The last weekend in October was a weekend to remember! Our Prescott-Caborca Sister City group decided to meet in Rocky Point for something completely different, fun and interesting. Our members from Prescott, AZ, and from Caborca gathered at Playa Bonita where we enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner on Friday evening. Our special guests were Educarte director Carolina Pacheco and Volunteer Coordinator Eileen Pacheco who told us about Educarte’s new facility in Rocky Point that serves children with special needs. Our group presented them with school and art supplies that our members had brought from Prescott. They are pictured here with Caborca president David Zavala and Prescott president Will Fisher.
Educarte will soon be starting a small weekly farmer’s market to be located on their property at 281 Blvd. Fremont. The local team will sell food as a fundraiser, and other booths will be available to Educarte families for the sale of their own products. To that end, Prescott president Will Fisher presented Educarte with money from our Sister Cities organization with which to purchase one of the many tents they plan to have on the premises.
Educarte currently operates two distinct programs:
1) C.A.T.I. (Center for Comprehensive Attention and Therapies) that provides individualized therapy for special-needs clients with participation of the family so that they can supplement the therapy at home
2) Mi Escuelita, a daily special education program.
On Saturday some of our members visited the C.A.T.I. facility where we were given a tour of the clinic. They have rooms for speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and a wonderful space where they improve sensory motor coordination.
Once the tour and basics of the operation were explained, we went into their backyard where three large tables were set up under the shade of a large pepper tree. There, fifteen or so young people were enjoying playing games, doing puzzles, creating masterpieces with Play-Doh, drawing or just enjoying the slide and swings. We were invited to sit and join in the fun – and we did! This is part of a monthly “Respite Program” provided free of charge by the kind people at Educarte so that parents can have a half-day to themselves, knowing that their child is well taken care of. We learned that Educarte is meeting about 70% of its needs with current fees and sponsorships. For instance, in their “mi Escuelita” school program that runs Monday through Friday, they have 11 special needs children enrolled. Five of those are paid for by their families, two of them are sponsored by donors and four of them are being seen without any kind of reimbursement at this time. That’s because the staff can’t find it in their hearts to turn anyone away because of lack of funds…
But we can help! This holiday season we can sponsor a therapy, a class attendance, a child in need. Educarte will accept any donation, but we can be most helpful if we “sponsor” a child’s needs by committing to a monthly donation to their program. It can be as little as $30 a month for therapy sessions to $240 for a month of special education. We had read about the services provided by Educarte before, but now we have seen with our own eyes the difference they make in the lives of people with special needs. They are to be commended – and supported – for their efforts!
To make a donation go to www.FriendsofEducarte.com
