Why We Step Up

This Down Syndrome Awareness month will reach its peak for DSAmd with our Step Up for Down Syndrome walk in the beautiful Inner Harbor in Baltimore City on October 26th, 2024. So far, we are nearly 50% to our fundraising goal. Our fundraising campaign for the Step Up walk-a-thon in Baltimore runs through October - all of Down Syndrome Awareness month. Our lofty goal is $120,000. We would love your help to reach this number.

You might wonder what we do with all of our money raised. Below are details about our recent growth and our vision for the future, as well as details about how DSAmd spends our funds.

I am grateful and privileged to be able to support the Down syndrome community as a full-time job.

I am grateful for the hugs and tears I’ve been able to share with families over these 4.5 years I have worked here.

I am grateful for a team of two part-time, wonderful people in Brittany and De’Vonte, and for dedicated contractors and volunteers who keep our work marching forward - always for the community and with the future in mind.

Thank you for your support. Please join us - let’s Step Up together,

Amanda Mummert, Executive Director - director@DSAmd.org / 410-321-5434 (call or text)

[I’m in the back of the picture, at left - with Carmen!]

What’s the big picture, here?

Individual community is vitally important… and so are policies that allow families to have the headspace and resources to be able to build their community and live their lives to their best potential. Consider a few things about the Down syndrome community in 2024:

• People with Down syndrome are living longer than ever before! Individualized long-term care is a concern for those with DS and their families.

• Estimates show that 50% or more of people with Down syndrome will develop dementia due to Alzheimer's disease as they age (source: NIH.) We don’t know exactly why. For too many years, individuals with Down syndrome were excluded from dementia research opportunities. Parents and guardians are finding themselves becoming caregivers in new ways as their loved one with DS ages - and yet there’s little support for this unique community.

• On the other side of life, we know that in one Ohio community, Black and brown families with new babies with Down syndrome are not referred to supporting agencies like DSAmd as quickly as their white counterparts (source.) We have every reason to believe that happens in Maryland, too.

• Students with disabilities like Down syndrome are being offered alternative access to school curricula as early as age 5, 6, or 7 - making it very difficult to achieve a high school diploma when they reach 12th grade, thanks to a decision made when the child was in Kindergarten in some cases. This can affect an entire lifetime of opportunities.

Why Care about DSAmd?

DSAmd approaches all of these big-picture concerns, and we work at individual levels, too. We offer:

Connection to therapeutic services and experts:

• The Meister Advocacy Fund provides education advocacy support

• Subsidized behavior appointments because of long, impossible wait-lists

• Annual education and training plans for every age group we serve - on the topics families need and request

• Individualized attention and resource guidance at families’ fingertips

• All of our support is offered statewide, most is completely free - without regard to imaginary, government-drawn lines that preclude families from getting access to supports

• Boxing, Music Therapy, Speech Therapy, and The Improvaneer Method classes across Central Maryland - and hopefully soon: on the Eastern Shore
  

Community-building opportunities:

• Local meetup opportunities for families

• Mentorship connections and programs

• Moms and Dads’ nights out
  

Advocacy for the entire, statewide DS community - not just a privileged few:

• Representation on the Ethan Saylor Alliance which focuses on keeping individuals with I/DD safe at the hands of law enforcement

• Representation on the Statewide Special Education Coalition

• Steering Committee participation and financial contributor to the Maryland Down Syndrome Advocacy Coalition - MDAC

• Representation on the Maryland Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia council

• Financial support of GLOBAL DS Foundation, NDSC, the DS Medical Interest Group, and DS Affiliates in Action for national-level policy change and organizing for the greater DS community

What’s Working Well?

We are growing.

And we are growing to be an even more present, consistent force in the lives of those who have DS in Maryland. You have the power to support this growth.

We are efficient and transparent.

In the first half of 2024 alone, nearly 700 registrations for our events, subsidy programs, and services. In 2023, our annual income was $237,000 - total. 80% goes to programs. The rest? To keeping the programs happening and our nonprofit status active.

We do not have a physical office - we are fully remote workspace so that we can be visible in the community. We proudly take up space.

You have the power to continue delivering efficient services for the DS community in Maryland.

We are making a difference in the lives of many individuals and families.

You have the power to continue to welcome and connect with families with new babies.

What’s Up Next?

• We need to expand and explore even more outreach to medical professionals so that all families have access to the same level of support and information. Every dollar of your donation helps us get closer to this goal.
  

• We need to grow our focus on transition-age youth and adults as they transition into their senior years. Families are facing new challenges they did not know would happen. Your support will help us help families navigate these huge changes in their lives.
  

• We aim to grow our advocacy programming around improvisation classes that build skills for those with DS and without DS; and to expand our speech therapy services which also help to train university graduate students studying to become speech-language pathologists. $60,000 will allow us to fund a full-time (or full-time equivalent) director of The Improvaneer Method, working to push into schools - open doors to summer camps and afterschool care for those with Down syndrome and other disabilities, and providing crucial skill-building to individuals with DS. You can empower people who have Down syndrome with skills and techniques that help them reach their full potential by donating and fundraising for the Step Up for Down Syndrome walk-a-thon in Baltimore.

  Please consider Stepping Up with a gift today, here: StepUpBaltimore.org
  

  If you have questions, comments, or ideas: reach out. I’d love to connect!

  Amanda - director@DSAmd.org / 410-321-5434 (call or text) / Calendar link