march newsletter 2009 community catalysts of california Community Catalysts of California recently sent out a “Survival Survey” for 2009. To read the results, go to www.communitycatalystscalifornia.org and click on the link under “Announcements”. Thank you to everyone who participated! Leadership & Planning Session Community Catalysts of California Senior Staff Members and Board of Directors met for a planning session two weekends ago (February 27 & 28) to discuss recent actions by the State. The Leadership and Governance group discussed the details of the State’s revised 2009-10 budget and its effects on Community Catalysts and its consumers. The Board asked staff to communicate directly with all employees, consumers and other stakeholders: seek their input and develop a plan of action for the coming year. This is a challenging time for our organization. But, with planning, communication, and cooperation we can continue to fulfill our mission for another 25 years. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have suggestions or questions. My email is jimjenkins@communitycatalysts.net. If you would like to be on our email list for news items and other information, please send an email to Jayme Dix, HR Assistant at jaymedix@communitycatalysts.net. Thank you again for your support and cooperation, Jim Jenkins, CEO employee anniversaries 13 years Sherie Kainz - SD 8 years Stephanie Hernandez - MCD 3 years Beth Marks - SD 2 years Media Battou - SD Irma Manjarrez - EC Meg Salinas - VIS Carmen Valenzuela - SC 1 Year Jessica Ramos - STK Hugo Sanchez - FSO Southern California San Diego • San Marcos • El Centro san diego Congratulations are in order for our awesome job developers in San Diego! Kyle B. was placed at the San Diego City Library and Carla G. has been placed at the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center. Great job everyone! As the programs continue to grow, we would like to give a warm welcome to our newest consumers that are in job development: Bonnie B., Jesus V. and Johnathan E. We would also like to welcome our newest Employment Coordinator, Tanya Diaz. She has been hired to support the growth of the programs. Congratulations to Case Manager, Jennifer Strauss. She will now act as the Coffee Cart Manager. She will primarily be working behind the scenes by purchasing supplies, crunching numbers and reviewing inventory. san Marcos Congratulations to our awesome job developers in the San Marcos Office! With perseverance, Akash B. was hired at Vons and Lena S. was hired at Albertson’s. We would like to welcome our newest SL consumer, Debbie H. and IL consumers Akash B. and Cristal A. We are very excited to be working with you! El Centro The El Centro advisory group had a wonderful Valentine’s Day Party at a consumer’s home. We celebrated with a lot of food and dancing. We also raised funds by selling teddy bears and flowers for our upcoming trip to Disneyland in April. The El Centro office continues to grow the programs and would like to welcome our newest consumers John R. who will attending our Day Program and Sherie D. and Scott W. who will receive services from our Independent Living Program. Central Valley Fresno Fresno Many thanks to staff for assisting consumer Paul M. with his move to another apartment. His new residence will be more cost efficient for Paul. He has received his keys and is looking forward to having a house warming gathering! We would like to welcome new hire Joe Raygosa to the Social Recreation program. We would also like to welcome new DSA’s Susan Lutz, Carol Aragon, Dawn Lampley, Charity Alberty, and Daviann Bradley to the team! Glad to have you all on board! Wendy, Pebbles, Laura, Sylvia, and Shelley had a wonderful lunch at the Olive Garden restaurant to celebrate Sylvia Ruiz-Ortiz receiving the P.R.I.D.E. Award of the Year 2008. Congratulations again Sylvia and thank you for all that you do. January 24th and 25th, consumers went to Disneyland for our Annual Trip. Seventeen consumers and five staff attended. Consumers had a great time riding various rides. They enjoyed Finding Nemo, Autotopia, and various other rides. It turned out to be our best trip ever! On Valentine’s Day, Program Leader Elizabeth Espinoza got married! They had a beautiful ceremony and celebrated with friends and family, including many people from the office! Alex Cervantes, Social Rec. Aide, even caught the bouquet!! Congratulations and best wishes for all that is to come! CV continued... Merced • and vegas?! Merced Merced staff had their Semi Annual Safety Meeting with The Highway Patrol. Officer Shane Ferierra spoke to staff on various subjects such as Speeding, Fog, and New Law changes for 2009. Thank you Officer Ferierra! Merced Social Recreation went to Disneyland this month. The group enjoyed riding the many rides, meeting the many characters and taking pictures. A great time was had by all! Our SLS consumer Casey F. came along on the trip and joined in on all the fun! Merced Social Recreation also enjoyed the Valentine’s Dance hosted by Parks and Recreation. They danced the night away, enjoyed yummy snacks and won prizes. Merced had an awesome February! Wendy forkas, coo goes to vegas!! Wendy went to Vegas for a weekend in February to support her daughter Allyson who was cheering