february newsletter 2009 community catalysts of california Employee Anniversaries Our sincerest apology to Nicole Barber, Regional Manager of North Valley for not including her name on the James A. Jenkins’ Award of Excellence for 2008 Honorable Mentions announcement sent out last month. She was nominated by her staff for her excellent leadership and hard work. Congratulations and thank you for your dedication to Community Catalysts of California. 12 years Dwight Mahabir - MDO 9 years Evelyn Parchman - STK 6 years Patsy Allen - UK 5 years Jeannie Leauma - SAL 3 years Melissa Downs - CORP Cecilia Saucedo - SAL 2 years Eunice Galapon - CORP Alejandra Gonzalez - EC Alex Gonzalez - EC Elisha Kee - UK Rodrigo Ruiz - UK Vanessa Salazar - MCD Georgette Solorzano - FSO Josue Valencia - MCD Simone Vosburg - STK 1 year Teresa Grenawalt - SM Annette Myers-Collier - FSO Denise Parga - MCD Latika Wilson - RH Janice Duncan - SC Southern California san marcos San Marcos rings in the New Year with new staff and some position changes for current staff. Welcome new staff: Floretta Castro as SL DSA, Femy Cordero as IL DSA, Luke Ricards as SL Personal Attendant, and Hisako Miyabayashi as SE Employment Coordinator. We would also like to congratulate Krista Hribar who will be moving up as an Employment Specialist. Caryn Morris will be moving from the SL team to the SE team as an Employment Coordinator. Congratulations to Keltoum Cherki, IL DSS, who not only has been doing a fantastic job of completing all of her IL hours for the last 9 months, but who has recently gone back to school to study Law. With the New Year has come New Jobs! Even with the high unemployment rate this economy is facing, the SE team has gotten several job placements. Congratulations to our Employment Specialists Kasey Rabin and Margie White for their January placements. Client Kyle B. was recently hired by Rolando College to work in their library. Carla G. has been hired at the Rubin H. Fleet Science Center and Akash B. will be working at Von’s. On February 3rd our clients had a date with Mickey and his friends at Disneyland. We had over 50 clients and staff on this years trip! They had a fantastic time and the weather was sunny and warm. Kathy N. and Jeffrey S. became close friends with Goofy. Carol F. enjoyed cruising around in her convertible car. Caroline, Robin and Susan spent time at Peter Pan’s house where they met with Wendy, Peter and the gang. A special thanks to the staff who dedicated their time to this trip. We could not pull this off without your help and support. redwood coast ukiah January was a very mellow month. Everyone spent time winding down from the holidays. The weather has been surprisingly sunny for January and we are all taking advantage and spending more time outside. Paul S., Eddie R., Diana D., and Harry H. have been participating in Special Olympics basketball. They all say they love shooting hoops!! Randy D. enjoys watching the basketball games and cheering for his friends. David S., Darryl C., and Eddie R. went to Lake County to surprise an old friend. After the visit they all went to a nice Mexican restaurant that overlooked the lake. They can’t wait to go back. People First threw a Pajama Jam dance party at the Regional Center. It was a very casual and relaxed event - just what everyone needed!! SLS consumer K.W. had a fall this month and was in a lot of pain. We wish him a speedy recovery. College classes started this month. Everyone is excited (especially about the new music class) and ready to learn! The Plum House consumers enjoyed a day of shopping and relaxing at the beach in Fort Bragg. Happy Birthday to Valerie Hammang and Elisha Kee. modesto & consumer anniversaries Congratulations to Patty Hazen for getting the P.R.I.D.E. award for January. You deserve it for all your hard work and commitment to Community Catalysts of California The Modesto Office welcomes new DSA Jenny Chandar. Also, welcome back Claudia! Claudia was on vacation for a month. She enjoyed some quality time with her family, especially her daughter. The Modesto Office welcomes new consumers Steve M., Kim and Allen H. as new consumers. Kim and Allen were transferred from Merced where they were consumers with Community Catalysts of California. We are happy to have them! In an effort to make the Disneyland trip a reality, our Advisory committee is selling See’s candy bars. Christina O. has some new fundraisers brewing. Can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next! Consumer Anniversaries 17 years Patricia B. - FSO 15 years Ron A. - SD 14 years Melissa B. - SM Tim C. - FSO Nick A. - FSO 12 years Rosalee P. - FSO Teresa T. - SD Pheuy P. - FSO 10 years Brandy A. - SC Mai Y. - FSO 6 years Jamie M. - SC Rosalina O. - SAL 5 years Hailman W. - STK Aaron M. - STL Lori G. - STK Nancy B. - STK 4 years Florendo S. - SAL Stanley J. - STK 3 years Edwin R. - UK Melissa W. - SAL Tim C. - SD Lucia R. - FSO Francisco V. - SAL Eugene H. - SAL 2 years Steven H. - SC Jennifer H. - SC Adrian C. - SM Cindy H. - FSO Mata A. - SAL Brian S. - FSO Cynthia A. - FSO Alexander T. - PH Jessica D. - SC 1 year Puneet B. - SM Huey L. - SC Kam L. - SC Christina P. - SC Central Valley merced & fresno merced Merced consumers went on a trip to the Casino and had a great time. They also went to John’s Incredible Pizza and really enjoyed playing the games and eating pizza. Congratulations to Janice C. who has been with us for five years. She was really excited when she received her certificate and pin. Congratulations to our Office Assistant Sylvia Ruiz-Ortiz who was the recipient of the P.R.I.D.E. Award of the Year 2008. Merced would like to thank Sylvia for all her hard work, dedication and patience. They would also like her to know that without her the Merced Office would not run as smoothly and efficiently. fresno A friend of consumer Gail L. just came back from Iraq. Welcome back and thank you for your service! laughter is the best medicine living healthy working well® Regardless of who you are or what you do, chances are you spend a lot of time racing the clock, worrying about getting everything done and feeling out of control. Most people don’t have a good handle on their stress. They focus on the unpleasant, and usually unexpected things that happen daily. That’s not just stress, it’s life. Humor Makes Life Easier There is a major difference between: stressors - those things that happen every day that