Michael Paduano has been a Windermere agent for eight years and is also the executive director of the Wellness Foundation Palm Springs (WFPS). WFPS was founded in 2009 to help support already established non-profits.

In support of the teens at SafeHouse of the Desert, Paduano recently organized an outing and a guided tour of The Living Desert, along with lunch at California Pizza Kitchen on El Paseo.

SafeHouse of the Desert is for teens facing difficult situations such as domestic violence, drug addiction, unplanned pregnancies, gender identity issues, suicide and even life on the street. SafeHouse is a center that offers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week care for teens.

Several teens from SafeHouse were accompanied by staff member Brea Evans, volunteer Esmeralda Beclolla, Michael Paduano and WFPS board member Gerald Begy Ph.D.

The teens at SafeHouse got the opportunity to visit The Living Desert with a private group tour with Mike Chedester, Curator of Education. “We started the tour off passing the G-Scale Model Train and off to see the animals of the African wildlife exhibits,” says Paduano. “The Living Desert has worked many years to successfully increase the world’s population of slender-horned gazelles, sand cats, addax and Arabian Oryx. Mike explained some of the several projects The Living Desert is involved with throughout the world helping endangered species and releasing animals back into the wild to increase their population and survival. The Wildlife Hospital was also a very unique opportunity to see the highest quality of care given to animals while allowing visitors the chance to see while visiting,” adds Michael.

While at The Living Desert, many of the youth mentioned that they had never been to The Living Desert before, and many of them had never been to a zoo before.

After The Living Desert the teens received lunch courtesy of California Pizza Kitchen on El Paseo. General Manger, Justin Jordan and Assistant General Manager Bruce Bradford were generous and welcoming hosts for lunch.

The Wellness Foundation Palm Springs 501 ( c ) 3 Tax ID #26-4397952, is located at 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way #203 Palm Springs, CA. 92262. Contact Michael Paduano, Executive Director at 760-831-3761.