Majority of efforts, people profiled received a helping hand to
assist the less fortunate in our community
Morgan Hill – Readers showed compassion, nonchalance and – in one case – disfavor to a series of articles in the Morgan Hill Times this November and December profiling people in need who needed help during the holidays.
The articles appeared in the nine-part series called “Lifting Spirits” that chronicled the struggles of many South County residents, including a low-income and sick Mexican mother confined to a wheelchair, a homeless teenager, families on the brink of homelessness who lacked money for Christmas and a student at Burnett Elementary School who’s battling a physical disability with little financial resources.
The series also spotlighted efforts of Morgan Hill’s St. Catherine Parish and two non-profit groups pitching in to help dozens more families.
According to the people featured in the articles, some stories generated more action to help and reach out to those in need than others. The bottom line, though, is that many South County families living marginally will continue to rely on public services, non-profit agencies and donations from residents with money to spare.
- First, the positive effect of the series:
“The outcome (of the article about St. Catherine Church) was we were able to help more than 145 families, 30 more than last year,” said Anna Quinones, director of stewardship and development at St. Catherine Catholic School, which has about 300 students in Morgan Hill. The K-8 school typically helps families in need year-round, but this year got a boost during the holidays from readers who called in with extra gifts and dollars.
“We must have gotten more than 700 gifts” from parish members and other callers, Quinones said. “I even had two people call from Gilroy to ‘adopt’ families.”
Quinones said a “warm coat and blanket” drive is planned for January and a baby-clothes drive is scheduled for February.
- Readers can learn more about these efforts by calling St. Catherine School at (408) 779-9950.
A story about San Martin-based Dream Power Foundation, which puts a horseback-riding twist on behavioral therapy for youth, helped generate goodies to fill gift bags for 30 clients, said director Martha McNiel, a licensed therapist.
“We had a number of people bring by exactly what we asked for,” said McNiel, who lives in San Martin and started the program in 2002.
About half of McNiel’s clients are teenagers with past drug and alcohol problems in foster care or group homes. She said learning to handle powerful animals teaches the children to put aside their egos.
“Horses rear, run … You can only fake bravado so far when you’re on the back of a big horse,” McNiel said.
With veterinarian bills, stable fees, horse feed and insurance resulting in overhead costs of $85 per hour per one-person session, the non-profit Dream Power Foundation is in constant need of tax-deductible cash donations.
- Readers can help by calling
(408) 686-0535.
Not every “Lifting Spirits” story drew favorable responses. One resulted in a handful of angry e-mails and phone calls to The Times after the newspaper profiled a Mexican national who illegally crossed the border in 2004 – in a wheelchair – to find medical help. Some readers told The Times they were offended by the suggestion they should help undocumented immigrants. The Times explained to readers that the people profiled were referred to the newspaper by South County social workers and were not picked based on their legal status in the country.
The story covered the challenges faced by 38-year-old Elisa Arredondo, who has been confined to wheelchair since the age of 16. Nearly three years ago, Arredondo borrowed $7,000 from her mother in San Jose to hire “coyotes” to shuttle herself, her husband and two young children to the United States so she could live a more productive life with her disabilities. The family wound up homeless in San Jose, eventually finding refuge in Sobrato Transitional Apartments in north Gilroy.
Arredondo, who is recovering from surgery Dec. 7 to make a hole in her bladder to prevent infections, said the article in The Times didn’t result in donations to the family.
But she said friends of the family are making 500 fliers for a charitable car wash to raise money for the Arredondos. Eduardo Sotelo, a syndicated Los Angeles radio personality known as “El Piolin,” has offered to promote the event when plans are finalized. The Arredondos are hoping to raise enough money to buy a used van with a wheelchair lift so Elisa can get around better.
Arredondo and her husband, who works as a dishwasher, have a 4-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter.
“I’m still fighting,” she said, speaking in Spanish. “Whether I receive help or not I’ll continue with my goals to find stable work, raise money for a van, learn English and (ensure) well being for my children.”
- Readers who want to help the Arredondo family can call the Learning and Loving Education Center, a non-profit provider of services to immigrant women in Morgan Hill, at (408) 776-1196.
In a twist of fate, the Arredondo family got Christmas cheer from Morgan Hill and San Martin Cub Scouts who donated trees and ornaments to the Sobrato Transitional Apartments. The pack of Cub Scouts were highlighted in another “Lifting Spirits” story.
Engineer John Brice, cubmaster for pack 780, said the boys donated 40 trees at a cost of about $1,070.
Nearly one-fourth of that amount came from one generous reader, Brice said.
“We got $250 from one local resident after reading the article,” Brice said. “Four families also donated lights and bulbs.”
The scouts were also buoyed by the Morgan Hill Rotary Club, which pitched in $400, and their own families, which accounted for $125. The pack also dipped into its own reserves to pay for the trees. Brice said he plans to get about $200 back when rented tree stands are returned to Battaglia Ranch Christmas Tree Farm in San Martin, where the boys were given a discount rate of $21 per tree.
Echoing the plight of the Arredondo family, 7-year-old Roberto Cortez’s family moved to the United States from Mexico to get better medical care. Roberto, a second-grade student at Burnett Elementary School in Morgan Hill, suffers from cystic hygroma, a birth defect that requires him to use a feeding tube and prevents him from closing his mouth completely.
Burnett administrative secretary Kari Brown said teachers and parents were mainly responsible for donating hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards and clothes to the Cortez family. Some of those donations, Brown added, came from people who read about Roberto in The Times.
“I was pleasantly surprised with how people read about him and wanted to help out,” Brown said.
One gift card was worth $150 at a local supermarket. Another was worth $250 at a clothing store. Roberto also got a Gameboy as a Christmas present from one generous giver.
The Times also shed light on the emotionally charged story of an adult teenager struggling to finish high school while living out of a car.
The name, age and gender of the student were withheld for security reasons.
The Morgan Hill Police Department is attempting to help the teenager with cash donations for food and lodging. The Morgan Hill Police Officers’ Association is helping with a donation of $1000, according to officer David Ray, the group’s president.
“We’re not aware of any long-term or short-term solutions for the teen,” said Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing, adding the student’s car broke down last weekend.
- “If anyone can help with repairs, they should call” the police department’s main line at 776-7300 and ask for Morgan Hill police officer David Ray.
Ray said he’s already received phone calls about the student, but he added it’s “too early” to tell what impact The Times’ article will have.
A profile of Chamberlain’s Mental Health Services in Gilroy, which assists children from low-income families, failed to generate additional donations for a holiday gift drive.
But Vicky Tamashiro, the center’s assistant director, said staff members at the small non-profit provider of counseling services mustered “very hardy” food baskets for three families and gifts for two others who were clients at Chamberlain’s.
Tamashiro said the staff usually pulls together during the holidays to provide food and practical gifts for its neediest clients. Chamberlain’s provides daytime counseling to about 15 children ages 3 and up and offers outpatient services to about 100 families. It is the only non-profit provider of mental health services to preschool-age children in South County.
“There are always families in need,” Tamashiro said. “I often get phone calls form families looking for help in various ways … a family member will get laid off from work, and not be able to pay the electric bill. We run into it quite a bit.”
- Readers interested in learning more about Chamberlain’s Mental Health Services can call (408) 848-6511.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tburchyns@morganhilltimes.
