Special Needs Education & Resource Foundation

Oftentimes special needs individuals are faced with challenging financial management situations. Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid is necessary for many of these individuals but in order to maintain these important government benefits they must not have assets totaling over $2,000. If this happens, then benefits are jeopardized leaving the special needs individual without financial support. In 2010, Dr. Thomas Tirney saw there was a dire need within the ID/D community to assist special needs individuals with financial security and he established the Special Needs Education and Resources Foundation (SNERF). SNERF was created in 2010 to provide trustee services cost-free to individuals with special needs receiving care at Pennsylvania-based nonprofit providers. In addition to trustee services, SNERF offers grants to these individuals as direct support to pay for supplemental needs not covered by government benefits. Such support consisted of items such as clothing, furniture, swim instruction, speech therapy, preventive dental care, oral surgery, education, smart phones, tablets, internet access, vocational instruction, vacations, and artistic materials. None of these items were otherwise covered by Supplemental Security Income nor Medicaid. SNERF has grown and consists of three service silos. 1. We manage special needs pooled trusts for nonprofit organizations that provide support to individuals with special needs. 2. SNERF has curated a large art collection from nonprofit galleries comprised of works created by artists with intellectual disabilities. Our vision is that through our online art gallery and leasing program artists will gain further recognition from patrons and organizations that would otherwise have no contact with them. 3. We provide free financial resources to special needs individuals and their families on various topics to include by not limited to exempt resources, estate planning, and trusts.