Manos Unidas International- Disability Inclusion

VISION

Our vision is to empower global communities to achieve equitable inclusion of children and youth with disabilities. 

Description

Manos Unidas International, is a U.S. based federally recognized non-profit with 501c3 status and a Washington state charity. MUI's featured program, “Ayllu”, translated as “community” in Peru’s Quechua language, is a strategic program designed to create broad systematic change to the learning outcomes and community participation of children with disabilities across marginalized Latinx communities in the United States through a proprietary cloud-based video curriculum and culturally tailored interventions.

Our goal is to improve access to evidence-based information, training and advocacy tools for Latinx families to strengthen the relationship between home, school and the community.
Manos Unidas recognizes families as key educators in the lifespan of their children. We are working diligently to improve access to proven strategies and tools to increase children's learning outcomes, primarily in the early stages of development. We are leveraging technology and virtual networks to build a strong learning community of families, caregivers, and educators. 

Ayllu Video Library

Ayllu’s cloud-based video curriculum is a culturally tailored product committed to educating, training and empowering families and community professionals, through evidence-based strategies, information and advocacy resources. 

Ayllu's video curriculum library project has been in the works since the beginning of 2023, collaborating with a handful of expert content contributors across the United States. Funded by the Dan Thompson Memorial grant through the Department of Developmental Disabilities Association of Washington state, Manos Unidas International was awarded $170,000 to produce video curriculum courses in Spanish to educate, train and inform Hispanic families with children with disabilities. We are honored to work with may specialists in their fields and help them organize and map out their expert knowledge for our courses. 

We are pleased to share our course overview with you and the names of our incredible contributors.

Check out https://www.aylluglobal.com/ to see more courses. 

Ayllu Hogar:A Bridge for the Latino community

This year's Give Big campaign is raising funds to support "Ayllu Hogar",  our free Home Based Services program offering relationship-based support to families with children 0-5 years old with suspected developmental delay and/or disability diagnosis in North King County, WA. Funded by Best Starts for Kids of King County, Ayllu’s home based services program, led by Latina promotoras comunitarias (community navigators) provides information, education and training resources to families and caregivers with the objective of kindergarten readiness.

Our program supports families in North King county (Bothell, Kenmore, Woodinville, shoreline, Lake Forest Park and parts of Kirkland) at any stage from birth to kindergarten through a family centered plan with personalized goals for each family.  

Our services support families who suspect developmental delay in their child, have received a recent disability diagnosis,  or experience debilitating health conditions affecting the child's quality of life. 

Our services are offered in Spanish and English and are culturally adapted for the Latino community

[History]

MUI has a unique history of global impact and influence. Founded in 2014 by Celeste Marion, her father and a friend, MUI was originally created as a fundraising arm for Manos Unidas Peru, a Peruvian-based non-profit school for special education (2007-2020). MUP was founded by Celeste and a Peruvian school teacher in Cusco, Peru.  From 2015 - 2019 MUI operated with a 10+  person board of directors chaired by Lawson Baker and served as the backbone for Manos Unidas Peru’s programs, governance and financial activity as the Peruvian organization developed and grew its impact. MUI was well known for its Peruvian -themed auction galas and dynamic board members who were personally committed to the mission and beneficiaries. 

In 2020, Manos Unidas launched its own program: Ayllu Global, dedicated to improving the lives of children with disabilities beyond Manos Unidas Peru, broadly expanding its reach to Spanish speaking communities throughout the Americas using innovative education, technology and tools to reach families and educators

Recognition

Manos Unidas recognizes its incredible board members for their dedication: Board Chair Christine Edwards, Cheryl Kerfeld, Joe Brazier, David Marion, Andrea Kadlec as well as our incredible advisors Catalina Angel, Mapy Chavez, Andrew Gardner and Alison Moors-lipshin as well as our incredible promotoras comunitarias (family navigators) in the community