Vancouver resident Melissa Dodge announced the launch of Pacific Northwest Family Navigation on Saturday.
When Dodge’s oldest son was diagnosed with autism, she couldn’t find many resources, so she started the Vancouver Washington Mom’s Autism Support group in 2012. Since then, she has worked to support other families and children by connecting them with resources, hosting sensory-sensitive events and providing other services. The new nonprofit expands upon that work.
“I’m a single mom raising two special-needs kiddos by myself,” she said. “People ask me, ‘How do you keep taking on so much?’ And honestly, it fuels me to help other people.”
Dodge cares for her 13-year-old and 18-year-old autistic sons. When her children aged out of child care and she became a single mom, she quit her full-time job to stay at home with them. Day care doesn’t offer services to children older than 12.
“Many families in the county are suffering and struggling because they have nowhere for their children (to go besides) home,” Dodge said.
GET HELP:
Contact Pacific Northwest Family Navigation at 360-901-0492 or melissa@pnwfamilynavigation.org.
A longtime autism advocate is creating a new nonprofit to serve Clark County families of autistic and intellectually disabled children.
She said her ultimate goal for the nonprofit is to create an autism center for all ages that provides caregiving services, sensory areas, a library and, most of all, a safe place for families to send their children.
The moms’ support group meetings stopped when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but the group hasn’t gone away. The Facebook page has about 1,200 members. Dodge has hosted Easter egg hunts, summer picnics and resource fairs. Dodge’s Sensitive Santa event on Saturday was attended by 343 people.
A dad with an autistic child volunteered to be Santa. He was in a private room for children with sensory sensitivities who needed to be away from the noise and activities. The free event featured craft tables, free photos with Santa, volunteers from therapy companies, cider and cookies. The first 25 families received a Christmas tree with a bag full of decorations.
Donations from the community and money from Dodge’s own pocket cover the costs of these events, she said. The new nonprofit will be able to apply for grants.
“Without the nonprofit status, she can continue doing what she’s doing now — and she’s serving thousands of individuals and doing an amazing job. But she could do more,” said Anastacia Kaloudis, who serves as the new nonprofit’s first board member.
Kaloudis is a contractor with the state’s Developmental Disabilities Administration. A division of the state Department of Social and Health Services, the administration helps children and adults with disabilities. She provides services to families, adults and children who receive benefits from the agency.
Kaloudis’ 23-year-old daughter was diagnosed with autism when she was 5.
“There’s a lot of families out there struggling in very significant ways,” Kaloudis said. “(Dodge’s) knowledge and experience and, honestly, the kindness of her heart to do this and to help others, is coming into its own.”
Kaloudis said the nonprofit will provide information on what programs are available and what services they can access through Developmental Disabilities Administration funding.
To be eligible for funding under that program, individuals must be Washington residents and prove their disability originated before age 18, continues or is expected to continue indefinitely, and leaves them with substantial limitations.
Dodge said parents call her when their children are diagnosed because they don’t know what to do next.
“They don’t just give you a manual when your child gets diagnosed,” she said. “I’m a person that will dig and dig and dig and try to find out, but a lot of parents don’t, and they’re afraid. They shut down.”
In September, she joined the Washington Disability Rights Council as a Clark County representative. At her first meeting, she told the council what families here need, including help with special education services and respite care.
Respite care provides short-term planned or emergency relief for primary caregivers. The Developmental Disabilities Administration funds a certain number of respite care hours a year. Dodge said families often don’t get to use the time because it’s hard to find providers to care for children with challenging behaviors. Her youngest son receives 462 hours each year, but he doesn’t use them because providers can’t manage his behavior.
“That’s the problem with a lot of people, you get all of these services on paper, yes, but in reality, no, because there are no people,” she said. “If I can make a difference in one person’s life, that’s what keeps me going.”
Editor’s note: The story was updated to clarify Anastacia Kaloudis’ role with the Developmental Disabilities Administration, Dodge’s goals for the nonprofit and services received by Dodge’s sons.
