A Parent Child Education CenterBuilding a Path to Achievement

Family Connections Fall

Pa r e n t s a n d C h i l d r e n G r o w i n g To g e t h e r

R E P O R T C A R D

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A Parent Child Education CenterBuilding a Path to Achievement

Family Connections

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Every morning parents fill in the space around the children in our three classrooms, paying close attention to their child’s activity, chatting with other parents about their day, weekend or week ahead, and busying themselves with the duties of the preschool morning from preparing snack to setting out art activities and cleaning up at the end of the morning. Over the course of the school year our teachers will come to know many if not most of the “stories” about these parents. Where did they grow up, what was their own childhood like, how did they come to be here at Family Connections? And while there may be some commonalities to these stories, when you have an opportunity to sit down and listen to a parent share their background in depth, you find that each story is not the same, but very unique and in that way, very special.

Redwood City participant Argelie Rivera’s story is one of those. She was born and spent her childhood in Vera Cruz, Mexico. But hers was not a particularly happy childhood. There was no father present and her mother struggled greatly with parenthood. In Argelie’s words, her mother often mistreated her and the relationship was so poor that as soon as Argelie turned 18, she left home to live with another relative in another part of Mexico.

Argelie’s young adulthood was a bit more stable. She was able to enroll in college ultimately earning a teaching credential. She recalls however that she had personally wanted to pursue a career in accounting or something to do with math but her uncle with whom she resided steered her towards teaching, which she did for a few years before

Argelie with her 1 1/2 year old Yareth are currently attending the Redwood City site

A Mother’s Journey

Our Mission

To establish the resources and broad recognition to be the first place that low-income families go for early childhood and parent education – empowering children and their parents to learn, grow and dream.

Our Vision

To foster the potential of our community’s youngest at-risk children and their families by giving them the skills to succeed and the confidence to have a positive impact on the world.

Board of Directors: Nic Kiyasu - President Andrea Ballard Meg McLaughlinDebbie Denton Joyce Romeo Rebecca Li Amy SahnLeslie Mayerson Denise Touhey

Advisory Board:Carrie Du Bois Alisa Greene MacAvoyRabbi Nat Ezray Patricia Meyer Don Horsley Memo MorantesSteven Kaufman John SeybertFiona Ma JoAnn SokolovSister Trinitas Hernandez Dr. Sally Stewart

Executive Director:Renée Zimmerman

Contact Us:

Family Connections P.O. Box 358 San Carlos, CA 94070 phone: 650.369.6467 email: director@familyconnections.org www.familyconnections.org

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going back to school to become a dental assistant. It was while working in a dental office that she met Juan, her future husband.

At 28 years old Argelie moved with Juan to the United States and they like many other new arrivals, moved in with relatives and very soon after had their first child,

Family Connections...continued

Juan Angel. When Argelie first learned she was pregnant, she was very happy but scared at the same time. She was afraid of repeating the same negative parenting style that she had experienced as a child. This fear had always lingered in her, even before she was pregnant but now it was real and she worried. When Juan Angel was only 11 days old Argelie’s husband, Juan, Sr., had to make an emergency return tip to Mexico to help his ailing father. He was gone for nearly a month and she felt alone, not getting along very well with her husband’s family members, she did not know the language nor the community and on top of it all her new baby had fallen sick.

Another difficult time came during the birth of her second child, a little girl named Anya. Having two children was definitely harder. Added to that struggle was a significant financial burden which came about when they had just settled into a small but nice apartment directly across the street from Family Connections’ Redwood City site only to have Juan lose his job. Argelie found she was having more and more difficulty with parenting and had begun to yell and have bursts of anger, particularly with her son Juan Angel. She would flash back to her own mother’s screaming and it would terrify her. But she knew no other way to deal with the challenges. Her greatest fear of being trapped in the same cycle of bad parenting was becoming real. Argelie walks with Anya & Juan Angel to the

new Connect Charter School each morning

Even though she lived directly across the street from Family Connections, it was her sister-in-law who told her about the program and encouraged her to attend. At first she was hesitant and not interested but she finally relented and gave it a try.

