Take Care of Yourself Today!!

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Annual Staff Appreciation Breakfast

On June 28th Family Paths' Executive Director, Program Managers, and Directors got up extra early to prepare a warm breakfast served with lots of gratitude for staff and interns at Family Paths. This annual breakfast was so nourishing in many ways.

At the breakfast, we said good bye to the fantastic interns in the TIPS program, who have completed their service year. Suzanne Lapidus, Consultation Specialist in TIPS, is also leaving the agency after 6 years. Suzanne shared with a beautiful smile, "I've never felt so supported in a job before as much as at Family Paths." Also leaving is Margarita Prensa, Mental Health Treatment Specialist, in our ECMH program, having worked 15 months at the agency. Best of luck to all in your new Paths.

The appreciation continued with staff anniversaries. Nancy Morosohk, Counseling program manager has been with us for 10 years. Lyda Mata, Chief Financial Officer for 5 years, and Rosa Giron, a child care worker for our Parent Education program, has been with us for 10 years. The agency also enthusiastically welcomed with applause new staff. Kimberly Porter will be the new FIT Program Manager in Hayward and Lisa Koumrian will be joining our Oakland Facilities department.

To wrap up the morning, Kaye Anderson, a licensed clinical social worker and certified hoop-dance teacher, came by with an armful of hula hoops and showed us the joy and power of the hoop. Thank you to ECMH Program Manager Dr. Jill Sulka for bringing Kaye and her hoop power to the breakfast!

For more information, you can visit Kaye's website at www.hoop-power.com. If you purchase Kaye's handmade hula hoops, she will donate 10% of the proceeds to Family Paths; make sure to identify yourself from Family Paths if you do order one.

Thank you to Family Paths' Management Team for the breakfast event!

Keep on hula hooping.

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!