AUTISTIC RESILIENCE NETWORK
We operate two great programs to support people who are autistic or have related conditions:
Emergency Program
The Emergency Program allows us to meet small, emergency needs throughout the year. These might include things like a bus pass, a co-pay for a doctor's visit, or help with an electric bill.
Sue Milos Joy Program
Applicants request help purchasing an item or a service that will make a positive, long-term difference in their lives. Community members review the requests and decide how they want to help!
Our Story
Our autistic community members frequently struggle to meet their practical needs due to ongoing health and employment challenges. In an effort to find practical support, a local provider (Cady Stanton, now our Executive Director) began partnering with the individuals and their families to let the community know help was needed. (You can hear Cady discuss neurodivergence on the Renoites podcast.)
One family had a bunk bed for their kids, but no sheets. A community member offered to send them some sheets. When the packages arrived, they contained not only sheets targeted to the kid's special interests, but matching blankets and pillows, too!
Other needs arose. A back-up camera for a teenager learning to drive. Help with a speech therapy bill. Uniforms for school. Once, a couple months salary for an autistic college student on scholarship who was struggling working in a loud coffee shop while also taking a heavy load of classes and volunteering at a research lab. She was able to quite the coffee shop, obtain a better job, and finish her semester with great grades. Now she has graduated and is working full-time serving the autistic community herself. You can read about another one of our past recipients, Anastazia, here.
Over and over, it became clear that the right help, at the right time, could make a difference in someone's life. Besides the practical support, it meant a lot to autistic community members to see that they were cared about, valued, and supported.
Sue Milos frequently helped meet these needs. She used to teach autistic students and the autistic community had a special place in her heart. It was heartbreaking to lose her suddenly to an aggressive cancer.
What started as one provider's small side project has become The Autistic Resilience Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Every holiday season we look forward to running the Sue Milos Joy Program, in which we honor Sue's memory by connecting autistic community members with those in the community who are looking for a way to reach out to someone else.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for caring and helping the autistic community. In a world of sometimes overwhelming problems, the asks from our applicants are problems we can actually solve.