Ricardo, The Young Man who Inspired Simply Smiles

As we close 2023 and celebrate 20 years of Simply Smiles, I wanted to tell you about the young man who helped to inspire our work. His name is Ricardo.

I think of him often: When a new child comes into our care. When I attend a graduation. When we break ground on a new children’s village. When a child smiles.

In these moments, I feel the enormous impact of his life. It’s because of him that thousands of lives have been changed for the better. And it’s because of him that the next child to enter our care will have a chance at their brightest future.

Ricardo’s cerebral palsy left him unable to walk, with limited speech, and resulted in him growing up at a Casa Hogar group home on a small plot of land off of a dirt road in Mexico. And, he made the world a better place.

In 2002, I was a volunteer where 10-year-old Ricardo was living. The facility was struggling, had limited basic resources, and I became his caretaker because I was able to lift him out of his wheelchair. Over the next few months, he and I bonded in a way I struggle to explain. When I eventually had to go home, I sat on the plane back to Connecticut committed to Ricardo and to the other children at Casa Hogar. Simply Smiles was born.

Decades later, I can hear his laugh, hear him call (yell!) my name, as clearly as if he was once again sitting next to me. I’m grateful for that.

On May 22, 2022, Ricardo passed away. As we welcome new children into our care at the Simply Smiles Children's Village in Oaxaca, Mexico, they will never have the opportunity to know Ricardo. But, with full stomachs, safe, and warm in their beds, with only opportunity in front of them, we'll know it's thanks to Ricardo Parada Martinez.

Thank you, Ricardo.

- Bryan

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