much for children to endure. To ensure a successful appointment for children with sensory needs, we have a Sensory-Friendly Waiting Room, equipped with low lighting, sensory toys and Yogibo (c) chairs.
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!
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 resource computers, a lending library, play area, ADA compliant restroom and water fountains. We also understand that new spaces, and the anxiety of upcoming appointments, can be too much for children to endure. To ensure a successful appointment for children with sensory needs, we have a Sensory-Friendly Waiting Room, equipped with low lighting, sensory toys and Yogibo (c) chairs.
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!
