October News Community Catalysts of California 2005 Butterfly Club Fundraising Get ready for the Butterfly Club Fundraising event. This year it has been decided that there are going to be two types of fundraisers. The first is the annual See’s Candies fundraiser and the second, will be the Current Fundraiser Catalog. The Current Fundraiser also has an online program, which offers a hassle-free fundraiser encourages your supporters to shop online! This simple program allows your group to raise funds year-round, anywhere in the United States at www.currentfun.com! This will run along with our annual See’s Candies fundraising. We will start our fundraising soon so everyone can get their orders by the holidays. Keep an eye out for more information coming your way. Consumer Catalysts Anniversaries Mark H- San Diego ...................................................18 years Martin P- San Diego ..................................................15 years Chris A-San Diego.....................................................13 years Jack B- San Diego.......................................................13 years Janice P- San Diego....................................................11 years Ramiro S- Fresno........................................................11 years Solia Y-Fresno.............................................................9 years Vicki D- Merced...........................................................8 years Rebecca C-Fresno........................................................7 years Earl L- Santa Clara.......................................................7 years Jeffrey S-Santa Clara....................................................7 years Douglas R- San Diego..................................................6 years Antonio B- Modesto......................................................5 years Anthony B- Monterey....................................................4 years John R- Coalinga...........................................................4 years Noemi G-Monterey.......................................................3 years Tracy M-Stockton........................................................3 years Jolette R- Merced..........................................................3 years Angela A- Fresno...........................................................2 years Brian E- Merced...........................................................2 years Maryann S- Stockton....................................................2 years Lucinda J- Merced..........................................................1 year Award of Excellence It’s That Time Again Omar Almaguer has been with Community Catalysts of California for twelve years and holds the Program Leader position in the El Centro office. Omar started with the company as a coach and then was promoted up to the Program Leader position. Omar has a long history of commitment to our consumers and our services. He helped create the Consumer Catalysts of the Month recognition through his idea and initiative. He saw it important to involve our consumers monthly in our newsletters to communicate their interests and successes to other staff and consumers. Staff and peers describe Omar as supportive, respectful and open— but most of all — as a genuinely nice and helpful person and leader. Omar is a wonderful example of all the things Community Catalysts of California values: Compassion, Respect, Trustworthy, and Re- sourceful. Omar is also very active in the Consumer Advisory Committee and attends the majority, if not all, of the activities. He is a true advocate for the consumers. Omar also can always be counted on to assist with staff and consumer needs and often works directly with consum- ers to assure their needs are being met. Omar is not only generous with his time for our consumers and staff but also to support other community activities that serve people with special needs outside of our organization. Omar has participated in a MDA fundraiser where he raised $480 for the cause. This is just one example of how Omar goes the extra mile in being an exem- plary role model as a leader. Omar is very respected by his staff and can always be counted on to support them and the consumers. Thus, it is only fitting that he be recognized for his many years of service, dedication and for being a great leader! Omar Almaguer is clearly a Model of Excellence! September 2005 Ukiah Passes CARF! Fresno Adds On To Staff Welcome to our newest coach Stephanie Morgan. Our raffle prize winner at our safety meeting for September was Laura Johnson. Our consumers are going to attend the big Fresno Fair. They also have a Halloween party planned sometime this month. Paul R. Started working at the Ukiah Natural Foods four days a week. He works in the Grocery Department. Way to go Paul! Randy just came back from 5 days in Disneyland. He is ready to go on another trip. Randy said, “To Chicago next”. Help us welcome our new consumer, Jean M. She loves her new place. Nancy P. Was our Safety winner for this month. Her prize was a movie pass. Enjoy!! During our staff meeting today, Jo Ann thanked all our staff for the hard work for the CARF review. Great Job and great outcome. The surveyors noted that it was very evident that our staff respected our consumers and their choices. Great Job Ukiah! Consumer Randy Stockton Celebrates! The ILS program celebrates consumer birthdays: Darren D. Jerry B. Vince H Happy Birthday to Everyone! And Hailman W. celebrated his native roots at the 25th annual Pow Wow held at University of the Pacific on September 4, 2005. Stockton also celebrates a successful CARF survey! Way to go Stockton! San Diego Thinking about the Holidays The San Diego office welcomes our new employee Theresa Lastrilla to our IL and SE teams. After much searching and planning. We are moving...across the hall. We will be keeping the same address and phone numbers. San Diego Advisory groups will be holding a fundraiser at Rubios to raise money for our next field trip. Consumer Rona Y. played in her first softball game with Special Olympics. Her coach Jenna said she is a “natural”. Consumer Paula S. has enrolled in a typing class with the hopes of improving her typing so she can take a typing test. North County Peoples First is off to a good start. In the past, if consumers wanted to participate they had to take a long bus ride to San Diego. Carol F., a consumer stood up and advocated for a good location for the group to meet. Way to go Carol!! Did you realize the holidays are coming? Here in San Diego, we do. We already have our holiday party planned. A date has been set for November 30th from 11-2 p.m. The place has been chosen (Marie Calendars). We have even found our Elf. Looking forward to seeing Hillary in her elf hat. Coalinga Has Fun! This month there were two new staff members added to the Coalinga Office. Lynette Taylor who is a new Coach and Irazema Garza the new Office Assistant. Catalysts Anniversaries Armando Corona ..............................8 years The staff and consumers went on their annual trip. Stephanie Hernandez.........................5 years This year the trip was to the wonderful world of Disneyland. