Winter Catalyst News December 2007 Catalyst Anniversaries 1 YEAR Electra Gemmill Shirley Mollring 2 YEARS Veronica Aguayo 3 YEARS Phillip Menchaca 4 YEARS Silvia Cazares Kamilah McDonald Guadalupe Meza 6 YEARS Claudio Lopez Katherine Peterson David Ramos 7 YEARS Priscilla Renfro 8 YEARS Elizabeth Nodal Linda Smith 13 yrs Janice Tucker Barbara Padilla 14 yrs Shelley Cook Board Corner Community Catalysts of California announced today that Al Kovach has joined the Community Catalysts Housing Alliance Board of Directors. A lifelong athlete and competitive swimmer, Al was permanently injured in 1991 during a parachute jump while on a U.S. Navy SEAL combat training mission. After six months of rehabilitation, he joined Cal-Diego Paralyzed Veterans Association as their Government Relations Director and turned his attention toward assisting other veterans with disabilities. Al has since served on the Board of Directors for numerous nonprofit organizations benefiting people with disabilities including, Cal- Diego Paralyzed Veterans Association, Torrey Pines Kiwanis Club, and Challenged Athletes Foundation. He is also co-founder and Vice President of the San Diego Adaptive Sports Foundation. “Al is a world-class athlete and a tireless advocate for people with disabilities,” says Jim Jenkins, President and CEO of Community Catalysts. “His commitment to breaking down barriers for the disabled will help bring focus to our board’s mission of providing affordable and accessible housing in San Diego and throughout California.” Al’s passion for sports and competition remain the primary focus of his life. Since 1993, he has competed in national wheelchair racing, handcycling, marathon and triathlon events, winning multiple gold medals and championships. Al completed the Transcontinental Triathlon for Life in 1998, racing 3,700 miles from Los Angeles to New York City in 65 days. In 2000, he was recognized as the 1999 San Diego Hall of Champions Disabled Athlete of the Year. In May 2007, Community Catalysts announced the formation of an independent, 501(c)(3) subsidiary, Community Catalysts Housing Alliance, to develop partnerships, seek financing and undertake fundraising to create affordable housing in the San Diego area. The Housing Alliance’s first project will not only fill a void in San Diego’s affordable and disabled housing market, but will create an innovative model that can be replicated in all Community Catalysts service areas. Ukiah On the Move Despite a few setbacks, the Plum House move was a great success! Everyone worked together to get things done. Most of the consumers settled right in, while for others, it took a little bit longer to get used to the change. We are planning a housewarming party in late January. The new house manager Belinda Thomas has jumped right in and is catching on quickly! Thanks to everyone who helped to make the move happen and to all of the Plum House staff for being flexible through the transition. For Thanksgiving, a large group of consumers and staff ate at the local Henny Penny restaurant. Consumer Allison J. brought her mother. The food was great and everyone had so much fun! We definitely plan on doing it again next year. We are now serving Lloyd P., Stephen W., and Allison J. full time. The Case Managers have worked hard to set up new schedules and accommodate all of our staff. We would like to thank the Supported Living staff for being so flexible and willing to help. We would also like to welcome new Staff Member Madalena Acosta to Supported Living and Carolina Villagomez to the Plum House. Happy Birthday to Kenneth W. and Gloria H! Merced Congratulations to our winner, Vanessa Salazar for our Incentive Safety Meeting. Welcome to Jose Cortes, our new Direct Service Aide for the Community Activities Program. Staff and consumers took a trip to Gustine for the Central Valley Regional Center to learn how to complete Special Incident Reports. There were many new things that we learned and were made aware of. Thank you to CVRC! Modesto Modesto and Stockton’s Supported Living and Independent Living services had a training on November 19th at the Community Center Room at the Salida Library. The training was titled “I Make a Difference”. The staff was provided great information and was given instructions to put together skits on consumer behaviors. The staff was given colorful goodie bags and also enjoyed yummy pizza, salad and cookies. The Modesto Advisory Committee put on a Thanksgiving Feast at the home of Consumers Ken and Thelma’s. Turkey and fixings were enjoyed by all who attended. Modesto will be holding their annual Staff Christmas Lunch at Torii’s Japanese Restaurant on December 14th and will also be having a Christmas potluck for staff and consumers at the Modesto Office on December 20th. Salinas Adapting to Change The Salinas Office was sad to lose the Office Assistant Roxana Jimenez this month. We wish her all the best in her new position at the Department of Social Services. We are excited to welcome back Maria from maternity leave and would like to congratulate her on the birth of her beautiful daughter, Izabella. The Salinas staff worked really hard on maximizing their hours last month. So the managers provided lunch for this months staff meeting. Keep up the good work