Mission

Pilot Parents of Southern Arizona is committed to providing encouragement and support to families who have children with special needs so that their children can reach their maximum potential within the family and society.

Values

In serving children with special needs and their families, it is important:

• That there be a primary source of information, support, and referral to specialized services;

• That the knowledge and support of experienced families be used to provide a sense of community, and to build strength and confidence in new parents; and

• That increasing the knowledge and awareness of professionals and agencies will result in increased usage of existing services and help avoid unnecessary duplication.

Goals

1. To identify parents of children with special needs and offer contact with other parents who, by virtue of experience with their own children, can share compassion and understanding to build a strong network of support;

2. To train parents with special experience and provide opportunities for them to extend their friendship, experience, helpful information and acts of compassionate service to families with special needs;

3. To collect, organize, and distribute useful information to support families in advocating for their needs;

4. To interact with professionals in fields such as education, health care, child protection, law enforcement and public policy development, to help increase their understanding and effectiveness in caring for children with special needs and dealing with their families at a sensitive moment;

5. To build the necessary financial, personnel, physical and technical resources in order to pursue our goals of supporting families in an effective manner.

6. To assist children, young adults, and family members as they go through life’s transitions.