with her team Stampede in JAMZ Cheer National competition. They got 4th place! Wendy survived as a Team Parent (barely) and although her daughter brought home a trophy, all Wendy brought home was a sinus infection!! Redwood Coast Ukiah Ukiah Many of the Redwood Coast consumers and staff attended a Valentine’s Dance held at the Ukiah Senior center. Paul S., Eddie R. and Darryl C. all won prizes in the raffle. SLS consumers Albert and Marie had a romantic dinner at Club Calpella on Valentine’s Day. Eddie R. and Paul S. were invited to a dinner party at friends Stephen and Lloyd’s house. They had a delicious spaghetti dinner and enjoyed each others company. February 27th was the Human Race fundraiser kick off event. Regional Manager JoAnn Holliday and staff Karen Garcia and Belinda Thomas attended with Consumers Darryl C. and Diana D. They had door prizes, snacks, live music, and an auction. They all had a great time. We are hoping to raise a lot of money for our advisory committee this year! Happy Birthday to Allison J. and David S. consumer anniversaries 19 years Beverly B. - SM 17 years Rosa A. - EC 14 years Riley N. - STK 13 years Gylda G. - EC Denise L. - EC 12 Years Charles P. - FSO 11 Years Patrick M. - VIS Wayne H. - SM 10 Years Michael P. - SC David C. - SC Jason B. - FSO Leeroy B. - EC 7 Years Donald P . -STK Richard W. - MCD Victor M . -SAL Alex L. - SC 6 Years Bonnie H. - SD 5 Years Aletha R. - STK Long N. - SAL Carolyn B. - SM 4 Years Yvonne R. - FSO Rueben O. - SAL Laura B. - FSO Barbara C. - FSO 3 Years Omar V. - SAL Blia V. - FSO Randy R. - SAL Kimberly T. - SAL Veronica J. - FSO Pao L. - FSO Marcus O. - FSO Miguel S. - SAL 2 Years Maria Luisa S. - SAL Tomas S. - SAL David G. - MCD 1 Year Liberty M. - EC Alexis H. - SD Matthew S. - SD Brandi C. - SD Gregory S. - SD Rosalind H. - SD Anthong B. - SD Tammy V. - MDO Kenneth L. - MCD Silvia C. - MCD Travis B. - MDO Gregorio A. - SD North Valley Modesto Modesto In January, staff Michelle Oletta and Dwight Mahabir took Consumers Travis B. and Cheneye W. to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They packed a lunch, toured the Aquarium and spent the day in beautiful Monterey. They all had a great time! Congratulations to Modesto staff Jessica Rodriguez who took and passed the First Aid and CPR instructor courses. She will be our new instructor for the North Valley area. Good job, Jessica! We are looking forward to seeing our very own, very talented staff member Dwight Mahabir performing in a “One Man Show” starting April 17 and running through May 3rd at the TOP’s Little Opera Hall in downtown Modesto. Dwight will star in “Looking Over The President’s Shoulder” by James Still. He will be playing the part of Alonzo Fields, Chief butler in the White House for 21 years. Break a leg, Dwight! Greening the rest of the office You’re already doing your part to be “green” at the office by printing on both sides of the paper, recycling and steering clear of bottled water. Now what can you do to inspire your less-green co-workers? Tips from Tim Sanders, author of Saving the World at Work: Share a document by • emailing it or putting it on a USB drive for someone, rather than printing. Install a water filter on the • office kitchen sink to cut back on the need for bottled water. Make signs that say “Think • Before You Print” and post them near office copiers. Leave your name and email address in case anyone has a question. (Check with the boss first before posting the signs.) Discourage people from • printing email by adding this note beneath your signature: “ Please consider the environment before printing this email.” Before sending your PDF, • run it through www.greenpdf. com. It adds a pop-up box asking the recipient not to print unless necessary. Ask a colleague in finance• to help calculate how much savings the company will gain by reducing waste. Show the results to your manager and ask whether you can share them company wide. You might even earn “unique recognition for making a difference as you help the company save a dollar,” Sanders says. Put a fun spin on it. • For example, visitors at TRIRIGA, an enterprise software company in Las Vegas, won’t find plastic foam or paper cups in the kitchen, but a whimsical assortment of mugs and china cups. -Adapted from “Cultivating a Green Focus Among Your Office Mates,” Elizabeth Garone, The Wall Street Journal Making Healthy Eating a Family Goal magellan health services Family meals are a comforting ritual for both parents and kids. Children like the predictability of family meals and parents get a chance to catch up with their kids. Kids who take part in regular family meals are also: . more likely to eat fruits, vegetables and grains . less likely to snack on unhealthy foods . less likely to use drugs or alcohol and are more likely to perform better in school.