to be isolated in their communities with no one to call for help.
Lutheran agency steps in Enter the Navy’s Exceptional Fam- ily Member Program Respite Care, which provides active-duty parents who have children with exceptional needs 40 hours of high-quality, free help a month. In 2012 the program provided
316,611 respite hours to 569 Navy families in a handful of locations, including the Pacifi c Northwest; Washington, D.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Norfolk, Va.; and San Diego, accord- ing to Child Care Aware of America, which administers the program for the Navy and other service branches. T e Navy’s 5-year-old program
has grown fast to try to meet the high demand. T e most common condition among the children in the program is autism, followed by developmental disabilities. T e North Puget Sound Offi ce
of Lutheran Community Services Northwest, a social-service agency supported by the Lutheran commu- nity and others, recruits and trains respite providers for Child Care Aware of America. Back in 2009, fewer than 50 families got help in the Northwest. Today 125 families
Other services too
Besides providing respite care for Navy parents of children with excep- tional needs, Lutheran Community Services Northwest’s North Puget Sound Offi ce also distributes books, backpacks, school supplies and Christmas toys to Navy kids, said Nancy Ashton-King, the agency’s Navy respite coordinator. Through a partnership with the national nonprofi t Operation Homefront,
the agency also provides emergency fi nancial support to active-duty military. All of these efforts, Ashton-King said, demonstrate “our staff commitment to serving the military community.”
LCS President and CEO Roberta Nestaas said the agency is a business
with “practical strategic goals, but as a faith-based organization we look to God as our ultimate partner, the one who gives us courage to offer health, justice and hope.”
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are served in the Bremerton-Everett- Whidbey Island area. And it’s still not enough. “Our families currently are wait-
ing four to six months,” said Nancy Ashton-King, Navy respite coor- dinator for Lutheran Community Services Northwest. T e agency has 70 respite provid-
ers earning good pay, but it’s hungry for volunteers who are willing to fold themselves into a family on a regular basis, playing, eating and doing homework with the children while the parents are away. “We hear stories about a strug-
gling spouse who requires surgery, her husband is deployed and there are two to three children at home. … Mom has no family near her newly stationed base,” Ashton-King said. “We’d love to launch a volun- teer service corps to step in—drive the mom to the doctor appoint- ment, watch the children, wash the dishes and prepare dinner. “If we used volunteers, we could
make an immediate dent in that area of currently unmet need.” Shenefelt became one of the lucky
parents when her family transferred to Kitsap County. She was raised here and found relatives to help. Her respite provider, as a matter of fact, is
her sister, Sandra Pawley. T e help Shenefelt now receives
from the program and her sister has allowed her to become a respite pro- vider to other families as well. Before receiving respite care,
“the norm was going, going, going,” Shenefelt said. Now, with a little sup- port, “it’s been really nice. It’s been a lot of help,” she added.
Author bio: Pritchett is a retired newspaper journalist who lives in Bainbridge Island, Wash.
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May 2014 37
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