At age 11, Annie found home, hearth and family at Horsecreek – a children's home on the campus of Mission Road Development Center (MRM).  This past summer she turned 18 and is spreading her wings – moving to a Mission Road home for adults.

Diagnosed with severe mental retardation, deafness, autism and a set of birth defects that affects several body organs, Annie had undergone open heart surgery and repair for a cleft-lip palate before she came to Mission Road.  When she arrived, she was a disturbed, aggressive, angry child who would throw things, including several huge television sets.  She pinched and pulled people's hair and threw terrible tantrums.

With Mission Road's care and patience, Annie has become a beautiful, loving and independent spirit.  Good medical care has improved her health.  Despite Annie's deafness, MRM Chaplain Jim De Hoog plays his guitar and sings to her.  "She sits by me, putting her face and ear against my guitar while I play so she can feel the vibration," he says.

Linda Evans, Assistant Case Manager, cites Annie's love of dance.  "For a girl who cannot hear, she has the Macarena down."  "She loves to do her chores and does dishes really well," added Evans.  "We are sensitive to her communication attempts.  She mimics us, tries different and new things and is a willing, lovable child."

Today, this formerly angry, sickly, helpless child can bathe, comb her hair, pick out clothes and be helpful to her housemates and the staff.  "I wish I had seven Annies," Evans says.  That's the miracle of what love and family can do.  That's life at Mission Road.

Story by Jan Schubert, Mission Road Ministries.

Back to Top

ChildSafe-San Antonio provides services in a safe environment for child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse. The center's staff works to ensure that the child's ­emotional and medical needs are met.  ChildSafe's mission is to restore dignity, trust and hope to children traumatized by sexual abuse.

ChildSafe provides many comfort zones for children, including the Teddy Bear Room that offers children many choices of furry friends. (Pictured left to right) Sylvia Sandoval, Medical Assistant; Annette Santos, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner; and Lea Ann Collisson, Volunteer Coordinator.

Ottor and Jasmine, Delta Society dogs, work with volunteer Family Greeters at ChildSafe to provide a warm (and furry) reception to arriving children and families.  To volunteer as a Family Greeter, contact Lea Ann Collisson at (210) 675-9000 ext. 5795.

Gathered in the ChildSafe Therapy Garden, staff members prepare for activities to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect during April's National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

In the Play Therapy Room, the young children express their feelings through toys and play, says ChildSafe Counselor Mariana Torres.

With the leadership of CEO Lynda Alston (right), and COO Vickie Ernst (left), the ChildSafe staff reaches out to San Antonio and Bexar County children, siblings, parents and family members.  In 2007, ChildSafe provided services to 2,700 children and families.  For more information, visit www.childsafe-sa.org

Back to Top

• 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 4 boys is sexually abused.  60% of all sexual offenders are family members.  80% of all sexual offenders are known by the child.  April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  To celebrate children, United Way and the Women's Leadership Council are sponsor partners for Kids Day in the Park on April 19.
  
  
• Two San Antonio zip codes -- 78207 and 78237 -- are among the highest risk neighborhoods in the city with high rates of child abuse and neglect, teen pregnancies and late maternal care.  United Way's Children's Issue Council is block-walking in these neighborhoods, distributing parenting tips and other resources.  To help, call 352-7034.
  
  
• In 2007 the Great Start initiative served over 700 at risk parents with no substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect.
  
  
• The Charity Ball Association has partnered with United Way, donating $232,000 for "Recipes to Learn" books, capital improvements for inner-city day care centers and expanding Texas Early Education Model (TEEM) sites in troubled zip codes.
  
  
• The Kimmelman Child Care Scholarship helps struggling families attain self-sufficiency by providing the critical element that is most often lacking for families – child care.  Please call the 2-1-1 United Way/Texas Helpline for a listing of approved referral sites. Applications are accepted through May 9, 2008.  Click here.
  
  
• The application deadline for the Richard and Martha Landsman Community Service/UTSA Scholarship is Friday, April 4. The four-year tuition scholarship is distributed annually by the Volunteer Center at United Way to a graduating senior of a San Antonio area high school.  Click here for the application.
  
  
• The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) program prepares basic 2007 tax returns for low-income families and seniors FREE of charge through April 15 at convenient sites around San Antonio.  Locations this year include two HEB stores.  Click here for more information.

Back to Top