About Us

The Caregiver and Resource Exchange (CARE) is a grassroots advocacy
organization led by people with disabilities, family members, caregivers, and allies who are demanding real accountability in Maryland’s disability services system.

CARE exists because too many families have been forced to navigate shrinking services, shifting rules, workforce shortages, and arbitrary agency decision-making while their loved ones’ health and safety hang in the balance. We organize, mobilize, and speak out to ensure that community-based supports, self-direction, and critical services remain accessible and effective.

We believe people with disabilities and their families should not have to fight alone to receive the services they need and are deserve. CARE builds collective power so that individual stories lead to system-level change.

                                                                       

Our Founding Story
CARE was formed by caregivers and parents who have experienced and been hurt by administrative barriers, shifting interpretations of policy, and lack of transparency within Maryland’s Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA).
 

• Families saw essential supports delayed or denied.

• They encountered new layers of bureaucracy without explanation.

• They struggled to obtain clear answers about program changes, funding decisions, and service eligibility.

What began as private frustration turned into a shared realization: isolated families have little leverage, but organized communities can demand accountability.

CARE was created to bring those voices together: to document patterns, speak with a collective voice, and insist that agencies and policymakers confront the real-world consequences of their decisions.

We are not opposed to government.

We are opposed to systems that operate without transparency, without accountability, and without regard for the people whose lives depend on them.
 

Our Vision

A Maryland where people with disabilities and their families have real access to services, clear information about their rights and options, and meaningful influence over decisions that affect their lives.

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Our Mission
Care champions the rights and dignity of people with disabilities and community allies to:

•  Defend access to self-directed services and community-based supports

•  Expose systemic barriers that block people from receiving care

•  Demand transparency in agency decision-making

•  Hold public systems accountable when policies cause harm

•  Amplify lived experience in legislative and public debates

•  Drive action toward lasting reform

We combine organizing and direct advocacy to make sure that the people most affected by disability policy are the ones shaping it.

CARE is grounded in advocacy and powered by action.