Sacramento Philharmonic Starting last month with the program Musicians on the Move, the Sacramento Philharmonic introduced two artists to our children. Julian Dixon, the Education and Community Engagement director, shared his tuba instrument and Elizabeth Coronata, a member of the Wolfgang Company, shared her flute. The children, ages ranging from 3 to 14 years old, were captivated and entranced by the music that each artist introduced.
Following these two sessions, the Wolfgang Company performed a Peter and the Wolf concert for the whole family at MCC. The children who participated in Musicians on the Move were exited to see the musicians again and their fellow members. Some of the children play instruments of their own and were very enthusiastic to share their interest with the musicians.
The big finale was the TARGET Scheherazade Family Concert at the Community Center Theater. Everyone enjoyed the pre-event activities and concert. We look forward to See the Music, Hear the Art program that will allow children to create art work based on the music. The Sacramento Philharmonic will showcase the children’s artwork at the upcoming February 20th performance.
Holidays
2009 was a tough year for the agency. We lost 6 of our dorm rooms to a fire and many of our staff to budget cuts. But it was also a year of generosity and support from the community like we have never seen.
There was no better example of that then the holidays. The children in our programs received a day of fun at Health Net's Celebration of Children event, they received coats from the Sacramento Bee's Book of Dreams, new shoes from Payless Shoe Source, a new blanket from the IKEA blanket drive and presents from local employee groups and the community. It truly was a merry Christmas at the shelters.
Dress for Success
On December 11th, the women at the Women’s Refuge and Wilma’s Place enjoyed an afternoon of renewal and rejuvenation while attending the fourth Dress for Success event hosted by Deloitte Consulting. The afternoon began with a discussion on work appropriate clothing for a variety of employment opportunities, the "must have" pieces for a professional woman’s wardrobe, and the best colors and styles for each individual attending the event. Next, the clients had the opportunity to search through three bulging racks of clothing for their perfect outfits. The grand finale was a personal makeup session with a Sephora beauty consultant who guided the women through the process of proper skin care and applying work appropriate make-up. The women were now completely made over after receiving free hair cuts and facials earlier in the month from local volunteers.
Women's Refuge Murals
The dorms also received a makeover thanks to local artists. Flo Grossenbacher coordinated the effort to bring beautiful, personalized works of art to the women's sleeping area. The ladies also got to create their own works of art based on the paintings of Georgia O'Keefe.
Thanksgiving
Thank you to Deloitte Consulting and Premier Access for helping make a memorable Thanksgiving for 500 clients! Deloitte Consulting dropped off boxes upon boxes of goodies on Friday before the holiday; their donation provided dinner for 52 families and 18 single women. Premier Access came to Mather Community Campus on Monday the 23rd, delivering dinners for 50 families living independently on campus.
We also welcomed 15 volunteers who prepared and served Thanksgiving brunch and dinner to our Family Shelter, Women’s Refuge, and Wilma’s Place program participants. Thank you to those who took time away from their families to assist those in need, and give our cook the night off!
Birthday Magic at MCC
The Birthday Magic Program sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Sacramento has brought great joy to the youth who reside at Mather Community Campus. The program started in October with 12 children celebrating birthdays. The parties were divided into 3 rooms to accommodate the different age groups. The volunteers came ready to party and were just as excited as the children. They decorated the rooms, made goodie bags, played games and served pizza. Each age group had an amazing cake that was made by one of the volunteers. Every child who celebrated a birthday received gifts from their own personal wish list. This was truly a wonderful experience for the children, SAEHC staff and the Volunteer Center of Sacramento(VCS). The word is out and everyone is anxiously awaiting their birthday month to come. Thank you again so very much to all the volunteers who have made this wonderful event possible!
Maloof Fun Day
October has been a fun and busy month at the Family Shelter. On the 16th, the Diversity Action Team from Maloof Sports and Entertainment came to provide a day of fun for the families. They brought hot dogs, cookies, chip and punch. The clients enjoyed playing games, dancing, making some Kings and Monarchs inspired art and, most of all, hanging out with the players and Slamson.
Halloween Fun at the Shelters
On the 23rd, Deloitte put on their family fun day, with cookie and pumpkin decoration to get everyone in that Halloween spirit. So by the 30th, the families at the shelter were ready to celebrate Halloween! The AT&T Pioneers helped kickoff the celebration with their Birthday Magic party. There was pizza, games and even a pinata. The cupcakes were delicious and the decorations were Spiderman (our b-day boy's favorite). After the party, Circle K Youth Group from UC Davis decorated pumpkins and cookies for Halloween with all the families. What a great group of youths the children really enjoy when they visit! We ended the excitement that night with a Haunted House. It was a lot of fun to transform our classroom into a spooky scene.