have the potential for making us angry, frustrated and hurt - and • stress, the way we choose to respond to these stressors. Each of us makes a choice about how situations will affect us and our day. • Humor can be a powerful and effective mechanism for coping with stress, especially when combined with other means of stress reduction. The real power of humor and laughter shows up when you learn to use it under stress. It keeps things in perspective, helps dispel negative emotions, and puts you in a frame of mind to better cope with the situation. Combining stress management techniques with a humorous outlook on life won’t make you stress-proof, but it can make the bad things easier to endure. If you’re willing to laugh at the little disasters in life, you’ll find that other areas of your life will also become easier. Laughter, especially when you laugh at yourself, does many important things: It empowers you. When you laugh at your setbacks, you no longer feel sorry for yourself. You feel uplifted and encouraged.• It helps you communicate more effectively.• It makes you more likeable.• It helps you cope. “Nothing erases unpleasant thoughts more effectively than concentration on pleasant ones.” (Hans Selye, stress • researcher) It provides perspective by removing you from your problems. Everyone makes mistakes, and we need to remember that, ‘I may not be • totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent.’ (Ashleigh Brilliant) People tend to be less threatened by you.• Using Humor Effectively You may agree that laughing will help with stress but agreeing with this doesn’t always help when the kids fight, miss the bus, and leave you late for work. To use humor effectively to cope with stress, you need to understand your own humor and how willing you are to laugh, have a humor plan, and practice using humor skills until they are comfortable. Everyone has his or her own sense of humor. If you’re not attuned to yours, you’ll end up missing many opportunities to use humor skills to deal with life’s little stressors. Being an adult is serious business, but so many people have lost the sheer capacity for fun, joy, and laughter. Even when the opportunity is there, we miss it. Many adults have this problem that can be called “humor impairment.” Simply defined, it means the inability to find humor even in situations that are funny to most people. Stress can cause humor impairment. Fortunately, it is possible to change. Finding the Funny in Life You don’t have to laugh out loud to find something funny, but you do need to recognize the types of humor you will be able to use most effectively to manage stress. Do you like slapstick humor or verbal humor? Do you understand what kinds of humor offend you? Do you like jokes that focus on things you have in common with the comedian? Do you like humor built on current events? Do you like wordplay and puns? Do you like to see props and gimmicks? Do you find humor in things that weren’t necessarily meant to be funny? Answering these questions will help you identify what humor to seek to help reduce stress and have more fun in life. Making a Humor Plan You’ll need a plan to deal with your daily stressors. First, make a list of all the things that happen regularly that almost always set off your stress response. Make your list as specific and detailed as possible. Things you might include are: people, habits, personality quirks, situations, things, and events. Write these things down so you have a good idea of the types of things you need to combat with humor. You’ll also need to make a “happy” list - anything that makes you happy or makes you laugh. When you have to deal with one of your stressors, combat it with your tools for humor. Adding Humor to Your Life You’ll always have stress in your life. The key to using humor to deal effectively with stress is to put more humor in your life. If you’re surrounded by things that make you laugh, they can make the bad things easier to take. If you savor humor, it can be a lifesaver. Don’t take life too seriously. Getting Help If you would like more information, you can call our Employee Assistance Program toll-free number 800-523-5668. © 2009 Magellan Health Services Inc. Consumer Catalysts of the Month February 2009 Paul Mello Patricia Hazen Community Catalysts of California is proud to announce that Patricia Hazen was selected to receive the Catalyst P.R.I.D.E. Award~Leading by Example for January 2009. Patricia has been with Community Catalysts of California for a little over 5 years as a House Manager for the Modesto office. Patricia is being recognized for her dependability and consistently excellent job performance. She is very organized, thorough and timely with her paperwork. She is also self motivated and is someone that staff can look to for support and leadership. She is truly committed to her consumers and helping them to achieve their goals. It is evident that in her work, she practices the 5 Core Values: Resourcefulness, Empathy, Trust, Compassion and Respect. Patricia volunteers for many activities with our consumers and is almost always our top seller when it comes to fundraisers for CAC. She is an overall great asset to the Modesto team! We appreciate the great service and dedication to the vision of Community Catalysts of California that Patricia has provided and would like to recognize her for her hard work and for Leading by Example. Paul has been with Community Catalysts of California in the Supported Living Program in the Fresno area since May of 2006. He has accomplished a lot since he first started. Paul lives in a one bedroom apartment independently with the support of his staff. He has learned to communicate effectively and express his needs and is a polite, happy-go-lucky gentleman. Paul has also learned how to manage his money well. He purchased a keyboard, a digital camera with a recorder, a stereo that came with a remote control and a scanner. Paul likes to take pictures and download music behind them. He also enjoys recycling, bowling and playing his keyboard. Another area where Paul has grown is in building relationships. He is playing an active part in the community, and respects others and enjoys helping people. All of these accomplishments in Paul’s life is why he has been chosen as Community Catalysts of California’s Consumer of the Month for February 2009! Congratulations Paul! Thanks for Leading Us In the Right Direction!