Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruth Garfinkel.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Like many kids growing up in the 90s, I heard a lot about world hunger. In high school, while watching the Super Bowl halftime show with my family, I was shocked when they announced how much the costumes for the show cost, thinking about how many families that money could have fed instead. From that day, I became fascinated with how resources are allocated, who wins, and who loses. That led me to pursue a degree in international affairs, and I began working for a non-profit organization that implemented preventative health campaigns globally. After getting a master’s degree in public health, I moved to North Carolina for a job at an organization based in Chapel Hill. I fell in love with the area, met my husband in Raleigh, and we moved to Durham in 2014. Meanwhile, I continued my work, traveling often to countries outside the US and developing programs to strengthen their health systems.
Much of this work was funded by grants and contracts from USAID, so in January 2025, my career came to an abrupt halt when USAID was dismantled and the organization I was working for laid off its entire staff. As I considered what I wanted to do next, I realized two things: first, I was still passionate about health equity and improving the health outcomes of marginalized populations, and second, I wanted to contribute to my local community. While I had spent two decades working to improve health systems outside the US, I knew that there were challenges to tackle at home. I decided to transfer my skills and knowledge to improving health outcomes in North Carolina, especially as I was now parenting two young children, both with their own health needs and challenges.
That’s when I learned about TLC’s new Family Connect initiative, and I was lucky enough to join for the start-up. I quickly realized that my experience and skills were needed in this new role, and it’s been such a fantastic opportunity to meet so many amazing families and professionals working to support and strengthen disability services for North Carolina. My favorite part is that I’m able to support parents and family members like me – those who are caring for or who simply love individuals with special needs.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have faced many of the same challenges as the families we serve. Each of my children has unique needs that have required me to navigate both formal and informal care systems to find solutions, specialists, and strategies. Whether it’s weekly OT sessions in the middle of the workday, listening to parenting podcasts on my commute, or researching childcare options that meet my kids’ needs, it all takes time and energy. It requires flexible workplaces, family-friendly leadership, and supportive coworkers. I am so lucky to have a supportive family around me, but it still falls on me and my husband to coordinate it all.
As I essentially began a new career path, I also faced a steep learning curve! I needed to get up to speed quickly on how North Carolina’s health system is structured, and what support exists for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities so I could contribute to my team and provide guidance to our families. I quickly realized why there was such a need for TLC Family Connect, as the system is complicated and comes with its own jargon and alphabet soup of acronyms. There is no way to learn it all myself, so I’ve had to create a network of experts I can call on to be sure I get the answers I need when I need them.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about TLC, founded as Tammy Lynn Center?
TLC was founded in 1969 as Tammy Lynn Center by three families coming together at a time when there were very few options for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families to find support. TLC has been walking alongside people with disabilities and their families for more than five decades. The program I manage, TLC Family Connect, grew out of conversations where caregivers told us, “I wish someone had explained this sooner.” Through TLC Family Connect, we’re working to be that “someone.”
TLC Family Connect offers trusted guidance to families and caregivers navigating care for their loved ones. Caring for a child or adult with an intellectual or developmental disability often feels like navigating through a maze of jargon, waiting lists, and confusing or even misleading advice, all while managing your own work, household, and even caring for other family members. So many families think they need to just power through and manage everything alone. Asking for help often feels like just one more thing on the to-do list, and it can even feel like admitting failure.
But trying to do it alone comes at a cost: exhaustion, isolation, and a quiet worry that you might be missing something important simply because you don’t know what questions to ask. Through our family navigation service, families get a real person to talk to – someone who brings lived experience, an understanding of the challenges, but also someone who is focused on how to break down the barriers for each specific family. That is what TLC Family Connect is designed to be: a warm, steady first step into a system that can otherwise feel cold and confusing. It’s a place where your questions, your culture, your lived experience, and your hopes for your family genuinely matter.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
What makes me happy is seeing how much my children thrive in the community that we have created for them. We didn’t always feel confident that we would get to this point, and of course, they will continue to grow and face new challenges. But in this moment, I see how the love, understanding, and essential supports we have surrounded them with have given them the security they need to explore their unique interests. This is why I am so passionate about TLC Family Connect. I want this kind of happiness for every parent and caregiver!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nctlc.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tlc_tammylynnctr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCTLC2
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tammy-lynn-center/
