Roxanna lost her job this past summer and has not been able to find new employment. She is trying to start anew, but it is difficult as a single parent. Her children’s father does not help with expenses of raising the girls because he is in prison. Roxanna recently decided to return to school. She is enrolling in the community college this spring to develop a more marketable resume. Participating in our Wish List Project is a true blessing for her family because she has been struggling financially.

Aaliya is very smart and outgoing. She learned to read a year ago and is fascinated with reading. She loves anything bright and girly. She also plays soccer in the summer time.

Allison is very quiet and loves to play with dolls. She is in Pre-K and recently learned how to write her name. She already knows her letters and shapes. Allison also enjoys listening to music and wants to be a ballerina.

This will be Lidia’s family first Christmas after the divorce. Lidia has four energetic growing boys. Lidia was so happy to learn that we had chosen her for adopt a families since she was getting worried she was not going to be able to get any gifts for her sons since she has been living paycheck to paycheck since Lidia’s ex-husband stopped paying Child Support for the last couple of months.

Hugo really needs a computer for his school work and is requesting a laptop. Now his classes are starting to give him assignments that require him to use the internet and he has been using a phone with internet to do his homework which gets to be frustrating and time consuming for him.

Hector is really into cars, and would love to have a racetrack with cars, or anything car related.

Not long ago Raquel lost her job and could not afford rent for her mobile home. As a result, she was forced to leave the mobile home and is in the process of moving in with her mom. She does not have dependable help with the expenses of raising her kids because child support received is not consistently paid. Purchasing gifts that her kids want for Christmas is not an option. Receiving help from the Wish List Project means that her kids are going to receive gifts this Christmas season.

Felix is the artist of the family. He loves to draw in his spare time outside of school. He is also into repairing things, welding, and auto body projects.

Alexander is very much into sports. He plays football and enjoys power lifting. He is also enrolled in the high school ROTC Army training program.

Victoria is a very smart student and she is excelling in her studies. Although she is in middle school, she is taking high school course work. Victoria is on the A/B Honor Roll & the school dance team.

Santiago is a member of the school band program. He plays the tuba and enjoys creating music.

Vivian is Raquel's eldest child, and a single parent herself without any financial or physical support in raising her baby from the child's father. She lives with her family to help make ends meet.

Maria is Raquel's 4 month old granddaughter who also lives with the family. Maria is a happy baby & a joy to be around.

Rose was in a violent relationship for over a decade, and is thrilled to have recently finalized her divorce with free legal services from the Project. Rose has fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition which limits her ability to work. Rose is a selfless woman who always puts her children first.

Jrae is very into art and drawing

This will be Melissa's first holiday season out of her abusive relationship. Her youngest daughter Gabby is developmentally delayed and will likely require support beyond the age of 18. Melissa is an amazing advocate for her daughter and maintains a positive attitude in the face of all of her family’s challenges.

Gabby is developmentally delayed, so she still enjoys playing with dolls and anything My Little Pony or Hello Kitty. She LOVES to be read to, adores music, playing outside, coloring, watching cartoons and playing on the computer. She will cherish any gift in these categories! Gabby is also into fashion with a focus on shoes. Her favorite color is pink, and she likes to accessorize with bows and clips for her hair. SIZES: shoes- girls 5; jeans/bottoms- 14; tops- 14/16 or girls XL; color preference- pink.

Alex is very into video games and animation. His biggest Christmas wish is Flash 8, software that is used to create graphics, animations and media. Also high on his wish list are gift cards to gamestop, drawing paper, and drawing pencils. In regards to clothing, he likes to wear shirts with funny sayings on them. SIZES: Mens size XL; Jeans- Mens 34x34; color preference- orange or green.

When Kalume finalized her divorce earlier this year, she thought that she would have a fresh start in life. Instead, she was hospitalized for 6 months because of more medical health issues. In August 2013, she was released from the hospital and able to begin slowly walking again. Kalume is still on the road to recovery and is not able to return to work yet. Having additional help this Christmas from our wish list project will be a true blessing for her.

Samuel is a quiet and loving son. He plays football for his high school team. He is into cool shoes and fun video games.

Qeren is a kind person and the “joy” of the house. She is a member of the National Junior Honor Society because she maintains “A” grades in school. Qeren also runs track in her spare time. She is into nice shoes and chatting on the phone.

Veronica is in the process of getting a divorce. She is trying to free herself from physical and sexual abuse by her husband. Her oldest daughter, Dariella has developmental learning delays yet Veronica is always positive in spite of her struggles in life. She has 4 children that keep her on her toes.

