ARROAutism Family Holiday Assistance Project

It can happen to anyone, and it can be tough having a family member with Autism. If you also have financial difficulties, then the holidays can be completely overwhelming. Sometimes, your family member with Autism does not understand, and there is no way to explain it to him or her. When that family member is a child, it can be even worse if there are siblings who are overwhelmingly disappointed too. The stress can literally overwhelm your family.

The Family Holiday Assistance Project

That’s where we come in. ARROAutism established this project in 2007 to assist families during the holidays. At the beginning, each family was individually evaluated, and the amount of assistance rendered was based on funds available, and on need.
By 2009 we realized that the need for assistance was far greater than initially realized, so the program was changed to provide a standard amount to each family identified by the county developmental disabilities programs. This has also helped us to reach more than 3000 families in need!

2007 : 2 Families Helped (special assistance)
2008 : Families Helped (special assistance)
2009 : 43 Families Helped with Gift Cards
2010 : 77 Families Helped with Gift Cards
2011 : 42 Families Helped with Gift Cards
2012 : 20 Families Helped with Gift Cards Plus Donations of Toys
2013 : 52 Families Helped with Gift Cards Plus Donations of Toys
2014 : 80 Families Helped with Gift Cards Plus Donations of Toys
2015 : 100 Families Helped with Gift Cards Plus Donations of Toys
2016 : 150 Families Helped with Gift Cards Plus Donations of Toys
2017 : 182 Families in Washington, Multnomah and Clackamas Counties (combined)
2018 : 218 Families in Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas and Clark counties (combined)
2019 : 276 Families in Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas and Clark counties (combined)
2020 : 244 Families in Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas and Clark counties (combined) (Take that, Covid-19)
2021 : 312 Families in Washington, Multnomah, Clackamas and Clark counties (combined)
2022 : 517 Families
2023 : 773 Families!!!
2024 : Goal _:  A distribution of the total amount raised across 750 Families
(The more money raised, the greater amount each family receives).

So far, we have helped more than 1242 families in Oregon and SW Washington.

With your help, we can achieve our goal to help every Autism family in Oregon who needs help during the holidays.

How Families are Selected

Families in Oregon are nominated by their County Developmental Disabilities Program Case Manager. Washington State’s County DD programs have no such partnership option. Instead, we rely on local non-profit Peace NW operating in SW Washington to help us allocate resources.

Washington State currently has no equivalent numbers available, but we are still able to help families in 5 SW Washington Counties including Clark, Cowlitz, Klickitat, Skamania, and Wahkiakum.

Selected families are then given a gift card from Fred Meyer’s to allow a variety of purchases, to allow a variety of purchases like food, toys and winter clothing.

The number of families receiving these cards will depend on the amount of funding raised. All families selected will have one or more members with some form of Autism.

Make a Difference

Our families need your help! Please donate today so that we can make their holiday brighter!

All donations are gratefully accepted no matter what the amount is. Please make your donation today!