Enjoy this story by Marija Savitt, Certified RDI Program Consultant, about how she worked diligently to find a way to help families fund their RDI Programs. 

As an RDI Certified Consultant, I have spent many hours watching not only the child but also the family grow through the RDI process. I have fully embraced the program and have put every ounce of energy I have into growing an RDI community where I live. I have many influential people in my area asking questions about RDI and I am happy to provide information. It really sounds like a dream come true. It is, except we have the same story as everyone else... where do parents get the funding? There is one small funding source in my area that will provide funding for drastically low-income families but what about the middle guy; the family that can meet ends but that's about all that they can do?  Recently, a bill passed in our state mandating coverage for autism services but not only is RDI not listed specifically as a service but, the bill is not mandated until July 2011! Parents were so excited that the bill passed but were very disappointed when they heard about the long wait.

I have many ideas of how to make RDI a financially easy decision for families but, they all have difficult roads. If I just went back to school and got my PhD in Clinical Psychology, then I could bill insurance right? What if I hired someone on my staff that could bill? Not sure that is legal. My husband says I would just give it away for free if I could. Probably true but, I'm still waiting to hit that jackpot so I can afford to feed my family too. So, what is a person to do? Well, one day it came to me. I was driving home from work and like a lightning strike I thought, "Hmm...what if I created the funding source?" Yes, I could not afford to pay for everyone to receive RDI services but, what if I could raise the money? So with one other person that was equally frustrated, I decided to open a non-profit organization. I have to admit, I was scared at first because this was something new. I was also a little naïve in thinking that it couldn't be too hard and would be just like opening a for-profit business which I had already done. I would lie if I said it was simple but, it is possible and I am proud to say we had our first major fund raising event on June 4^th!

So, enough about me and opening my non-profit; how can you do this in your own state? Well, if you are a consultant trying to open a non-profit, I would suggest trying to team up with any other consultants in your state and add some parents to your board. If you are a parent, you may want to find some more friends to help out and maybe add some professionals to your board. It really takes a group to pull it off. Each person has something that they can offer. The first thing that we considered was "how can we bring in money?"  That's really how we will get this going right? So we named our non-profit All in 4 Autism and yes, we are using Nevada's resource, gaming. I suggest you start by thinking about your area's resources and how lucrative they would be to raise money. From there you will know what direction to go in starting your non-profit.  There are many options that apply to every state or area.  For example, if you have a location and find a local band, you can get them to apply a certain percentage of their ticket price to go towards your non-profit. You can hold a resource fair where you will have a silent auction with items donated from the community that people can bid on and the proceeds will go to your cause. The easy part is getting people to donate. The hard part is all the paper work and business items that go into getting the non-profit started.  More to come in part two....

Marija Savitt, M.A. and her family reside in Las Vegas, NV. She graduated from California State University, Northridge with both her B.A. in Psychology and her M.A. in Education, Psychology and Counseling. Marija spent many years working with children with autism as a behavior interventionist for programs that provided various behavioral techniques. As Marija grew as a professional, she started to seek out other means for working with children with autism. Marija was introduced to Relationship Development Intervention by a colleague and decided to pursue her certification. Upon completion of her first seminar, she knew RDI was the answer to what she had been searching for as a professional. While obtaining her certification in RDI, Marija worked relentlessly to open her own business, Behavioral Resolutions in Las Vegas, NV and to make a name for herself in the community. 

Marija Savitt, M.A. 
Behavioral Resolutions 
522 E. Twain Ave. 
Las Vegas, NV 89169 
Phone: 702-883-1905 
Email: BehavioralResolutions@live.com 
Website: www.BehavioralResolutions.net & www.Allin4Autism.org