Thursday, April 20, 2000

Providing a person to call 'Grandpa'

David Adame/Caller-Times

Esmeralda Salazar (from left) and her son Fernando Salazar stand next to Baltazar Garza, who has been the foster grandfather of Fernando.

  Seventeen-year-old Fernando Salazar never knew his grandfathers. Both died before he was born.
   Baltazar Garza, 70, has no children, and therefore, no grandchildren to dote on during his retirement years.
   It would have remained that way had the two not found each other through the Foster Grandparent Program, a state and federally funded work program that pays low-income seniors a stipend to serve as mentors, tutors and caregivers for children and youths with special needs.
   "Every day I give God thanks for giving Fernando (born with Down syndrome) to us and grandpa (Garza) to Fernando," said Fernando's mother, Esmeralda Salazar, a photographer for the Del Mar College Center for Business and Community Education. "It puts my mind at ease knowing that our son has someone like Grandpa Garza."
   Appreciated friend

For more: For program information, call 844-7701 or 844-7625.

   Garza is one of 90 foster grandparents working at Foster Grandparent-designated sites, from Lozano Special Emphasis School to the Women's Shelter, to be honored during a recognition banquet and awards ceremony April 28 at the Holiday Inn-Airport. The event marks the program's 28th anniversary.
   For the past three years, Garza has worked with Fernando at school and at the teen's home. When at the Salazar residence, Garza provides Fernando's parents a brief but much-appreciated respite. So strong is their bond that the Salazars regard Garza as a family member.
   That kind of mentor relationship can do wonders in the classroom, said Faye Webb, principal at Lozano. Webb, chairwoman of the Foster Grandparent Advisory Board, has six foster grandparents assigned to her school and has seen firsthand how academic achievement and school attendance improve when they are on campus.
   'That pat on the back'
   "When a teacher has 22 kids in a classroom, they're not able to give that kind of love and individual attention that a child may need," Webb said. "Not so much instruction, but just that little encouragement, that pat on the back."
   When he first signed up for the program years ago, he had doubts that he could see the commitment through, Garza admitted. But it didn't take long for him to change his self-assessment.
   "All we need is to have a little calm and a lot of patience," said Garza, adding that many other students regard him as grandpa.
   "In my eyes, they are all equal."
  
 

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