Fort Belvoir, Va. (April 24, 2014) - Fort Belvoir's Exceptional Family Member Program, an Army Community Service sponsored organization that provides assistance to military Families and children with special needs, recently formed a partnership with Team River Runner, a volunteer kayaking group offering rehabilitative and recreational services to the nation's wounded servicemembers, disabled veterans and their Family members.
Team River Runner will now provide basic paddle-sports instruction for EFMP members and their Families at Benyaurd Indoor Pool and possibly in Tompkins Bay in the Outdoor Recreation area of the post during the summer months.
According to Sean McCarthy, Team River Runner, Fort Belvoir Chapter coordinator, the relationship came about as the result of ACS's efforts to expand the installation's existing EFMP activities.
"In February we were contacted by Fran Selkovits of Army Community Service, Exceptional Family Member Program. She had found out about us when visiting the Warrior Transition Battalion with whom we work," he said. "She had been in search of activities for the Families who comprise EFMP -- military dependents (spouses and children) that have special needs which are the result of birth defects, injuries or illnesses."
McCarthy said he felt his organization could provide just the activities ACS was looking for.
"We were excited to hear from her as, upon first learning of the EFMP, we immediately felt that this could be a good fit and beneficial to both the EFMP Families and the WTB servicemembers we already serve," he said. "We determined that we had both the expertise and room within our mission to accommodate the folks from EFMP and that the impact and experience would be positive."
An important aspect of the new partnership is that WTB Soldiers currently participating in Team River Runner activities will be among the individuals working with EFMP Family members, an association that McCarthy feels will work because of the common experience shared by all.
"We already service a population which requires expertise in delivering services to folks who have special needs, like those that have resulted from combat, accident or illness, and our perspective is that any time a Family member suffers a casualty -- from any cause -- the entire Family suffers and the entire Family should be involved in the healing and recovery of the person who has become a casualty," he said. "We believed that the impact would be positive among the children, the parents, our staff and our current WTB participants."
McCarthy added that he's enthusiastic about the prospect of working with children and aiding in their continuing rehabilitation and development.
"Having been a casualty myself and having worked with disabled veterans and children with major challenges for many years (both as a special education teacher and a Court Appointed Special Advocate for Abused and Neglected Children) allowed me to have some insight into this issue," he said. "My experience and the experiences of others is that working with children is always rewarding, particularly when working with children with special needs. Therefore, we made the decision to give this opportunity a chance. We agreed to provide an opportunity for the children of EFMP and played off of the EFMP name by naming our program the Every First Monday Paddle program. Thus, TRR-EFMP was born."
Team River Runner is committed to a policy of inclusion and welcomes all Family members to participate in its new EFMP paddle sports activities.
"As is the case of WTB servicemembers, having a Family member with special needs impacts the entire Family. So it's critical to recognize that the inclusion of all Family members (siblings and spouses), is critical to the welfare of the effected child," McCarthy explained. "Therefore our program incorporates and includes the entire Family in the paddling experience and mom, dad and brothers and sisters are encouraged to get in the water along with the effected Family member.
"Further, we seek to assist the parents in gaining experience and insight by taking on the role of student to learn from us on how to work safely with their children in a water environment," McCarthy said. "It's important to us that the parents be involved to enhance the safety and enjoyment of their children."
For more information contact the Fort Belvoir EFMP main office at (703) 805-1835/2967/5435.
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