With the invention of the internet and the
subsequent evolution of all the resources which are available to us with only a
key stroke or two it is hard to believe that there are still areas of which
information is lacking.
The business that I would start is a not-for- profit
that would assist families who have had a child diagnosed with a disability or
a long term illness. My business would assist the child and families finding
the resources needed for them in the community, as well as help the families
understand and make the needed transition for the new diagnosis. This business would
start off smaller with focusing on assisting families in one quadrant of the
City of Calgary, then growing to encompass the entire City. Having a web page and
using social media to be able to bring awareness for the company would be the
path I would choose as a starting tool as well as a long term tool.
A third of the adult population is living with some
form of a disability; the majority of these were not diagnosed in childhood.
However in the past 20 years or so the medical profession has made leaps and
bounds and has been able to identify and diagnosis more and more cases. The
target market for the company would be the third of the population, in the City
of Calgary. A need to partner up with the Children’s Hospital so that when a
family receives the diagnosis for their child they are given information to
contact our group right away to help with direction on getting the proper
supports.
Fixed costs for our group would be website, phone
line, cell phones, internet and email for the group. Short term expenses for
our group would be counsellors, a small office space and mileage for counsellor’s
vehicles. Long term expenses of hiring more counsellor’s a larger office space,
running programs at our facility that are not offered elsewhere, and vehicles
for counsellor’s to use would be the ultimate goal.
Having a grown child who was diagnosed many years
ago with multiple disabilities there were no avenues available at the time to
find supports in the community to help. You needed to try and search out what
you could on your own, which is what I did; it was a very long and frustrating
road. In speaking with a friend for this article that has a child with a
disability she told me about Children’s Link (www.childrenslink.ca).
I went to the website and was very
impressed with all that this organization has to offer to its clients, from
finding out the diagnosis all the way to transitioning to adulthood and independence
for the young adult. I am sure that there will always be room for another group
to work in this area, with the number of children being diagnosed with disabilities
every year the work load is heavy.
