Starfire 30th Anniversary Events @ A Glance!

March 2023 - We’re celebrating 30 years of service this year! Since 1993, Starfire has worked to build a more inclusive world alongside people with developmental disabilities. Our Family Network provides mentorship and money to launch projects designed to discover and celebrate the unique gifts of loved ones with disabilities, projects that spark connections and nurture relationships based on common interests!

Here’s our year – visit our calendar page for more details on each event!

 Starfire Welcomes Jan Goings as Learning Network Ops Director

January 15, 2023 – Starfire Council of Greater Cincinnati is pleased to announce Jan Goings will serve as Starfire’s Learning Network Operations Director. Operated by Starfire, the Learning Network offers courses in community building and inclusion from the wisdom and voices of people with developmental disabilities, their families, neighbors, and the people who support them.

As Operations Director of the Learning Network, Jan will support Tim Vogt, Learning Network Director, in growing the agency’s education and training services.

A board member of Starfire since 2021, Jan most recently served as the director of the University of Cincinnati Transition & Access Program. Prior to that role, Jan was the Chief Operating Officer of the Resident Home Corporation, which provides residential foster family and community-based support services for over 400 children and adults. Jan has served as an Assistant Professor with Gonzaga, Bellarmine and Xavier universities. A graduate of the Greater Cincinnati Leadership Council’s Class #8, Jan is a Graduate Fellow, Syracuse University, holds a Master of Public Administration from Xavier University, and a B.S. in Special Education from the University of Cincinnati.

 “Jan brings a wealth of education and system-based knowledge and connections to our organization,” offers Mitch Haralson, MSW, LCSW, Starfire Executive Director. “We’re grateful for her past service to our board on the Government & Operations Committee, and eager for her efforts to scale our Learning Network as we continue to expand curriculum and reach to meet our mission of healing our culture and building a more inclusive world.”

About Starfire
Since 1993, Starfire has worked to create a more inclusive world by partnering with people with developmental disabilities, like Down syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy, to help build richer, more fulfilling lives. The data is clear: people with disabilities grow increasingly lonely and isolated as adults. Starfire works to remove barriers and discover identities exclusive of disabilities to connect people to relationships based on shared interests that decrease social isolation via Starfire’s Community Building Network, Family Leadership Network, and Learning Network. Starfire is honored to lead the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) Family Network in Southwest Ohio. Learn more at www.starfirecincy.org.

 Starfire Board
Promotes Mitch Haralson, MSW, LCSW
to Executive Director

August 19, 2022 – The Board of Directors at Starfire Council of Greater Cincinnati is pleased to announce the promotion of Mitch Haralson, MSW, LCSW as Executive Director. Starfire Board president Brendan Hosty made the announcement at the August Board Meeting.

Hosty offers, “Mitch has steered the organization as the interim Executive Director since February. In that short time, he has furthered our work of creating a more inclusive world alongside individuals with developmental disabilities. He’s forged partnerships with a variety of service organizations, including Santa Maria Neighborhood Community Services, Mt. Healthy Alliance, Interact for Health, and the Ken Anderson Alliance, as well as Massachusetts’s disability services agency. He’s secured Medicaid funding and investment from many charitable organizations and philanthropic individuals to ensure Starfire’s ability to fulfill its mission. We’re highly confident that his experience and leadership will steward our organization into its next chapter.”

“Starfire has a rich, storied history here in the Tristate,” shares Haralson, “and I’m honored to lead us into our 30th anniversary of service. The pandemic greatly exacerbated the reality of social exclusion of individuals and families of children and loved ones with developmental disabilities. Today, one in four families has a loved one with a disability, and deals with rampant isolation.”

He continues, “This is a global issue, and Starfire’s proven community-building and asset-based community development methodology is being sought by people and organizations here and around the world to launch small, community projects designed to share the gifts of each person or family and spark connections that become relationships based on common interests beyond disability and paid staff. I’m grateful for the bravery of the individuals, families and Family Mentors who strive for more, and immensely proud of our team and the work we do via our three service networks to help all realize identities beyond disability, and equally grateful for the opportunity to further our efforts to build a more inclusive world.”

Mitch joined the organization in October 2021 as director of programs. He brings 15 years’ experience in vocational and mental health training, most recently serving as the Executive Director of National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Northern Kentucky Chapter. Prior to this role, Mitch was the Director of the Care Continuum at the Life Learning Center and a Manager at Easterseals Work Resource Center. Mitch has served on the University of Cincinnati School of Social Work Alumni Board, Gateway Community & Technical College Human Services Program Advisory Committee, the University of Kentucky Extension Office Consumer Sciences Advisory Council, and the St. Vincent de Paul Microloan Project Planning Committee. He holds a BA in English Education from Boise State University, and Master’s in Social Work from the University of Cincinnati.

