Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/121906
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH ANDRUS SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY a sporting chance THE SOUTH COAST'S SCHWARTZ CENTER FOR CHILDREN HELPS KIDS WITH COMPLEX MEDICAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. BY JESSICA LANIEWSKI T he arrival of her first child should be a joyful moment for every mother, but for Sandy Casmiro the birth of her daughter, Paris, was fraught with heartbreak. Now 13, Paris was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, resulting from her premature birth at 24 weeks. "There were a lot of medical issues that came along with the prematurity and her cerebral palsy," says Casmiro. Paris could not lift her head, crawl, sit, or easily communicate her needs, and she had difficulty eating. "But it was especially hard to see what her cousins were doing and realize that she wasn't able to join them when they played." As she grew older, Paris, who is wheelchair-bound and needs constant care, attended special programs in the public school system. When she was 7, however, the family moved to a new town. "Paris has always been such a social butterfly, but when we moved her to a new public school she became very quiet and introverted," her mother says. 58 The school had very few students with the same complicated needs as Paris, and she became listless and withdrawn. Casmiro set out to find a school that could provide her daughter with the daily physical therapy and speech instruction she needed, as well as a welcoming atmosphere in which she could make new friends. Fortunately for Paris, her mother discovered in Dartmouth the nonprofit Schwartz Center for Children, which this June will host its annual Fishing for a Cause fundraiser. The Schwartz Center's day school is partially funded by tuition from the students' public school districts, but that money does not cover the full cost of the program. Without an endowment, the Center raises much of its funding through events run by volunteers. One of these volunteers is Dr. Jonathan Schwartz, whose late father is the Center's namesake. Schwartz advocated for a fundraiser that would make use of the area's best resource, the continued on page 60 TOP: Sandy Casmiro and her daughter, Paris, both found new hope at the Schwartz Center for Children. ABOVE: At the Fishing for a Cause fundraiser, Max Kauffmann hauls in the day's catch. BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 058-062_BC_SP_SoG_LATESSPRING_13.indd 58 4/10/13 4:43 PM