Did you know that your child may be eligible for financial help to support their continuing education, and that this financial support includes funds for resources that support parents and caregivers, too? Bridge to Tomorrow was founded to help parents and caregivers just like you.
We know firsthand that without the right resources, securing financial assistance means parents or caregivers have to go the extra mile and then some to find relevant options and navigate complicated application processes. That can result in wading through systemic red tape, facing harsh judgments, and trying to decipher the all-too-often unclear qualifications.
Fortunately, you are not alone
Why Is Applying For Special Need Education Financial Help So Challenging?
There are several reasons why applying for special needs or autism scholarships in Florida can feel challenging or overwhelming.
1. Cumulative Caregiver Stress & Fatigue
Nobody but you truly understands how chronically stressful and fatiguing it is to advocate for your child year after year. Being a parent or caregiver to a neurodivergent or special needs child can feel like running a marathon that has no defined finish line.
The combination of caregiver stress and scholarship access requirements can feel disheartening rather than inspiring. Fortunately, we created Bridge to Tomorrow to specifically address that very feeling.
We serve as an empowerment tool designed to support your scholarship application process at Legacy High School and Puzzlebox Academy for securing the financial support needed to continue advancing on your journey.
2. The Presence of Perpetual Red Tape & Judgment
Because most financial scholarships or assistance programs are unrelated to one another, they all have their own requirements: qualifiers, processes, and documents. Rather than thinking, “we’ve got this,” parents and caregivers can wind up feeling mired in red tape or facing judgments around what they didn’t “do right” when filling out or submitting applications.
The result can be a sense that there’s something wrong with you for needing help, or feelings of inadequacy that you couldn’t follow (confusing) instructions correctly. That perpetuates an escalating fear of being denied the funds you strongly need, and can send you spinning into a proverbial hamster wheel of anxiety.
Here at Bridge to Tomorrow, we work closely with families to identify scholarship and financial assistance opportunities for Puzzle Box Academy and Legacy High School that align with their child’s situation and household goals. From there, we create a roadmap through the application process, breaking it up into practical steps.
3. Feeling Doomed to Failure Before You’ve Completed the Process
Perhaps one of the most significant emotional barriers to moving forward with applications to neurodivergent scholarships or charities is the sense that “I’m doing all of this work, and we’re probably going to get denied anyway.”
It’s absolutely normal to feel this way, and most parents and caregivers in your situation do. That’s why we continually remind clients that it’s not you who is the problem or at fault. The system is the problem, and we are here to help.
Once you’ve connected with Bridge to Tomorrow to provide insight or guidance in securing the scholarships you need, you can say farewell to confusion or the sense that you’re going it alone.
How To Land Special Needs & Autism Scholarships In Florida
Special needs education financial help in Florida doesn’t have to be as complicated or emotionally exhausting as you might think. The key is to align your vision with existing non-profits and organizations that are already making a difference in your child’s neurodivergent niche(s).
- Search for scholarships and grants specific to your child’s diagnosis.
While some schools and education programs, such as Puzzle Box Academy or Legacy High School, are specifically designed to help neurodivergent children succeed, others are not. Obtaining financial assistance to support aids, learning tools, or after-school programs often requires outside funding.
In that case, we always recommend using targeted scholarship and grant web pages hosted by reputable organizations. Targeted internet searches can help you find broader-sweeping scholarships out there.
Keep in mind that while societal awareness is certainly improving things when it comes to tuition and resourcing support for neurodivergent students and their families, the application pool for these nationally recognized organizations is significantly larger, making them more competitive.
By all means, you should apply for them, but don’t let yourself get overwhelmed, overburdened, or sink into the “I knew failure was inevitable” pit. If that happens to you, it’s time to turn to more supportive and empowering options.
2. Look for Florida-based Options That Support the Application Journey
In addition to nationwide funding options, turn your sights and attention toward accessing more supportive options at the state and local level. For example, here at Bridge to Tomorrow, we help parents, grandparents, caregivers, and extended family members at Puzzle Box Academy and Legacy High School through questions and concerns they have during their application processes.
Scholarship & Grants Offered/Funded By Florida’s Tax Base
One of the first places we direct them is Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship. This incredible program offers families two different options:
- Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options. This scholarship can be applied to K-12 educational options, including the ability to send your children to a private school, such as Puzzle Box Academy or Legacy High School, where educators and administrators trained in neurodiversity can provide a better outcome than at a traditional public school.
- Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities. This scholarship can be applied to children as young as three years old and used to establish an educational savings account (ESA). Funds from that account can be used toward a variety of customized resources, tools, trainings, online programs, materials, and so on (check out MindMeld if you haven’t yet!). For example, funds from this scholarship are frequently used to subsidize a student’s or caregiver’s enrollment in one or more of Puzzle Box Academy’s learning and training programs.
Local Private Schools & Community-Centered Programs
Specialized private schools and programs are often structured to include some type of charitable or non-profit foundation. Also known as a 501(c)(3), these supportive “wings,” so to speak, are funded by donors who want to see the positive impacts of their contributions while also reaping the tax benefits. Bridge to Tomorrow is one example of this, supporting academic and extracurricular education and resourcing for The Puzzle Box Academy and Legacy High School.
We offer multiple scholarship opportunities to meet a variety of needs.
- Directly funded educational scholarships. Our tuition scholarships can be applied to any of The Puzzle Box Academy’s academic programs, which include early education programs (daycare, early intervention, pre-K readiness), elementary school (3-2-1 & 5-2-1 classroom models, 10-1 ratio classes for independent learners, integrated art, music & PE), and Legacy High School (year-round education for grades 7 – 12).
- Financial assistance for the Aspire Training Program. This 40-hour, online training program for parents/caregivers offers approachable and exceptional practical tools and emotional strategies for caregivers that support your children in all aspects of their lives.
- Financial support for MindMeld Community membership. Perhaps one of our families’ favorite offerings, our MindMeld Community is an online hub for education, peer support, and professional Q&A, hosted on the Circle platform. MindMeld also offers additional invaluable resources, including guest speakers and presentations by the most innovative educators and behavioral therapists in the field.
Bridge to Tomorrow Alleviates Stress Around Neurodivergent Education Scholarships & Support
There’s no reason for you to take on any more stress than you already face every day. If you are a current or prospective parent/caregiver at Puzzlebox Academy or Legacy High School, Bridge to Tomorrow is here to partner with you and offer personalized support that empowers your scholarship and grant application process. And if you are reading this but are outside the reach of one of these schools, we’d encourage you to look for other organizations, like ours, that have the same commitment to helping you through your neurodivergent student’s scholarship needs.
Contact us and start the journey toward making inclusive, personalized education possible for your child. Join the many Florida caregivers who’ve used real scholarship opportunities to help their children – and families – thrive.