Dariella has developmental learning delays. She absolutely loves Justin Bieber and and enjoys taking pictures.

Breanna is an avid reader, and absolutely loves anything from the Junie B. Jones book series. She also enjoys playing with Barbies.

Deborah is currently still going through the divorce process. Deborah has many health issues including Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, PTSD, among other serious health issues which she struggles with every day. She has 2 young boys. Deborah would like to get beds for the family because the boys sleep on the floor and she sleeps on the couch. She would like to get twin mattresses with box springs for the boys and a bed for her with a box spring preferably a Queen.

Betty and her son, Joseph, are one of our “legacy” families that we adopted in 2012.  Betty’s ex-husband was violent during her pregnancy with Joseph, and she had to obtain a two-year protective order before the child was born.  We then helped Betty get divorced last year.  Betty’s great courage is matched only by her love for her son.

Edith is a young woman lives for her small daughter! Edith’s husband abused her and went to jail for sexual assault. When he was incarcerated, she was able to escape to her parents’ home to start a new safe life her herself and her child. The Texas Advocacy Project helped Edith to represent herself (“pro se”) and not just separate herself from her abuser, but also overcome many obstacles to justice that pro se litigants face (for example, the court at first would not let her case move forward because she could not afford the fees typically assessed, despite laws in place to address those situations). She had tried for two years on her own, but the divorce with TAP was over after two months. Edith and her daughter sent the Project attorney who helped them a special box made of popsicle sticks and topped with a bow and hand-decorated miniature pot full of pens and pencils to thank them for their help, but really, Edith had been empowered to act as her OWN attorney. Edith has a lot on her plate and can’t normally get new things for herself, let’s treat her to a new look!

Zoey has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy so it is important for her to have toys that encourage her to stand and play with both hands at the same time, while being easier to grasp and not as likely to roll away.

America was a young single mother when she met her ex-husband. He became the father her first child never had. After they married, they added a second beautiful child to the family- Angel. Then small but significant things began to change.  At one point America realized she hadn’t spoke to her mother in months; it was odd, they had been close, she was slowly becoming isolated. Finally, America realized she couldn’t survive in the relationship. She needed to get away and left her husband.  Moving in with her parents she began the process of separating.  Sadly, she still wasn’t safe.  On a dark night her husband showed up at her parent’s house and shot her and her father multiple times.  Blessedly they survived.  That night her husband was arrested and a Protective Order was put in place.  During the many months America was in the hospital recovering from her wounds she began working with Texas Advocacy Project to terminate her ex-husbands parental rights.  In terminating his rights America guaranteed that Angel, who is not yet a teenager, could grow up and live in safety and anonymity.  America and her family are now living safely outside of San Antonio.  America has returned to school and is her children’s greatest role model.  In fact, the whole family has superb grades and are looking forward to a bright future.

From the outside, things looked perfect. Julie was a beautiful young wife who not only cooked and cleaned but also took on home remodeling projects and hand sewed elaborate Halloween costumes each year. But on the inside, Julie was being physically and sexually abused by her husband. Julie overcame years of abuse to free herself and her SIX YOUNG CHILDREN and start a new life. Through the Texas Advocacy Project, Julie was able to retain the marital home in her long and difficult divorce and obtain monthly financial support to go back to school and improve her job opportunities. Julie is a past winner of TAP’s Courage Award as a shining example of the strength it takes to escape domestic violence and she continues to share her story as a way to draw attention to this issue and inspire other women in her same situation.

Aaron is the little man of the house and is very smart and is doing well in school!

Cody is very into building. He will love anything that can be used to build towers so he can knock them over!

Dylan- just like his older brother- is very into building. He will love anything that can be used to build towers so he can knock them over!

Kayla is into horses (my little pony or generic horses)

Kylie is a little mommy and loves animals, babies, and animal babies! All sorts of living things!

Cesilia met her abuser in high school and was pressured to marry him when he was arrested for assaulting her. When she became a teen mom, she worked VERY hard at night at a local tech company while remarkably keeping up her grades in school during the day. When her abuser followed her to work and physically threatened her, her school put her in touch with the Texas Advocacy Project who was quickly able to obtain a Family Violence Protective Order to keep her and her child safe from her abuser and also complete a divorce so Cesilia could start her fresh new life! Cesilia’s dream is to study medicine. The Project also put Cesilia in touch with a volunteer mentorship opportunity from Allstate to encourage her to continue her hard work!