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Isaisa Lopez......................................5 years Norma Bognuda................................4 years Modesto Prepares for their Event! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Yeah you guessed it. It was CARF! Modesto is happy to report that they all survived the CARF evaluation on September 22nd and 23rd. The evaluation went really well and they appreciate all the extra work and time put in by everyone involved. Their teamwork paid off! They definitely see people breathing a little easier this week. The next few weeks, you will find them focusing on their first North Valley Spotlight dinner. They are looking forward to meeting the Board members from Southern Cal. Just remember, they are novice performers so don’t call the Academy yet! Modesto welcomes new Skills Coach, Laura Behan, who joined Community Catalysts in early September. Laura brings her many years of experience in our field, and they look forward to working with her. Welcome Laura! Philip Henry has safely returned to California. He had a great time during his travels and was a sight for sore eyes when he returned. Carol Uhlenhop and family are getting ready to leave for vacation to Philadelphia and New York next week. They promise to bring back lots of pictures to share. Randy Ray Denton.............................4 years Jennifer Mansfield..............................3 years Margaret Jane Schadeck.....................3 years Patricia Hazen...................................2 years Jo Ann Holliday..................................2 years Cihualpilli Sandoval............................2 years Shankela Gonzalez.............................1 years Nancy Greenwell................................1 years Maria Martin-Savageau......................1 years Santa Clara Says Goodbye The Santa Clara office is sad to for her. Jessica, we are going to announce that Jessica Monska, miss you! Case Manager of 5 years has left the company to relocate. Jessica Announcement: We will be worked well with her consumers selling our calendars this year. and fellow co-workers. Staff Please be on the look out for more gathered for a going away party details. Merced Goes Bonfonte Stephanie Hernandez will be with Community Catalysts for Bonfonte Gardens. They all had a great time. four years. Also Stephanie’s sister had a bouncing baby girl weighing 7lbs 9 ounces. The Shelley Cook and her husband moved into their new home baby’s name is Lillian Lucita this past weekend. Congratulations! Zamora. Martha Castaneda’s mother passed away. We are all sorry Social Recreation staff and for her loss and offer our condolences. consumers went to Gilroy. They stayed the night on Friday and Our winner for the incentive meeting for September was spent the day Saturday at Maria Valencia, Social Recreation Aid. Home Office Congratulates Board Bulletin Stephanie Cornelison, the Graphic O n September 26, 2005, Kevin Casey and his Information Specialist is a proud wife of a wife Diana welcomed baby girl, Courtney Navy SEAL. Her husband recently graduated Lynn Casey in to their family. She was 5 lbs 8 from SQT (SEAL Qualification Training) where ounces. Congratulations Kevin and Diana! he has completed his life long dream of becoming a Navy SEAL. HOOYAH! Community Catalysts of California is excited to announce that Shirley Antonio has been selected as the Star of the Month for September 2005. Shirley is a coach in the Stockton area and has been with Community Catalysts of California for five months. Even though she has only been with the company for a short time she has made an impression that is worth recognizing. Shirley has a true knack for assisting our consumers in very unique ways. She is an artist and when Shirley heard a consumer was moving into his first apartment she went out of her way to make this a special place for the him. She found out that the consumer liked Dolphins and without hesitation painted various portraits of dolphins to help decorate his new apartment. Shirley also took an interest in assisting another consumer with his collection. The consumer collected so many items that he had no more room in his bedroom to store them so he rented a storage unit. Shirley, on her own time, assisted him in taking four truckloads of items to his storage to help him reach his goal. If that wasn’t enough she then got a dinner donated for him to recognize his achievement! Shirley continues to excel in her position and has been dependable and flexible. Shirley is truly a special member of the Catalyst team and is our shining star! Congratulations, Shirley Antonio! Star of the Month-September 2005 Shirley Antonio Consumer Catalysts of the Month- October 2005 Community Catalysts of California is proud to announce that Ronald Ruiz is our Consumer Catalyst of the Month for October 2005. Ronald has been with Community Catalysts of California since 1997. In that time he has made significant progress which has enabled him to give back to the community. In July of 2005 Ronald was nominated to serve as a board member for the San Diego Regional Center representing the Imperial Valley region. Ronald is bilingual and has strong self-advocate skills. Ronald previously served as Peoples First board member for monthly meetings. Ronald’s favorite activity is navigating the internet with his home computer. Community Catalysts of California and the Butterfly Club are very proud of Ronald and his achievements. Great Job!! Congratulations, Ronald Ruiz! Ronald Ruiz Community Catalysts of California 6050 Santo Road, Suite 145 Phone: 858-569-1055 Fax: 858-569-1064 Info@communitycatalysts.org