CATALYSTS News A Community Catalysts of California Newsletter April 2007 CATALYSTS ANNIVERSARIES News from Home The Home office celebrated CEO, Jim Jenkins’ 60th birthday by taking him out to lunch at Black Angus. The staff had a fun time. The Home office and the San Diego office will be celebrating Community Catalysts Day on May 18th, here in San Diego. The planning for the event is in the works and we are looking forward to celebrating the day! Omar Almaguer 14 Years Sandy Caldwell Sharon Heinsma 12 Years Lisa Wark 9 Years Kim Garcia 7 Years Vanessa Orr Martha Castaneda 6 Years Joanne Bradshaw 5 Years Cuauhtemoc Lopez Chia Moua Fabiola Ruiz Samantha Grimes 4 Years 3 Years Christina Offalter Sandra Beas 2 Years Lakisha Holman Robbie Goodwin Nicole Gowan Thomas Mitchell Vivian Perez 1 Year Salinas A lot has been going on in Ukiah. Our Consumer Advisory Committee arranged a 50/50 raffle. Supported Living Staff Joe H. won the raffle and then donated his winnings back to the committee. A pizza party was held for the consumers who sold the most tickets. Everyone had a great time. The consumers at the Plum house really enjoy hosting the consumer advisory committee meetings each month. We had a very successful Pro-Act training. Thank you Philip! David S. had a lot of fun on his trip to Disneyland and California Adventure. He met Community Catalysts consumers and staff from Stockton during his 3 day stay. His favorite ride was Space Mountain. No ride was too advanced for David – the scarier the better. Darryl C. is attending a Wildlife Film Series that is put on by the Ukiah Chamber of Commerce. There is music, food, and film. Darryl and his staff are enjoying the series very much. Harry H. from the Plum House and David S. have a weekly outing at the cinema that they both enjoy immensely. Mark B. celebrated his birthday with friends, singing, and cake. New consumer Fini is settling in well and all are happy to have him. This month we celebrated two consumer birthdays. Happy Birthday Mark B. & Jean M! Stockton The Stockton office would like to welcome little Angel Meza into the world. He was born 6 lbs. 10 oz. 19" to Amber, Shirley Antonios' daughter. This is Shirleys' 10th grand baby! The Salinas Office would like to welcome our New Direct Service Aide Valerie Gauna. We also celebrated double birthdays this month, Happy Birthday Arlene Monroe and Farley Odad. The winner for the monthly safety drawing was Vanessa Franklin. Cecilia Saucedo was recognized by managers this month for her dedication and good work with the consumers. Case Managers; Arlene, Maria and Jeannie would like to recognize and thank all Direct Service Aides at the Salinas office for bringing up the direct service hours to our consumers hours and for making the effort to accomplish our goal. Let’s keep it up. We can do it! El Centro Our Southern Region recently held a CARF review from March 7th thru March 9th. All staff were directly involved and the outcome was satisfactory. The El Centro Office has participated in several CARF reviews but in this occasion it was the first time it participated in one more extensively for two days. Again, we wish to extend our most sincere and extensive congratulations to all staff for services delivered within our organization and thank everyone for all their good work. Congratulations to Direct Service Aide Teri Marich since her son Robert Christensen was awarded a basketball scholarship in the men’s basketball team recently. He transitioned from Merritt College to Holy Names University in Oakland, CA. Robert, since graduating from Central High School in El Centro, has participated as an all star player winning in the Imperial Valley League Championship and has been voted as the leagues most valuable player of the year. He has participated on the San Diego 1st Team, was the 10th scorer in San Diego County and in the top 50 players in Southern California in 2004 averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists per game. CONGRATULATIONS TERI! Congratulations Amber The Advisory Committee is planning a group trip to and Shirley! Universal Studios for May 11 and 12, 2007. Consumers are in the process of planning additional fundraisers for Janice Tucker, from the occasion. One of them will be at an event