Special Needs Parents Appreciation Month
Special-Needs Parents Appreciation Month is a way to recognize and celebrate some unsung heroes in our families, churches, and communities. Often, special needs families feel isolated and neglected. But each August during Special Needs Parents Appreciation Month, friends, family members, churches, and communities can say “We see you. We appreciate you.” This boost will be invaluable to the parents whose kids may not even be able to speak the words “thank you.”
Join in the Celebration
Nominate Someone
Do you know a special needs parent? Maybe it’s your friend, family member, or someone you know in your community. Tell us why you think they should win a gift from our sponsors! If they win, we’ll announce their name on the Facebook page and notify them via email.
Become a Sponsor
We have a variety of sponsorship opportunities. Donate a prize, sponsor a blog post, or simply sponsor a support donate. We can’t do any of this without our sponsors! Check out the parternship levels below.
Donate
Become a financial supporter of Special Needs Parents Appreciation Month to help provide helpful resources and fun prizes to special needs families. Your name/company name and photo/logo will be added to our list of sponsors. Donate below, or contact Sarah Broady for more information.
What We Do
Every August, we celebrate special needs parents by allowing friends and family members to nominate a special needs parent they know by filling out a simple form to share the story of why they think their nominee deserves to be honored. Chosen nominees will receive a special prize from our sponsors throughout the month of August. We have as many winners as we have sponsors, and prizes range from books from special needs authors to gift baskets to other creative gifts from sponsors.
Our Story
Sandra Peoples first began Special Needs Parents Appreciation Month in 2015 out of a desire to honor all the unseen love and care that special needs parents lavish on their children on a daily basis. She wanted a way to tell those families, “We see you. We appreciate you.”
In 2019, Sarah Broady took over the project and hopes to facilitate its continued growth and reach across the country. Sarah shares Sandra’s desire to see whole communities, churches, and even shops and restaurants catch the excitement to bless special needs families in a special way as a way to say, “Thank you” even if their child can’t say it for themselves.
Featured Sponsors
Enjoy $10 off with coupon code Hope10!
Our mission at Goally is to empower kids, and help families become happier and more connected. We aim to use technology, child-behavioral science, and the shared knowledge of all the parents in the Goally parent community to help every parent give their children the best possible start in life.
- Get on with your day while your child stays on task, with cool graphics and fun sounds.
- The whole family can relax, while Goally points & rewards keep kids motivated.
- Feel proud of your child’s new confidence and independence.
- A solution that works for you, after feeling like you have tried everything.
- Completely customizable to fit your unique child and schedule.
- You don’t have to track points and behaviors. Your app does that for you!
Jenn Soehnlin
There is a unique struggle to keep your faith in God’s goodness while juggling the appointments, stress, grief and loneliness that accompany the special needs parenting journey. Jenn Soehnlin knows these struggles well, and seeks to encourage other mothers with scriptural truths and her vulnerable honesty to:
- Provide a biblical view on special needs parenting
- Free you from unhealthy expectations, worries, and emotions
- Enable you to embrace the life and blessings that God has for you
Embracing This Special Life will help guide you toward spiritual victory and renewed purpose in your special needs parenting journey.
Joe & Cindi Ferrini
A book by a husband and wife whose course in life changed with the birth of their first child. Unexpected Journey shares the life of a family where daily challenges became a way of life – caring for a child with special needs and parents in their declining years. It is written is small segments so that a caregiver can read when they have short moments of time. Each chapter shares a bit about the authors and their story, the story of people they interviewed, and then a section for the reader to answer questions that will reveal THEIR story. It can be read alone, or used as a group study. The 13 chapters lend itself to a quarter study.
Lisa Jamieson
A delightfully visual exploration of basic prayers for the young and young at heart. “Jesus, Let’s Talk” helps children, early readers, and people with developmental differences enjoy the sweet basics of conversation with Jesus. There are many ways to worship and this natural approach to prayer inspires both the young and young at heart. Colorful photographs of children and young people celebrate that the fingerprints of God are on all people, all around the world. The book also highlights key prayer words using American Sign Language. Young ones who are not yet talking, those who experience hearing impairment, and others who simply want to explore the joy of communicating non-verbally will have fun learning new ways to express themselves. Introduce a child to a personal relationship with their Creator, Savior and Friend, Jesus. Lisa Jamieson (author) parents a grown daughter with special needs and is a national disability ministry leader who is also a speaker and author of “Finding Glory in the Thorns” and related Bible study materials. “Jesus, Let’s Talk” is her first children’s book.
