Wells Fargo Offers Casa de Amparo $4M if Casa Can Match Funds by July 1
Nonprofit is $1.4M Away From Being Able to Begin Construction

 Oceanside, CA (June 7, 2010) — Casa de Amparo, a leader in the treatment and prevention of child abuse, has served the San Diego community since 1978. The non-profit organization is currently raising funds to build a new “Casa Kids Campus” to enhance and expand its programs and services for abused and at-risk children. Wells Fargo has offered a loan of $4 million if Casa de Amparo can first raise $4 million by July 1, 2010.

The Casa Kids Campus will be built on 11.4 acres owned by the organization in Twin Oaks Valley adjacent to San Marcos. The Campus is the second part of a strategic plan that included building the Family Services and Hayward Child Development Center which opened in 2007 in Oceanside. Budget for the project is approximately $16 million.  So far, Casa de Amparo has raised over $8 million and, in response to the Wells Fargo challenge offered in March, has also received a $2 million Challenge Grant from The Leichtag Family Foundation and gifts from the City of Carlsbad, County Supervisor Bill Horn’s Community Reinvestment Funds, Life Technologies, the Brausa Family Trust, the Sangham Foundation and the Ecke Family.  

“We are extremely grateful for the generous support we’ve received from the community,” said Casa de Amparo Executive Director Sharon Delphenich. “Now, more than ever, we look to the generosity of our supporters, community businesses, organizations and foundations to help us close the $1.4 million gap so we may immediately begin construction of the new Casa Kids Campus. The campus will allow us to more than double the number of abused and neglected children we are able to serve as well as offer new programs for populations such as children with special healthcare needs.”

The importance of community organizations such as Casa de Amparo is illustrated in a 2009 study by the California Center for Research on Women and Families which shows that, while the rate of referrals or reports of suspected child abuse and neglect in California has remained fairly stable, due to strong prevention, early intervention and treatments efforts by community organizations, the number of children entering the child welfare system has declined.

“The fact is that child abuse can be prevented, but it cannot be ignored and it won’t go away,” said Delphenich. It takes organizations such as Casa de Amparo working in tandem with the child welfare system to keep child abuse rates down. A goal of our new Casa Kids Campus is to help children heal and move more quickly into healthy home environments.”

For information about The Campaign for Casa Kids including naming opportunities and in-kind donations, contact Kathy Karpé at 760-754-5500 x23, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .