2021 Help is Hope Award
Autism Action Partnership is honored to recognize Daniel Young through the 2021 Help is Hope Award.
We invite you to watch a brief video about Daniel Young and his tremendous efforts to bring Project Lifesaver to Omaha.
Daniel and Marianne Young’s son Beau was diagnosed with Autism in 2013, at age two. Not long after, they began to grow concerned about Beau’s impulse to wander away from them and other safe places. This concern led them to research ways to keep Beau safe, and they learned of Project Lifesaver. Project Lifesaver is an international program that provides specialized training and equipment to law enforcement to locate missing individuals, who wear a Project Lifesaver transmitter (on their ankle or wrist). The Youngs also learned that this program was not available in their hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. As a result, their mission was born.
For the Project Lifesaver program to be successful, law enforcement and caregivers must have the required equipment, complete formal training, and have a means to share critical information. Daniel Young designed and proposed a partnership between Lincoln’s Autism Family Network (administration and caregiver support) and Lincoln Police Department and Lancaster County Sheriff Department (trained first responders). Furthermore, the Youngs began raising money for the effort through a foundation they created in memory of their niece, Jullia Rose. In 2017, the partnership solidified, and Project Lifesaver was brought to Lincoln, where it continues today.
The Youngs could have stopped there, knowing Beau was safe. However, they knew more families could benefit from the program and they began raising funds to bring Project Lifesaver to Omaha. In 2018, Daniel contacted AAP and proposed a partnership between AAP, the Omaha Police Department and Jullia Rose Foundation to bring Project Lifesaver to Omaha. With Daniel’s leadership, the partnership was formed, and Project Lifesaver launched in Omaha less than a year later. As a result:
The Jullia Rose Foundation provided OPD with eight receivers as well as formal training for 33 OPD officers to become Certified Electronic Search Specialists.
AAP has enrolled 42 individuals (to date) in Project Lifesaver, each receiving a transmitter at no cost due to the Jullia Rose Foundation funding.
In recognition of the Young family’s successful efforts to bring Project Lifesaver to Lincoln and Omaha, and Daniel Young’s inspiration and commitment toward creating the partnership between Autism Action Partnership and the Omaha Police Department, we are honored to name Daniel Young as the 2021 Help Is Hope Award winner. Daniel shares this award with his wife Marianne and their children, Beau (10) and Adelaide (8).