Family Initiative will host its next Parent Group Speaker Series Saturday, June 13, focused on hurricane and emergency preparedness for families throughout Southwest Florida. The informational event will take place from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Family Initiative Golisano Autism Community Hub, at 3221 Chiquita Blvd., S., in Cape Coral.<\/p>\n
The free event will bring together local emergency management and weather experts to provide practical guidance on storm preparation, evacuation planning, shelter expectations, flood zones and emergency resources available to families ahead of hurricane season.<\/p>\n
Featured speakers include:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 Andrew Shipotofsky, meteorologist at WINK Newsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 John Schultz, Ph.D., CPM, chief of emergency management for Lee County Department of Public Safety<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0 Ruth Rodrigues, emergency management specialist and owner of Petran Consulting LLC<\/p>\n
Shipotofsky will discuss the 2026 WINK News Hurricane Preparedness Guide and provide insight into this year\u2019s hurricane forecast. Chief Schultz will highlight individual preparedness, shelter expectations, evacuation zones and flood zones. Rodrigues will focus on inclusive emergency preparedness strategies for autistic individuals and their caregivers, combining professional expertise with lived experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreparing for hurricane season can feel overwhelming for many families, especially those caring for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder,\u201d said David Brown, president and co-founder of Family Initiative. \u201cThis speaker series is designed to provide families with trusted information, practical tools, and local resources so they can feel more confident and prepared before a storm approaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
Families may attend in person or watch the event live on Family Initiative\u2019s Facebook page. Skilled clinicians will provide onsite childcare during the event, allowing parents and caregivers the opportunity to fully participate in the discussion. <\/p>\n
The event is free to attend, but registration is encouraged. <\/p>\n
For additional information about the program, call (239) 910-0712 or email info@fi-florida.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n About Family Initiative<\/p>\n Founded in 2015, Family Initiative Inc. is a Florida-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting children with autism and strengthening their families. Its team of clinicians serves children through a compassionate, personalized approach using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Occupational Therapy (OT). The organization also offers autism play groups, teen meetups, parent education and community conversations. In addition, Family Initiative provides training and support for child welfare caregivers through its Family Impact Program. For more information, visit fi-florida.org<\/a>, follow Family Initiative on Facebook and Instagram at @FamilyInitiative, or on X (formerly Twitter) at @FI_Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Family Initiative will host its next Parent Group Speaker Series Saturday, June 13, focused on hurricane and emergency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-288400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}