EP #257: Giving Voice to the Voiceless: Rita Stevens' Mission to Support Special Needs Families

What makes Rita Stevens with Silent Voyces a good neighbor?

What happens when a parent's struggle to find resources for their special needs child transforms into a mission to help others? Meet Rita Stevens, founder of Silent Voyces, who turned her personal challenges into a powerful force for good in the special needs community.

Rita shares how Silent Voyces emerged from her own journey parenting her son Bryson. After years of difficulty finding appropriate resources, she created a nonprofit organization that focuses on four critical areas: healthcare, nutrition, community events, and education. Working alongside local organizations, Silent Voyces hosts respite events and resource fairs while providing valuable information to parents who often feel overwhelmed navigating systems of care.

"Be patient with yourself," Rita advises fellow parents of special needs children. "You will not know everything, nor are you supposed to know everything, but it will all come in time." Her second powerful tip speaks to the heart of advocacy: never be afraid to ask questions about your child's care. This wisdom comes from lived experience that has helped Rita grow in communication, advocacy, patience, and understanding.

Beyond her nonprofit work, Rita reveals she's completing her first book, "Unexpected Patterns of Purpose," scheduled for release this spring. Her multifaceted approach to supporting the special needs community stems from a service-oriented philosophy: "Service is at the heart of what we do." This genuine desire to connect families with the right resources makes Silent Voyces a beacon for parents seeking support.

Learn more about Silent Voyces through their website (silentvoyces.org), Facebook group, Instagram (@SilentVoyces), or YouTube channel (Inspired Voices). As Rita reminds us, the "Y" in Voices symbolizes that every parent has a voice in their child's care—an empowering message for families navigating the complex world of special needs support.

To learn more about Silent Voyces go to:

https://www.silentvoyces.org/

Silent Voyces 

469-922-5308

Transcript

Introduction to Silent Voices

Speaker 1 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast , the place where local businesses and neighbors come together . Here's your host , Sophia Yvette .

Speaker 2 0:10

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast . Are you in need of a nonprofit ? Well , one may be closer than you think . Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor , rita Stevens , with Silent Voices . Rita , how are you today ? I'm doing really good . Thank you for asking Good , well , I'm so glad to hear it . So , rita , we're excited to learn all about you and your business . Can you tell us a bit about your company ?

Speaker 3 0:38

Absolutely so . Silent Voices is a nonprofit organization that provides advocacy and support for special needs children and their families , and we do that in four key areas . So we focus on healthcare , nutrition , community events and education . And how we do that is we actually partner with local organizations by providing respite events , resource fairs , and we also do interviews with different providers so that we can provide parents with the information they need so that they can actually support their children . We hope to , in the future , be able to provide funding for educational and healthcare services as well healthcare services as well

Mission and Support Areas

Speaker 3 1:30

.

Speaker 2 1:30

Wow , Rita , what a lovely business idea .

Speaker 3 1:32

So I understand you're the founder . How did you get into this business ? Absolutely so . I too am a parent of a special needs child and his name is Bryson , and so we , you know , for many years we struggled to just find the right resources , and I thought , man , it should not be this difficult to find the right resources for your children , and so Silent Voices was born . A lot of the information that I found . I have decided to share that with other parents as well , so we just wanted to lighten the load a little bit for other parents .

Speaker 2 2:02

Amazing . So , rita , what is the most common myth or misconception in your industry ?

Speaker 3 2:10

I think that most parents do not understand or know the different types of resources that nonprofits can assist them with and once given that information , they are able to really make the right connections .

Speaker 2 2:25

Understood . What about your target clients ? Who are they ? And in terms of marketing ?

Speaker 3 2:39

how do you attract them ? So our target audience is parents that have special needs children between the ages of

Rita's Personal Journey

Speaker 3 2:43

zero to 18 . And a lot of that marketing is really organic . It is through the different events that we host with other organizations . We've also had organizations and parents that have referred people to us and then it's just by word of mouth .

Speaker 2 2:57

And outside of work . Rita , what do you do for fun ?

Speaker 3 3:01

Well , I'm glad you asked . So , outside of doing Silent Voices , I also enjoy writing and I'm also I enjoy speaking as well . So I'm actually finishing up on my first book and it is scheduled to be released this spring , so I'm super excited about that . It's actually called Unexpected Patterns of Purpose and outside of that I just kind of spend time with my family .

Speaker 2 3:28

Well , it sounds like you certainly have a full schedule . I do let's go ahead and switch gears . Can you describe a hardship or life challenge you overcame and how it made you a better and stronger woman today ? What comes ?

Speaker 3 3:47

to mind for you . Absolutely , I would say . The most difficult hardship for me really has been to accept a new life with a special needs child . It is not something that I anticipated and it's definitely not something that I asked for , but it was something that I needed . It has helped me grow in communication , advocacy , patience and definitely my understanding with other people .

Speaker 2 4:15

Well , sometimes

Advocacy Tips for Parents

Speaker 2 4:16

even in chaos , God works all together for our highest good .

Speaker 3 4:21

Absolutely , absolutely .

Speaker 2 4:24

That's amazing . And , rita , do you have any tips for other parents who also have special needs children to help them navigate those challenging ?

Speaker 3 4:35

times , absolutely , I would say . The first thing that I would share with most parents is be patient with yourself . You will not know everything , nor are you supposed to know everything , but it will all come in time . The second tip that I would probably share with them is be open to asking questions . Never be afraid to ask the questions that you want to ask for your child , and remember , it is your child , so it is okay to ask those questions .

Speaker 2 5:08

So , rita , please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about segment voices , absolutely our listeners . One thing they should remember about Second Voices .

Speaker 3 5:15

Absolutely . The one thing I want you guys to remember about us is that service is at the heart of what we do . Sorry , Absolutely . Okay , we genuinely want to support you , we genuinely want to help you and we want to connect you to the right resources , and that is what it's about .

Speaker 2 5:36

It's about us serving the community and serving others , and when can our listeners go to learn more about silent voices

Connect with Silent Voices

Speaker 2 5:46

?

Speaker 3 5:46

Sure , you can reach out to us on our website , which is wwwsilentvoicesorg . We also have a Facebook group called Silent Voices . We have Instagram at Silent Voices and then our YouTube channel . Now , our YouTube channel is something a little bit different . It's called Inspired Voices . But remember all of those voices with a Y , because we want you to remember that you have a voice in your child's care .

Speaker 2 6:19

Well , Rita , I really appreciate you being on the show . We wish you and your business the best moving forward .

Speaker 3 6:26

Thank you so much .

Speaker 1 6:28

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast . To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show , go to GNPFriscocom . That's GNPFriscocom , or call 469-221-9345 . © transcript Emily Beynon .