Helping Latino children with special needs find community and opportunity, Padres e Hijos en Acción is collaborating with Community Shares of Wisconsin to fundraise for the entire month of August.
In June 2017, Hector Portillo and other families first formed the organization Padres e Hijos en Acción to help Wisconsin’s Latino families with children with special needs find a community. Since then, they have served over 200 families in the Wisconsin area.
“My vision is to serve children with special needs in a transition age,” Portillo, founder of Padres e Hijos en Acción, said in a press release. “Training them for better jobs or go to university. To provide more opportunities for them to be independent. We support a lot of determination for the kids.”
Padres e Hijos en Acción now helps Wisconsin’s Latino families by providing Spanish-speaking children with special needs a community where they feel at home and opportunities to develop their fine and gross motor skills. They also help Spanish-speaking parents with children with special needs by providing informational workshops regarding tending to the needs of their children and networking for parents to have the tools to advocate for their children in school.
As part of the Community Shares of Wisconsin’s Inspiring Voices program, Padres e Hijos en Acción will be fundraising for the month of August. The benefits of being the awardee of this project includes matching every donation up to $1,000 and supporting them with a promotional campaign throughout the month.
The money raised would go towards purchasing and maintaining adaptive bicycles, providing stipends to childcare providers, securing rental spaces for community events, and more. Supporters can donate here.
“Padres E Hijos En Acción is exactly the type of organization that the Inspiring Voices program was developed for,” said Cheri Dubiel, Executive Director of Community Shares of Wisconsin, in a statement. “This grassroots group is elevating the voices of Latinx families with children with disabilities and working to ensure a space where their specific experiences are centered and valued.”
The kick-off event will be hosted at La Rosita Mexican Grocery Store on Saturday, Aug. 3, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. There will be information about the organization and donations will be collected. Attendees can also enjoy a traditional street taco. For more information about the event, click here.