Argelie attended for several months but she never opened up about her stress, her fears or her frustrations with her son. Things finally came to a head within her household and Juan told her that something needed to change because the dynamic between herself and her son was affecting the entire family. All the while Argelie had this problem, she was attending Family Connections every week and still not sharing that she needed help. Until one morning when Education Coordinator, Ruth, was leading a discussion group and ended it by saying, “Mommies, this is just a reminder that if you ever have any problems, you can count on us to help you, we will not let you struggle with your problems alone.” At that moment, something clicked with Argelie and she pulled Ruth aside after the discussion and asked her for help.

With a referral to Star Vista Argelie and her son quickly received intensive therapy and support. With the relationship on a much better track, the cloud that had

“You helped me as a person because you listened to me. I have been able to talk about my fears and feelings and mostly you helped me value myself as a woman. I know I will always keep learning new things with Family Connections”

– Argelie Rivera

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hung over Argelie lifted and she was able to be much more receptive and engaged with the parent education component of Family Connections. She learned tools and techniques for positive discipline and she most of all learned to thoroughly enjoy her children as a loving mom.

Today Argelie is starting a new year at Family Connections with her third child, little Yareth and while she says that she still struggles at times to be a good mother and still worries about overcoming the parenting style she had learned from her own unpleasant childhood, she

knows that Family Connections is the place where she can continue to receive support and encouragement in her journey. As Juan Angel and Anya begin 1st grade and kindergarten at the new Connect Charter School on the Fairs Oaks School campus in Redwood City, she has high hopes for their future. She encourages their dreams of becoming a firefighter, mechanic or dentist and tells them above all else, they need to do well in school and then they can be anyone and do anything in life.

Saturday August 17th was a beautiful evening at the home of Jon & Kim Behrens who rekindled their annual summer benefit after a three year hiatus. Friends and family were invited to join in the fun with live music, great BBQ and refreshments and an opportunity to donate back-to-school supplies to Family Connections. Executive Director, Renee Zimmerman and Board President Nic Kiaysu were on hand to meet and greet the guests, many of whom are Open Gate Nursery School alumni (the Behrens first learned about Family Connections through their participation at Open Gate.)

In addition to the hundreds of school and classroom supplies guests generously donated a total of $2,100 in cash as well!

Behrens-Curry Homes Sponsors “Christmas in August” Event to Benefit Family Connections

Behrens-Curry Homes “Christmas in August” party nets much needed supplies for Family Connections

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Annual Giving Campaign The following is a list of individual donors, foundations and corporate funders who made gifts between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. Every effort has been made to ensure ac-curacy. Please inform us of any errors or omissions so that we may correct our records.

$20,000 + DonorsChildren’s Collaborative Action TeamAnonymousSilicon Valley Community Foundation (KTK Contract)

Gold Partners ($5,000 - $19,999)Atkinson FoundationAndrea and Andy BallardThe Campbell FoundationCenter for Speech, Language, and Occupational Therapy, Inc.City of Menlo ParkThe Crescent Porter Hale FoundationFranklin and Catherine Johnson FoundationHurlbut-Johnson Charitable TrustsMervyn L. Brenner FoundationMills-Peninsula Health ServicesPalo Alto WeeklyMark Dinan and Marta PuertaEric and Amy SahnRedwood City Rotary Foundation (car raffle proceeds)

Silver Partners ($2,500 - $4,999)Fremont Bank FoundationJanet & Richard HartKaiser PermanenteKaufman Family FundLeslie and Matthew MayersonThe Reis FoundationLisa SonsiniThe Morrison & Foerster FoundationRobert English and Anna Zara

