GEAR Parent Support Volunteer Awarded with 2009 Resiliency Rose Award

On May 7th, 2009, Deanne Beane was honored at the Crisis & Counseling Centers 2009 Annual Dinner with G.E.A.R. Parent Network’s 2009 Resiliency Rose Award. Deanne is a proud parent of a teen who was referred many years ago to G.E.A.R. by a friend. When she began attending G.E.A.R. support group meetings, her daughter was a preschooler. D

eanne began learning to advocate for her daughter after attending a series of advocacy workshops provided by G.E.A.R. which enabled Deanne to learn about the Special Education System including her daughter’s Special Education Rights. Over the next few years, Deanne continued to educate herself by attending workshops presented by the G.E.A.R. Parent Network. Deanne learned how to determine what her daughter’s needs were, how to ask for services to meet her daughter’s needs as well as how to access services within her community.

As a result of her willingness to empower herself, Deanne was asked to become a Volunteer Parent Support Group Facilitator, helping to mentor other parents and to share her knowledge and experience with parents who were at the beginning of their child’s journey. Deanne now supports other parents in their day to day struggles and helps them learn to navigate through the sometimes confusing and frustrating system of care.

Deanne truly exhibits resiliency that many parents can obtain with education and positive mentoring. It is in this regard that Deanne Beane exemplifies “resiliency” and why she was been chosen for the 2009 Annual Milliken Resiliency Rose Award.