to be held ILS, threw Hailman W. a at El Centro’s Bucklin Park, which is a children’s fair on birthday party on April 14th. Snacks will be sold as part of their plans. Friday, March 9th. Hailman is fifty four! Something unique! Our office has hired two new staff Happy Birthday with the same name, Alejandra Gonzalez. One was Hailman! hired as a Direct Service Aide and the other as our Office Assistant. Although they do not look the same The Stockton office (obviously not relatives), by their name it can be spent a lot of time preparing for their big move! The office confusing who is who in the beginning for any staff not was full of boxes and tape and everybody was excited. familiar with them! The adventures of the actual move to come! Modesto Modesto is beginning to look like Spring,....finally. Jan Todd and hubby spent some time in Las Vegas in March at the Nascar races. They had a great time, but Jan seemed a little "tired" after her trip to the big Sin City!! Chris Korelin & family survived their second annual "road trip" in March. Although, there were a few incidents where Chris began to seriously question her sanity after too many hours with her hormonal 14 year son old. Road trips with your family certainly prove that it is possible to love someone, but dislike them at the same time! Everyone survived though, and saw some beautiful parts of our northwestern states, as they traveled through eleven states (incl. CA), making a tour of the many National Parks and monuments. For those of you driving through the eastern part of WA, please make a note that the speed limit is only 70 mph. Just a little info. that one may need to know beforehand! It only cost Chris $90.00 to find that little fact Consumer Catalysts Anniversaries out! Although, on the flip side, Montana and Colorado enjoy a 75 mph zone, which would have been a much more reasonable request for vehicles traveling down endless stretches of highways on a family road trip (with a hormonal 14 year old son... ). Modesto staff, Patty Hazen, is getting ready to leave for a New York trip in April to visit her mom and other family and friends there. Patty is an original "New Yorker", and is looking forward to spending time with her family, as well as taking a break from work. Happy Easter to everyone! San Diego survives CARF. Fresno Our DSS Priscilla Renfro and her husband Ryan welcomed a baby boy William Thomas on March 8, 2007. William weighed 8lbs 9oz. Mother and baby are doing well. Congratulations to the Renfro family. Welcome to our newest Direct Service Aides: Tom Mendiola and Georgette Solorzano. Our Consumers went to Los Angeles on the 3rd of March and spent the night and went to Disneyland! They had a wonderful time. 20 YEARS: Fred M. ~ San Diego 15 YEARS: Bobby Y. ~ Fresno 14 YEARS: Peter B. ~ San Diego 11 YEARS: Diana M. ~ San Diego 10 YEARS: Molly H. ~ Fresno Sergio C. ~ Santa Clara Michael S. ~ Santa Clara 9 YEARS: Dante H. ~ Santa Clara 8 YEARS: Robin E. ~ Santa Clara Sharon P. ~ Santa Clara Francis B. ~ San Diego Kesha W. ~ San Diego 6 YEARS: Ruby T. ~ El Centro 5 YEARS: Andrew W. ~ Salinas Olga C. ~ Salinas Sergio A. ~ Salinas Marcelino P. ~ Salinas Davina W. ~ Salinas Donald S. ~ Fresno 4 YEARS: Christopher B. ~ Stockton Daniela G. ~ Coalinga Steven B. ~ San Diego Julie P. ~ Santa Clara 3 YEARS: David F. ~ Merced Baudelio L. ~ Salinas Khamtanh K. ~ Fresno Ruby M. ~ Salinas 2 YEARS: Shirleen M. ~ Stockton Dennis C. ~ Merced Angila P. ~ Merced David S. ~ Merced David C. ~ Merced Carmen L. ~ Stockton Jorge M. ~ Merced 1 YEAR: John G. ~ Fresno Isreal L. ~ Fresno Joseph M. ~ Santa Clara Juan M. ~ Merced Peter R. ~ San Diego Janet H. ~ Salinas Alicia T. ~ Salinas Cheneye W. ~ Modesto John G. ~ Fresno After 3 days of our surveyor digging through all 3 programs files and meeting our fantastic clients, we have survived. A big "THANK YOU" to all the staff who spent extra time detailing our files and running around gathering extra information. Your efforts were noticed by our surveyor. Our consumers had a blast at Disneyland in Feb. We had a total of 50 clients and 10 staff who spent the day riding on the rides and eating all the food. After a brief scare with the weather we ended up with a beautiful day. IL Consumer Peter and his guest loved their