How it all started

 
 What is Kinera?
Kinera is a compound word, combining Kin - someone or something of the same or
similar kind, and Era - a date or an event forming the beginning of any distinctive period. Simply put, a group of friends and family lasting a lifetime.
Why do we need Kinera, why is it important to us?
I will never forget the day I took my son in for his 3 year -well visit, and left feeling as though I was bringing home a new child. In a time when I should have felt a sense of relief, I felt devastation. I wanted desperately to feel as though I had a path to follow, but with a complex diagnosis, you are many times left with many paths to choose from. I wanted someone to tell me what to do, for someone to talk to, to give me advice. I wanted a guide who had already experienced the shock and devastation of a diagnosis, to hold my hand and tell me what step to take next. I wanted someone to understand why I grieved a child that was still alive. It wasn’t that he had a fatal prognosis; it was that my vision of what his future held was suddenly stripped from me. I needed support, and the closest group was about an hour away. In traveling that far, I realized that the most I would gain was insight from another parent’s perspective. I started searching for people who have been through what we were going through. I wanted somebody to talk to about what others have done; somebody to bounce
ideas off of. There was no one in my area, available, to give me guidance for me, for my family unit. The programs I found in our area focused on my child. While that was needed, I knew that I had to heal myself before I could fully take care of my son. The Chesapeake Bay Region lacks a much needed  support group open to families of children with all needs. We know many of these families on a first name basis; have worked with them throughout various outlets. We have, and will continue to face  fears, triumphs, challenges and victories with them. Many of these families do not know where to go for extra help, or have the chance to interact and socialize with other parents who share similar needs, have encountered similar scenarios. They want someone with whom they can share strategies that work, or just vent to, someone who understands and wants to listen.
We don’t know what the future holds, and that’s a scary place. We want parents to feel safe saying that. We want parents to embrace Kinera, to know that we are here for the long haul. Regardless of the stage of diagnosis they are in, beginning, middle, or another beginning, regardless of their child’s age, Kinera Foundation will have a place – a refuge to lay feelings on the table, and know that we will do everything in our power to provide the support they so desperately desire. We don’t want to go for the “cure”. There will always be challenges we have to face.
Therefore, Kinera Foundation is born. We know the need on the Delmarva Peninsula. With our training and years working with individuals with autism and other special needs; with knowledge of IEP and school needs, Kinera will be beneficial to parents, and help children achieve their ultimate success. Every county provides different services, has access to different specialists. We want the information parents’ are given to be relevant to where they live. We want to be able to provide the same services, grant opportunities, and support that other counties have, to the Chesapeake Bay Region.