The bigger dream sometimes has to grow into its reality.

The Special Needs Network, N.F.P., grew out of combining the missions of three other organizations - The Oak Experience, Ltd., Special Guide, Inc., and the Michael G. Chez Foundation. In 1995 Mary Anne Ehlert and Brian Rubin founded Special Guide, Inc., a referral source for families of individuals with disabilities, and in the year 2000 Mary Anne Ehlert and Jan Bednarz co-founded The Oak Experience, Ltd., dedicated to educating and informing families about special needs planning. The Michael G. Chez Foundation provided research for trying out new ideas which otherwise may not have come to fruition.

The bigger dream emerged in combining the missions of the three organizations into a not-for-profit named The Special Needs Network, N.F.P. This will greatly enhance the outreach of the organization and provide greater service to families of individuals with disabilities.

The directors and officers of The Special Needs Network (TSNN) are:

      Mary Anne Ehlert, CFP®, President; sibling of a sister       with Cerebral Palsy.

All participants have been actively involved in special needs organizations for many years, sometimes as members of the Board of Directors, sometimes as Trustees and sometimes as volunteers. They have a unique understanding of the challenges of the special needs community as a result of living within that community.

In addition to meeting the needs of families through education and information provided in their many workshops, TSNN also provides a quarterly newsletter - available through donations to the not-for-profit organization.

Some of the organizations in which the officers have been involved are: Special Olympics Illinois, Clearbrook, Northpointe Achievement Center, the Special Education District of Lake County Foundation, Opportunity, Inc., St. Colletta's Development Committee, the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, ARC of Illinois, Council on Planned Giving, and the National Council on Aging.