new hats and were happy to pose for our camera. During our bus ride to Disneyland our clients made plans for the rest of the year. They like to stay busy and have an event planned for every month for the next year. Congratulation to an IL Case Manager on the birth of her new grandson. Merrick Michael Anthony was born on April 2 weighing in at 7 lb 13 oz. Welcome to our new staff: Nadia-IL DSA, Media & Darla SE Employment Coordinators, and Candace our new SE Case Manager. Our SL team welcomes back Blanca. March Star of the Month Daniell Fox Community Catalysts of California was proud to announce that Daniell Fox was selected as March’s Star of the Month. And although Daniell has only been with Community Catalysts of California for four months, she has truly demonstrated her potential. Daniell is a Crisis Response Assistant for the Stockton office and she puts her heart into her work, goes the extra mile and does it all with a smile. She has demonstrated the ability to multi-task on various assignments and is always willing to help others. Daniell stepped up to the plate when her supervisor went out on leave for several weeks. She handled the transition smoothly and along with handling REST case manager duties, she also completed reports, assisted with TRIPS and even filled in as needed at the Ray Hyde House. Daniell has also been helpful to the ILS program as she assisted several consumers who accessed the after-hours phone number and then shared information with staff for great follow through services! Daniell is resourceful, prepared and always ready to assist staff. Daniell is an honest and hard worker that is always positive and ready for new challenges. That is why Daniell Fox is Community Catalysts of California’s Star of the Month. Congratulations, Daniell! April Consumer Catalyst of the Month Debbie Carmichael Debbie has been involved with Community Catalysts since June 1991 in our Supported Employment program and a few years later in our Independent Living Services. In the Supported Employment program, she worked in the City Hall of Escondido for a number of years and did a great job in their Duplication Department. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with Lupus. She tried to continue to work at her job but eventually had to resign due to the challenges that her new health diagnosis presented to her. Debbie’s life has changed a lot since her diagnosis, but she consistently tries very hard to learn new things and continue to help others less fortunate than herself. She has many days she does not feel well but continues to try and do what she can. One of her roommates is presently dying of cancer and she helps him daily with the problems he is experiencing. She cooks meals for him, accompanies him to the doctor, shops for him and other things he may need done. Debbie also has a sister who suffers with Lupus and tries to be an encouragement for her. Debbie continues to meet faithfully with her IL coach, Marilyn Berenger. They work together on her meal planning and preparation, finding holiday crafts for Debbie to make for her family and friends, and assisting her in attending a monthly Consumer Advocacy Group in her area. At one of the meetings with other consumers, Debbie had initiated and set up a meeting with her area’s Transit Authority officials to come and speak to the group about the public transportation challenges for people with disabilities. At a another meeting, she shared a journal and family scrapbook she created with the group and has plans to assist other consumers in this group to create their own journal and scrapbook. Debbie also led a staff training for our IL coaches in San Diego on Lupus last year. Debbie has definitely been a great asset to our ILS program and to other consumers in our area. She shines as a perfect example of someone with health challenges who can live independently with great success. Correction in the March Newsletter: The Consumer Catalysts of the Month was Congratulations Debbie! Tammy Shaw not Debbie Carmichael. All Community Catalysts of California 6050 Santo Road, Suite 145 ~ San Diego, CA 92124 of our consumers are winners in our Ph: 858-569-1055 Fax: 858-569-1064 book though. Sorry for any www.communitycatalystscalifornia.org inconvenience.