Capital Christian and AmeriCorps NCCC Give Back
A special thanks to the middle school students at Capital Christian for planting flowers at our shelter this month!
And for the new class of AmeriCorps NCCC Sacramento, who kicked off their year of service on Make a Difference Day by volunteering at our emergency shelters.
Active 20/30 Shopping Spree
On July 25th, the children at Mather Community Campus attended a shopping spree to Kohl’s sponsored by the Active 20-30 Club of Sacramento. The day began at 6:30am when the bus picked up the children and the Children’s Services staff. We arrived at Kohl’s and the 20-30 Club had a wonderful spread of scrambled eggs, drinks, and every color, size, and flavor donuts imaginable. After breakfast, the youth were paired with a 20-30 Club member to go into the store and shop. They each had $100.00 to spend with no sales tax and a 15% discount on their total purchase. The kids were also able to take advantage of a haircut station with local volunteer hairstylists providing back to school haircuts for the youth.
Once shopping and haircuts were done, we all headed to the Folsom Zoo for lunch catered by the Beach Hut Deli and a trip inside the zoo. It was an amazing morning and the youth here at MCC can now go back to school in style! The 20-30 Club certainly does live by their motto “A Man never stands so tall as when he kneels to help a child.” Many thanks again to an amazing group of individuals.
CHP Cadets
On July 25th, we had 60 CHP cadets working on our shelters painting the exterior of ESP, and the complete interior of Women’s Refuge. Not to mention moving a large fence in our community garden and painting inside and outside at our Omega program. These projects could not have been done without a generous donation of paint and painting supplies from Kelley Moore in Woodland and volunteer Janet Nelson’s assistance procuring and delivering the donation. Thank you!
June Birthday Wishes
On June 26th,
celebrated the birthdays of Amanda, 17, Latoria, 9, and Sarhonda, 4. An incredible spread of pizza and “decorate your
own cupcakes” got the families off to a great start. Next, it was outside for some water play with water balloon toss
games. Always an amazing supporter of Birthday Wishes and the Volunteer Center of Sacramento, Umpqua Bank sure knows how
to throw a party and make our families feel very special.
Impact Day
On Friday, June 5th, we were fortunate to have Deloitte Consulting provide skills-based, employment-readiness workshops
for our Family Shelter and Women's Refuge clients. Approximately 12 consultants facilitated interviewing and resume
writing workshops to 30 residents; assisting them with not only the basics of each activity, but providing tools and tips
for effective presentation of these skills.
Diversity Action Team at Maloof Sports & Entertainment Family Fun Friday
On June 5th, the Diversity Action Team at Maloof Sports & Entertainment put on a Family Fun Friday that will not be soon
forgotten. They barbqued hot dogs and handed out delicious snacks, brought basketball hoops (one for the little ones and
one for the older kids), and a basketball for each of the children. They even donated the basketball hoops so the childrens
would have something to keep them busy this summer. What they did not anticipate was that the basketballs would become a
priceless memento for each child. Instead of being used out on the courts, they are up on shelves in their rooms! Especially
since the group had a Kings Royal Court Dancer at the event signing autographs.
Mather Community Campus Graduation
This month we celebrated the 2009 graduates of Mather Community Campus. Sacramento Area Emergency Housing Center
runs the Family Site of the program, which serves 55 families and over 100 children. As many of you know, the funding
for this program has been in serious jeopardy over the last few months. That made this graduation all the more special
and heart-wrenching.
On May 20th, we gathered together with 39 graduates to listen to their stories and marvel at their accomplishments.
For students to be eligible for graduation, they must be employed full-time, have a savings account, and be ready to move
into permanent housing. When families and individuals enter this two year program, they are homeless, usually the residents
of a local shelter. The students that donned blue caps and gowns on the 20th were individuals who have worked hard to
succeed. We encourage everyone to take a look at the video of highlights from this moving ceremony to see the faces of
success.
In honor of the event, Good Day Sacramento and the Hair Doctor Shawn Brown provided makeovers to 20 students and staff
of the program. As you can see, the results were stunning! Thank you to Redkin for their donation of products, Benefit Cosmetics
for the day of make-up and the wonderful stylists from local salons that helped make these transformations a reality!
