Yoshabell Foundation helps special needs families

Thirty bags of personal care supplies have been distributed to the attendees of the Tobago Technical Vocational Centre for Persons with Disabilities, commonly referred to as the Tech Voc Centre in Bon Accord, by Yoshabell Foundation.

The presentation was done by Yoshabell Foundation’s president and founder Maria Nelson-Santana.

She said, “At Yoshabell’s Foundation, we are giving back to these young adults. We have been doing this for the past three years, so every year we come back here and it’s indeed a pleasure. We give out personal care suppliers and clothing.”

Nelson-Santana said the foundation hosts an annual bingo fund-raising event in the month of October.

“All the money collected at the bingo fund-raising activity goes directly to the Yoshabell’s Foundation, where we will continue to give back to children and young adults with special needs in Tobago.

“Sometimes things are collected from other sources and if there is need for a child who needs it in Tobago, that child gets it.”

The foundation has been in existence for the last four years and, according to Nelson-Santana, was born off a strong desire to fill a gap in Tobago, after seeing that not enough was being done for the children and young adults with special needs on the island.

She said the aim of the foundation is to build a community of love, hope and respect for the special needs population, while seeking to implement long-anticipated programmes for young adults in the special needs community.

Santana, who is originally from south Trinidad but now resides in the United States, told Newsday she always wanted to give back to Trinidad and Tobago.

She added, “After working with a Down Syndrome child, I told my husband that we have to adopt a child, but I told him that the child must be a child with special needs. I think their parents need to be educated; they need to know how to care for children with special needs.”

Nelson-Santana said her foundation will specifically target that aspect of it.

“We will try to educate the families of these children.”

She told Newsday her friends and family continue to be very supportive and many donate to the foundation. Still in its early years, she is hoping that the public can become aware of it and that people who have children with special needs can come to the Yoshabell Foundation for any help they may need.

Nelson-Santana, an ex-police, said her charity work began at age 18, when she would take toys to the village of Mayaro.

“When I collected my first salary, I took the money and bought toys for the children from my grandmother’s village in Mayaro and to this day they always look out for me,” she said.

Her aim is to have other similar NGOs partner with the foundation to build a centre, which will be called “The Dream Centre.” This centre, she said, will be specifically for children and young adults with special needs.