KEY BISCAYNE — In early 2019, Richard Perez met a resident who helped him realize that Key Biscayne could play a larger role in helping children with special needs.
“I’ll never forget the day,” said Perez, executive assistant to the director of Parks and Recreation. The resident was a mother who had a child with special needs — Down’s Syndrome. “She came down knocking on doors, requesting services, requesting programming, requesting inclusion,” Perez said
Her pleas got his attention — and the village’s, Perez said.
“There’s a community we’re not serving here and therefore, my door was open, my ears were open,” said Perez, who manages Key Biscayne’s special needs programs for children.
With $150,000 in state grants in 2023 from the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the village teamed up with S.T.A.R.S. (Support The Autism Road to Success), an organization that creates inclusive recreational children’s programs. A mutual friend had connected Perez to Elton Aguilera, owner and CEO of S.T.A.R.S., who helped Perez set up a fun yet productive experience for the children.
They created Beacon of Hope as a pilot program for special needs children ages 6-12 with the goal of giving special needs children therapeutic activities in a group setting and a place to socialize outside of school.
Recreational programming needed
“The need for outside-of-school recreational programming is huge,” said Aguilera, who teaches children with special needs in the Miami-Dade Public School System.
The program takes place every Saturday from 12:30-3:30 p.m. at the Key Biscayne Community Center and usually consists of four components: a 15–20-minute icebreaker to allow the campers to get to know each other, a 45-minute music activity, a 45-minute physical activity and a 45-minute art activity, with breaks in between, although there are times where the campers go out for excursions, including a trip to a movie theater. The children are supervised by trained counselors and every activity is set up so that it can accommodate each child according to his or her ability.
“We want this building to be very welcoming to all residents of all abilities,” Perez said.
“So, by offering a program like Beacon of Hope, it kind of showcases that, hey, these residents with unique abilities have a home here, and they belong here, and we will find a place for them here.”
The success of the pilot project, which entitled students to participate in two to three sessions, led to the village receiving another grant from the APD in 2024, expanding the number of sessions to seven.
Village residency not required
Beacon of Hope is free and open to children with a variety of special needs from all over South Florida. Parents come from as far as Edgewater, Brickell and Miami Springs for their children to participate in the program. However, registration for each session is capped at 12 children. By the end of last year, 18 children had signed up for the program, with an average of 10 children participating in any given session.
While the children are the focus at Beacon of Hope, parents also benefit, Perez said.
“The most important aspect that we do is that we give them at least three hours of respite care, in a sense,” he said. “So now the mom and dad have a moment to go on a date or, run some errands, have a moment for themselves.”
Sonia Keif, a public school teacher whose 9-year-old son, Brian, is enrolled in the program, was initially reluctant to leave the program site because she did not feel at ease leaving her son out of her sight. She said she soon realized that her son was in good hands and was doing well and felt better about dropping him off and taking the time to do other things.
“It’s hard for us to find someone to watch our son and feel comfortable and feel safe,” Keif said. “The first day, we stood in the community center, and we had coffee downstairs. A lot of parents did. Then the next time we were like, ‘OK, well, let’s try to go to the beach for a couple of hours’ or we had some tasks to handle in the house that we were not able to do because our son requires a lot of attention.”
Other special programming
The Beacon of Hope is one of four programs the village sponsors for people with special needs. Programming includes “Sensory Fun Saturdays” for children ages 2-5, “Skills for Success: Vocational Training and Skills” for young adults ages 15-25 on select Saturdays; and “Art With Laura” on Tuesdays and Thursdays for those with unique abilities, ages 8 and up. These programs were already in place prior to Beacon of Hope and are run separately from the Beacon of Hope.
Perez said he is considering expanding the Beacon of Hope programs to include sessions on teacher preparation days when school is out as well as during Christmas and spring breaks.
Every municipality should make it a priority to program for their residents with special needs of all ages and with all support needs, said Michael Alessandri, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Miami and executive director of the UM Center for Autism & Related Disabilities.
“No citizen in any community should be excluded or marginalized, and more intentional efforts are needed by municipalities to create safe, enjoyable, and impactful programs for individuals with special needs and their families. Key Biscayne is a great example of this.”
For Keif and her son Brian, Beacon of Hope’s impact is huge.
“I see the kids are happy,” Keif said, adding that her son, who is nonverbal, is forming friendships. “It’s great to see that they’re feeling the same energy with each other. Beacon of Hope is exactly what it is.”
Beacon of Hope sessions at the Key Biscayne Community Center sometimes include bringing in a therapy dog to interact with the children. Photo credit: Elton Aguilera
