Dear Friends and Partners,

As we come to the close of PFD & ARFID Awareness Month, I want to take a moment to celebrate together.

This month is about visibility, and that visibility is real. Somewhere this month, a parent heard the words “you’re not imagining this” for the first time. A provider learned what ARFID actually looks like. Individuals found the courage to share their stories. That is what Awareness Month is really for.

And this year, we witnessed a community that truly shows up.

Across 8 states and beyond, Feeding Matters Community Councils are connecting families and providers in ways that are deeply personal and powerfully local.

In Arizona, council leaders are helping us map gaps in care and strengthen connections with rural programs. In Georgia, advocates are working to expand our provider directory and address therapy deserts so more families can find support. In California, community members brought feeding disorders into broader neonatal healthcare conversations at NANT. And these are only a few examples.

What moves me most is that this movement isn’t being driven from the top down. It’s being built by parents, providers, advocates, and individuals with lived experience who simply refuse to let families struggle in silence. That is the community we get to be part of, and I couldn’t be more proud.

To everyone who volunteered, shared a resource, attended a council meeting, supported another family, or helped someone feel less alone this PFD & ARFID Awareness Month: thank you. You are this movement.

With so much gratitude,
Jaclyn Pederson, MHI
CEO