The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Connecting for Kids Resource Fair set
Event aims to help families of children with developmental issues
Since 2018, Westlake based nonprofit Connecting for Kids has hosted resource fairs to help parents and children in Lorain County.
The fairs are open to families with children from newborns to 22 years old, the organization said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every six children is affected by developmental disabilities, and likely even more struggle with mental health issues in the modern age.
The Lorain County Resource Fair, set for 6-8 p.m., March 14, at the Lorain County Community College Spitzer Convention Center, 1005 Abbe Road North in Elyria, aims to connect families of those with developmental disabilities to the tools they need.
“We really focus our effort on Lorain and Cuyahoga counties,” Connecting for Kids Professional and School Liaison Joellen Podoll said. “We help educate and support families who have concerns about their children.”
The organization’s normal help range is for children from newborns to 12 years old, Podoll said.
The resource fairs, run once per year, extend that range to 22 years old, she said.
“What we’re really looking at are mental health concerns, developmental disabilities; we’ll have service providers for both of those,” Podoll said. “Alternative schools, funding sources, just a wide variety of resources for families.”
According to Podoll, the Lorain County Resource Fair is designed to connect families that either do not know how to get help for their child or have nowhere else to go, to look for that help.
In addition to the in-person Resource Fair, the organization will have graband-go bags for families, she said.
This process came out of the coronavirus pandemic and can help families with children who are medically complex, Podoll said.
“I say that a lot of positive and a lot of negative came out of COVID,” she said. “In 2020, COVID hit right before the Lorain County Resource Fair.
“I mean, it was days before it. Obviously, we had to cancel, we went virtual. We realized that a lot of families were really missing out. They were struggling.”
The Wallace family has received major help from the Lorain County Resource Fair, according to Jill Wallace.
Her daughter, Scarlett, was diagnosed with pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency syndrome as an infant.
This can cause epilepsy, scoliosis, a cleft palate and spastic-quad cerebral palsy.
The Wallace family attended a resource fair when Scarlett was just 6 months old.
With help from Connecting for Kids and the Lorain County Resource Fair, Scarlett, 8, has been able to get active and live a healthy life, Wallace said.
“I’ll never forget (our first resource fair),” she said. “I had no idea what I was going into.
“The Resource Fair was very small at the time. And also, you know, I had a baby, and I knew she had a lot of challenges headed toward her.”
Wallace mentioned the Lorain County Resource Fair likely has quadrupled in size since the family’s first outing.
“Connecting for Kids in general has actually connected me to other special needs families,” she said. “The resource fair, I took a few moms.
“They had an opportunity to meet the parent advocates for the schools (and) to discuss different opportunities for therapy.”
According to Wallace, Scarlett has been able to sign up for a variety of different activities thanks to the resource fair.
She has participated in adapted dance and swimming, and the family is looking to sign her up for an adapted baseball program this season.
“It’s nice because when we started, we were looking for therapies,” Wallace said. “Now here we are, eight years later, and we get to look at the fun stuff now.”
Wallace encourages any families of children with disabilities and mental health struggles to attend the fair, even if just for a grab-and-go bag.