* What counts as a family meal? Any time you and your family eat together — whether it’s takeout food or a home-cooked meal with all the trimmings. Strive for nutritious food and a time when everyone can be there. This may mean eating dinner a little later to accommodate a child who’s at sports practice or setting aside time on the weekend, when everyone’s time may be more flexible. Be a Role Model Kids will follow the lead of the adults they see every day. By eating fruits and vegetables, and not overindulging in the less nutritious stuff, you’ll be sending the right message without saying a word! Another way to be a good role model is to limit portions and not overeat. At the table, talk about being full. You might say, “This is delicious, but I’m full, so I’m going to stop eating.” Similarly, parents who are always dieting or complaining about their bodies may foster these same negative feelings in their kids. Don’t Battle Over Food Well-intentioned parents might find themselves bargaining or bribing kids to eat healthy foods. A better strategy is to give kids some control as to what they eat (while you control what healthy foods they have access to). Here are some other helpful ideas: . Establish a predictable meal schedule. Kids and adults alike are less prone to eat mindlessly, if they know when to expect the next meal or snack. . Don’t force kids to clean their plates. Doing so teaches kids to override feelings of fullness. . Avoid using dessert as a bribe for eating their meal. And, don’t use food as a way of showing love. . Encourage children to try at least one bite of something new. Get Kids Involved Most kids enjoy deciding what to make for their lunch or dinner. Some might even want to help shop for ingredients and prepare the meal. Involving kids at a young age teaches them how to make healthy food selections when they’re out on their own. In the kitchen, select age-appropriate tasks so your child can play a part without getting injured or feeling overwhelmed. And at the end of the meal, don’t forget to praise the chef! For more information on positive parenting, log on to www.MagellanHealth.com/member or call your Employee Assistance Program toll-free number (800) 523-5668. *National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. (2006). Stop sneaky calories in their tracks! It’s the little nibbling throughout the day that adds up. Can you relate to any of these situations? You drink the last sips of orange juice left in • the carton (Calories: 27; 7 minutes walking) One bite-size Snickers bar isn’t much. • (Calories: 60; 15 minutes walking) You eat a handful of potato chips, about eight • (Calories: 105; 26 minutes walking) You eat your child’s last ten French fries. • (Calories: 158; 40 minutes walking) Talk about sneaky! In these four situations, 350 calories were added to your daily count and it would take 88 minutes to walk them off!! Clarissa Thomas Community Catalysts of California is proud to announce that Clarissa Thomas was selected to receive the Catalyst P.R.I.D.E. Award~Leading by Example for February 2009. Clarissa has been with Community Catalysts of California for a little over two years as a Direct Service Aide for the Plum House. Clarissa was recognized for being self-motivated, an excellent problem solver and an all around great leader. Clarissa started working at the Plum House shortly after Community Catalysts of California began providing service there. At the time she did not have much experience but has since truly become the anchor for the house, being the go-to person for any situation from plumbing to providing service to the consumers. She serves as a solid support for the consumers and staff even in the midst of the chaos of the house. Clarissa is a very compassionate person and a great listener, skills that she excersizes on a regular basis in her work. Although initially very shy, she has come out of her shell and stepped up into her role as a leader. She is now confident in her communication to her supervisor and staff, which has made a very positive impact on the house as a whole. Clarissa now serves as the main trainer for new staff because she is dependable, supportive and professional. Her attention to how her actions impact others is what makes her such a great asset to the Plum House and Community Catalysts of California. We appreciate the great service and dedication to the vision of Community Catalysts of California that Clarissa has provided and would like to recognize her for her hard work and for Leading by Example. Thanks for Leading Us In the Right Direction! Consumer Catalysts of the Month March 2009 Jean Major Jean has been with Community Catalysts of California for 3½ years in our Supported Living Program in Ukiah. She used to live at the Developmental Center and has since come a long way. Jean now lives in her own apartment and has overcome many obstacles in her life which in the past had prevented her from living independently in the community. Jean has also lost a lot of weight and improved her health. She has overcome major fears regarding doctors. She is now a calm and well rounded person. Although Jean has a limited verbal vocabulary, she is great at making herself understood. She has a mischievous sense of humor and has a lot of fun teasing the staff. Jean’s warm smile can melt your heart and she has a way of charming you the moment she meets you. Jean is self assured and confident in every endeavor. She enjoys the outdoors, spending time with her friends and rearranging her house. All of these accomplishments since Jean has been in our program are just a few of the many reasons why she has been chosen as Community Catalysts of California’s Consumer of the Month for March! Congratulations Jean!