Vote for Liora B!

Help Family Paths win $2,500 to support our mental health and family support programming!

Family Paths recently teamed up with Jodi Schumate, a local Mary Kay consultant, to give busy mom and Family Paths' Treatment Specialist Liora Brosbe a custom makeover.

Mary Kay is currently holding a makeover contest called Get Beautiful. Give Back. If Liora wins, she will receive $2,500 to spend as she wishes. If she wins, Family Paths will also receive $2,500 in support of our programming for Alameda County families.

Go to https://www.mkmakeovercontest.com/US/EN/Gallery/ and search for Liora B. to see Liora's before/after photos, and to read what she would do to change the world if money, time, and talent were all unlimited.

And please vote for her! Each person can place up to 5 votes per day, and we will appreciate all the help we can get until June 25, when the voting period is over.

From all of us at Family Paths, thank you so much for being part of our community of supporters. We hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

What makes a good foster parent?

"An ideal foster family is open and willing to learn," says Gloria Riley, Family Paths' Foster Parent Community Advocate.
Gloria would know. She estimates that she has brought approximately fifty foster children into her own home in the last 20 years, and she smiles with a soft kind of pride at the positive differences, both big and small, that she has been able to make in the lives of those children. "It's a lot of work to be a foster parent, but it's really rewarding to see a child grow up," she says.
There are a variety of reasons that people choose to be foster parents. "Some do it if they can't have kids, or because they want to help out a child or children, or they wish to add to their family," explains Gloria. "Which is great, because the need for foster parents is definitely there. There is a definite need for homes for foster kids in Alameda County, particularly homes with the capacity to support children that are medically fragile, with special needs, as well as with medical and psychological needs. Supportive homes are also needed for young people who identify as LGBTQ."

Potential foster parents go through a training process and an orientation in order to acquire the proper license and be the best foster parent possible. Once you are a foster parent, there is a strong support system in place, including the Foster Parent Association, as well as agencies like Family Paths, which provides anonymous parenting support through the 24 Hour Parent Support Hotline, as well as more in-depth therapeutic support when necessary. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent in Alameda County, you may call Alameda County Social Services to inquire.

Thanks for a fantastic event!

The Friends of Family Paths would like to thank everyone who came out to Family Paths' fundraising event on Saturday April 30th. We had a big group of friends and supporters present to support the work of Family Paths, and we were able to raise over $10,000 in support of our work building stronger families in Alameda County.

We want to send a huge, enthusiastic thanks to our event sponsors, Wells Fargo Bank, Scott Valley Bank, and ISU Insurance Services of San Francisco. Thanks also go out to all of our amazingly generous silent auction donors, who donated some really awesome items and services. Thanks also to Stage Left Cellars for opening up their beautiful space to us, and to Coppertop Ovens for the fresh, delicious pizzas.

"This was our 2nd annual event, and we're really excited to keep building the momentum," says Tara Bartholomew, Development Director for Family Paths. "Each year, we see some new faces at this event, and we're so glad to be building our network of support in such a fun setting."

Karen Truong of the Friends of Family Paths says, "What an incredible turnout! I'm impressed by the amount of support we received from sponsors, donors, staff, and attendees. A special THANK YOU goes out to every member of the Friends of Family Paths for their vision, dedication, and hard work in the months leading up to and during this unforgettable event."

We are so thankful for our family of supporters, and for the opportunity to hold this event each year. Together, we are making real progress toward our vision of a safe home for every child.

Annual Wine Tasting Event & Silent Auction April 30th!

On April 30th, The Friends of Family Paths will host an evening of wine tasting, complete with delicious appetizers, an amazing silent auction, and lots of our favorite people! The event is at Stage Left Cellars, a winery that produces limited batches of fine wines from grapes sourced in California and Oregon. The silent auction is going to be truly special. We have had so many amazing local businesses donate items, certificates, and services, and we’re so excited to give everyone the chance to win some really fun (and some practical!) things, like sailboat cruises around the bay, music and dancing lessons, works from local artists, and free oil changes! Basically, it’s going to be great. And we really want you there. Get your tickets here: http://www.eventsbot.com/events/eb932652212

What we're reading

At Family Paths, we recently set up our own comprehensive library of books on a variety of topics pertinent to child development, family dynamics, cultural competency, and other mental health related topics. Our "library" is available to all Family Paths staff, and we've really been enjoying having so many great resources in one convenient place!

One great book on our shelves is Raising Your Spirited Child, by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. This book was first printed in 1991, and was most recently released as a Harper paperback in 2006. Raising Your Spirited Child is a great guide for parents whose child is especially intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, and/or energetic. The book offers insightful quizzes that can help parents better understand the nuances of their child's personality, and wise, gentle suggestions on everyday parenting dilemmas like bedtime and mealtime. For example, she suggests that at mealtime the more "intense" child may need to be taught good manners, the "persistent" child may need to be involved in food preparation, and the "sensitive" child may need to be served a variety of foods.

If you have an especially spirited child, or know someone who does, this national bestseller might be helpful. Happy reading!

Announcing Family Paths' 2nd Annual Fundraiser!

We had such a great time at last year's fundraiser, and we are so excited to do it again! We are going to be tasting some great wines from Stage Left Cellars, eating appetizers, and bidding on some truly awesome silent auction items.

Save the date of April 30th, and buy your tickets today via this link!

http://eventsbot.com/events/eb932652212

Our commitment to cultural competency

On February 11th, Family Paths clinicians were led in a powerful training offered by Taqueila Washington of EmpowerMe! Services. The topic of this 5 ½ hour training was "Working with African-American Youth and their Families," and it encompassed a variety of issues that directly affect many African-Americans. Topics up for discussion included the slave trade's creation of a legacy of multi-generational trauma, the inner-city experience, and the link between poverty and issues surrounding diet and nutrition.

As Family Paths strives to be a local leader in culturally competent mental health and family support programming, we know that the importance of trainings like this one cannot be overestimated. Expert-led trainings guide clinicians in the self-examination processes that are so vital to providing the highest-quality treatment to a diverse clientele.

Sam Markewich, our Clinical Training Coordinator, says, "Family Paths clinicians will benefit from this because they now have a culturally sensitive and depthful knowledge base and tool box to help them best get to know, understand, and help African-American youth, parents, and other family members in order to help them to thrive."

EmpowerMe! Services offers educational workshops and trainings on a variety of different topics, including Cross Cultural Counseling and the Family, Culturally Inclusive Therapy, The Undocumented Experience, Self Care for Service Providers, Teen Dating Violence, and Working with "at risk" youth. Learn more about Taquelia Washington and EmpowerMe! Services here.