At the spring Family Day event hosted by JCFS Chicago’s disability services staff, children with disabilities and their siblings played with slime, built with Legos, had their faces painted and posed in a photo booth. While the children and teens were engaged in the various sensory activities, their parents relaxed for a couple hours and made connections of their own.

“It’s not typical for us to go to a place and have the ability to mingle and hang out,” said, Rivky, who has attended several Family Day events with her son.

Family Day is designed to put parents at ease while their children play and socialize in a safe setting. 

“I hoped to provide an environment where families could bond and make memories together without worrying if their child will be accepted,” said Amy Janssen, Services for People with Disabilities respite supervisor. “So many of our families feel like there are not many spaces designed to include everyone, but parents and siblings were engaged together and that's what it's all about.”

Whether families are participating in activities together or parents are bonding while their children play, Family Day reflects the agency’s value of kehilah, or community, by promoting a sense of belonging and connection. 

“My son feels extremely comfortable here,” said Melinda, whose teen-aged son has attended several past Family Day events. “Everyone is very kind to him.” 

Melinda said her son enjoys Family Day so much that he even attended when the event fell on his birthday, and while he was there, he invited a friend he knew to his house for cake later that evening. 

The mindful, safe environment geared towards children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families puts parents at ease, said Frank, who attended with his wife and daughter. 

“We’re around other parents that understand our situation,” he said. “In other places, you can’t sit and relax.”

His wife, Tina, agreed, saying there is a sense of community at the event.

“It’s very comfortable here,” she said. “We love it.”

Another parent, Gulnar, said that Family Day helps alleviate isolation that families of children on the spectrum often face. 

“It’s so difficult to find these pockets of interactions and that’s why JCFS really works,” she said. 

In addition to Family Day, the disability services team hosts Bingo nights twice a year, plus it offers Respite services on Sundays, which provides short-term relief for families caring for children with disabilities.

“Two sets of parents shared with me that they became friends through respite and continue to spend time together,” said Director of Services for People with Disabilities Allison Rodenhouse. “We’ve heard this before and feel this is an important impact.”