During this Thanksgiving season, Quality Trust Family Ties of DC (FTDC) is grateful for the gift of life and family for the DC parents and their families who are fortunate to be approaching the transition to 2023.  Although we have arrived on the other side of the pandemic, the challenges for people with disabilities and their families have been magnified in scope and increased in quantity to create or manage family stability.

 FTDC continues to hear the voices of DC parents and families through the inquiries and requests for FTDC parent matches concerning challenges on the areas of healthcare, education, mental health, and disability services pertaining to:

• Accessing accurate information
• Availability of the service
• Finding the appropriate person   
• Responsiveness of contact
• Changes in services without notice
• Lack of providers

Many DC families are looking for the “golden ticket”, full access to opportunities with services and supports to positive life outcomes similar to the children and families who wanted to gain access to  “The Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”.   Numerous DC parents are struggling to gain a healthy quality of life due to the limitation in availability and quality of services and supports. Most barriers are related to services and supports that should be attained based on parental and human rights live as a valued DC resident.

As the Program Coordinator, I am thankful for the work of the FTDC with the “golden tickets”, who are the trained FTDC Support Parents have the “lived” experiences to walk with Referred Parent to provide the information, resources, and the emotional support that is necessary to take the next steps…FTDC Support Parents are present in the lives of Referred Parent to remind with words of encouragement and actions of support. “You are not alone.” 

Please join with FTDC to gain access to a FTDC Support Parent by completing and submitting a FTDC Parent Match Request. Once it is completed, you will be contacted by Rhonda White, Program Coordinator who can be reached at rwhite@dcqualitytrust.org or (202)302-6635.