 Mitch is a recipient of the Kentucky Governor 2017 Service Award. His professional affiliations include serving as a member of the Volunteer NKY Steering Committee, Safety Net Alliance, Gateway Community & Technical College Human Services Program Advisory Committee, UK Extension Office Consumer Sciences Advisory Council, and the St. Vincent de Paul Microloan Planning Committee. He and his family reside in Pleasant Ridge.

About Starfire
Since 1993, Starfire has worked to create a more inclusive world by partnering with people with developmental disabilities, like Down syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy, to help build richer, more fulfilling lives. The data is clear: people with disabilities grow increasingly lonely and isolated as adults. Starfire works to remove barriers and discover identities exclusive of disabilities to connect people to relationships based on shared interests that decrease social isolation via Starfire’s Community Building Network, Family Leadership Network, and Learning Network. Starfire is honored to lead the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) Family Network in Southwest Ohio. Learn more at www.starfirecincy.org.

Starfire, Riverside Community Care, the Nemasket Group, and Multicultural Community Services Collaborate on Family Leadership Network Training

August 11, 2022 – Starfire Council of Greater Cincinnati and the Massachusetts Family Leadership Program funded by the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services are pleased to announce the launch of a family-led training program designed to support families of loved ones with developmental disabilities build inclusive community projects.

On September 10, families can attend an informational session for the Family Leadership Network. Based on Starfire’s community-building model, the Family Leadership Network empowers families of loved ones with intellectual and developmental disabilities, like Down syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy, to developing relationships based on common interests, and beyond paid staff.

10 families will be paid for their time and receive microgrants to launch a Family Project within their Northeast, Southeast, and Central Massachusetts communities. Family Projects enable families to share their unique interests with their community – from backyard movies to hip hop dance lessons to pop-up puppy parks – while becoming known for something other than their disability.

Families also receive monthly, one-on-one guidance from a dedicated Starfire Family Mentor during the nine-month-long mentorship. Each Family Mentor is a parent of a loved one with a disability. Each has first-hand experience in breaking the cycle of social isolation, creating sustainable community supports, and developing better stories for themselves and their loved ones. And, each Family Mentor has launched several Family Projects and grown relationships with neighbors and community members.

“Starfire’s mission is to further a more inclusive world, one relationship at a time,” offers Mitch Haralson, MSW, LCSW, interim executive director, Starfire. “We are excited to partner with the Massachusetts Family Leadership Program to help more families create identities beyond disability.”

“Our families can’t wait to share their gifts with our community!” says Maryann Welch, Director of the Northeast Massachusetts Family Leadership Program.

 Interested families can log in Zoom, HERE.

About the Massachusetts Family Leadership Program
The Massachusetts Family Leadership Program empowers families and caregivers to advocate for their loved ones with disabilities to live in their communities as naturally and typically as desired.  This is done by 1) providing information and tools to effectively advocate for change, 2) guiding families in developing a vision, building knowledge, and growing leadership skills necessary to support family members in creating the life they want in their community and 3) providing opportunities for them to join with other families to share experiences and ideas.

About Starfire
Starfire is a visionary organization working to build better lives for people with disabilities. Since 1993, Starfire has worked to create a more inclusive world by partnering with people with developmental disabilities, like Down syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy, to help build richer, more fulfilling lives. The data is clear: people with disabilities grow increasingly lonely and isolated as adults, so Starfire works to discover identities exclusive of disabilities to connect people to relationships that decrease social isolation via Starfire’s Community Building Network, Family Leadership Network, and Learning Network.  Learn more at www.starfirecincy.org.

Contact: Maryann Welch, Riverside Community Care, 781.645.9577, mawelch@riversidecc.org

Charles H. Dater Foundation Awards Community Building Grant

June 6, 2022 – Starfire Council of Greater Cincinnati is pleased to announce that it was awarded $35,000 from the Charles H. Dater Foundation for its Community Building Programs.

Founded in 1985, the Charles H. Dater Foundation makes grants to non-profit organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area to carry out projects that benefit children and focus in the areas of arts and culture, education, healthcare, social services and other community needs. Charles H. Dater (1912-1993) established the foundation to ensure that funding for worthwhile community programs would continue after his death. The Foundation honors the memory and preserves the philanthropic commitment of Charles and his ancestors, whose hard work and business acumen over four generations provided them with the opportunity to share their success with their community.

“We are incredibly grateful to have received this funding from the Dater Foundation,” offers Mitch Haralson, MSW, LCSW, Executive Director, Starfire. “Since 1993, the Foundation has invested $1.1 million in our agency, and we’ve used this funding to make our region more inclusive by working alongside families of loved ones with developmental disabilities, like Down syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy, discover their gifts and share those gifts with others to spark connections based on common interests that lead to relationships and richer, fuller lives. This investment is helping us break the barriers of social isolation and heal a culture that marginalizes those with developmental disabilities. Our thanks to the Dater Foundation for their continued support.”

For more information on Starfire, contact Mitch Haralson, at mitch@starfirecouncil.org, or 513.281.2100