Calendar of Events

Watch this space for announcement of SERT's Spring Open House and Barbecue!

Special Needs Conference a Huge Success!

Parents, caregivers, and teachers want more.

Eighty-five family members of children and adults with special needs learned how better to ensure their family member’s future physical and financial well-being at a half-day conference on Special Needs Trusts on Saturday, January 30 sponsored by the Special Needs Coalition and hosted by Rainbow Family Resources at the Tri-Counties Regional Center in Oxnard, CA.

Kevin Staker, a Ventura County Trust and Estates lawyer, talked about his family member with special needs, and explained how a Special Needs Trust (SNT) can be set up easily and inexpensively by lawyers who specialize in this particular type of trust. SNTs can better protect family members, can be funded by families of all economic levels, are different from and more restrictive than wills or other kinds of trusts.

Claire O. Nagy, a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Beverly Hills, CA, shared her experiences with two family members and illustrated how a low-cost insurance policy can be bought and owned by the Trust in order to ensure appropriate support after parents are gone.

“Our educational workshops are a great opportunity for special needs families to learn how to protect their loved ones,” said Tim Redmond, Board of Directors Member for Special Olympics Southern California and Planned Giving Chairman.  “We are proud to be associated with such a tremendous network of allied professionals advocating for the rights of people with intellectual and physical disabilities. As a parent of a son with special needs, it is my responsibility to plan for my kids, should something happen to me.  Some people just don’t know where to turn.”

The Coalition is the first partnership between nonprofits serving the special needs community and the financial services community that is providing public education in this way in Southern California.  “From my perspective, I think it is really cool,” said SNC founder, Paul Hansen, a financial advisor for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.  “For all the great work the charities do, we see a lot of crossover to whom they serve, which is a vulnerable population. It just makes sense for us all to work together.”

Ventura County nonprofit Coalition members include: the ARC of Ventura County, Rainbow Connection, SERT, Special Olympics Southern California, NAMI Ventura County, Turning Point Foundation, and Ventura County Autism Society.  Membership is open and free to any organization that serves people with special needs.

For further information and to be notified of future SNC events please email Ina Frank, SERT Executive Director.  ifrank@sert.org

SERT's Open House on Sunday, February 21st was a music- and activity-filled success!

Riders, prospective riders, families, and community members from Ventura through the San Fernando Valley braved windy weather to enjoy arts and crafts, face-painting, riding demonstrations, and live Bluegrass music provided by the well-known Bluegrass band, The Santa Clara River Bottom Boys.

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October 28, 2009
Dedication of the Will Ross Arena at SERT

SERT's fabulous Annual Dinner on October 3 that honored Rafer Johnson, former Olympic medalist and longtime leader in the special needs community was a big hit!


Vickie Gilly with friend Rafer Johnson