Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina

Brenda Boberg has been named the recipient of the National Perinatal Association’s 2011 Becky Hatfield Family Support Award for her work in providing support to families in eastern North Carolina. This award is given to honor an individual who has provided substantial support to families dealing with the emotional aspects of high-risk maternal and child health. The award was presented to Brenda on October 22, 2011, at the National Perinatal Association Annual Conference in Louisville, KY.

The National Perinatal Association leads the nation in improving pregnancy outcomes, preventing infant mortality, and providing research to prevent early delivery of infants.

Brenda is the Executive Director of the Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina providing support to families at Pitt County Memorial Hospital and surrounding counties.

The 2011-2012, Family Support Network of Eastern NC Pitt Community College Scholarship recipient Brandon Bynum loves computers and computer games. His ambition is to obtain a degree in computer science and become a computer game developer. This interest began for Brandon in ninth grade when he took his first course in computer applications. For his senior project he did research on cyberspace.

Brandon is a responsible 18 year old who helps his single parent mother by caring for his six year old sister while she works. Brandon says his mother has worked very hard to instill values in him and his sister that will enable them to become good productive adults.

Brandon is attending Pitt Community College this year as the first step in obtaining his dream. He says he intends to represent the Family Support Network of Eastern NC well and that he is determined to be successful. Brandon also expressed his gratitude for being chosen as this year’s scholarship recipient.

Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina

Parent Resource and Support Group for families of children with special health care needs

May 12, 2011 6:00 to 8:00 pm

Wilson Medical Center – 1705 Tarboro Street Wilson, NC

Auxiliary Conference Room

Speaker: Brenda Boberg

Brenda Boberg, Executive Director of the Family Support Network of Eastern NC, at The University Health Systems Eastern Carolina, Pitt County Memorial Hospital. Brenda began the program in 1990.

She is the parent of four children and has experienced being a parent of a premature infant and within the last few years and the death of a child with a chronic illness.

Come Hear Brenda’s Journey!!

For more information or to register:

Mary Brown, Parent Coordinator

252-290-0862

tmbrown@nc.rr.com

Kaitlin Bunch – 2011 Angel Boberg-Webb Memorial Scholarship Recipient

The Board of Directors and staff of the Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina offers congratulations to Kaitlin Bunch who is the recipient of the 2011 Angel Boberg Webb Memorial Scholarship for senior college students who plan to teach children with special needs.

Kaitlin is a fourth year senior at East Carolina University, majoring in Special Education with a subspecialty in adaptive curriculum. In our interview on April 18, 2011, Kaitlin explained that in middle school she became friends with a peer with special needs who got into fights at school. Kaitlin began to spend time with the peer and talk with her about the fights and many other topics. Kaitlin and the peer became good friends and their relationship was mutually beneficial. Once they transitioned to high school they realized there were many other peers interested in getting to know others and they formed an informal group. Kaitlin remarked that this experience was a valuable personal and learning experience for her. Kaitlin had also had experience with a family member with learning disabilities. Both of these experiences taught Kaitlin about the everyday struggles one may experience and the importance of support from family, friends and community members.

Once Kaitlin started to explore college and future interests she had difficulty because of her many interests. But, one of her high school teachers suggested she consider becoming a teacher. After some soul searching she decided to pursue a degree in education and received the North Carolina Teaching Fellow Scholarship. She decided to attend East Carolina University and began as a science education major. However, she went on a field trip with students from a special education class when she was a freshman and realized that working with children with special needs was her passion.

Kaitlin will begin interning in a public school classroom in the fall of 2011 and continue this experience in the spring of 2012. She is willing to working in any type of special education classroom and hopes that it will be at the middle or high school level.

While going to college Kaitlin has also had the opportunity to work for the ARC of North Carolina as a personal support specialist where she worked with an adult with developmental disabilities for nine months. She reports being very attached to the client and “loving” the work. Due to her educational responsibilities, Kaitlin had to stop working with the client but notes that this experience helped confirm her passion for working with children with special needs.

Kaitlin’s long term goals include teaching in a special needs classroom in North Carolina. She also wants to open a camp/retreat for people with disabilities and their families in Northeastern North Carolina. She describes this as a self-sustaining community which would allow individuals to live and work there. Kaitlin Bunch has a bright future ahead of her and we are confident that she will make a difference in the lives of children with special needs and their families. The Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina is proud to help her continue to pursue her educational goals.

Kaye McGinty, MD
Board member FSN-ENC

The 2011 Festival of Trees will be held at the Greenville Convention Center Dec 1st – 23rd.

If you are interested in volunteering or sponsoring a tree please fill out the online form or call 252-328-9332.

Family Support Network and Early Intervention Services in North Carolina

Since the inception of the Family Support Network (FSN), there has been a working relationship between FSN and the Early Intervention Program in NC.

The Early Intervention Program recognizes that some parents of infants/toddlers may be hesitant to pursue possible services for their child when their pediatrician mentions a possible developmental concern following a well-child visit.

“After all, the child is still so very young, growing and developing every day.  What might be a concern today won’t be a concern tomorrow.  After all, I certainly see more of what my child can do than the doctor did on that one visit”.

Click here for more…

Welcome to Holland

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this…

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”

“Holland?!” you say. “What do you mean, Holland?” I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.

But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to some horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy a new guidebook. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”

The pain of that will never, ever, go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

Written by Emily Perl Kingsley

Read more about Brenda at the link below:

Title: FSN-ENC Fundraiser
Location: Pizza Inn – Winterville
Description: Please join us at the Pizza Inn in Winterville (in front of Lowe’s) on Monday, April 11, for a fundraising event. FSN-ENC will receive a portion of proceeds raised between 5pm-8pm.
Start Time: 17:00
Date: 2011-03-09
End Time: 20:00