As parents of a special needs child we have learned over the years of the absolute necessity to take time out of our busy schedules to ‘recharge our batteries’ and invest quality time into our marriage relationship so that we can maintain a strong foundation for meeting the physical and emotional needs of our special needs child.

All too often it becomes difficult or next to impossible for parents of special needs children to take these needed breaks due to a lack of qualified child care and/or the disposable income to treat themselves to a night out.  In the spirit of meeting this need, my wife Denise and I founded Special-Parents.org.

Special-Parents.org works with co-sponsoring organizations, who in turn partner with volunteers, donors and restaurants in their area, to offer an afternoon or evening of respite for the parents and/or caregivers of special needs children.  The events include a complimentary “Special Parents” night (dinner) or afternoon (lunch) out for the parents or caregivers while their special needs child and siblings are cared for and entertained for 2 to 4 hours, by loving and qualified volunteers in a carnival-like atmosphere.

Our founding co-sponsor, Resurgent Church (f/k/a The Church of the Hills), located in Bedminster, NJ, has hosted over 16 of these events for families in the Northern New Jersey and surrounding area.  These semi-annual Northern New Jersey “Special Parent’s Night Out” events have grown from  just a few dozen guest families and about 60 volunteers in 2010 to over 200 families and 350+ volunteers per event today.

As Resurgent Church begins to reach capacity, it signals the need for other organization, whose leadership and membership have a heart for serving the special needs community, to step up and co-sponsor an event in their area.

If you and your organization are interested in working with Special-Parents.org to co-sponsor and host a “Special Parents” event in your area, please contact us directly coutts.steven@gmail.com .  Thank you in advance for your personal vision and willingness to help serve our special needs community.

God Bless!

Fall 2011 Special Parent’s Afternoon Out

Steve & Denise Coutts
Parents of Hannah Coutts
(Age 23, Client of Universal Institute