Our mission

In 2010, I received the autism diagnosis of my daughter.  At that moment, I felt the loneliness of living abroad far from my family, without speaking English and without any knowledge about autism.

I was afraid. I didn't know what I was going to do, or where to start looking for help, but at the same time different people started to offer me their help. These people hold a very important place in my heart, because hey helped me in a time of need. They helped me to fill out many questionnaires, applications with more than 50 questions, they gave me encouragement, company and shared with me their experiences in the world of special education.

Months after receiving an invitation from a parent to the support group for parents with children with special needs “FUNNE”, I began attending it. FUNNE is a program run in Spanish by the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison, WI. In this group I met parents who although their children had different diagnoses than my daughter, these parents were like me, we had so much in common: the same fears, desires and challenges. It was at that moment when I realized the importance of building a community and actively participating to improve our opportunities not only for my family, but also to help other families. For 7 years I was a full-time mom. I wasn't able to work out of the home because I needed to be the taxi driver, the therapist, the advocate, and the mother of a daughter who needed my strength to move forward in life.

In 2018, I started to serve as a Respite Care Provider at my house. I created a safe, pleasant and fun space in my home to welcome children with special needs. In the living room of my house the children could rest, play and learn, we also had a lot of fun in the backyard where we have a tree house. For 5 years my home and my family became part of these children's lives and they became part of ours. Many of them are still receiving our service because their families trust our work.

In February 2022, our dream became a reality and Dulce Respite Center was born! Dulce Respite Center is the first Latino agency that offers the recruitment and training service for respite care providers in Spanish. We are working hard to serve, include and multiply valuable human beings to serve our world. Our staff shares the idea that the most rewarding job is to serve others, we hope to continue growing in numbers and help our community to be a better place.