Supporting a family member with a disability can often feel isolating, making it challenging to navigate the journey alone. You may have found various resources and support services, but not necessarily a community of people who truly understand your experiences and make you feel seen, heard, and understood.

Finding spaces where you don’t have to explain yourself or your life, and where you can connect with other families with similar experiences, can be a great relief—helping you feel less isolated and fostering a genuine sense of belonging.

Join us for this updated webcast, featuring special guests Ben Postmus and Connie Burns, as we explore the transformative power of families connecting with one another. Sharing their experiences and insights, our guests will highlight how family connections foster resilience, courage, advocacy, empowerment, and creative innovation. 

 

What’s in it for you: 

• Learn how connecting with Family Support Networks strengthens your voice and capacity, and helps reduce feelings of isolation.
• Understand what to expect from a Family Support Network and how to find or build one that fits the needs of your family.
• Gain actionable insights, practical strategies, and shared knowledge from experienced family caregivers who have started their own Family Support Networks.

 

A live Q&A will follow the presentation with our panelists. You don't want to miss it!

If you’re looking for a Family Support Network in your area, visit our Family Network Directory to find contact information for a group near you.

 

Ben Postmus
For over 35 years, Ben Postmus has been a dedicated advocate, mentor, and leader within the disability community. His work is grounded in lived experience as the father of a daughter with diverse abilities. This has shaped his belief that every individual deserves belonging, dignity, opportunity, and meaningful connections.

As Founder and Executive Director of Diverse Family Roots Society, Ben helped create a grassroots movement that supports families throughout the Kootenays and beyond. The organization was born of the recognition that families felt isolated, unsupported, and unheard. Ben’s also the driving force behind Dads Matter/Empowering Dads, a peer-led initiative that supports fathers raising children with disabilities and diverse needs. Through Dads Matter, Ben continues to demonstrate that compassion and community can transform the lives of fathers and the families they love.

Connie Burns
Connie Burns is the Founder and CFO of Ongoing Living & Learning Inc. She also works full-time as a Business Manager in London, Ontario. Connie has volunteered for over 20 years as the treasurer and communication chair for Algarva Charities whose mandate is to assist people with developmental delays in Lambton and Middlesex.

As a mother of five and grandmother of five, Connie brings a deeply personal perspective to the joys, challenges, and realities of caregiving. Her experience includes raising a young adult son with Nicolaides-Baraitser syndrome, and is the sibling of someone living with spinal muscular atrophy. 

Driven by her commitment to supporting families, Connie founded Cheer Connections, a rural family support network for caregivers of people with intellectual disabilities. Through her work and lived experience, she is passionate about highlighting the importance of connection, shared understanding, and mutual support among families and caregivers. Connie believes that no family should navigate the journey alone.