Visiting the Child Crisis Center of El Paso
The Child Crisis Center of El Paso is a non-profit organization in the city of El Paso, Texas. It is an emergency shelter that is not federally funded and they rely on community donations. The children that come through the shelter have usually experiences an event that no child should have to endure, so they make sure their stay is as pleasant as possible by providing them with the necessary services. It is considered a safe haven where no child has to be worried about being hurt, hungry, homeless, or alone. Their sole mission is to protect children from abuse and neglect by providing shelter, advocacy, and family support services.
One of my first appearances as Miss El Paso Teen USA 2022 was to the Child Crisis Center of El Paso. I am so excited to share my experience and also share some photos of how much fun we had that day.
I called days before to make sure that I was able to go by on the weekend and to get a number of kids that were currently at the shelter. After I was told that I was allowed to go by I asked one of my sponsors if they were willing to donate meals to the shelter, which they gladly agreed on.
The day was finally here where I got to meet these wonderful kiddos. I was running a little late because the location we were picking up food from would not let me order lunch before 11 A.M. They were extremely helpful though and had our order ready in like fifteen minutes. When I arrived to the shelter, I noticed there was like a “Ring” doorbell by the entrance of the shelter so we (my mom and I) rang that doorbell. We waited a little before a sweet lady answered the front door. As soon as we went inside she walked us over to the dining area. I started setting up the table for the kids so they can have their lunch. I immediately noticed a little girl that I will call little Miss Diva (names and faces will not be posted due to their safety) running towards me and told me I looked like a princess. She had the most beautiful bright smile. She started to ask me about pageantry and telling me she wanted to try on my crown. Of course I put the crown on her and told her she was a princess too. The rest of the kids started walking towards the dining area. Once everyone was sitting down I introduced myself and started talking a little to them and asking them for their names. They proceeded to eat their lunch while I went to the baby and toddlers room. As soon as I walked in, my heart melted. I have always loved babies and I was truly hoping they would let me hold all the babies. I spotted one baby girl that was in a baby swing and went over to say hi. Oh my goodness, I couldn’t with her smile and her pretty face. I started doing baby talk to her and guess what? She would answer back by making goo-goo ga-ga sounds. My heart melted. I asked if I was able to carry the babies and the girls’ said that I could. Yesss! I love carrying babies. I spent sometime holding several of the babies and talking to them. I have a baby sister that is only 3 so I would babysit her a lot so I did not mind at all caring for all the cute babies at the shelter.
I then headed back to the area where the older kids are at. Of course little Miss Diva wanted me to teach her how to walk like a model and I was more than happy to share some lessons to anyone that wants to learn. I told her she reminded me a lot of me as a kid because I remember pretending to walk like a model in front of a mirror. I told her that is the perfect way to practice. Even little boys joined us and to be honest some of them were simply natural. After practicing several times I told them I was ready to get started on our tie dye shirts. They all lined up and we were off to their playroom.
One of the employees was extremely helpful and helped me set up the shirts and helped the kids as well. I missed school the day we were doing tie dye shirts so I had to rely on YouTube videos lol! You cannot go wrong with that, right? After figuring it out we all started to help each other and pouring all the different colors, I picked some pink, purple and blue to pour on my shirt. Once we were done pouring the difference colors, we placed our shirt in a zip lock bag to let it dry and labeled it with our own name. We are all excited to see the final result, but we have to wait for our shirts to dry. I wanted to continue playing and so did my new friends, but I had to leave to my appointment at Ella Blu. You guys are going to love the dress I wear for Miss Texas Teen USA competition.
I honestly felt an amazing bond with some of these kiddos and I definitely want to go back and spend more time playing with them. I do not know if I will be able to see the same children when I return because I know this is a temporary shelter for them, but I want them to know they truly touched my heart. All of them. They made me smile and forget about all the current stress I have with pageant prep and school.
If you are interested in donating, they accept food, brand new clothes, and diapers. Again, this non-profit organization is fully funded by donations only and is not federally supported. You can contact the Child Crisis Center of El Paso at 915-562-7955 or contact me by email and I can pick up your donations.
Check out some of our photos below and comment on what you think of my tie dye shirt results! Please share ideas on what other activity I can do when I visit them again. Thanks in advance and stay tuned for my next adventure!
