By Michael Hill
Correspondent
At Mom 2 Mom, they field thousands of phone calls. Mothers of special needs children and adults helping other mothers of special needs children and adults.
“I always say when somebody says I got you, they mean it,” said Loretta Grace.
Grace’s 6-year-old son Thomas has autism. A friend encouraged her to call Mom 2 Mom for help.
“They’ve walked in my shoes. They’ve been down this path and they have concrete advice and support for me and my son,” said Grace.
Support such as a mentor for mom and a mentor for Thomas.
“So, he’s now got like a big brother who comes once a week and takes him to the park or bowling or something and just kind of sits and talks with him. Somebody who’s nonjudgmental and somebody’s who’s trying to help him and it’s great,” Grace said.
“They will never receive an answering machine,” said Dawn Dreyer Valovcin.
She is the supervising mental health specialist for the peer support group where they answer calls within six seconds.
“When a special needs parent calls it’s mostly about their child. We try to help the child and then we say, what about you?” explained Valovcin.
Mom 2 Mom launched in 2010, just a few counties then but taking calls from anywhere in the state because of the need. Now, it’s statewide with funding from the New Jersey Department of Children and Family Services and part of Rutgers University.
Moms say what makes this invaluable to their lives and their children’s lives is that on the other end of the call is a listener who is concerned, comforting and compassionate.
“If I can share my journey and lift you up at the same time, I feel good, and I get to see in the big picture how my experience serves someone else, and it’s just sort of this power of empathy that goes on between us,” said Mom 2 Mom Program Director Cherie Castellano.
Mom 2 Mom has been a lifesaver for Grace.
Before she made that phone call, she said, “I was going crazy. I felt like a bad mother. I didn’t know what to do.”
So inspired, Grace says she plans to start a support group for moms and Mom 2 Mom is helping her organize it.