Day-care center for HIV kids

The children attending day care at Reach Out require extra care and training.

One toddler is fed through a tube inserted in her stomach. A 3-year-old is attached to an intravenous tube around the clock. The rest are given medication -- mixed with pancake syrup to coat the foul taste -- twice a day.

A special room with beds and stuffed animals serves as a quiet place for a nurse to draw blood once a month or when a child feels tired.

From the children's vibrant spirits and healthy appearances, a casual observer would not know that they're infected with HIV. In fact, they don't even know it themselves.

"They see themselves just as healthy," Jaleh Khoie, educational director for Reach Out, said.

Founded in 1989 by a group of parents whose HIV-positive children were being rejected from other day-care centers, Reach Out, a nonprofit organization, provides day-care needs for such children and for children who have a sibling or other relative with HIV.

The center has 69 children enrolled, 25 of them infants. One baby came to Reach Out when she was 7 days old.

"We're expecting two more new babies and a 6-month-old next week," Khoie said.

In its fourth and permanent location, a 6,500-square-foot facility at 1522 Pinto Lane, Reach Out -- which stands for Relieving Every AIDS Child's Hurt Our Ultimate Task -- relies on fund-raisers and donations for survival.

At the day-care center, the children lack little. Colorful new toys clutter the play yard. The library, through donations from Planet Hollywood, is stocked with books. Twice-a-day meals are supported by the government.

But where and when the center will be getting its next funds is always a concern, Khoie said, adding that getting donations and grants is difficult.

Its board of trustees includes volunteers from local medical, educational, and legal professions. A staff of 10 -- Khoie, teachers, a janitor and receptionist -- work at the center.

Although education and awareness of how HIV is spread has increased, some day-care centers still refuse to admit HIV-positive children out of fear, and not all of day-care centers can provide the medical and special attention the children receive at Reach Out, she said.

"I don't think there would be any place that would care for them. To them, it's dangerous, Khoie said. "We have people who are really dedicated and caring."

Anne Occhi, foster parent and adoptive mother of five children whose mothers were HIV positive, has been taking her children to Reach Out for years. Her 8-year-old has attended the day care since she was 6 months old.

Because many of the children came from parents who were intravenous drug users or prostitutes, 99 percent are in foster homes or living with grandparents.

"We've kind of grown up with Reach Out," Occhi said, adding that she doesn't know any other day care in the valley that would take HIV-positive children.

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