OCCTAC NEWS

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy April 23rd, 2010. NBC Nightly News featured OCCTAC student Stefanie Diaz and instructor Renee Rulon Cortez in the "Making A Difference" segment on their Friday night national broadcast. For all of us who have known Stefanie and her family for many years it was an emotional moment. It was wonderful to see how far Stefanie has come in the 9 years she has received therapeutic art classes at our center. Of course, a 2-minute news segment cannot tell her amazing story in much detail. But Dr. Ana Jimènez-Hami, founder and president, remembers. "Stefanie was one of our first students. Her family came to us for help because both Stefanie and her brother have autism. Stefanie displayed severe autistic behavior at that time. Stefanie Diaz at age 9. However, Stefanie showed a keen interest in many forms of art. Over the years, she has attended v...

Just before the end of the year we received several phone calls regarding our student Stefanie Diaz, 15. Back in December reporter Yvette Cabrera had written a very nice article (see previous blog post) about Stefanie for the Orange County Register. Editors at CBS/KCAL in Los Angeles took notice and sent their reporter Suzie Suh and camera man Robert to OCCTAC. Our opera music teacher Renee Rulon Cortez and the Diaz family graciously cleared their schedules to film this segment. You may have heard that many of our students just like Stefanie no longer receive federal grant money that allowed them to attend classes at OCCTAC. We are trying to provide services as best we can under the cutbacks but we do need your help! Please consider sponsoring students by making a donation to the center. If you would like to learn more about our programs and the possibility of sponsoring one child, please contact Dr. Ana Jimenez Hami at 714 547 5468.