For most of us, family is the center of our lives. They’re the people who care about us and know us best. Ryan is a teenager who lost both his parents in less than two years. Ryan also has Down syndrome. This kind of loss is devastating, of course. Ryan’s relatives were not able to…
Wayfinder’s Child Development Services program provides a wide range of services for children, birth to age 3, with visual impairments and/or other disabilities in Northern, Central and Southern California. Fill out our Child Development Services Referral Form to receive more information. “The longer we are with Wayfinder, the more independence and freedom that Axton has,”…
“I knew I had to step up and be the dad I needed to be for Liam, says his father, Ryan. “Wayfinder helped me out a lot.” After a divorce, Ryan became a single dad to Liam, who had been born three months prematurely, weighing only 2 pounds. Liam was in the neonatal intensive care…
The twins were blind and couldn’t walk or speak, how could Wayfinder help? Mayra and Pedro’s twin babies, José and María, were born prematurely at only 27 weeks. In their birth country, the medical treatment the twins received left them blind. They wanted so much for their children. But without vision, they wondered, how could…
We didn’t know where to go or how to help her,” Jun remembers. When Angeline was 6 months old, Jun and his wife, Yan, noticed that their baby’s head was small for her age, and she was not following objects with her eyes. Doctors diagnosed Angeline with multiple developmental delays, as well as a weak…
How do you bring Wayfinder Family Services’ mission to life? In Early Intervention, we are working with families that are still coming to terms with what their child is going through. We are being empathetic, understanding and optimistic. I like to build a friendship with the family. We have a professional relationship, but families will…
Candice got an urgent phone call from social workers. A baby named Tara desperately needed a loving home. Little Tara had been exposed to drugs in the womb. And she had had a severely traumatic experience at only 5 weeks of age that compelled social workers to remove her from her birth parents. Tara needed…
Porch Drops When California instituted a stay-at-home order in response to the pandemic, Wayfinder staff knew that many of our families would struggle to secure the necessities. Our early intervention specialists and foster care workers contacted families to learn their needs. Staff prepared customized packages using items donated by our in-kind partners. We called the…
Wayfinder’s early intervention program provides home visits to children with vision loss or multiple disabilities. During the current COVID-19 crisis, specialists are providing virtual visits statewide via the web or through phone calls. How do you bring Wayfinder Family Services’ mission to life? You don’t work only with the child in early intervention. It is…
Lila and Mark’s* baby was so tiny, only 1 pound and 4 ounces at birth. Mark had just visited their son, Samuel, in the neonatal intensive care unit. Worried, Mark discussed his fears with an acquaintance from church. Samuel had an eye condition common in premature babies, called ROP, Mark told her. Would Samuel be able to…
