June Newsletter • 2008 • community catalysts of california • employee anniveraries 16 Years Laura Johnson - FSO 14 Years Claudia Hutchinson - MDO 11 Years Darren Monteith - MDO 9 Years Philip Henry - STK 8 Years Melvin Saleem - RH Cathy Taylor - FSO Jane Wilkinson - MCD 6 Years Maria Rodriguez - MDO 5 Years Denise True - STK 4 Years Christina Cervantez - MDO Mark Graumann - UK 3 Years Patricia Dixon - STK Lukombo Nzambi - STK 2 Years Vanessa Franklin - SAL Margaret Kauhola - UK Donald Lucas - UK 1 Year Timothy Daggs - STK Joella Gragg - STK Sorena Holguin - SAL Gail Leal - FSO congratulations! Stockton Office • parties, vacations...and work of course! • Surprise! The Stockton office had a surprise baby shower for ILS Direct Service Aide, Kamilah McDonald on April 28, 2008. Kamilah is expecting her second son in June, and the Stockton crew thought it would be a great way to send her off on her maternity leave. Kamilah’s fiance, her mother, and her sister were also a part of the “secret shower” and we were able to pull the party off without Kamilah having a clue. She was a great sport, and everyone had a great time eating and watching Kamilah open her gifts. We wish her and her family the best and already miss her at work. Vacations Vanessa Orr and hubby Gary recently spent a week in Hawaii....AGAIN! Lucky them! Vanessa always comes back looking relaxed and “sunned”. Vanessa even purchased Kamilah’s baby shower gift in Hawaii- the most adorable little Hawaiian shirt and shorts that are so teeny that it’s hard to imagine them making them that small! Chris Korelin, her son, her hubby (the two Kevin’s), and the traveling beagle-dog “Cooper” were able to spend a week on the road again on a recent vacation. They spent time in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming visiting parts of the states that they missed during their last travels. Sandy Caldwell also just enjoyed some Colorado time with a visit with her family earlier this month. What a pretty place to be able to visit on a regular basis! Philip Henry will be enjoying a similar trip next month as he is taking a road trip that involves a stop for a huge family reunion in Colorado. Modesto Office • art shows • Artist The Modesto Office was excited to have opened their newspaper to this article: “Disabled Modesto-area people develop into top-notch artists”, an article published in the Modesto Bee on Friday, May 30, 2008. The article discusses the incredible and often overlooked talent of people with disabilities and their ability to create works of art comparable to that “of acclaimed modern artists such as Mark Rothko and William de Kooning”. Pictured above is one of our very own consumers Thelma. To view the full article, go to http://www.modbee.com/local/story/313617.html. We are so proud! consumer anniversaries 20 Years Domenique P. - SM 17 Years Debra C. - SM Eric S. - SM 15 Years Marilyn H. - MCD 12 Years Zachary K. - EC Steven H. - SM Collin J. - SM Ceasar T. - SM 11 Years James K. - FSO 10 Years Karen B. - MCD Debra H. - COAL Donald D. - MCD 7 Years Hilda C. - MCD David S. - UK 6 Years Cesar R. - EC Jesus J. - SAL Mohammad S. - STK Lee R. - SAL 5 Years Leslie M. - FSO Lance M. - FSO Ruben E. - FSO 4 Years Jessie C. - FSO 3 Years Vang Y. - FSO Sonia S. - COAL Jason B. - MOD Miguel S. - COAL Maria R. - SAL 2 Years Rodrigo R. - COAL JC W. - MCD Allison J. - UK Richard G. - MCD 1 Year Joshua M. - STK Patricia C. - SAL Manuel R. - SD Central Valley • competition, congrats and farewell • Weighing in with the fresno office The Fresno office is busy as usual with Social Rec. events. Keep them coming! Congratulations to May Moua, Direct Service Aide on her 10 year anniversary with Community Catalysts of California. Your commitment and service is greatly appreciated! Also, the Fresno office has started a weight loss competition. The contest will run through November 20th and the winner will be chosen by the highest percentage of weight lost. Good luck to everyone! congrats! Congratulations to our winner Lisa Resendez, Social Rec. Aide for the Safety Incentive Program and to Stephanie Hernandez, Community Activities Coordinator who became a Grandma on May 16th with a beautiful granddaughter, Ezmerelda Oseguera. Social Recreation consumers were not able to participate in the Community Day Parade due to rain, but they did go on an overnight trip to Lake McSwain and had a great time! farewell As of June 1, 2008, Community Catalysts of California no longer has an office in the Coalinga area. We will continue to provide Supported Living and some Social Rec. services to consumers in the area out of our Fresno Office location. A sad farewell to those who will no longer be working with our company and a special thanks for all of your hard work and dedication to your consumers. We wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors! Redwood Coast & South bay on the move Ukiah’s office has moved to a new location. Their new address is 730 S. Dora Street, Ukiah, CA 95482. good clean fun...and food! The Plum House recently received funds from the Butterfly Club after applying for a Request for Proposal to purchase a vacuum cleaner and a gas BBQ grill. A commercial grade vacuum cleaner was purchased from Costco. It is heavy-duty, yet light enough for everyone to use. People were lining up to vacuum their bedroom!! The BBQ looks beautiful and will definitely be used to it’s full potential! Originally, enough money was requested to purchase a cover for the grill, but was later re-evaluated and it was determined that since the grill was easily mobile and could be rolled into the garage after use, a cover was not necessary! So instead, we purchased attachments that enabled us to do ALL of the cooking outside. We were lucky enough to find a skillet and a steamer/warmer that attaches to the side of the BBQ. We look forward to some great get-togethers in the near future! business as usual Salinas would like to welcome our new Direct Service Aide, Mayra Barocio. Happy Birthday wishes to Jeff Peregrina who celebrated his 21st birthday. Consumer Maria G. aka M.A., was very excited to learn that she was awarded the Consumer of the Month award for April. She enjoyed the award and the gifts that she received. This has motivated her to continue to work hard in accomplishing her goals. This month’s safety drawing