"The people at Pio Decimo treat the children like their own," Francisca says with a smile.

This mother enrolled her three youngest children there.  Still a little hesitant, she knew she had to let go of their little hands and give each one a last hug, if this family was going to stay afloat financially.

Francisca took a job as a caregiver for an elderly couple, and did some side jobs cooking and catering.  She knew she had to work, but desperately missed spending her days with her children.  She also wondered if her children were getting the attention they needed --- the attention they were used to at home.

The environment became more and more welcoming and she felt more and more secure.

Now, five years later, Francisca's two oldest sons have graduated from high school and one is a student at the University of Arizona.  But her three youngest still participate in the after-school and summer programs.  Pio Decimo offers the kids a game room, tutoring, a library, computer center and a playground.

Francisca says one of the most important lessons her children have learned and keep learning at Pio Decimo, is how to get along with kids from different backgrounds.  "I think it's wonderful form them," Francisca says.  "They're taught how to socialize."

Pio Decimo go the Coronado family through some rough times, and Francisca is thankful.  She also says she know her children are happy there because, "Sometimes I pick them up and they don't want to leave, they want to stay there!"  As a mother, she says that's the most secure feeling she'll ever know.

Adapted from Tucson Lifestyle
December 1998
Portrait Photos by David Fox