Family Voices

 

Siskin Children’s Institute is proud to partner with Family Voices of Tennessee and the TN Disability Coalition to serve as the local hub for families in the Chattanooga region in search of resources, support, and guidance as they care for children with special healthcare needs, chronic illnesses, or disabilities. Special thanks to the generosity of the Pregulman family, Unum, and the SunTrust Foundation for making this partnership possible.

About Family Voices of Tennessee

Family Voices of Tennessee, a program of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, provides emotional and educational support to the families of these children. To reach these families on what can be a lifelong, complex healthcare journey with their child, Family Voices of Tennessee has created a unique network of experienced staff and volunteers who have personal experience navigating the healthcare journey of an individual with a special healthcare need, chronic illness, or disability.

We serve families across the state of Tennessee and children across all ages and diagnoses.
We are focused on connecting, training and leading with the families we serve.
We connect families with each other, with community resources, with experienced parent mentors, with tools to navigate complex systems in healthcare and insurance, and more. Family Voices has hundreds of partnerships with local and national organizations, with reciprocal referral relationships and access to much needed information on resources available to the families we serve.

By training families, we are empowering them to advocate for the needs of their child and to lead in their local communities and beyond. In leading alongside these families, we are educating healthcare providers, policy makers, educators, and others on the improved outcomes from including, listening to and honoring the voices of these families.

Learn more about Family Voices of Tennessee.

Who We Are

We are families supporting families. Our staff and volunteers all have personal experience caring for an individual with a special healthcare need, chronic illness, or disability. This personal experience helps us connect, train, and lead alongside the families we serve.

We connect families with each other.

We train families to become advocates and leaders.

We lead alongside families to ensure their voices are included, heard, and honored

Watch our Q&A Video with Lisa Spurlock, Family Voices of TN Local Coordinator.

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What We Do

Parent to Parent
Experienced, trained family members who provide one-on-one support to other families including peer support and assistance in navigating health care systems. Parent training is also available.

PEARS
(Parents, Empowerment, Access, Resources, Support)
Support for families with children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have hearing issues.

Family-to-Family Health Information Center
Help Navigating the healthcare system, including Medicaid & TennCare, SSI for children, Children’s Special Services, early intervention (TEIS), and more.

Parents Reaching Out
– COming Soon!

Support for families of children in the NICU providing local connections and resources

Voices for Choices

Leadership training for families who want their voices to be heard in decisions that affect their child’s care.

Thiiirdspace
– Coming Soon!

Youth building a more inclusive world through leadership training and youth-to-youth mentorship.

Who We Serve

If you or someone you know has a child with a special healthcare need, chronic illness, or disability, we are here to help. Across the state of Tennessee, we provide free services to moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, or any other family member.


Contact Us Today!

Let us help you on your journey caring for a child with special needs. We can help connect you to other local families, build your network of support, provide information and educational resources, assist in navigating healthcare systems, and more.

Lisa Spurlock
Family Voices Coordinator
Siskin Children’s Institute

423.648.1740