Connections
Nonprofit + Hotel
Who:
Lori Fahey, The Family Café
Maryann McGranahan, Coronado Springs Resort
Event:
The Family Café Annual Conference
Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
June 5-7
Lori Fahey’s 19-year-old daughter arrived 3-1/2 months premature with mild cerebral palsy. Her condition wasn’t the problem, finding help was.
“You can find a plumber in the Yellow Pages, but you can’t find a qualified doctor or a state agency or a service provider,” Fahey said. “I sat in the governor’s office for hours, frustrated that no one was helping. An office assistant said she’d get back to me. I’m still waiting.”
It was 1998, and Fahey was tired of the runaround. She took on a government position as a parent consultant and realized that hundreds—if not thousands—of families throughout the state were struggling for help, just as she was.
So start many charitable groups—spawning from community needs or social injustice—and so began The Family Café, a Florida-based nonprofit that meets the urgent needs of information and access for people with disabilities and their families.
Working with then-Gov. Jeb Bush, Fahey launched the first annual Family Café Annual Conference. People warned her no one would come—an astonishing 1,250 individuals with disabilities and their families attended. Eleven years later, the conference continues to build on past successes, now welcoming more than 10,000 people with special health care needs and their families, friends and caregivers.
For most hotels, though, the conference has been a bit of a hassle: heavy equipment causes elevators to fail, check-in wreaks havoc on the lobbies and recreation areas offer few options for children with disablities. In fact, Fahey has been searching for the perfect hotel for years…
Maryann McGranahan was sitting in her sales office at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Central Florida, brainstorming ideas for the association market, when she remembered The Family Café, which had been a fledgling group when she played host to its annual event at a Hyatt property in the late 1990s. She called Fahey, and the two met in Tallahassee to discuss options.
Turns out, Coronado just might be The Family Café’s ideal meetings solution. Fahey has held her annual conference at the resort for the past two years—most recently in June—and already has plans to utilize the property for several years to come. According to her, the resort’s low-swung, U.S. Southwest design is perfect for people with disabilities (who can’t use stairs), and its moderate cost, proximity to Disney attractions and accommodating staff make the Coronado difficult to pass up.
McGranahan promised Fahey that the Disney team would take care of all the details. And it has. The resort created a drive-thru check-in for delegates, so that people with mobility issues didn’t have to wait in long lines—even hotel GM Roper Ploum was there to help. The Coronado also accelerated plans to install a lift in the pool; it was complete by the time The Family Café arrived. Golf carts ran the property to provide transportation for guests with disabilities. Walt Disney World’s Cast Able resource group—composed of employees with special needs—contributed to the effort and sponsored a speaker.
And during the first conference at Coronado, McGranahan acquired a sponsor and brought in professional angler Clay Dyer, who was born with no lower limbs and only one partial arm. The 2008 event also included a sit-ski demonstration as well as a fishing tournament for delegates, who got their photos taken with their fish, before throwing them back into Coronado’s Lago Dorado. This year, Paralympic ski racer Josh Sunquist dazzled attendees with his inspirational story of a cancer survival that left one leg amputated.
Meanwhile, the annual conference has continued to provide breakout sessions, interaction with government policy makers, networking among families and instruction on the state’s array of available services. Coronado staff members simply provide the care and support needed to make the event a success.
“Disney reached out to us and it has been a natural fit,” Fahey said. “The staff members did their research before we got there and are willing to work with us on every aspect of the event. Everything I ask Maryann for she does, along with something else.”
McGranahan said she and her staff just want to make sure they fill their clients’ needs.
“There is so much pride here for this event,” she said. “We make a personal commitment to this group and look forward to being part of its event. The Family Café plays host to a wonderful conference that makes a difference in individual lives, and that is something that aligns with the passions of all our staff.”
—JESSIE STATES