Enriching Escapes: The Need for Respite in an Effort to Avoid Burnout

by Wendi Hoffer

Unplugging through travel has been an integral part of my husband’s and my life since the day we met. We both had high stress careers, and so we always made sure we allocated the time and financial resources that we had toward keeping a little sanity for ourselves. Little did we know that once our first son was born, that effort would become all the more important.

Our first son (we have two now) was born 10 weeks early in a very unexpected fashion. He spent 67 long days in the NICU afterwards. Over those days, weeks, and months, he underwent blood transfusions, ultrasounds, EKGs, EEGs, MRIs…the list of tests and procedures goes on and on. I’m sure that many people reading this can relate to those days! When he was about a month old, we got the diagnosis: cystic periventricular leukomalacia. We quickly learned that a diagnosis of cerebral palsy was very likely down the road. Our lives as special needs parents had officially begun.

Why Respite is Needed

Research studies have shown that special needs parents are far more likely to battle mental illness than parents of typical children. Expenses quickly add up, as not everything is covered by insurance. Days become consumed with hours of therapy, doctor visits, and research on how to provide the best care for our children with special needs. And then there’s the constant worry about what the future might hold for our children, especially once we’re no longer around.

Once my husband and I became card-carrying members of the special needs parenting club and we realized the stress that we were in for, we renewed our commitment to traveling and unplugging for the sake of our sanity. And now we had to think about our little guy’s sanity too. The day-to-day life of a child with special needs certainly takes its toll. We can’t forget about that fact! Eventually, once our second son came along, we had to consider the impact that this life had on him as well.

We have been fortunate enough financially to be able to continue to make travel a regular part of life. And we sought out an alternative therapy that is available most places we travel to so that we didn’t have the guilt of taking our son away from very much needed therapy time. But this therapy isn’t covered by insurance and therefore isn’t a reality for most families.

Enriching Escapes

There were two big takeaways for us as we considered the reality of traveling for many special needs families. The financial expense of travel on top of mounting medical-related expenses is too much for most families. And the guilt of taking a child away from essential therapy time is a significant deterrent from vacationing for these families that need it most.

These realizations led me to launch a non-profit called Enriching Escapes. Our mission is, “to improve the quality of life, mental health, and development of special needs children and their families by making guilt-free opportunities to relax and recharge possible.” To that end, we organize affordable or subsidized trips for special needs families and, most importantly, ensure therapists participate in our families’ vacations in order to provide therapy for children with special needs. We call our trips Escapes because the family can Escape their everyday, Escape the financial burden of most vacations, Escape the guilt of missing therapy, and our very special kids can Escape their routines and enjoy a vacation just like every other typical kid.

We’re just starting out, and our initial Escape is planned as a cruise out of our local port of Tampa, FL this October. But we will be expanding this idea beyond our area in the future, as we are a national organization. There are so many families across the country (and the world, really) that need this type of respite in order to continue their courageous journeys and we look forward to assisting as many families as possible.

If you’d like to learn more, nominate yourself or another family for an Escape, or tell us about how you might be able to help, please visit our website www.enrichingescapes.org.

Author: Wendi Hoffer • Date: 6/13/2018

About the Author

Wendi Hoffer is the proud mom to two wonderful sons — Hudson (3.5 years old with cerebral palsy) and Holden (10 months old). She considers herself lucky to be their mom and to have the support of her husband, Nick, throughout this journey. Wendi is the Founder and Executive Director of Enriching Escapes. You can see more of Hudson’s story and follow some of his day-to-day activities by following @aheronamedhudson on Instagram. And you can keep up with Enriching Escapes on Facebook and Instagram (@enrichingescapes) in addition to through blogs and other content on the website.

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