Almalinda Guerrero-Gonzales has five children, and all of them have special needs. She escaped her physically abusive husband months after giving birth to an infant with Down syndrome. Her oldest, now 8, suffers from seizures and migraines; she has twin 7-year-olds, one of whom can walk only with braces on her legs; and her 5-year-old is being treated for autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. She was getting help from a program called Nevada PEP (Parents Encouraging Parents) but the program will lose its $200,000-a-year grant for the program two years early because of federal budget cuts.
I spent only one evening with Almalinda and her wonderful children, but their story has stuck with me during this holiday season. I cannot imagine the struggles that Almalinda goes through. Her strength is truly awe-inspiring.
Please read the Las Vegas Sun story by David McGrath Schwartz and see more photos
here.
I am Zabraa Young. I used to be known as Zabraamalatzka Rosales-Gonzales. I come forward to you now as 14 years old. This article my mother has somehow managed to make up is a lie. I don't have any mental disabilities. My mother actually had schizophrenia and thought and had her own special outlooks on life which were incorrect.
ReplyDeleteThis article is a lie. None of it is true.
ReplyDeleteI am Jasmine Gonzales, (AKA James Matthew Gonzales ll). What my sister says is true. OUr mother was an abusive schizophrenic on dope. She lost us and her rights to her children in late 2014. I am the only one out all my siblings to still be in foster care.
ReplyDelete