Program areas at WWVDN
Information and support:through the wwvdn.org website, email marketing, and monthly newsletters, wwvdn connects with 700 families of individuals with disabilities and community members, providing them with resources, event information, and caregiver support. Weekly email reminders highlight upcoming activities, and our social media channels further amplify important updates and information. This fiscal year, our website saw a 28.5% increase in visitors, totaling over 13,000 visits. Additionally, we hosted 82 support meetings (in both english and spanish), attended by 1,093 individuals. Wwvdn also presented at 20 events with local service organizations, healthcare providers, and schools, as well as at community expos and fairs, reaching over 900 people to foster awareness, outreach, and education.
Training:walla Walla Valley Disability Network and parent to parent delivered 24 training sessions over the fiscal year, including a transition workshop series offered from january to march 2024. This series trained caregivers on key transition topics such as housing, healthy relationships, dda, dvr, social security & job foundations, benefits planning, and guardianship, power of attorney, & self-determination. The series culminated in a transition expo attended by 122 caregivers and family members. Parent to parent also hosted its annual "helping parent training," equipping parents to provide emotional and informational support to other parents of children with similar diagnoses. Additionally, a peer mentor training attended by six middle and high school students prepared them to become mentors for student peers with disabilities. Our annual survey in august saw 54 responses in english and 6 in spanish. Of the 13 agencies listed in the survey, the top sources of community support were wwvdn and parent to parent (43 responses) and the developmental disabilities administration (36 responses). Notably, only 26 out of the 60 survey participants currently receive support through dda, with ten on the "eligible but no paid service" list, and another 17 either denied or not yet applied for services.
Social and recreation:over the fiscal year, we held 93 inclusive social and recreational events through our soar program, which supports teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, along with our parent to parent program, which fosters family connections. These events brought together a total of 2,374 attendees, including 338 volunteers.