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.
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!