Planning built from lived experience
ENABLE was created to help families with loved ones with special needs plan with more clarity, coordination, and confidence.
This work is personal to us. We’ve seen firsthand how hard it can be for a family to piece together the financial, legal, and support decisions that shape the future.
That’s why ENABLE was built differently.
This work has always been personal
Long before ENABLE existed, special needs planning was already part of Phillip Clark’s life.
Phillip’s younger sister, Sarah, was born with Down syndrome. From the beginning, his family was surrounded by assumptions about what her life might look like — what she might not be able to do, what limitations she might face, and what her future could hold.
But Sarah’s life told a different story.
She grew up surrounded by people who believed in her, challenged expectations, and helped create opportunities for her to live with purpose, connection, and joy.
At the same time, Phillip watched his parents wrestle with another reality:
How do you plan well for a loved one with special needs when the financial, legal, benefits, caregiving, and family decisions all seem to live in different places?
His parents did what so many families do. They sought out professionals. They asked questions. They tried to piece the plan together.
But they were still the ones trying to keep track of every moving part — without a clear way to step back, see the whole picture, and know whether everything was actually working together.
That experience stayed with Phillip as he entered the planning profession. Over time, he became increasingly frustrated by the same patterns he had watched his own family navigate: fragmented advice, cookie-cutter recommendations, and plans focused more on documents and products than on the person and family they were supposed to support.
In 2016, Phillip stepped away to build a different kind of planning experience.
A year later, ENABLE Special Needs Planning was formally founded around a simple idea:
Families deserve a coordinated plan built around the life they want to create — and a trusted team to help them carry it forward.
Nearly a decade later, that remains at the center of everything we do.
Planning should support a meaningful life — not just prepare for what could go wrong
Special needs planning often begins with fear:
What happens when I’m gone?
Will there be enough money?
Who will step in?
Will my loved one be okay?
Those questions matter.
But we believe planning should also create space for something bigger.
Every person has purpose
We believe every person is created with value and purpose.
A diagnosis or disability does not diminish someone’s ability to live a meaningful, impactful life.
Planning should help protect and support that possibility.
The whole family matters
A good plan can’t focus only on the loved one with special needs.
Parents have futures too. Siblings have lives, relationships, and responsibilities of their own. Future caregivers and supporters need clarity about the roles they may one day hold.
The plan has to work for the whole family.
The pieces should work together
Financial planning, estate planning, government benefits, future support, and family communication are deeply connected.
Families shouldn’t have to be the ones constantly figuring out how all of those pieces fit together.
Planning should make life lighter
A good plan should give families more freedom to live fully today — not create another complicated project they have to manage on their own.
ENABLE’s job is to help carry the complexity, stay ahead of what may come next, and give families a trusted place to turn as life changes.
Meet the founders of ENABLE
ENABLE was built by two people with very different backgrounds — and complementary roles in how the firm has grown.
Phil Clark, ChSNC®
Co-Founder & Director of Sales & Client Strategy
Phil has worked in special needs planning for nearly two decades, but his connection to the work began long before it became his profession.
As Sarah’s older brother, Phil grew up seeing both the possibilities available to a person with Down syndrome and the complexity families face when trying to plan well for the future.
That lived experience shaped his belief that special needs planning should begin with the person and family — not with a financial product, legal document, or generic checklist.
Today, Phil leads ENABLE’s client strategy and planning conversations, helping families step back, see the bigger picture, and make coordinated decisions across the financial, legal, and future-support areas of their lives.
He is a Chartered Special Needs Consultant® and has educated families and professionals through national conferences, podcasts, and special needs organizations across the country.
Chelsea Clark, PhD
Co-Founder & Director of Marketing & Operations
Chelsea brings a research, strategy, and operational perspective to ENABLE.
With a background in social science research and consulting, she has spent her career studying how people make decisions, how organizations communicate, and how complex ideas can be turned into clear, usable experiences.
After marrying Phil and becoming Sarah’s sister-in-law, Chelsea helped build the original ENABLE brand and co-founded the company with Phil in 2017.
Today, she leads ENABLE’s marketing and operations work, helping shape the firm’s strategy, systems, client experience, and how the company communicates with the families it serves.
A team that understands the work — and the families behind it
Special needs planning is technical.
But it is also deeply personal.
That’s why ENABLE has intentionally built a team that brings both professional expertise and a real connection to the special needs community.
Across our team, that connection comes through children, siblings, extended family members, years of service, advocacy, and work alongside families with disabilities.
That perspective matters.
It means the people helping with your planning understand that the decisions on paper affect real relationships, real family dynamics, and real lives.
And families aren’t left relying on one person to carry every detail. They’re supported by a team working together throughout the planning process.
Jill Taylor
Client Success Advisor
Jill helps families stay supported, organized, and moving forward throughout their planning journey.
She brings more than 20 years of experience in business development and communications — along with a deeply personal connection to this work as mom to her daughter, Hope, who has Down syndrome.
Leah Arnold-Smeets
Estate Plan Coordinator
Leah helps families move through estate planning with clarity and confidence, keeping the legal process organized and connected to the broader family plan.
Her connection to the special needs community is personal through her sister-in-law, which gives her an added understanding of how much care, advocacy, and trust sit behind these decisions.
Tom Cudahy, CFP®, MBA
Financial Advisor
Tom brings financial-planning expertise to the ENABLE team and helps families connect their resources, long-term goals, and special needs planning strategies.
His work helps families understand how individual financial decisions fit into the broader family plan.
Debbi Darchi, CFP®
Financial Advisor
Debbi helps families evaluate financial decisions in the context of their long-term goals, family priorities, and broader planning needs.
She brings both technical financial-planning expertise and a personal understanding of the special needs community through her own family.
Cathy Berghoff, FPQP®
Client Service Specialist
Cathy helps keep the financial planning process organized and moving forward, supporting the details behind each family’s broader strategy.
Her work helps make sure families experience a thoughtful, coordinated process from behind the scenes.
Personal enough to understand the stakes. Experienced enough to guide the work.
ENABLE was founded in 2017, but the people behind the firm bring decades of combined experience across special needs planning, financial planning, client service, research, strategy, and work within the special needs community.
We’ve worked with families across the country and helped thousands more through educational programs, conferences, podcasts, publications, and special needs communities.
Explore Resources & Insights →Our team brings together:
- lived family experience
- years of special needs planning work
- financial planning expertise
- estate-plan coordination
- research and strategy
- hundreds of real family planning journeys
Many of us have personal connections to the special needs community ourselves — as siblings, parents, extended family members, advocates, and people who have spent years serving alongside families with disabilities.
That combination matters.
Families don’t just need technical information. They need a team that understands both the decisions that have to be made and the human reality behind them.
Your family’s plan should be as unique as your family
Whether you’re starting from the beginning or trying to bring years of existing planning together, the first step is understanding where things stand today.
The ENABLE Snapshot gives you a chance to step back, take stock, and begin identifying what may need attention next.
Take the ENABLE Snapshot