Help Support FND

The 6th Annual 

Don't forget that the 6th Annual Heart and Hope Statewide Family Conference is being held on Saturday, August 25, 2012, at Dunedin Highland Middle School in

Pinellas County.

This is a free full day event designed to help bring individuals who are at risk, families who have children with disabilities, and the professionals who serve them awareness in regard to their options and rights that are available to them within the school system and beyond.

Free breakfast, lunch and childcare will be provided. One-on-one assistance will be available at our IEP clinic.

Visit http://www.fndusa.org/programs/heart-and-hope.aspx for more information and to register.

North Pinellas Pub Riders   

 We'd like to thank the North Pinellas Pub Riders for supporting Family Network on Disabilities during Autism Month. Over $500 was raised during their April 14 ride and they are donating the proceeds to Family Network on Disabilities to help support services in the Tampa Bay area.

The theme of the event was Pub Riders vs. Autism and participants dressed up as wrestlers to help "fight" for children with autism. Check out these awesome pictures from the event!   

Click Here for More Pictures 

9th Annual Kinsey Leonard Golf Tournament   

The 9th Annual Kinsey Leonard Golf Tournament

was held on Saturday, April 21. Proceeds from the event are being donated to Family Network on Disabilities' Jan La Belle Scholarship Program. A portion of last year's tournament proceeds were donated and the family has indicated that they will be raising funds for the program again next year. Kinsey Leonard was the recipient of a $10,000 scholarship from the program in 2011. She and her family want to give back so that more students can achieve their goals of higher education. Thank you, Brian, Carolyn and Kinsey Leonard for your support and desire

to help others.

The Jan La Belle Scholarship Program was established in 2009 to provide a financial resource to individuals with disabilities who desire to pursue their personal and career goals through attendance at a post-secondary institution, whether academic or vocational.

Staff Bios

Tara Bremer, Director of Programs

Tara Bremer is the parent of a child with a disability. During her journey to help her son, she reached out to Family Network on Disabilities for guidance and assistance. She believed so strongly in the mission of FND and what we were doing to help parents that she sought employment with us. Over 8 years ago, she began her career with FND as an Area Training Coordinator for the statewide Parent Training and Information Center (PTI). In that capacity, she helped parents of children with disabilities learn how to navigate the education system under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). She has since taken on the roles of the Director of the Parent Education Network, when it was a statewide PTI, the Director of the Transition, Independent Living, Employment, and Support Program (TILES), which is one of only seven RSA funded Parent Information and Training Centers in the country, and is now the FND Director of Programs.  In her duties as the Director of Programs, Tara reaches out to families of children with disabilities across the country. Tara participates in the State Secondary Transition Interagency Committee, is a member of the Florida Rehabilitation Council, and has been recognized at a national level for best practices while working to assist parents and self advocates navigate the system.

Support FND on Crowdrise

Do you want to support FND but don't feel like you have the time or money to make a difference? It will only take a couple of minutes to join Crowdrise and help spread the word about FND to your friends and families. You can start your own fundraiser for FND or join the team for our recently started fundraiser.

This will allow you to share the information through your social networking sites and help raise awareness of the issues children with disabilities and their families face and raise money to help.

Please check out http://www.crowdrise.com/familynetworkondisab  

Palm Beach Mini-Conference

Thanks to the generosity of the Herbert Bearman Foundation, we were able to provide a free mini-conference in Palm Beach County for parents of students in Special Education. Workshops and information regarding IEP's, Related Services, Positive Behavior Supports, and more were provided to 30 families and professionals on March 31. This conference combined with several workshops that were conducted during the last 6 months of 2011, allowed us to directly serve 73 families in Palm Beach County as a result of their contribution.

Youth Advocacy and Action Project of FND  

The Starbucks Foundation  

has graciously providing funding to support the Youth Advocacy and Action Project of FND through the Starbucks Youth Action Grant program. This is the second year that Starbucks has supported the program and we are grateful for the honor.

The Youth Advocacy and Action Project of FND is aimed at developing advocacy skills among youth with disabilities to help them improve their lives and their communities. The project provides training in advocacy to youth with disabilities, who then put those skills into practice by advocating for improvement in their communities in a cause of their choosing.

Enjoy these pictures from the most recent community service project. The youth teamed up with Starbucks partners and sorted food donations at Feeding America Tampa Bay.