The Northern Nevada R.A.V.E. Foundation was established 27 years ago, in October 1995. The organization received a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with the main goal of the funding being to help prevent child abuse and neglect of children with special needs and/or disabilities.
In 1998, RAVE was established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and has continued with its goal of providing respite care to Nevada families who look after young children with disabilities, special health care needs, and children in foster care.
“RAVE” is an acronym for Respite and Volunteer Experiences, with ‘respite’ referring to an essential break given to caregivers of children in foster care, or with special needs and/or disabilities.
By providing temporary emotional relief from the constant care and attention parents and caregivers provide day in and day out, RAVE allows them to take time for themselves. To relax, unwind, and enjoy activities they don’t normally have the time to do. After the break, caregivers can return to their crucial role for these children with lower levels of stress and a renewed spirit.
The RAVE Center and its community-based programs provide these completely free breaks to caregivers, while also creating a space for children to be social, learn, and grow in a safe and fun environment.
On April 22nd, RAVE will be hosting their 15th annual ‘An Evening to RAVE About’ at the Grand Sierra Resort, consisting of a buffet dinner and drinks, a raffle, a silent and live auction, no shortage of entertainment, and an after-party. More information on the event and RAVE’s programs can be found on their website: https://nnrff.org/
Korine Viehweg has been involved with RAVE for over seventeen years, starting out as a respite provider and eventually taking over the Executive Director position in 2012.
“When I started here, I was coming in once a month to provide respite specifically for families that had children in foster care. I just fell in love with the work we do here,” Korine explains. “I’m a mom myself, I have five children. When my husband and I get a three-hour window to ourselves to disconnect, that’s special. Here at RAVE, I have the ability to give that break to other parents and be a part of their village in a way.”
RAVE currently has three respite programs that are available to families residing in Northern Nevada and caring for a loved one aged between three months–22 years old with a diagnosed disability, special health care need, or in foster or adoptive care. They also extend their care services to the siblings of the children they serve if they fall into the same age range.
The RAVE Family Center is the longest-running and largest-serving program of the three, providing respite care to families with children aged three months to six years old. The Family Center boasts a very large open floor filled with bikes, play mats, and every possible toy and game a child could possibly want to engage with. Six rooms branch off the main space, each with its own respective theme. There is a room dedicated to infants and toddlers under the age of three, and also children that have limited mobility.
The dramatic playroom doubles up as a make-believe grocery store, and the block room is full to the brim with every Lego color and shape one could possibly imagine. There’s a jungle-themed room which volunteers are in the process of decorating, and an arts and crafts space for the children to unleash their creativity. Lastly, there is a very peaceful and serene calming room, adorned with twinkling fairy lights and peaceful sounds. It’s a highly sensory-based space designed for children who may be feeling overstimulated and require a quieter environment when the main play area gets too loud for them.
RAVE has up to 20 children in the center during a respite session, utilizing the different rooms to break the kids up into smaller groups.
“Many of the children we serve have been diagnosed with autism. We also serve children with cerebral palsy, down syndrome, children with speech impediments, gross motor delays, and hearing impairments. We also have some children with mental and behavioral health diagnoses,” Korine explains.
Families can schedule their children into respite sessions in advance, or even call the center the morning of to access care, as long as there are spots and staff available. Up to four respite sessions can be scheduled each month; “lots of families will schedule one session a week, but some do back-to-back sessions and then won’t return until next month. It’s really whatever works for each family and their schedules, we want them to have flexibility,” Korine adds.
“Some of our parents are single parents, and they’re just getting some me-time. Some of our parents are couples, and the only time they get to spend together without interruption and get time to go on dates is when RAVE is here providing that care and that needed break.”
Approximately 300 children visit RAVE each month across the various programs and the center is funded purely from donations, grants, and year-round fundraising.
The Family Center is largely staffed by local youth volunteers, who are trained, supervised, and educated during every respite session. “We have one paid respite staff member for every five children on the floor, at all times,” Korine explained.
“We also have at least one leadership staff member present at every session as well to make sure there is plenty of support. Our volunteers help make those ratios even smaller so that we can strive for a 1:1 ratio of staff to child. Most commonly we have a 1:2 ratio.” Volunteers go through formal training by RAVE leadership staff, with a strong focus on de-escalation techniques, preventing escalation in the first place, and keeping the children engaged and entertained.
Jada DeLeon started at RAVE as a volunteer seven years ago in order to accrue hours for one of her classes, and later returned to the center as an intern.
She then served as a respite provider for a few years, eventually being promoted to lead respite provider. Jada is now a part of RAVE’s upper management team, tasked with scheduling families and session prep – a very key and important role in ensuring all three programs run smoothly. “I review all the families that signed up for sessions and then assign the children into their groups, make sure staff know who is coming,” Jada explains.
“If I know any tips and tricks with certain kiddos, I’ll write behavior notes down, and prep everything for staff so the session is ready to start as soon as everyone arrives.”
“I started volunteering because I needed hours for one of my classes. It was 32 hours, and I got them all in one month. I loved it – I loved having a buddy, learning about the kids, and being their best friend for 3 hours. When I started as an intern, I was learning more about the back end of RAVE. What it meant before a session even started, and the different ins and outs of operations. There’s a lot that goes into this program, a lot more than just the sessions alone.”
Todd Warner is the current social work intern, whose experience so far at RAVE has only further solidified his plans to continue into a career in social work and affirmed his passion for working with children specifically. “I love the community that is created here at RAVE. It’s a very positive environment to work in, everybody is always so excited to work with the kids. And the kids themselves are so unique, so special, and bring a lot of happiness and positivity themselves.”
When the RAVE Family Center first opened in 1995 it operated for only six months out of the year, closing its doors for the school summer break.
“Soon after I took over as Executive Director, we received some feedback from a family in our yearly survey. They said, ‘We love everything about RAVE, except for the fact that you throw us back out to sea every summer.’ I thought oh my gosh, why do we do that?” Korine explains. “We started to dig into our reasoning behind closing for the summer, and it really came down to the volunteers who are primarily high school kids themselves.”
In response to this, RAVE added 21 summer sessions to their program and has been providing services for all 12 months of the year ever since. “During our six-month program, we would give about 78 respite sessions a year. Last year we gave 649 sessions.”
Through listening to feedback from more families, RAVE also decided to introduce two new programs; Teen RAVE and Jr. RAVE. Jr. Rave is for children aged 7-12, and Teen RAVE is open to kids and young adults aged 13-22, as long as they’re enrolled in the Washoe County School District. Monthly activities are held for participants of these programs, including outings to mini-golf, bowling, rock climbing, game nights, and cooking classes.
The overall purpose of the programs is to encourage child-to-child interaction and help build on social skills in a variety of community environments. The teen and junior programs have their own dedicated space in the center. Stacks of board games line the walls, the Nintendo Wii sits patiently waiting to be switched on, and the popcorn machine remains empty but readily available to provide a warm, buttery snack.
When RAVE first opened its doors to the Reno/Sparks community, they were serving an average of 80 children each year. Last year alone, they served 521 individuals. Despite the significant increase in demand for RAVE’s services, they are yet to turn an individual away. “Right now, our mission is to serve everybody that comes to us. When they come to us ready for a break, they’re usually far past being ready for one.” Korine mentions. “It’s hard to ask for help and take that time away. So when they do ask, we want to be able to say yes and get them in immediately. We work super hard to have a very fast turnover process from enrollment to getting their first respite session, so they can feel that break almost immediately.”