November 10, 2000
PARENTS of developmentally disabled children need a break now and then from the demanding, fatiguing rituals of their lives. So Arc of Anne Arundel County, a United Way agency, gives parents a respite for a day or a weekend.
Sometimes the agency finds more than one need to tackle. One year ago, for example, an Arc of Anne Arundel worker was returning four mentally retarded children to their mother after a supposed weekend respite. The worker walked into the home to find domestic abuse occurring.
The worker swept the battered mother and four children away from danger into emergency housing. She made sure the children were enrolled in schools.
Arc is a private nonprofit that receives money from the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the federal government and other sources. But Kate Rollason, executive director of the county's Arc, said United Way money funds the services for mentally disabled children and adults.
It directly serves 450 people a year. In addition to respite care, United Way contributions pay for medication and adult diapers, and residential services, too. Some workers have lived with the same groups of developmentally disabled people for 15 years.
Those with less severe mental problems receive services from Arc in their home 10 hours a week, again because of the United Way.
Ms. Rollason says "there's still a lot of unmet need" for developmentally disabled people in Anne Arundel County, but United Way contributions have helped serve many who might have ended up in disastrous situations.
Arc is only one of the organizations in Anne Arundel County where United Way makes a difference. The Salvation Army of Annapolis, the YWCA and the Boys and Girls Clubs are among others that benefit from your valuable United Way contributions.
