Karen Sites

Discipline: Family Member

Faculty Mentor:

About:

I graduated from the University of Maine, Orono with a B.A. in mass communications and a minor in public relations. At the beginning of my career I worked doing marketing, graphic design, and fundraising for LifeFlight of Maine and Affiliated Healthcare Systems. My employment at these organizations helped me gain a tremendous amount of knowledge pertaining to healthcare. In 2004 my son was born with Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus. It was then that my passion for helping families with children with special health needs really began. I joined the board of the Spina Bifida Association of Massachusetts. Working with the wonderful people on the board we were able to officially change the name of the organization to the Spina Bifida Association of Greater New England. This change was significant as it gave the Spina Bifida families of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine access to greater support. In March of 2014 I had the privilege of being offered a position as a family support navigator with the Maine Parent Federation. Over the last year I have worked with numerous families with children with varying disabilities. It has been an honor to have a job where I get to work directly with families of special needs children. I get to help them navigate the seemingly endless paperwork and receive the support that will help their children and families. I also support them by attending IEP meetings at schools with them. I am also proud to be a homeschool mom to 4 beautiful children. But really they teach me as much as I teach them every day.