Naples Children & Education Foundation Provides Naples Equestrian Challenge Summer Camp Experience for Formerly Homeless Children

By Becky Newell, State Coordinator (West FL) on 07/14/2011 @ 09:53 AM

Tags: West

This guest post is very special to me – my son has been riding at Naples Equestrian Challenge for 4 years, and my daughter spends hundreds of hours volunteering there every year. This wonderful organization provides year round therapeutic horseback riding programs for children and adults with disabilities. They also conduct outreach programs in conjunction with agencies in Collier County that work with underprivileged children. St. Matthews House, referenced in the guest post below, is a local homeless shelter that serves families and individuals.

My daughter is one of the counselors for summer camps at NEC, and the kids from Wolfe Apartments stole her heart!

School age children living at Wolfe Apartments were treated to a special camp experience the week of June 20-24th, when they attended the summer horseback riding program offered at Naples Equestrian Challenge. The opportunity, funded by monies raised at the Naples Winter Wine Festival, provided these children, all of whom have experienced the trauma of homelessness, poverty and worse, the chance to ride, groom, and learn about horses firsthand for the first time in their lives. The children enjoyed camp immensely. Five year old Doris declared, “It was fun and Pick-A-Spot (one of the horses) loves me”, adding that this horse had “the bestestteefs(best teeth)”. Six year old Edgar said, “It was the most fun ever, plus my Mom and Dad came and they said I was the best horse rider they ever saw. I know it made them happy!” St. Matthew’s House is grateful for the help from NCEF to give these children such a positive, educational experience.

Wolfe Apartments, an affordable transitional apartment complex owned and operated by St. Matthew’s House, was built in 2003 and offers a two-year supportive housing program to homeless families and individuals, as well as those who graduate out of the SMH recovery program.

The Naples Winter Wine Festival has raised $94,500,000 in eleven years and is the most successful wine charity event in the world. The Naples Children & Education Foundation, founder of the festival, supports charitable programs that improve the lives of underprivileged or at risk children in Collier County. They are committed to making a profound and sustaining difference in the quality of life of children.