Family Shelter Dining Room Spruced Up
Our Family Shelter dining room has been spruced up thanks to Kelli Winfree of Anytime Painting
(anytimepainting.net) and our local West Sacramento IKEA
(www.ikea.com). Kelli continued her beautiful mural around the room
and IKEA provided us with new high chairs for the children. These new high chairs are not just stylish, they are easy
to keep clean for the 25+ children that we serve at a time. Together, these two businesses have created a dining room
that anyone would be happy to eat in!
May Birthday Wishes
In May, AT&T Pioneers hosted a Cars themed birthday party for Raymond and Daniel, who both turned 4. The party
included pizza, face painting, and a piñata (always a hit.)
Mother's Day
Mother’s Day did not go uncelebrated at our Family Shelter and Women’s Refuge. The Friday before, employees from
Deloitte helped facilitate a Family Fun Friday to make Mother’s Day gifts. Photos were taken of the families and
children and frames were decorated to hold the new memento. On Sunday, goodie bags from Bath and Body Works in Folsom
were handed out full of lotions, body washes, and hand sanitizers. Thank you our volunteer Lynn Halsted for nominating
SAEHC to be this year’s recipient of Bath and Body Works generosity.
April Birthday Wishes
In April, Umpqua Bank hosted a fabulous Hannah Montana themed birthday party for Breanna, Age 11, complete with a
piñata. Good Day Sacramento documented the event and the video can be viewed here.
Earth Day
The youth group from the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection helped our Family Shelter celebrate Earth Day by tie dying
t-shirts and making Earth Cookies (sugar cookies decorated with blue and green frosting.)
Easter With Shut Up and Ride, MC
The Easter Bunny came to the Family Shelter this year courtesy of Shut Up and Ride, MC. Easter Baskets for the children
were delivered Easter Sunday and the shelter staff made a holiday meal to celebrate.
Mather Community Campus Easter Egg Hunt
Mather Community Campus partnered with the Rancho Cordova Parks & Recreation Department by volunteering to assemble
over 400 Easter eggs for the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Hagen Community Park. Over the span of a week, campus students
gathered in the MCC Recreation Room working diligently to stuff candy inside of plastic Easter eggs. The collective
hard work and dedication paid off as 4 large boxes of candy filled Easter eggs were hunted for on April 11, 2009.
1st Annual MCC Spring Basketball Tournament a Huge Success!
Although our own team did not come out victorious, all of the families, friends, and staff of SAEHC, St. John’s
Shelter, and Serna Village had a fantastic time. We even had an unofficial cheerleading squad - some of the older
girls took initiative and trained the younger ones with some cheers. Next year we hope to host the tournament on
our own All-Purpose Sports Court. Please visit www.saehc.org/sportscourt.php
for more information about our fundraising effort.
Thank you to the wonderful sponsors of our basketball tournament:
Gold: SMUD
Silver: Child & Family Institute
Additional Sponsors: Friends of Roger Dickinson, North Highlands Parks and Recreation
A special thank you to Zareena Anwar, MCC Youth Development Specialist, for her amazing coordination of this event!
Sathya Sai Baba Center
Families from the Sathya Sai Baba Center of Elk Grove helped spruce up our Family Shelter planting beds and our
community garden on March 21st. The center is a multi-faith spiritual organization with approximately 30 members.
When they are not helping out at our organization, they are lending their time to animal shelters and handing out
meals to the homeless.
Omega Program Field Trip
The teenagers in the Omega Program took a field trip to Berkeley, CA for a University of California, Berkeley
campus tour and an Alvin Ailey dance performance on Saturday, March 7. The Omega Program is a permanent housing
program for individuals and families with multiple and severe disabilities. Encouraging the children in the program
to go to college is one of our main focuses. The Youth Development Specialist works with the teens on college
applications, arranges tours of local schools, and works with their high school to ensure that they are on track
to graduating. This is all part of our goal to end the cycle of homelessness that can entrap the children as well
as their parents.
Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op
On March 6th, SAEHC and Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services teamed up with the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op
to provide a cooking class for our clients. Women from our Women’s Refuge and the Sacramento Food Bank’s Mother Baby
Program attended a 2 ½ hour class lead by Eileen Murray and her wonderful team. The participants learned to prepare
and cook healthy, delicious dishes made with low cost and widely available items. The menu consisted of spinach lentil
soup, roasted sweet potatoes, and a vegetable frittata and after the dishes were prepared, participants were able to
sit down as a group and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Events
Starting last month with the program Musicians on the Move, the Sacramento Philharmonic introduced two artists to our children. Julian Dixon, the Education and Community Engagement director, shared his tuba instrument and Elizabeth Coronata, a member of the Wolfgang Company, shared her flute. The children, ages ranging from 3 to 14 years old, were captivated and entranced by the music that each artist introduced.
