MARCH 9 • 2023 | 19

Linda Rosberg, who has 
run special needs groups for 
over 30 years and today works 
at Rehab Pathways Group 
in Troy, will be one of the 
staff members representing 
the agency at the upcoming 
event. She says there’s a need 
for more education about the 
services available. 
“I think people need to 
share the information they 
have,” she says, adding that 
people usually find out about 
services through word of 
mouth. “When these kids 
graduate — when they’re 
26 — from school, what are 
they going to do? They’re not 
really advised on what to do,” 
she says. The event is a way 
to spread the information 
available about opportunities 
further, she adds. 
Kim Staudacher, director of 
development for Dutton Farm 
in Rochester 
Hills, says 
she hopes the 
symposium gives 
families another 
agency to look 
into that offers 
their loved ones 
another chance to grow. “We 
try to give them meaningful 
experiences, provide them 
with dignity and purpose 
just like everyone else in the 
world,” she says. 
Raising awareness about 

places like Dutton Farms is 
key, she says. “So, through 
these community events — 
it’s not just for special needs 
families, it’s for bringing the 
whole Rochester and Oakland 
County communities together 
and saying, ‘You can be a part 
of our community,’” she says. 
“We want people to see what 
we’re doing.” 
Susan Rogers, director, 
Parere Counseling and 
Consulting, says she’s glad to 
be part of the constellation of 
organizations participating in 
the symposium 
to help families 
launch their 
children into 
safe, healthy 
and supported 
lifestyles as they 
grow. 
“We have that idea of what 
our lives are going to look 
like, not that it always turns 
out like that,” she says. “For 
parents and for people with 
disabilities, their path is not 
going to be that, we can’t 
assume, we can’t say ‘This 
is going to happen.’ We’re 
creating that path for our 
children.” 

The Special Needs Family Symposium 

takes place from noon-3 p.m. 

Sunday, March 12, at the JCC in West 

Bloomfield. Email szoltowski@jccdet.

org for more information.

Susan 
Rogers

Kim 
Staudacher

“I HOPE THAT MINE AND MY 
HUSBAND’S STORY ABOUT 
LAUNCHING OUR DAUGHTER 
WILL INSPIRE INDIVIDUALS AND 
LET THEM KNOW THERE ARE 
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT THEM 

ALONG THE WAY.”

— KATHLEEN REMSKI

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www.hfldetroit.org • 248.723.8184

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6735 TELEGRAPH ROAD, SUITE 300 • BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN 48301

@HFLDetroit

Community donations help Hebrew Free Loan give 
interest-free loans to local Jews for a variety of personal, 
health, educational and small business needs.

Hebrew Free Loan’s Building My 

Tomorrow loan fund was established through 
the generosity of grants from the Jewish 
Women’
s Foundation. The fund assists 
Jewish women in Michigan who have few 
resources, less established credit or limited 
family support. With loans up to a maximum of 
$10,000, the fund may help in cases such as: 

• A 32-year-old mother who needed 
help with legal fees in her divorce and custody 
case against her abusive husband. 
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managed all the bills and finances during 
their marriage, until his final illness. She 
needed funds to help keep her home while 
she settled the estate. 
• A 43-year-old woman whose mother 
was in hospice. She requested assistance 
to help cover funeral expenses.

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