{"id":204214,"date":"2026-03-24T18:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204214\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T18:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T18:08:08","slug":"kids-with-special-needs-get-chance-to-enjoy-what-sometimes-we-take-for-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204214\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids with special needs get \u2018chance to enjoy what sometimes we take for granted\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. \u2014 A group of kids with special needs defied limitations to have fun on a sunny Tuesday in Miami Beach with the help of the Nicklaus Children\u2019s Hospital\u2019s Ventilation Assisted Children\u2019s Center Camp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Michelle Croce, a mother from New York, said her son Gavin looks forward to the fun more than he does Christmas week. And for a boy who loves Christmas, that\u2019s a lot. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would never be able to tell Gavin that we can\u2019t come, so we drive about 22.5 – 23 hours to get here,\u201d Croce said. <\/p>\n

The VACC camp hosts a free week-long overnight adventure for minors who depend on a tracheostomy ventilator, C-PAP, BiPAP, or oxygen support.<\/p>\n

\"\"FUN IN THE SUN: Dr. Moises Simpser VACC Camp participants have fun on the beach on Tuesday in Miami Beach. <\/p>\n

Dr. Maria Franco, the VACC camp\u2019s director and pediatric pulmonologist, said the kids travel from all over to participate. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis camp is open to everybody who wants to come, and it\u2019s for free for the whole family … and they feel the difference, they feel care, not only care, but they can be like anybody else,\u201d Franco said. <\/p>\n

The program includes swimming, field trips, entertainment, games, \u201cfree play,\u201d and other activities for the children to work on social skills. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing as a mom just to see this,\u201d Croce said. <\/p>\n

\"\"BEACH DAY FUN: Dr. Moises Simpser VACC Camp participants have fun on the beach on Tuesday in Miami Beach. <\/p>\n

Victor White, Miami Beach Fire Rescue\u2019s division training chief, was part of the children\u2019s support team. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been involved for over 20 years,\u201d White said. <\/p>\n

Yanisha Plante was with her three-year-old son Jahnai, who was playing in the water. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was so happy when they told me that they would have firefighters here, to be able to bring him in the water, because he is not used to this,\u201d Plante said. \u201cSo, every time I took him to the beach, he had to play in the sand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"SPRING CAMP: Dr. Moises Simpser VACC Camp participants have fun on the beach on Tuesday in Miami Beach. <\/p>\n

This is the camp\u2019s 40th year. White said that for as long as he has been involved, it has gotten better and better every year. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt started … by laying sheets of plywood to help the wheelchairs come out, to getting them in the water and giving them a chance to enjoy what sometimes we take for granted,\u201d White said. <\/p>\n

For more information about how to donate, volunteer, or participate as a camper, visit this page<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI BEACH, Fla. \u2014 A group of kids with special needs defied limitations to have fun on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-204214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}