Henderson-based blind children's nonprofit in crisis after state grant cut

A Henderson nonprofit organization that teaches life skills to blind youths is rethinking how it will provide its services after losing the state grants that made up more than a third of its funding.

Maribel Garcia, executive director of the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation, said the $500,000 that state lawmakers had appropriated to the organization every year for the past decade or so ended without explanation this year when the biennial legislative session closed without a bill continuing the grant. She said those funds helped grow the organization’s programs and kept many alive.

The state funding represented 40% of the foundation’s operating budget this year. Barring grants or fundraising quickly secured elsewhere, the preschool programs, which are geared toward children as young as 2, are among the most threatened.

“This year, I’m assuming, with all the federal cuts, states had to look at what they wanted to or needed to spend money on,” Garcia said.

The Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation has a staff of eight and relies on donations, grants and volunteers. Its preschool enrollment is limited to about six to eight children because of the need for intense one-on-one focus. A few more are on a waiting list. Garcia said her goal was to reopen in August after the planned short summer break, depending on how much money she can raise.

Garcia said the foundation’s littlest students are typically about two years behind their sighted peers in hitting developmental milestones because they can’t mimic as much of what is happening around them.

“We learn by watching, by seeing others get up and walk. We learn eating by watching others put a spoon to their mouth. Many of our toddlers come in, they’re not walking, they’re not talking, and many, many are not eating their food” independently, she said. “It’s something that we have to teach them, step by step, and sometimes it’s difficult for the parents to be able to do that because they don’t have those resources.

“That being taken away from them would really, really make a huge impact on their future success,” she added.

Bryce Wolfe’s 3-year-old daughter, Emma ,was born with bilateral optic nerve hypoplasia, meaning the optic nerves in both of her eyes underdeveloped. After a few weeks in the preschool, she can hum songs, speak her first word — “no” — and happily use her walker. She is making friends, Wolfe said, and loves the staff.

Wolfe said other speech, occupational and physical therapists had attempted to help Emma for about a year and a half, but they did not have the experience with blind children that allowed her to grow the way the foundation does.

“In 30 days, to see the progress she’s made with everything, has been crazy,” Wolfe said. “That is the fear, if this program closes, then she could stop making progress, or, even worse, just completely regress with everything.”

The importance of stability

The foundation’s headquarters is a well-appointed campus in the Green Valley neighborhood that had once been a traditional private school. Garcia said its library is the biggest collection of Braille books in the state. Early literacy in decoding the tactile raised bumps of Braille can begin around preschool, she said.

A few doors down is the Dots n Tots room, where those youngest children get their vital services.

Educators work closely with the toddlers in this dynamic space, so even when only two children are present, as was the case Thursday, the adults had their hands full. With parental care and affection, they engaged with the children as they familiarized them with the textures of a cracker and applesauce, and the motions of feeding themselves.

Wolfe, who is reaching out to his wide personal and business network to fundraise for the foundation, knows there’s an urgency to maintaining such services for children like his daughter.

“Continuity of care for blind and visually impaired children is so important,” he said. “Every therapist who’s ever seen her stressed the importance of stability so much for her, down to the point where they tell you, don’t even rearrange the furniture in your house, because that creates so much disruption for them because they map everything else so well in their heads.”

The Clark County School District accommodates students with visual impairments, but Nevada is one of only seven states that lack a dedicated school for the blind, at least for grade school and older children, Garcia said.

The Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation preschools come close. There, students have access to an all-day, Monday-through-Friday program with teachers, occupational and physical therapists, and speech pathologists who all specialize in the needs of blind children. Garcia said insurance didn’t cover many of the services.

The organization previously had the funding to heavily subsidize preschool enrollment. Now, it might have to bump the weekly enrollment fee from $100 to $500, she said. It will consider cutting staff hours. And it might charge for its afterschool programming for older children and young adults. Homework help, academic enrichment, college preparation and essential life skills (from independent bathing and dressing to time and money management) have been free.

Garcia annually takes students to the state capitol over spring break to learn about government. While there she directly appeals to elected officials. This year, she said, she heard nothing about funding, and when she reviewed successful bills, she didn’t see any money set aside for the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation.

Leadership from the legislative money committees — the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees — did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The foundation’s state funding had come through what are commonly known as “Christmas tree” bills. These bills dispense grants from the state general fund ranging from a few thousand dollars to millions to benefit various nonprofits and government agencies.

In 2023, the Christmas tree bills combined for more than $110 million in appropriations across about 70 organizations in Nevada.

There were no Christmas tree bills at all this year, although some organizations received appropriations through specific bills.

Meanwhile, the grassroots fundraising goes on. As of Thursday, the foundation had gathered about $19,000. Visit nvblindchildren.org/ to donate.