I could see that my life would never be the same. My little boy had just been diagnosed with Autism, and our serene and very "normal" life was turned upside down. This was our experience, a family life much like any other, suddenly and inexplicably changed with the doctors utterance of that word... Autism....

Throughout the state of Florida other parents have this same experience every day, their life plans suddenly upturned with the somber words from the doctors..." I'm sorry.... it appears that your child has __________........."

Fill in the blank with any number of diagnoses, the outcome for families is turmoil, financial strain, and the need for helping hands to guide them and support them. Many of these families are very young, just starting out on their road of life, yet now forced to deal with serious problems, cornered into making difficult decisions which can affect them and their child the rest of their lives.

Into this void steps Childrens Medical Services, with nursing care coordination and social work services to help support and guide these families. Their caring staff works hard to assure that parents have the medical information they need, the staples of care they need, and the support services they need. Yet still a gap exisited, the gap between nursing care coordination and social work, where resources, help, and extraordinary requirements could leave a young family reeling and floundering.

To this end we founded the Family Resource Coalition, INC, an organization whose sole purpose is to provide resources, information, and education for families of special children covered under the CMS umbrella. Working exclusively with CMS families, the Family Resource Coalition works closely with state professionals to find resources and help for families with children and youth with special health care needs in need of a helping hand, or information to improve the care and quality of life for their children.

Our mission is born from experience, with each of our onsite Family Health Partners themselves successful parents of special needs children. Our mission is born of necessity, helping parents and children to find their new levels of success together, striving hard to keep families strong and stable. Our mission is born into need, partnering with those most susceptible to failure, most in need of an understanding voice, a guiding hand. Our mission is a statewide alliance, our Family Health Partners assisting parents and professionals through CMS offices in every region from Pensacola to the Keys. We invite you to peruse our site to discover the ways which we work to improve life for these young ones and their families. We invite you to partner with us financially, helping our team to better serve throughout the state with the additional financial resources this enormous project requires. We also invite you to become involved in making a change for the better, making Florida a better home for these families.

Tammy Caksackkar is the Executive Director for Family Resource Coalition, Inc. (FRC). As a parent of a child with special health care needs she knows the ups and downs that parents experience each and every day. After working a position with Children's Medical Services, Tammy founded Family Resource Coalition, Inc. in June 2006. Tammy can be reached at the main office, or emailing tammy@frc4kids.org