Candlelighters Of El Paso
Candlelighters of El Paso is a non profit organization that serves families of children with cancer. Our purpose is to alleviate the isolation, pain, and confusion many families experience at the time their child is diagnosed. We offer love, care, encouragement, and understanding so that no one will face the uncertain world of childhood cancer alone. We offer our services to every family free of charge.
Description:
Candlelighters of the El Paso Area, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that serves families of children with cancer. Our origins date back to 1978 as an informal support group of parents. We incorporated in 1980 and opened our first office in 1985. Candlelighters of the El Paso Area, Inc. is the only no-cost provider in the region that supports children with cancer, ages 0 to 21, and the families that care for them. We were affiliated with National Candlelighters since 1978 and are BBB Accredited Charity.
Our agency offers emergency financial assistance, transportation, scholarships, caregiver workshops, counseling, summer oncology camps, and many other services and activities for our children and their families. Our continuum of care also includes respite training to caregivers, financial literacy training and college assistance to survivors. Services are offered at no charge to patients and their families. Financial support is provided for as long as a child is in treatment (usually three years) and for a full year after to ensure family returns to normalcy.
We focus to improve the conditions, quality of life and status for our families living along the U.S. – Mexico border. Candlelighters serves the greater El Paso area which also includes Juarez/Chihuahua and Southern New Mexico border communities. A wide range of services are offered to families of children who are diagnosed with cancer who are set to begin treatment. The diagnosis of childhood cancer brings crisis and immediate change to the entire family. The common knowledge that this is a life threatening disease immediately promotes anguish and fear to both the patient and the family. At present, we serve approximately 200 children in active treatment and provide extended services to over 1,000 registered families in El Paso with low/moderate to extremely low incomes, in which approximately 85% of are Hispanic. Being on the U.S./Mexico Border and in an economically depressed area, funding and other assistance is limited. The need for childhood cancer programs continues to be paramount in the El Paso area due to the high poverty rate, low education levels and language barriers.
We currently have five staff members consisting of: CEO, Program Manager, Family Services Director, Family Case Manager, and a Special Projects Coordinator. Volunteers from the community joined forces to assure Candlelighters’ success with professionals serving on the Board of Directors and various committees. With this joint effort, the organization has been able to continue to help meet the needs of its growing membership. We have six volunteers that assist our agency on a weekly basis and have been with us for over three years. We have other volunteers that help as the program events are coming up. We currently have over 75 volunteers year round.
History:
Nearly thirty years ago, Candlelighters was formed in El Paso as an informal peer support group among parents who had children with Cancer. Candlelighters provides a financial safety net as well as emotional support and counseling while the family is adjusting through this traumatic event.Candlelighters today, now boosts an expanding continuum of care that addresses the needs of all family members; siblings, parents, caregivers. These services address needs at intake, during treatment and evolving through survivorship.
Contact people:
Main office number:
(915) 544-2222Office fax number: (915) 544-6313
Address:
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1900 N. Oregon, Ste. 402El Paso, TX 79902(See a map) |
Web Site: http://www.candlelighterselp.org
| Last updated on August 6, 2009 |
