By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Laila’s Gift, a nonprofit supporting families raising children with special needs, hosted its inaugural We Connecting Caregivers and Advocates with Resources and Education (C.A.R.E.) Conference on Nov. 19 at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts. The free event provided caregivers, advocates and families with resources, education, and networking opportunities.
The conference coincided with National Caregivers Month and aimed to educate, empower, and build community among Maryland’s 800,000 caregivers, families, community organizations, and agencies. Key speakers included Reginald A. Lawson, chair of the Prince George’s County NAACP Criminal Justice Committee, and Kaelynn Partlow, an autism advocate and Netflix’s “Love on the Spectrum” star.
Shari Bailey, founder of Laila’s Gift and caregiver to her daughter, Laila, who is Johns Hopkins’ first Jacobsen Syndrome case, organized the event to strengthen support systems and foster inclusive communities.
“Our mission has stayed the same: it’s to advocate for, support and celebrate children with special needs and disabilities, and their families,” Bailey said. “What we’re doing here is unboxing that world of caregiving and providing a safe space where people are coming forward about some of the things that they need, we need to be able to survive.”
Laila’s Gift offers caregivers free birthday and milestone celebrations for their children and siblings, along with services designed to uplift families. The organization also provides advocacy and partners with community groups and schools to promote inclusion.
Bailey explained the origins of the nearly four-year-old nonprofit and the reasoning behind the We C.A.R.E. Conference. “There’s a huge stigma around caregivers, their needs, what they go through, their self-care and their burnout,” she said. “We wanted to bring light to that.” She added that the organization was created to connect families navigating rare syndromes or other challenges and to create a space for advocacy, support and celebration.
“The Black and Brown community often feel underserved,” Bailey said. “Take that and then add on special needs or some sort of caregiving duty, that just multiplies it.”
According to Mental Health America, Black people make up 14 percent of caregivers in the U.S. and spend an average of 31.2 hours per week caregiving, compared with 21.2 hours for White caregivers.
The event featured legislative updates, panels, networking and a resource fair to connect attendees with services. One of the latest advocacy initiatives, the Laila’s Elopement Awareness and Dissemination (LEAD) Act, was announced at the conference. The LEAD Act, a package of three bills, is designed to address the crisis of elopement by ensuring coordinated support across state committees and departments, strengthening efforts to prevent related tragedies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, elopement occurs when a person wanders or runs away from a safe area or caregiver. People with disabilities, such as autism or intellectual disabilities, may have difficulty understanding safety risks or communicating with others.
“While dozens of reported elopement emergencies occur each year, there is no statewide system in place, no training and technology in a standard system of measurement,” said Teresa Hessler, CEO of Ashler Government Relations and a partner with Laila’s Gift.
The LEAD Act is set to be introduced during the 2026 Maryland General Assembly, which begins Jan. 14, 2026. Bailey said the legislation will be officially announced at Lawyers Mall in January, where the lead sponsors of the bill will be revealed.