Now in its 16th year, Chip in 4 Children raises more than $50,000 to assist grandparents who are raising grandchildren with disabilities. Innovative Solutions for Disadvantage & Disability (ISDD) is 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving the Atlanta Metro Area where it is the largest provider of kinship family services, assisting more than 600 adults and children a year.

Kinship families are created when children are unable to live with their parents, often due to death, substance abuse, mental illness, or incarceration. Frequently these children have experienced neglect or abuse and often have disabilities. Caregivers, usually grandparents, are not expecting to take on this role and are often ill-prepared. It can be a great strain financially and emotionally to rasie children a second time around, especially when you are older and may not be in the best of health. 

Making this job more difficult are social, health, educational and legal systems that don't understand the special needs of kinship families and the unique challenges they face. Many of these systems don't treat them like actual families and provide few supports and services. ISDD works to bridge the gap and ensure that kinship families are treated equitably and have access to the resources they need to ensure that the children can experience safely, stability, permanency and high levels of well-being.