Contributors Circle ($1,000 - $2,499)Laura AbramCris and Todd AdairAnonymoose FoundationApple Matching Gifts ProgramCecile BabcockMatthew and Margaret BannickMissy and Richard BechtelStanley BlumenfeldBohannon FoundationBurlingame Mothers’ ClubJannelle and Stephen FodorThe Carl Gellert & Celia Berta Gellert FoundationMichele FreedSusie and Wiley Hodges

Invest in Others Charitable FoundationJohn KendallNic and Dave KiyasuLittle WondersAlisa MacAvoyStuart & Meg McLaughlinMicrosoft Giving CampaignNeiman MarcusKatherine PetersPhilanthropic Ventures FoundationArjun PrabhuJose Guadalupe RuizLee ScheuerMartha SimmonsSummit Preparatory High SchoolConnie TamaddonDenise Touhey

Family Circle ($500 - $999)Cynthia and David BeckerKerry Bitner and James TaschettaCurtis ChenDebbie DentonPhilip and Christina DurSteven and Carol ElliottSally FalkenhagenFidelity Corporate ServicesScott and Tina GatteyCatherine LambAnnie LuetkemeyerJoelle LumishMireille McKeeHolly Myers and Kirk NeelyRuth Pinkus-ResnikJoyce RomeoMona ShahLaura Talmus and Ace SmithJeff and Linda StarrSteve and Debbie UmphreysSteven WeinsteinMichael and Patrice Wilbur

Friends ($100 - $499)Betsy AdamsAdobe Matching Gift ProgramLorena AlcayagaSuzanne and Joe AmatoAnnie and Phil BakerPatty Leeper and Craig BallLori and Aaron BatorPamela BilzSarah BlatnerMonica Blazenin OttossonCatherine BockLisa BraunJanet BrooksMary BurnsLinda & Jon BurtLily ChiuDavid and Wendy ChuteKevin ClayNorman and Susan ColbKatie ComfortCongregational Church of BelmontLisa CostelloKelly CouchKevin and Zoe CrowderJoanna DagumStephanie Day

Seth Rosenblatt and Sara DobbsMimi and Nat EzrayCatherine FairgreveShannon and Jeff FallickDalynn May and Christopher FerroMelissa FrankMichelle and Bill FutornickSallie GaspariniAmy Shaw and David GeorgeJoseph GlattNicole and Keith GoldsteinKaren GouldWendy GradRenee GreensteinCatherine GuglielmiNancy and John HammondHenry HeubachCheryl HightowerBruce HodgePatty HolubarAnne HorganDon and Elaine HorsleyJudy and Daniel HruskaRebecca Li and David JakopinJonathan KaplanGretta KeeganMargo KeeleySusan KellySarah KelseyNina and Christopher KeysJennifer KhouryVicki King-TragerJulie KleckLinda KleinMaeve KnothDon and Bitsy KosovacSharon and James LaheyLaura LarkinBrian and Patricia LatimerBrad and Regina LewisKerith LisiKathleen LynchAnne LyndeFiona MaPatricia and Bryant MacyKaren ManshipHolly MatermanAlicia McLucasNancy and Paul MelmonJessica MihalySandra MooreMemo MorantesJennifer MorrisLaurel Morris-WesslerNora MorrisonClarissa Naftzger and Jorge DiMartinoRegina NeuSigrid Jacobsen and Mike NeunfingerPatricia O’ConnorSue and Craig OlsonCarol OrtonJennifer OverholtGina and Jess ParksLisa Meltzer Penn and Jonathan PennJanet PerezJim and Alma PhillipsLynn and Jeff Pierce

