My Milestones – Strike It Big Co-Chair Brian Taylor

Upon moving to Ohio, Brian Taylor knew he wanted to get involved with a nonprofit in the local community. When his employer Sherwin Williams connected him with Milestones Autism Resources, he found a cause he was passionate about and the outlet he was searching for that would allow him to give back.

Fast forward to the present: Brian is now in his second year of serving as a Milestones Strike It Big co-chair. This position goes far beyond standard volunteering, involving heavy involvement with the planning of one of the organization’s largest events of the year (the autism-friendly bowling event engaged 17 sponsors and more than 400 bowlers in 2018). In this role, Brian provides guidance and support to staff and committee members as Milestones works toward hosting an incredible event and raising money for the Milestones free autism Helpdesk.

“My ultimate goal throughout this whole experience is to help serve our community and to help our team exceed the goals we’ve set,” Brian says. “We have so many great people serving on our committees and I am truly honored to be able to work with each one of them.”

So what drew Brian to get involved with Strike It Big in particular? The community element.

“In addition to helping raise money for such a crucial service, this event is so much fun for all participants,” Brian says. “Families who attend can expect an autism-friendly and fun atmosphere. You come and immediately create a personal connection with other families in the autism community, as well as the Milestones team and sponsors who are making it all happen.”
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My Milestones – Edie Ungar-Shafron

As a school psychologist and someone who is on the “inside” of the autism community looking out, it is often easy to forget that some of my fellow Clevelanders may be unaware of the impressive autism network we have here, at our fingertips in Northeast Ohio.

Over the years, I have gained insight to the local autism community thanks to my professional and personal involvement with Milestones Autism Resources, an agency close to my heart, that helps individuals with autism reach their potential. I have been able to experience the generosity and passion within this system firsthand, a passion that reminds me so much of the close-knit altruism within our local community.

I initially became involved with Milestones after seeing the critical need to provide autism resources to my “kids” at school and to their families. Milestones connected me with the vetted local resources I needed. This evolved into becoming an active volunteer, a participant in the Milestones conference, and most recently, into serving as co-chair for Strike It Big, one of their biggest fundraising events of the year.

Strike It Big for Milestones provides inclusion and support for individuals on the spectrum, two things the larger Northeast Ohio autism community is constantly working together to provide. Along with an afternoon of fun, bowling and other activities, this family-friendly bowling event provides a “no-judgment zone” in which children can be themselves. Through fundraising and attending the event on March 11th at Spins Bowl in Independence, the local community can come together to support Milestones’ free Autism Helpdesk, a service that allows families to contact professional staff for personal guidance and individualized information at each and every stage of their child’s development.
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