I am a mother with an adult son with autism. After returning home from living abroad, I realized that there were no programs or schools in our community for my son to socialize or interact with peers. There were no recreational, or training programs in place that could help him learn to participate in his community. In addition to my son, there were other young adults and children in the Sangre Grande area, with special needs who were isolated, not participating in a program or school situation.
With the need for a program in mind, I converted my garage into a learning center in 2015 and held Saturday Respite Sessions for these children and young adults. These sessions were so successful that the community came together and we formed The Osana Foundation.
The Osana Day Training Program started on September 2nd 2019 with five clients. We now have over twenty participants of various ages, with a separate learning area for the younger children. We presently have a blended curriculum because of the Covid situation and meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are our online fourty- five minutes zoom sessions. Osana also follows the Public School’s Calendar of Holidays.
Our curriculum is both individualized and functional, which helps prepare our participants for success in the community and includes a variety of subjects, such as Life Skills, Literacy, Functional Math, Basic Food Preparation, Agriculture, Computer, Personal Hygiene, Drama, Music and Community Outreach. Osana now has special workbooks designed individually for pre readers and writers and those who are beginning to read and write.
The client-instructor ratio is 5 to 1 for the younger children and 7 to 1 for the older participants. We now have four regular staff members, a director and two volunteers. Funding is received from donations and contributions from friends, family and community, fundraising and tuition. Some clients are financially unable to pay their fees, so we ask financial assistance and support from sponsors. Presently there are two participants who need sponsorship. We are also trying to raise funds for our bus, furniture and kitchen cabinets.
As a non- profit organization we try to maintain affordable tuition rates, to accommodate clients with little or no income, so that they too can benefit from this important community program. We are therefore asking for your assistance to help us continue this much needed program, so we can help our special clients, to become more independent, self- assured, and confident as they participate in the journey of life.