Greetings to all our donors and thank you for helping bringing light to the residents at Hogares Teresa Toda. You made possible many special occasions like the once that we had during this last trimester.
In our culture, when a girl turns 15 there is the custom of celebrating the passage from childhood to adolescence with a ritual that expresses thanksgiving to God for the gift of life and that asks for a blessing from God for the years ahead. The quinceañera is a traditional celebration of life and gratitude on the occasion of the fifteenth birthday of a young Hispanic woman. The family usually requests a Mass or a blessing to be held in the Church.
This trimester, Hogares Teresa Toda had the blessing of celebrating the sweet fifteen to one of our participants. This celebration not only brought joy to the birthdate girl but inspired younger girls looking forward for that milestone within a happy a peaceful environment.
Along with the sweet fifteen celebrations, during this trimester Hogares Teresa Toda worked on renewing important collaborative agreements with APS for mental health services, Vilmar Therapy for occupational therapy and speech therapy services, also with Dr. Lucy Mundo for pediatric services. The aim is to provide to the participants with a holistic approach where they can benefit depending on their need, so no girl is left behind.
Thank you all of you for your support and trust.
Hogares Teresa Toda
Happy Holidays to all our donors!
Looking at the big picture, it has been a good year for Hogares Teresa Toda. Thank you to all our donors for your support.
We ended the year with a full house, meeting all accreditation standards and celebrating our participants. This Christmas season a Community Stakeholder adopted the Hogar and provided Christmas decorations to the entire organization. The participants had the opportunity to join them in the decoration process stimulating teamworking and voluntarism values. They had a lot of fun.
There were several Holiday celebrations such as Thanksgiving and Christmas day. Thanks to the magnificent tropical weather in Puerto Rico, the girls even had the opportunity to enjoy a pool party as their end of semester celebration.
Talking about school. The participants had a great school semester. All of them kept an average of 80%. No school concerns were identified. The tutoring and recreation programs ran accordingly as well as the Special Education accommodations.
The Tina Hill Foundation acknowledged the work of Hogares Teresa Toda throughout the last 30 years. The award was received by Sister Norma Matar, the Executive Administrative Officer.
Thank you for all your support and Happy new year!
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Greetings to all our Donors and thank you for your support.
Hogares Teresa Toda had a very busy Summer. The closure of several group homes in Puerto Rico, after the implementation of the Family First Act, brought a flux of new participants to the Hogar making the organization to operate at full capacity and having to develop a waiting list. All this in the mix of a Covid surge in the Island that impacted our population. But not even the Covid stopped the operations. Hogares Teresa Toda made an alliance with the Department of Health and the outbreak was successfully controlled following all needed protocols. No participant required hospitalization and services were not interrupted.
With the entrance of 10 new participants, the back-to-school preparation required a closer attention from the Case Management program as several psychological and psychosocial assessments were needed to assure the best placement in an education setting. These assessments recommend the type of educational placement that best meet the individual needs of the participants. Some of them required Special Education arrangements, others would benefit from a private school setting and others would be better attending public school.
So, given the increment of new participants, great part of the Summer was dedicated to work on adjustment issues, many assessments, and Covid-19 mitigations. There was no opportunity to send the girls to summer camp or for approved home visits due to a high positivity rate of Covid-19 in Puerto Rico; reason why an in-house recreation program was created. During the Summer the participants enjoyed summer games, movies, art and craft and several outings.
After all assessments were completed, 13 of 24 girls were recommended to attend private schools and 11 to attend public schools. Some girls attending public schools would benefit from vocational services and others to open cases with the Special Education Program.
Thanks to the support from donors like you, Hogares Teresa Toda has been able to buy all needed materials for the back to school and our participants had a great start for the school year 2022-2023.
It is not news that the Omicron Variant from COVID-19 is taking a tow on the public health worldwide. Numbers of COVID-19 cases around the world are alarming and unfortunately keep growing. Puerto Rico is not the exception. Currently, Puerto Rico has a positivity rate of almost 40%. The Municipality of Loiza, where Hogares Teresa Toda is located, has a similar positivity rate.
Hogares Teresa Toda (HTT) has not being exepmt from this Pandemic but the strong collaboration with our Community Partners has made the situation manageable. Given the population that Hogares Teresa Toda serves, the Puerto Rico department of Health and his COVID Tracking System has assigned an Epidemiologist to our Program and several Testing Clinic has been perfomed on-site. This has given the Institution the opportunity to identify and control positive cases within the organization. The nursing personnel have been active and monitoring all participants and the facility is being desinfected periodically.
The school is about to start. Hogares Teresa Toda is ready to either start on a virtual mode or take the participants to school depending what will be the authorities recommendations.
Even though this Chrsitmas were different, HTT had the opportunity to celebrate with the Girls, do movie nights and provide Chritsmas presents to all participants.
HTT has been proven to be not only a great family but a community ally. Steakholders have been working hand to hand with the Organization to grant the health of all participants and personnel. This community partnership makes the stronger and keeps up the "Good Neoghbor Policy".
Thanks to all the donors and Community Partners that makes Hogares Teresa Toda a great Institution for the benefits of the persons served.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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The past twelve months have been a roller coaster of emotions, work and preparation with the purpose of demonstrating not only the quality of the services provided at Hogares Teresa Toda but the readiness to face difficult situations from natural disasters, pandemic and facility emergencies while addressing trauma and promoting resilience among the population served.
It is with great honor that Hogares Teresa Toda (HTT) announces that it passed the accreditation process with a rating of excellence, reason why the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities better known as CARF granted three years of full accreditation. The seal of accomplishment that accompanies a CARF accreditation is an aspirational beacon to many organizations providing rehabilitation services. It was a very rigorous process that showed the high quality of care provided at HTT (now validated with a prestigious accreditation body) with the compromise to continue meeting the expectations year after year.
The voice of the population served was essential in the success of the accreditation. Satisfaction surveys, complaints, compliments, and recommendations were collected throughout the year and the girls' voices were not only heard but guided the delivery of services and implemented change. An example to these changes was the use of the internet. It was limited to only school related activities but after the older participants requested access to social media, extra time was granted with supervisory measures to mitigate risk exposure.
It is with great honor that Hogares Teresa Toda (HTT) announces that it passed the accreditation process with a rating of excellence, reason why the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities better known as CARF granted three years of full accreditation. The seal of accomplishment that accompanies a CARF accreditation is an aspirational beacon to many organizations providing rehabilitation services. It was a very rigorous process that showed the high quality of care provided at HTT (now validated with a prestigious accreditation body) with the compromise to continue meeting the expectations year after year.
The voice of the population served was essential in the success of the accreditation. Satisfaction surveys, complaints, compliments, and recommendations were collected throughout the year and the girls' voices were not only heard but guided the delivery of services and implemented change. An example to these changes was the use of the internet. It was limited to only school related activities but after the older participants requested access to social media, extra time was granted with supervisory measures to mitigate risk exposure.
On the other hand, the house for the little girls has new living room furniture. This is a great news because the house had the same furniture for the last 15 years. The girls are living now in a renovated and cozy environment that is therapeutic by itself. The environment complements the healing process for these girls in a place that they can call home.
On the other hand, the house for the little girls has new living room furniture. This is a great news because the house had the same furniture for the last 15 years. The girls are living now in a renovated and cozy environment that is therapeutic by itself. The environment complements the healing process for these girls in a place that they can call home.
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