At S.F. Day-Care Center, the Handicapped Bloom

In her first acting part, little Estoria Cherry played a turtle, fastened to a skateboard so she could scoot across the stage.

At the time, she was 3 and cerebral palsy prevented her from standing on her own. But staff at the Whitney Young Child Development Center scripted the turtle character for Estoria because she was so eager to act.

Whitney Young, the city’s only ‘round-the-clock day-care center, puts handicapped and normal children together.

Last year, at age 6, Estoria moved off the stage and in front of a television camera as one of the United Way’s national poster children. Estoria will be featured in several TV commercials with her father.

“I don’t think she realizes her handicap,” said Estoria’s mother, Margie Cherry.

When Cherry brought her daughter to Whitney Young, the girl could hardly stand. Today, she roller-skates with the aid of a walker and plays tennis on regulation courts.

Cherry explained how, for three years, doctors told her Estoria would not live long and even if she did, she would never walk.

But now, “Estoria can help herself, which is something the medical world could not give me,” Cherry said.

In fact, it took some persuading by Whitney Young director Careth Reid before Cherry would let Estoria play on the slide or put on skates.

“It would be fair to say I was overprotective,” Cherry said.

But when she brought Estoria to Whitney Young, the youngster began to bloom.

“They (at Whitney Young) kind of let (the children) find their own space. They let them go to the limit of what they can do,” she said.

Cherry first registered Estoria for non-physical classes such as art and Spanish. Reid convinced the reluctant mother to introduce Estoria to tennis, karate and ballet.

After Estoria’s first day of skating class, Cherry said the girl came home and promptly asked: “Will you buy me some skates of my own?”

“It’s just like a miracle,” Cherry said. “I see her unfolding in so many different ways.”