Carrie Conn is an educator, but she says it's the children she serves, medically fragile with multiple disabilities, who often teach her. Conn says she cherishes each of the junior and senior high school students she works with at Cinco Ranch High School, along with the youths served in Mexico by her nonprofit organization, Carrie's Heart, which is based in the Memorial area. Conn visits them regularly, and her team of volunteers has been expanding to include physical, occupational and speech therapists, along with a registered nurse. The organization recently opened two centers in Mexico where children can receive therapy, and it just completed its summer camp program for sponsored children, their siblings and neighbors. The Yucatan Fiesta also will feature appetizers, desserts, a cash bar, raffles and a silent auction. Children's activities will include swimming, bubble blowing, a pi�ata and face painting, along with opportunities to create art to decorate the centers in Mexico. Because of her career, she often noticed children with disabilities and asked where they went to school. During the 2003 visit, she and her friend had an opportunity to tour the Centro de Atencion Multiple in Cozumel, a local facility that provides educational services for children with disabilities. She had considered launching an organization that would support existing school programs for disabled children, but she knew too many of the children she wanted to help didn't even go to school. The girl's eyes were crusted shut, and her dirty diaper was caked to her skin. The organization covers the costs of medical care, nutrition, medicine, diapers, therapy and equipment. Houston physical therapist Laura Martin, who lives near the Texas Medical Center, has been volunteering for Carrie's Heart since she attended an organization fundraiser in 2010.
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