Caring for the Caregivers 2012

Parents' love for their child may never waiver but their stamina and abilities can. Raising a child with special needs presents ongoing physical, social, emotional and financial challenges that create a state of “chronic stress” and can leave family members feeling drained, discouraged, exhausted and isolated from their community. That's where The Cridge Respitality Service steps in. The Cridge Respitality Service provides a much needed relief for these parents who experience a much needed opportunity to refresh, restore, reconnect, and return to their children better able to continue their daily lives.

The Cridge Respitality Service provides a unique and innovative is a unique program through which hotels, resorts and bed-and-breakfasts in Victoria, Parksville and Vancouver provide a complimentary overnight stay for the parents or primary caregivers of a child with a disability while the child receives respite care at home.

A bountiful welcome basket greets the guests at their room, where they often find stay enhancements like a bottle of wine, meal vouchers, or spa treatment coupons. Parents have a chance to relax and restore themselves: sometimes the only break they get in a year.

When we tell people what The Cridge Respitality Service does, they generally understand that it has something to do with the parents of a child with special needs staying at a hotel and having a break for one night from the otherwise unrelenting task of caring for their child/children. In fact, this program could not exist without the accommodations and community partners who make a "Respitality break' so special. 

For just $97.23, you can support a family's participation in the program for a year. In addition to a respitality break, families also receive the pricesless gifts of encouragement, support, and the strength that comes from knowing their community is behind them.  (Click the Donate Now link, and select 'The Cridge Respitality' from the Fund/Designation drop-down). If you prefer to give over the phone, call Shannon Whissell at (250) 995-6419

The Cridge Respitality Service is fully funded by generous private donations, including support from The United Way of Greater Victoria.