As a new school year rolls into session, children settle in to a familiar routine. But for the children attending CETAP-Lucy, many changes are taking place; changes that will help children cultivate their talents and improve their sense of worth.
Rocío Illescas, CETAP-Lucy’s spirited Director, shared with me some inspiring accomplishments the children of CETAP-Lucy have had this past year, and expressed the goals CETAP-Lucy has for the 2015-16 year.
Thanks to your generous contributions of time and money, CETAP-Lucy’s children are receiving an incredible amount support of educational, nutritional and personal needs that really helps each child to blossom.
Rocío told me of Angélica Vaca, a young lady with cerebral palsy, and her desire to enter into the Special Olympics again after she won 2nd place in running during last year’s competition. She also shared the story of Jessica Alvarez, an anti-social child with learning disabilities, and her accomplishment of placing into a prestigious school called Fe Y Alegria.
Additionally, four children involved in the Early Stimulation Morning Program, Luziana Mendoza, Sofia Leon, Keyla Nieves and David Montesinos have also entered into esteemed schools such as Las Oblatas and La Consolación with scholarships, thanks to all the care they received from Hearts of Gold supporters like you.
Each of these children can attribute their successes, growing confidence and budding abilities to the nurturing environment provided at CETAP-Lucy; whether it’s from the dedicated attention they receive from volunteers and CETAP-Lucy staff, or the gifts received from caring community heroes involved in Hearts of Gold’s child sponsorship program. Undoubtedly, your support for our programs has affected a multitude of children’s lives for the better.
Looking forward for this year, Rocío told me with excitement about new program structures being implemented. CETAP-Lucy’s Psychologist, Pablo Tapia, is undertaking a family mapping project, where the families of each child are invited to discuss family dynamics in the new therapy office donated by a caring supporter of CETAP-Lucy.
In this special, quiet space Pablo is evaluating the home environment of each child and developing personal therapy sessions to address dysfunctional family dynamics, for both parents and children in separate sessions.
Five different age-based, educative counseling groups have also been established at CETAP-Lucy. Now children are educated about certain themes like: abuses, children’s rights, abduction prevention, etc., in terms targeted for each group. The sexual education course is reserved for the oldest children, and a new level of respect for this topic has developed amongst the children.
Fun project workshops led by volunteers are also being added to CETAP-Lucy; a first for the program. Now every month children partake in an activity focused on art, music, reading, sports, math or puzzles. As the children attending CETAP-Lucy require specialized attention for disabilities, these workshops are designed to help each child explore innate talents and to motivate them to develop skills in a genuine way.
Your donations to Hearts of Gold have made it possible for new levels of counseling to occur at CETAP-Lucy in a structured, intimate way.
And if it wasn’t for your vital support as a sponsor, the children at CETAP-Lucy would not be able to attend the personalized counseling they so desperately need to have an increased sense of security.
Your donations to Hearts of Gold are essential to the continuation of CETAP-Lucy and the vital assistance each special-needs child receives. The attention they receive helps them enter into prestigious academies, and many CETAP-Lucy children have advanced to a level of personal development and control previously unimagined when they first entered the program.
Quality teachers are available at CETAP-Lucy thanks to your monthly gifts, and many sponsors develop such strong connections with their child that they lovingly help their child when they’re stricken with a crisis.
In fact, if it wasn’t for all the amazing volunteers that devotedly interact with the kids, Jessica and Angélica wouldn’t have the confidence to seek out personal goals, and the new skill-developing workshops wouldn’t exist to help children cultivate their talents.
Volunteers are essential to helping CETAP-Lucy strengthen its programs, and if it wasn’t for your support of Hearts of Gold, many people out in the community would be unfamiliar with CETAP-Lucy and the vulnerable population it serves.
Because of you, Hearts of Gold can represent CETAP-Lucy’s unique needs and stunning accomplishments to the greater community; providing CETAP-Lucy with the visibility it needs to attract people wanting to directly give back to at-risk children.
In the end, all these successes are thanks to you. Starting with your involvement and commitment to make a difference in the life of a child, learning centers are improved, quality assistance is available, children are stimulated in meaningful ways, and each child has access to a solid network of support thanks to the teachers, volunteers, sponsorship guardians and personal family developments you make possible through your generosity.
You are the key ingredient in changing the life of a child; and with your involvement, Hearts of Gold will continue to touch more lives by improving community programs.
Together, we can make an impact. And together we can change the life of a child. Isn’t it remarkable what we can actually do, together?
Angélica Vaca and other CETAP-Lucy children are still in need of a caring sponsor. To make a difference in their lives, sign up for a sponsorship today.