Two decades ago, one Inland Empire couple embarked on a mission to provide inclusive support for Hispanic families and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in special education and services.
Today, the Ives Torres Foundation, launched by Isabel and Javier Torres, has become a valuable nonprofit and reliable change agent.
A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation through the Community Impact Fund offers the couple yet another opportunity to broaden their reach.
“The grant helps us provide technology training for Latino families and parents of people with disabilities,” said Javier Torres, Chief Operating Officer of the organization. “It’s given us the opportunity to extend beyond what was initially planned.”
One of the more helpful outcomes of the grant, Torres adds, is that it allowed the nonprofit to assist primarily Spanish-speaking families in better understanding various forms of modern technology—from phone apps to navigating through online meeting spaces.
“Sometimes in the community there is a fear of apps and such, so we help with that so they can use that benefit,” he said. “For example, these programs help students so they can attend education plans at school, especially participation in something like Zoom meetings.”
“Oftentimes, people are afraid to move from one ‘place’ to another for fear of being targeted as undocumented, even though many of them are documented,” he added. “They may not want to participate in other activities at the school or the educational plans. So, something like Zoom gives them the ability to join those important meetings.”
The duo originally launched the nonprofit under a different name, Padre con Poder, which operated as a support group. Years later, after some pandemic hurdles, the organization became a nonprofit named after their son, Ives, who has Down Syndrome.
Helping other parents and families connect with services and support has always been in the forefront.
“When we started this journey, it was very complicated,” Javier Torres said. “There was not a lot of information in Spanish. We started working on understanding about disabilities and the system. And in the system, we found a lot of gaps, especially for Spanish-speaking families. Even though there are a lot of Spanish-speaking families in California, there are not a lot of services that operate in the Spanish.”
The couple wanted to bridge that gap.
“We wanted to bring more information to the community,” Torres said. “So, they don’t suffer the same thing we were suffering because of lack of information.”
The organization now reaches about 5,000 families in the area.
“One of the unique things that we do is workshops on different topics for parents,” said Isabel Torres. “Some of these are about disabilities. We also have support groups for families because they need that, too. We also have gatherings to promote the inclusion and the awareness of the disability.”
Another standout here is how the nonprofit equips parents and their loved ones with disabilities with skills and information that stretch beyond tech and education—from health, sports, society acceptance to being an advocate for services and a kind of integration between family, communities, and the workforce.
Community events filter into the mix, too, and the couple encourages locals to stay abreast via the nonprofit’s website.
This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, April, 2026.
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