Sandra Peoples
Unexpected Blessings helps special-needs families move past the pain and confusion of their circumstances and slowly, firmly face the future with hope. Speaking honestly about struggles that accompany a variety of disabilities, Sandra Peoples shows readers how to
· let go of false beliefs that hold them back
· work through the cycles of grief
· focus on self-care and healthy routines
· understand disability based on what the Bible says
· rebuild a strong faith foundation
· create support systems for themselves and others
Filled with real-life stories and hard-earned wisdom, this book shines a light on the possibilities and blessings that come when parents see their new purpose in life–which was God’s purpose for them all along.
Jason Hague
When his oldest son was diagnosed with severe autism, pastor Jason Hague found himself trapped, stuck between perpetual sadness and a lower, safer kind of hope. This is the common struggle for those of us walking through the Land of Unanswered Prayer. Life doesn’t look the way we expected, so we seek to protect ourselves from further disappointment.
But God has a third path for us, beyond sadness or resignation: the way of aching joy. Christ himself is with us here, beckoning us toward the treasures hidden in the darkness.
Aching Joy is an honest psalm of hope for those walking between pain and promise: the aching of a broken world and the beauty of a loving God. In this place, rather than trying to dodge the pain, we choose to feel it all―and to see where Jesus is in the midst of struggle. And because we make that choice, we feel all the good that comes with it, too.
This is Jason’s story. This is your story. Come, find your joy within the aching.
Evana Sandusky
Badges of Motherhood is a powerful and true story told by Evana, a wife and mother of two children. Motherhood is a timeless role that many women will know firsthand, yet each mother has her own unique story to tell. Mothers learn exceptional skills and experience new events and emotions, which are referred to as “badges” in the book. These badges tell the story of the achievements, challenges, and special times between a mom and her child. Evana’s motherhood sash is adorned with many badges. In the first chapter, “The Delivery Badge,” Evana shares the moment her children came into her life bringing joy and love. As the story unfolds in subsequent chapters, Evana describes how she found out her daughter had Down syndrome, a heart defect, and other diagnoses that brought unexpected realities to their lives. Evana shares how parenting a child through many trips to the emergency room and admissions to the hospital impacted her spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Her descriptive accounts of mothering a child in the Intensive Care Unit will leave you in disbelief and, at times, emotional. There are heart-warming parts of the book too, which will bring a smile to your face. Though your parenting journey may be different from Evana’s, this book will challenge you to reflect on your own experience as a mother. As you read the pages of the book, you will discover the badges that represent your own journey through motherhood.
Share on social media using #spneedsparentsmonth
Sponsorship Levels
Thank you for your interest in partnering with us to celebrate special needs parents this August! We have multiple levels of partnership available as shown below.
Please choose your sponsorship level below according to what you would like to give. Sarah Broady will contact you with details of prize donations and submitted posts, or you can email her with any questions.
Bronze Sponsorship
Prize Donation Only- Donate a prize to the winners who will be featured as the special needs parents of the day. Your bio information and a link to your site or product will be displayed in our featured sponsors.
- To donate prize ONLY, please contact Sarah Broady
Silver Sponsorship
$25 Donation (+ Optional prize)- Donate $25. Your bio information and a link to your site or product will be displayed in our featured sponsors.
- To donate $25 AND donate a prize, click sponsor link and Contact Sarah Broady.
Gold Sponsorship
$50 Donation + 1 Submitted Post- Donate $50. Your bio information and a link to your site or product will be displayed in our featured sponsors.
- Submit a post to be featured on the site during July or August. Your post can cover topics that would encourage special needs parents or equip church or communities to support special needs families. (1 post submission included; $25 for additional post submissions.)
- To donate $50 and submit posts, please click sponsor link for donation and contact Sarah Broady for post submissions.
Platinum Sponsorship
$100 Support Donation +2 Submitted Posts + Ad- Donate $100. Your bio information and a link to your site or product will be displayed in our featured sponsors.
- Submit up to 2 posts to be featured on the site during the month of August. Your posts can cover topics that would encourage special needs parents or equip church or communities to support special needs families. (2 post submissions included; $25 for additional post submissions)
- Become a full financial supporter with this level to have an ad (of your design) on the Special Needs Parents Appreciation page and posts for a full year (August 2019 to July 2019) and monthly promotion on our social media feeds.
Get in Touch. Get Involved.
Help us bless special needs families!
Questions? Ideas? Send us a message below
Discover GOALLY
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