Partners of Pepper Tree Farm
Each Regional Center is a nonprofit, private corporation that contracts with the California Department of Developmental Services. There are twenty-one Regional Centers throughout California, seven of which are in Los Angeles County.
Pepper Tree Farm is located in the geographic area served by the Westside Regional Center, which is located in Culver City. It provides community support, resources and access to services for children and adults with development disabilities, and their families, for the full life of the client.
Among areas of support WRC will underwrite include costs of school, transportation, home aides, medical appliances, and social and recreational programs.
Boys and girls who are Westside Regional Center clients include those who have intellectual disabilities, down syndrome, autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, blindness, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida and other such syndromes. Some children are identified at birth. Others are gradually recognized to have physical or mental delays. Finally, children who have become impaired by injury or disease become part of the WRC family. These individuals are clients for life, which is very comforting to the families of these children and adults. California has been kind and generous to our population.
Westside Regional Center serves about 9,000 individuals. As the years go by, most of them will pass through Pepper Tree Farm attending various programs, including:
Family Camp – For families who have a child or an adult with disabilities.
Nature Camp – For Mommy and Me programs and for students in pre-school through college.
Job Training – For adults ages eighteen and older. WRC will teach participants all about caring for plants and trees.
Support Groups – For clients, their parents, and their siblings.
Also taking place year-round will be holiday celebrations, birthday parties, reunions, staff retreats, etc.
The Los Angeles Unified School District was preceded by two school districts formed in the late 1890s. By 1962, it became the monolith we are familiar with today, one that includes students from L.A. and many districts outside the city. LAUSD is the second largest public school district in the United States, with only New York City having a larger student population.
During the school year 2022-23, more than 550,000 boys and girls were educated in LAUSD. That number - more than one half of a million people - includes pre-school kiddies and adults. Within that enormous group - nearly the same size as the population of Wyoming - are approximately 65,000 children with significant disabilities.
These youngsters have challenges ranging from Muscular Dystrophy to Deafness. For decades, these boys and girls were segregated from their healthy classmates. This, thankfully, has changed. With a more nuanced view of children with challenges, the Division of Special Education has announced its goal of “Intentionally designing and delivering inclusive environments for students at every opportunity to maximize learning!"
These words are music to ears of every family who has a child with special needs. While the majority of the Pepper Tree Farm campers will be facing some kind of obstacle, there will also be able-bodied friends from their classrooms. Our Farm will be a happy mix of children and of staff with a variety of abilities.
Pepper Tree Farm is in Board District 4 of LAUSD, which extends from Encino to Westchester. It is represented by Nick Melvoin, an attorney, former teacher and coach, and a hero to his constituents. Since 2017, Nick has represented nearly 50,000 students across 150 schools. Of his many transformative policies, Nick’s love of camping has resulted in the purchase of three campsites for LAUSD. Pepper Tree Farm is honored to join our school system’s effort to provide camp for every student!
State Senator Ben Allen
First elected in 2014, State Senator Allen is now serving his third and final term representing California’s 24th Senate District. Chair of the State’s Environmental Quality Committee, Senator Allen has introduced more than one hundred bills crafted to improve the lives of all Californians.
When Senator Allen learned about the need for a recreational facility for the local boys and girls with disabilities, he moved quickly. He and his staff located Mill Creek Ranch in Topanga and then identified that property as his 2023 Member Request. It was a struggle, as the California Budget always is but in the end the Senator prevailed and Mill Creek Ranch – now Pepper Tree Farm – is owned by the State of California.
In the years to come, the youngsters and their families who will attend our wonderful farm will always be grateful to Senator Allen of the 24th District. We wish him well in all of his future endeavors!