We were lucky to catch up with Rita Stevens recently and have shared our conversation below.
Rita, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.
Silent Voyces is a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy and support for special needs families. We understand that special needs do not discriminate against any group of people. Although there are specific laws that have been put in place for special needs children, we often see them underserved and underrepresented in different aspects of life. Something as simple as enjoying a movie, a child that is considered nonverbal has no accommodation to share his or her input on what they see or experience. The same is true for families that only have access to state provided insurance, they have limited access to healthcare options unlike the average family that has primary insurance. Despite having education laws in place, children with disabilities are often judged and educated based on their disability versus their ability and without the right special education advocate this becomes another missed opportunity for that child’s growth. These missed opportunities create a greater level of burden on the parents and ultimately the overall family by lowering the quality of life of the child, increase the long-term financial burden, exacerbate
the mental distress on caregivers, and reduce the parents’ ability to properly focus on other children that require and deserve the same level of attention. We help bridge the gap to connect parents to the right resources so that they no longer feel voiceless. These resources help them acquire the language, knowledge, services, and financial means to advocate for their child.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Rita Stevens, Founder of Silent Voyces. I created Silent Voyces because I am a parent of a special needs child. I understand the daily struggle that so many parents face. I serve as a parent support partner in this journey to help them find answers to their concerns and questions. Silent Voyces operates under four key pillars: Education, Nutrition, Healthcare, and Community. These pillars allow us to have a foundation to help all parents with special needs children because every child is touched by one or all of those pillars. We help parents by doing the following:
1. We collaborate with other providers to offer free events to parents and/ or children. These events include FREE respite, vendor fairs, and special needs specific events. Some of these events are moms only, dads only, or combined.
2. We participate in and host vendor fairs to better support parents.
3. We connect parents to resources through interviews with providers regardless of location(inside and outside of the United States)
4. We interview other parents as Stories of Hope. We believe that parents and caregivers will be inspired, motivated, and most importantly encouraged by the words of others who have walked a similar path.
It is our joy to serve these families and be a source of hope, encouragement, and partner on a journey often traveled but less often understood. We want them to always know and believe Your Voice Matters.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
The lesson that I have had to unlearn is that “everything has to be perfect before I move”. My dad has always emphasized that we should “do the job right the first time and you won’t have to do it again”. This saying drove many of my decisions and unfortunately, I took this one literally. It caused a significant amount of analysis paralysis. For several years Silent Voyces was put on ice because I did not know everything about the nonprofit sector or how to manage having a special needs child myself while pouring into others. This was the first step in me letting go of the idea that “everything has to be perfect to move”. I had to become open to the idea that the perfect time for Silent Voyces was now. Silent Voyces uses its collaboration with other community partners to serve the families and sometimes everything is not perfectly outlined before we start. The unlearning that “everything has to be perfect to move” has allowed us to step out and work with unexpected community partners to create custom experiences for our families. This acts as a source of encouragement that our dream to bridge the gap for parents will continually require an act of faith to step into unexpected places, meet unexpected people, and be open to new ideas. This of course does not mean that everything will be perfect when these amazing opportunities present themselves.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Our line of business is really the business of people. We Serve. The most effective way for us to grow clientele is to be present for the entire family. We ensure that we are a part of vendor fairs, we gather specific parent challenges and needs in order find the right resources, and we are constantly talking with providers to ask if they would be willing to share their knowledge. We ensure we stay abreast of the new and innovative services and products that will help our families. Silent Voyces is organically growing as we continue to serve the people by sharing information that is useful for their daily lives. From a social media perspective, we continue to grow followers by providing relevant content that truly serves the people that need it most.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://silentvoyces.org
- Instagram: instragram.com/silentvoyces
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556589423852&sk=about
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-stevens-6088b671/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@inspiredvoyces
Image Credits
Luther West – Photography