Contributor: Kathleen Duncan  [Friends of Amores de Peñasco Children’s Crisis Shelter]

I wanted to share with you all some really exciting news from Amores de Penasco…

Last week when I arrived for my weekly visit our Director and teacher Chris were in the office crying. My heart sank when I thought I was going to hear about a tragedy but instead they told me that they had just received a call from the principal of the school that our kids attend. Last year at this time most of our kids were significantly behind academically and they were slipping more each week and so we hired a wonderful teacher to come in to tutor our kids for 4 hours a day. The Principal had called to tell them that grades had just come out and three of our kids are at the top of their class and all of our kids have made significant progress! She said she didn’t know what was happening at the shelter but to keep doing what we’re doing:)

I cannot tell you how rewarding and heart-warming this news was and I wish all of you had been there to see how proud and happy the kids were. As many of you know, there have been tragedies and moments over my last two years at the shelter that have broken my heart and literally brought me to my knees. I have thought about giving at times but it is moments like this that keep me going back week after week. Looking back on it, I feel as if my first year there was spent learning, observing and trying to wrap my mind around the place. Then I spent my second year trying to make as many positive changes a possible based on what I observed. Now, going into my third year I am really beginning to see so many exciting changes and transformations and it is exciting to think about how much more we will be able to accomplish as more and more people join me in trying to transform the lives of these kids…

At the end of my visit Minerva asked me if there was any way we could increase our teacher from part-time to full-time. We would like to have her begin working with our preschoolers and. possibly begin home-schooling any of our kids who are significantly behind until they are back at grade level. I told her I would reach out and see if I could get the support to do this. So, here is what I am thinking:

My husband and I currently fund the teacher and she receives $80 a week and works for 4 hours a day Monday – Friday. So, we need to come up with $320 a month to match that and increase her to full time. If I can come up with 12 people to each commit to donating only $6.66 a week ($30 in recurring monthly payments via the Steps of Love Website) then we can increase her to full time. If you guys can help me spread the word to anyone who might be interested/willing to support this I would really appreciate it! Here are instructions if anyone is interested: