JOSÉ ARMANDO: A NEW START FOR A YOUNG FAMILY
Meet 5 year old José who enrolled at the Acorn Child Center in January. He lives with his mother, Patricia, and his newborn sister, Jade.
Before the pandemic, Patricia worked as a saleswoman for Herbalife and was paid on commission for her independent sales. Once the pandemic hit, she had a hard time making any sales and found herself out of work and income very quickly. She and Jose’s father already had a hard time making ends meet when she found out she was pregnant last year. Adding to an already difficult situation, when she gave birth to Jade in March this year, her husband’s alcoholism became uncontrollable. He stopped working, became violent, and no longer helped her with living expenses or with the children. They separated soon after the birth of their daughter and Patricia has been struggling as a single mom for the last 3 months.
Recently, Patricia found work with a small accounting business as a secretary, filing paperwork and doing errands. She doesn’t earn much money but it’s enough to get by. As you can imagine it is extremely difficult for her to work full time and take care of two children, including a newborn, by herself.
Patricia heard about the Acorn Childcare Center from a friend and applied for José at the beginning of 2021. Even though we are still only able to offer virtual classes, she says that the program has been great for José. With daily video interactions, he feels connected to the teachers, feels like he has made friends with the other children and is excited to see them each day on screen. It is so important for him to be able to create social connections with others at this stage in his development. Without it, he wouldn’t have any other opportunities for socialization.
Additionally, the food stipend that Patricia and José receive the from the Center has been essential to ensure the family has enough healthy food every day. Patricia tells us that she is very thankful that José has the Acorn Childcare Center to help him develop and grow during this difficult time. She is looking forward to when our school building is able to open again as José is eager to meet all his new friends and play with them in person—as we all are!
Unfortunately, the story of Patricia is common among the families we support. The majority of our families are headed by mothers with fathers minimally present or completely absent from the lives of their children. The Acorn Center is an extra support for these struggling families, who often don’t have anyone else to help provide food and care for their children. Thank you for your continued support of our mission.
EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS
Every donation helps ensure that we can continue transforming the lives of families facing extreme poverty.
Maya Childcare Inc is run entirely by volunteers, thus 100% of your donation goes directly to the Acorn Childcare Center.
The fact that the Acorn Childcare Centre is able to offer such crucial, life-changing support to children and families living in extreme poverty, is thanks to the work and the generosity of many people, doing and giving what they can to help. Every contribution matters, and together all these efforts make a huge difference.