April is Child Abuse Prevention Month; in the spirit of volunteerism and community service, UH-Clear Lake's Hispanics Advancing Culture and Education student organization hosted a baby shower for the Casa de Esperanza April 3 in Atrium I.

"We wanted to do something for the community," said Jessica Trapani, president of HACE and Latino ambassador for Multicultural and International Student Services. "We did a book drive with Casa de Esperanza last summer."

Casa de Esperanza de los Ninos - the House of Hope for Children - is a program for children in crisis due to abuse, neglect or the effects of HIV. It provides residential, medical and psychological care to meet the individual needs of each child. Casa de Esperanza operates from foundation support, corporate and individual donations and religious organizations. All services are provided free of charge to the Houston metropolitan area, including Harris, Fort Bend and surrounding counties.

Baby shower guests enjoyed a traditional-style baby shower with food, drinks, games and cake while donating items or cash donations for the Casa de Esperanza in Houston. Guests were asked to bring diapers, clothing, laundry detergent, toilet paper, non-perishable food items and baby formula.

"Basic needs items are on the top of our list," said Melanie Minegar, volunteer coordinator for Casa de Esperanza. "We keep our basic needs items in a pantry, and our supplies have been dwindling. I was excited to come home [from the shower] with plenty of diapers, formula and clothes. We filled up our pantry."

In addition, HACE and the social work student organization collected $95 in donations for the shelter. The social work student organization provides information about social services to members and the university community and helps socialize students to the social work profession. They provided child abuse brochures at the baby shower.

"I am glad that we could give to an organization that can use our help," said Bernardina Streeter, program assistant for the "Celebrating Our Elders" scholarship project. "It was a quick way to do something meaningful, and everyone felt good about what we were doing."

Casa de Esperanza's residential program offers a home for abused and neglected children while support programs offer developmental, medical and educational services to the children.

"We have a lot of services readily available," Minegar said. "Each house is licensed to care for six kids. Full-time volunteers operate the homes. Volunteers are usually college graduates or students taking a year off of school. This type of work is character-building, challenging and inspirational. I get to work with people who want to help everyday. That makes my job special."

Since 1982, Casa de Esperanza has provided comprehensive crisis residential care to children up to 6 years of age. In 1986, the shelter became one of the only Houston-area agencies to include specialized residential care to HIV-positive children.

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