winner was once again Sorena Holguin. Congratulations! S. California • busy, busy, BUSY! • record breaking month The San Diego Office had yet another Supported Employment Placement Record! Congratulations to the SE team in the San Diego Office for 6 job placements in May. Not only 6 in one month, but all placements came within approximately 10 days of each other! Wow! New Client Placements: Anthony - Vons (Coronado) Rosylne - Subway (Chula Vista) Shaquetta - Cheek2Cheek (Pacific Beach) Charles - Cheek2Cheek (Pacific Beach) Christina - Fed Ex/Kinko’s (Rancho Bernardo) Akash - Pat & Oscars (Carlsbad) SE Case Manager Jessica Young reports that our first group is doing fantastic and are loving their jobs at the movie theater. Now we are ready for our next big project: Getting our coffee cart up and running! Stay tuned as the saga of the coffee cart continues. sea world! Consumers and Staff had a Fantastic day at Sea World. We saw the shows, observed the animals, and a few even braved the Journey to Atlantis roller coaster. Consumer Carol had a blast petting the slimy stingrays. We had an attendance of 23 clients and 7 staff. The group from North County rode the “Sprinter” (New mass transit system) for the first time and considered it a great success. The Advisory Committee is busy planning all the summer activities. Wheelchair Regatta, Beach Party, Bowling, County Fair, and so much more. S. California • continued... • an eventful month El Centro has been staying busy! Consumers gathered together each Friday for an “arts and crafts” project. What a great way to spend time together and get those creative juices flowing! The Advisory Group also took a mini trip to the mall for lunch, window shopping...and fun! We want to send a big THANK YOU to Andy Trani, Program Leader, for coming all of the way from the San Marcos office to conduct our CPR/First Aid training. We would also like to extend a warm welcome to our newest Direct Service Aide, Tara Ramirez. training In May, Wendy Forkas, COO and Jayme Dix, HR Assistant paid a special visit to the Fresno Office to hold our first “The Need for Knowledge” training. This training was for all supervisors in the Central Valley area and was specifically designed to further supervisors’ understanding of Human Resources and how their position plays a key role in the success of Community Catalysts of California as a whole. We covered the process and paperwork for the following topics: Pre-Employment, New Hires, Terminations, and Leave of Absences. It was a great opportunity to answer some of their questions and bring clarity to a few very important and confusing documents and procedures. Overall, it was a success and we look forward to bringing a similar training to your area as well! the butterfly club: annual opportunity drawing It is that time of year! The Butterfly Club is having it’s annual opportunity drawing! Each Butterfly Club member will receive a packet that contains 15 tickets. You can either purchase or sell these for $2.00 each if you are interested in doing so. All completed ticket stubs are to be sent to the Home Office with check or money order made out to Community Catalysts of California. All tickets must be at the Home Office no later than July 25th by 4pm. Additional tickets are available at each office or you can contact the Home Office. The drawing will be held on July 30th and the winners will be announced in the August newsletter. Thank you in advance for your participation! We are so excited for this great opportunity to benefit our consumers and have fun! bettina puga Community Catalysts of California is proud to announce that Bettina Puga was selected to receive the Catalyst P.R.I.D.E. Award~Leading by Example for May 2008. Bettina has been with Community Catalysts of California for 4 years as an Employment Coordinator for the Vocational Program in the San Marcos area. Bettina is being recognized for going above and beyond by taking on the tasks of Job Development and for her dedication to her consumers. She really stepped up in April and was able to place 3 clients in new jobs! Besides the last 3 clients she placed in jobs, she has placed 5 other clients within the last 9 months. This is a great accomplishment for her, for her clients, and for her program. Job Development takes a great amount of patience and persistence to be successful, both qualities that Bettina has proven she has. With her professional attitude and desire to see her clients succeed, she has gained the trust and respect of both her clients as well as perspective employers. We appreciate the great service and dedication to the vision of Community Catalysts of California that Bettina 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 June 2008 Kathrine “KT” Tritten Kathrine “KT” Tritten has been in the Supported Living program at the Plum House in Ukiah for almost 2 years now. In that time she has had to make a lot of adjustments. Her twin sister moved away, the staff supporting her as well as the agency supporting her changed, a new house-mate moved in and then her entire household relocated to a different part of town. In the beginning KT met these changes with a lot of skepticism and strong opinions. But now KT is settled into her new house, likes her new house-mate and has recently gone for a weekend away to visit her sister and mom to celebrate their birthdays together. The biggest change for KT is in how much she is willing to contribute to every day life at the Plum House. KT is very interested in food and drink and participates enthusiastically with menu planning, shopping, cooking and other areas of meal prep. She loves to go shopping for personal items as well as groceries and other household items. KT enjoys movies and likes to go to the bowling alley to watch her friends bowl. KT’s FAVORITE things to do are BBQ and have parties! She is happy to share her lovely new home with everyone, the more the merrier! KT also has lots of beautiful dresses and she loves to wear these, taking great care in her appearance. KT is compassionate and has a great sense of humor. She is thoughtful, helpful and determined. She is happy, a generous hostess and party goer, with a talent for menu planning and decorating. These are just a few of the reasons why KT has been chosen as our Consumer of the Month for June! Congratulations KT!