DSA’s! The CAC was very excited to receive a $1,000 donation from our local Wal-Mart store! This month’s winner for the safety drawing was Karla Martinez. Enjoy your Dollar Tree gift card! This month, Karla also received an Award of Excellence from the Salina’s Office for her hard work, flexibility, and turning in her documentation in a timely manner. Great Job!!! San Diego Opening New Doors SE Case Manager Jessica has gotten the “okay” to start our first Supported Employment Group Placement AND she has a great lead on our first Micro Enterprise endeavor. Mike M. started his new job at Wal-Mart and Beverly B. started working at McDonald’s. We are looking forward to building a rapport with the City of Escondido who has expressed an interest in helping our clients who are looking for jobs. Employment Coordinator Joanne Moffet granddaughter recently got married. Congratulations to you and your daughter! Employment Coordinator Bettina Puga is excited to have her long time friend from Peru (who now lives in the states) visit her. They have not seen each other in over 4 years! The Advisory group recently went to a local casino and had a fantastic time. Although it was wet and rainy, they took advantage of the free Valet Parking service and did their best to stay dry. No one came away a millionaire, but they did enjoy a great buffet and had fun playing the “Wheel of Fortune” machine. Sometimes you take the good with the bad. SE Case Manager Hillary Page recently completed her schooling for her Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. That’s the good. The bad is that she is moving to Texas for her internship. She has made a great impact on our Employment services in San Diego and will be greatly missed. While Hillary was in school here in San Diego, her husband has been living in Texas overseeing the building of her new home (now that is trust!). Hillary was very surprised to find that on her recent visit home, not only was the house complete, it was more beautiful than she had expected based on the pictures her husband had been sending her. Congratulations Hillary. You will be missed! Fresno Open House Fresno had their open house on November 29, 2007. The Clovis Chamber of Commerce attended and they held a ribbon cutting. Everyone is getting ready for the holidays. Something to look forward to is the Christmas party, which will be on December 8th, 2007! We would like to welcome Gurinder Dhillon as a new member of our Community Catalysts of California SLS Staff. Welcome to the team! Consumer Anniversaries 14 YEARS Cora B. - Fresno 12 YEARS Joanne R. - San Diego 9 YEARS Emma D. - Merced Michael T. - Coalinga Hila E. - San Diego 8 YEARS Jo Ellen D. - Santa Clara Brian C. - Fresno 6 YEARS Luis A. - Stockton Gary E. - Merced Jania M. - Monterey Darryl C. - Redwood Erik L. - Redwood Aimee M. - Coalinga Barbara F. - Fresno 5 YEARS Irene P. - Merced 4 YEARS Janice C. - Merced Demetryan G. - Merced Debbie C. - Santa Clara 3 YEARS Darren D. - Stockton Deryal A. - Merced Nicolasa L. - Monterey Karen F. - Stockton Samuel D. - Stockton Jose L. - Monterey Fernando E. - Monterey Elbert S. - Stockton John W. - San Diego 2 YEARS Bernice M. - Santa Clara Teresa M. - Monterey Greg C. - Santa Clara Jaqueline E. - Monterey Flavio P. - Monterey Gilbert A. - Monterey 2 YEARS Lorena M. - El Centro Caroline V. - San Diego Rosemary M. - Fresno Caroline S. - Fresno Consumer Catalyst of the Month Connie Mance Connie Mance has been in our San Diego Independent Living Program for over 14 years. She is a full-time homemaker and wife and is commended for this due to the many challenges she is faced as a mother. Connie’s beautiful smile and warm nature is contagious to everyone who meets her. Never in self-pity mode, she is quick to learn and accepts her challenges with great heart. Recently she was challenged by her doctor to lose 10 lbs and has lost over 16 lbs to date! As a result of this, her heart condition has improved. Connie has a daughter and a son. Her son was born with serious health challenges and has had many surgeries and procedures to help his growing body accommodate the need for repositioning. His limited diet had to be specially prepared throughout his toddler years and feeding time was always stressful and challenging for her and her husband. Connie herself has many health challenges: vision and hearing impairments since she was a child and a degenerative heart condition which has worsened over the years. She also has an undisclosed disorder that has affected the use of her hands, her back muscles and her walking. Despite her own physical problems, she has been an excellent example of a woman, mother, wife and now a proud grandmother who has persevered through her life’s challenges. Connie continues to cook and clean as much as she is able as well as tends to the needs of her son who is doing awesome now! She also helps her 21 year old daughter take care of her 4 month old son, who is Connie’s first grandchild and a joy to her life! Connie loves to work out at her home gym on a regular basis and she is also an avid reader. Connie is an incredible woman who has great vision for herself and her family and adores life. She truly makes the best of her situation and realizes how blessed she is! Congratulations Connie!