Need Project Podcast

Mike is the Supervisor of Church Relations for Joni and Friends International Disability Center. We discuss how to encourage our churches to support families with special needs members, and how Joni and Friends can help.

Our guest is Jackie Mills-Fernald. Jackie is the Director of Access Ministries at Mclean Bible Church in Virginia. We learn about the unique programs they have and some tips from their years of experience.

Our guest today is Dr. Diane Foley. Dr. Foley is President/CEO of Life Network, a life affirming ministry in Colorado Springs, CO, which provides physical, financial, and emotional support for women and men facing unexpected pregnancies, mentoring for young parents, recovery counseling for those who have been affected by abortion, as well as sexual risk avoidance education presented in local middle and high schools.We discuss the options and best ways to teach our children about sex.

As an ASCP certified medical technologist, Melanie expected an exciting career in the health field. Instead, she soon discovered that parenting was an even greater passion. The mother of one child who was neurotypical and two with neuropsychiatric disorders, Melanie used her education to interact with specialists and to research interventions for her children. As parents raising children with these and other brain chemistry differences, we need compassionate voices who can listen and help us with the practical issues: fighting despair, judgment, and educational challenges; deciding about medications; handling the labeling of children with behavioral challenges; and negotiating the responses of schools and the church. Perhaps most importantly, we need assurance that our children will be okay and that we will survive spiritually as we grapple with the daily challenges. listen as we continue our conversation.

As an ASCP certified medical technologist, Melanie expected an exciting career in the health field. Instead, she soon discovered that parenting was an even greater passion. The mother of one child who was neurotypical and two with neuropsychiatric disorders, Melanie used her education to interact with specialists and to research interventions for her children. As parents raising children with these and other brain chemistry differences, we need compassionate voices who can listen and help us with the practical issues: fighting despair, judgment, and educational challenges; deciding about medications; handling the labeling of children with behavioral challenges; and negotiating the responses of schools and the church. Perhaps most importantly, we need assurance that our children will be okay and that we will survive spiritually as we grapple with the daily challenges.

Melissa Horvath has a masters degree in special education and has taught preschool through 6th grade in a variety of settings including regular classrooms and special schools.

Ministry President Bob West gives an update on current projects and what we are planning for the next year!

Dr. Stephen Grcevich serves as Founder and Director of Strategic Initiatives of Key Ministry, a non-profit organization providing free training, consultation, resources and support to help churches serve families of children with disabilities. Dr. Grcevich is a graduate of Northeastern Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), trained in General Psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at University Hospitals of Cleveland/Case Western Reserve University.

Our guest is Kathleen Bolduc, Kathleen is a speaker and Author her newest book is The Spiritual Art of Raising Children with Disabilities. The book is about how to grow in your personal spiritual life while raising a family that may have more challenges then others.

Linda is the Executive Director of Special Kids Special Families, an organization dedicated to provide community support services to families who are raising youth and caring for adults with developmental disabilities and special needs.

Dr. James Dobson has been defending families for over 35 years. He is the Founder of Focus on the Family and his new ministry Family Talk. He is the author of over 28 books on marriage and parenting. Dr. Dobson talks with us about the families and what we can do to help them thrive.

Our guests are Joe and Cindi Ferrini. Joe and Cindi are the authors of "Our Unexpected Journey". A great book about raising a child with special needs. We discuss the emotions and issues couples go through to find what the Ferrini's call, the new "normal" for their lives.

We visited with Dr. Peter Armstrong who was the Chief Medical Officer of the Shriners Hospitals for Children. We discuss the services that the Shriners Hospitals give to children and how they are different from other hospitals.

Bob West, President of Need Project talks about our new booklet written to new dad's helping them understand a few of the issues they will deal with as fathers and husbands who have children with special needs.

Tyler was born with Cerebral Palsy but through his faith in Jesus Christ, Tyler has never let any medical diagnosis, statistic or the negative attitudes of others stop him from dreaming and achieving his goals. Tyler passion is pediatrics and he inspires both the child and their parents to realize that all things are possible. As Tyler says, "People say no and God says yes!" As a speaker, Tyler is able to motivate people of all ages to move past barriers in their lives and develop renewed hope through the power of Christ. Lisa gives a mother's personal insight to the life of her disabled child. From the initial fears of pregnancy to the heartache of being told your child isn't "perfect", it is a mother's story of her child, the blessing of motherhood and the challenges we all face on different levels.

Tyler was born with Cerebral Palsy but through his faith in Jesus Christ, Tyler has never let any medical diagnosis, statistic or the negative attitudes of others stop him from dreaming and achieving his goals. Tyler passion is pediatrics and he inspires both the child and their parents to realize that all things are possible. As Tyler says, "People say no and God says yes!" As a speaker, Tyler is able to motivate people of all ages to move past barriers in their lives and develop renewed hope through the power of Christ. Lisa gives a mother's personal insight to the life of her disabled child. From the initial fears of pregnancy to the heartache of being told your child isn't "perfect", it is a mother's story of her child, the blessing of motherhood and the challenges we all face on different levels.

Jim Mhoon serves as the vice president of content development at Focus on the Family. Jim is heading up Focus's efforts on The Family Project. He and his son who has special needs, are part of a video preview for the project. Which can be seen at: http://community.focusonthefamily.com/b/jim-daly/archive/2013/06/19/please-watch-this-video.aspx

Our guest is Kyle West, son of our founder. We talk with Kyle about going off to college with a special need.

Cynthia has her own business, Apple St. (Applied Learning Styles) and began a career in writing and speaking in the field of learning and communicating styles. When we talk about learning styles, we're talking about not just personality differences, we're talking about the fact that each of us actually takes in information and understands it in a different way and we assume that everybody does it our way.

We talk with Tricia Harris to highlight the work of Foundations for Successful Living, specifically their summer programs. FSL specializes in working with individuals ages 3 and up with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Down Syndrome, Brain Injury, Intellectual Disability, and/or general learning dysfunction.