Up With Families

Up With Families UWF is a non-profit group that serves families in eastern Iowa counties that have young children that have recently been diagnosed with a disability.

We do this through hosting an annual weekend retreat for nominated families and invite the entire family to come stay at a local hotel for the weekend. During the retreat, they meet other parents facing similar circumstances and they participate in small group activities and listen to speakers to learn about valuable community resources to assist them in accessing services and help support the dev

elopment of their child and their family support system. While the adults are kept busy, the children have a full day of scheduled activities. They are paired up one:one with a volunteer and participate in a wide variety of fun and entertaining activities. Sunday morning we wrap up the weekend with a breakfast and program.

Up with Families could not have asked for a better group of parents and their amazing children this weekend! It’s truly ...
03/30/2026

Up with Families could not have asked for a better group of parents and their amazing children this weekend! It’s truly incredible to watch a diverse group of strangers become true friends over the course of 48 hours. We loved hosting everyone and certainly could not have done it alone!

Thank you to each and every volunteer youth companion that spent time with us caring for the kids and helping us ensure their safety. Boy did we all have some fun!

Thank you to the generosity of our donors…
Dr. Kit Ford -Autistic and Loved
New Hope Foundation, Muscatine
Faith United Methodist Church, Davenport
Mississippi Bend AEA
Royal Neighbors of America, Rock Island Chapter
Regional Development Authority
Knights of Columbus, Davenport
Davenport Noon Optimistic Club

Thank you to to community agencies and individuals that participated in our Expo, sat on a panel, hosted our field trips, and provided programming for the kids…
QC Music Therapy
Legacy Therapy Dogs
Bettendorf Children’s Museum
Bettendorf Children’s Library
Putnam Museum
Jason Hamilton Magic
Malibu Jacks
Mississippi Bend Trykes
Genesis Pediatrics
Caravel Autumn Health
ASK Resource Center
University of Iowa Child Health Specialty Clinic
West Music
Sweet Peas
Bridges 2 Advocacy
Autism Society of the Quad Cities
Mike Miller, Ekstrand principal
Shari Hucksteadt, MBAEA Early Access Teacher

Thank you to the St. Ambrose football team that helped haul toys and provided muscles to help unpack and set it all up and then returned to pack it all up and haul back to our storage unit.

And thank you to the Isle Hotel for their amazing venue and service all weekend.

We will do it all again next year so stay tuned and hope to see many of you again!!

http://www.upwithfamiliesdavenport.org/

03/28/2026

We kicked off the weekend tonight at Autistic and Loved gym!! What a fun time and we are ready for our big day of fun tomorrow!!!

We could still use some volunteers for our afternoon shift just to ensure ample coverage and account for last minute can...
03/16/2026

We could still use some volunteers for our afternoon shift just to ensure ample coverage and account for last minute cancellations and no-shows (unfortunately that always happens).

The afternoon shift is from 2-7 and involves hanging out with a youth and going to a local trampoline place, swimming, pizza, and other fun activities!

Volunteer form is available on our website.

Also still in need of lifeguard and nurse!

Please consider volunteering and sharing this post! And if you can’t do the afternoon, we’d still use you in the morning!

2026 Volunteer Application Form ​Up With Families relies on over 200 volunteers to help carry out the weekend. Volunteers are needed in the following areas: Certified lifeguards...

03/07/2026

We are still in need of a nurse or two to hang with us for our youth program on Saturday, March 28th from 2-7pm. If you know of anyone, please share and contact us.
Also in need of a lifeguard from 3-4 and 5:30-6:30.
Our event is at the Isle Casino hotel in downtown Bettendorf.
😊

02/22/2026

2026 Volunteer Application Form ​Up With Families relies on over 200 volunteers to help carry out the weekend. Volunteers are needed in the following areas: Certified lifeguards...

02/13/2026

Thank you so much to MBAEA Gives Back for their recent donation to help fund our upcoming 2026 weekend retreat! We could not continue our program without the amazing generosity from our community and individuals who want to make a difference!! Thank you!!

02/13/2026

Thank you to Dr. Kit at Autistic and Loved for your incredibly generous donation to help support our annual weekend retreat!! Looking forward to hosting an open house there for our 2026 families!!

Our 2026 weekend retreat is in the works! If you would like to volunteer, we need volunteer companions to support the yo...
01/06/2026

Our 2026 weekend retreat is in the works! If you would like to volunteer, we need volunteer companions to support the youth with their participation in planned activities. We accept high school age and older as companion volunteers. There is a link to a simple application form and we’d love to have you share it and support us!

2026 Volunteer Application Form ​Up With Families relies on over 200 volunteers to help carry out the weekend. Volunteers are needed in the following areas: Certified lifeguards...

Address

517 3rd Avenue
Dewitt, IA
52742

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