by Agnes Swanson, Chief Development Officer

Since mid-2022, The Shea Center has been building a relationship with our neighbors at Unidos South OC through tours, information sessions, and participating at community events. Unidos is a non-profit community development initiative dedicated to low-income, underserved neighborhoods in San Juan Capistrano, specifically in the Capistrano Villas neighborhood that is one block away from The Shea Center. 

The Shea Center staff members were able to connect with the founders of Unidos, Heather and John Chapman to discuss how our organizations could collaborate to better serve the neighboring community. Capistrano Villas comprises nearly 5,000 people, half of which are children.  This community is made up primarily of Spanish speaking, low-income families and some families have children or adult family members with disabilities.  

Delaini, a member of Unidos South County, is now a Shea Center client receiving physical therapy utilizing hippotherpy every week.

Together we identified opportunities for the members of the community to become clients and/or volunteers of The Shea Center. In May this year we provided two opportunities for the community to learn about our organization:

First, we hosted a Volunteer Open House for ages 14 and over to learn about how they can become a volunteer at The Shea Center.  Second, we hosted a Client Open House for families who have members with disabilities to learn more about our services. Since May 2023 we have received many applications for client services, including therapy and adaptive riding services! So far the majority of clients from Unidos have been children that require physical, occupational, and speech therapy utilizing hippotherapy. All services are provided for $5 per session, a deeply discounted fee, agreed upon by Unidos and The Shea Center. The remaining costs are covered by The Shea Center’s financial aid program.

Shea Center staff attended Día del Niño community event to provide more information about services.

Additionally, we hosted a booth at the Día del Niño Event that is held each year by Unidos for the San Juan Capistrano community. The Shea Center team is especially excited to be hosting our first ever Unidos Family Fun Day on Sunday, November 12th from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. This day will include horseback riding, lunch, a petting zoo, giveaways, and information about our services. The event will be free for up to 300 participants and is not open to the public.

Currently, The Shea Center is seeking financial support to help fund all of the activities associated with our collaboration with Unidos including funding for financial aid and future special events. 

Please contact Agnes Swanson if you are interested in funding these programs at aswanson@sheacenter.org or call (949) 240-8441 ext 126.

John Chapman and Heather Chapman of Unidos South County, Greg Talbott; Board Chair at The Shea Center, Cheri Talbott, and Agnes Swanson; Chief Development Officer at The Shea Center at 2023 Shea Center Gala.