PHOENIX — An astonishing 64,000 Arizona grandparents are raising their grandchildren, according to the Phoenix-based nonprofit Duet.
Substance abuse, incarceration, and mental health issues are on a long list of reasons for this.
"Because of these challenges, grandparents just feel alone. They feel overwhelmed. A lot of them are heartbroken because you know, their adult child has gone wayward and every family, every parent wants their child to be responsible," said Patricia Dominguez, the Director of Kinship Care Services at Duet.
Thanks to a group of dedicated and caring people at Duet, hope and help are available. This group works to create opportunities for grandparents to share experiences during grandfamily outings.
"These are grandparents who don't fit in. When they drop off the kids at school, there's younger moms [...] and this is grandma, who doesn't fit that age range. So, this is an opportunity to meet friends and the kids get to see that they're not the only ones being raised by grandparents," said Dominguez.
Grandparents, like Sophia Sabetta, the primary caregiver for her grandson Aiden, have found comfort and support through Duet.
Sabetta tells us, that finding resources for her autistic grandson was extremely difficult before they relocated to Arizona in 2018.
"I didn't know how to reach out and find resources for him because of the fact that he's autistic. And then being a grandparent on top of that, there wasn't anywhere that was a good fit. Duet is that piece that brought it together for us and has helped us on so many levels," said Sabetta.
Free educational and self-care workshops are also offered at Duet along with resources to help navigate the legal system. That has been life-changing for Sabetta and her family.
"From the get-go, I got full guardianship with my grandson. I was able to help get the Social Security with him and then with a lot of the events and stuff that they have going on, we're able to go out as a family and partake in the world," said Sabetta. "He's such a blessing and he makes every day wonderful. There's always something new that we do with him and Duet has made that happen as well."
For more information on Duet and its services for grandfamilies, visit DuetAZ.org.