Dave PineHun-Ju and Tim PorterSabrina Alfin and James PorterLeslie RehlaenderKristin ReidyJohn and Michelle RohrerKristy Roos-TaylorStephanie RosekindPerryn RowlandAnne RudolphMary RudolphMary RussellTara SamuelsMark and Christina SatterleeSharon Driscoll and David SavocaNiki Saxena MDHeidi SchellHeather Schwartz-LoefflerCynthia SewellDebbie SiefertLenore SieglerJoAnn SockolovGenaro SolorioPam SongerStellar Solutions FoundationGregory and Nancy SterlingDr. Sally StewartAmelia StoneStructure Law Group, LLPBecky and Dave SullivanJayne SungailNancy SwansonCeline TakatsunoJanet ThomasCathy TokicMabry TysonMargarita VenturaLoree WatanabeMary WatsonAnna and Jeffrey WeidellWells Fargo Community Support CampaignJulie WesolekNancy WrightSteve WurzburgKelly YoonLynette & Tim YorkJohn & Renee Zimmerman

Supporters (Up to $99)Nancy ArbuckleJose and Mary BaezAngela BanetJanet BarbashDeena BertolinaLu BinghamNatalie CarboneBetsy CarterBill and Sue CarterEmi ChuangMarty and Judy DeggellerEast Palo Alto Bayshore Rotary ClubLaura FanucchiAnne FrancisGretchen GravesJeff GreenfieldRosalie HareLinda Hare-TouyeHisako HashizumeShelley Hutter

Jacqui InglisAngela JaimeMarsha JohansenHedvika KnothFerah KutluMarianne MarktMara MintzerStephanie MoodyRobert and Harriet MossMary MurphyJennifer NovatneyJoan O’Grady-BaradaEverett and Soraya OlivenKristin PepperPeggy and Jonathan ProppDylan ResnikDey and Antoinette RoseAbby RovnerLorraine RumleySharon SchmidAmy SchwimmerWillard ShearinPaige and Shawn SinghMelinda Slatt-FriedebergAimee SwansonLinda TeutschelLisa and Darrow WeharaKyle WelchPearle Levine WilbornJenny and Joe Wucher

Family Connections also thanks “Night of Dreams” sponsors and attendees and “Rotary Car Raffle” ticket purchasers.

In Kind Contributions – Thank you to the many individuals and businesses who contributed throughout the 12/13 fiscal year. The following is a list of larger in-kind donations:

BNBuilders, Inc. - Belle Haven Play Yard RenovationBurlingame Mother’s Club - Graduation Backpacks & BooksCatherine Bock - gardening materialsEverest High School - meeting spaceHands On Bay Area -volunteersPalo Alto Kiwanis Club - Facility RepairsRaising A Reader - Book Bag ProgramRavenswood City School District -facility spaceSecond Harvest Food Bank - Snack ProgramSequoia Union High School District -facility spaceYoung Men’s Service League - Volunteers & Facility Repairs

2013-2014 Planned Revenue. Total $813,103

Family Connections Agency Profile

Hi-Lights from June 2013 Parent Year-End Surveys As a result of participating in Family Connections this year:

Total Number of Individuals Participatingor Volunteering

Children 153

Adults 255

Volunteers 175

KTK Summer Transition Program

Children 143

Classrooms 7

School Districts Served

Ravenswood City School District

Redwood City School District

Sequoia Union High School District (Sequoia Adult School)

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0 20 40 60 80 100

94% Understand Stages of my child's development

97% Understand the Importance of Play in a child's development

96% Know how to discipline my child in positive ways

86% Know different ways to build my child's math readiness skills

87% Use a variety of strategies for managing stress

88% Have increased family activities that emphasize fitness

90% Read to my child daily

2012-2013 Actual Annual Revenue. Total $571,354

Annual Giving (includes Young Scholars Program donation)

Earned Income (rent, interest)

Foundations

CCAT & First Five San Mateo County Grants

KTK Contract

Special Events

$154,50$250,000

$160,216

$115,187 $113,000

$20,200

Annual Giving

Foundations

CCAT (Children’s Collaborative Action Team) Grant

Earned Income (rent, interest)

KTK Contract

Special Events

$113,746

$154,028$64,000

$20,965

$102,893

$115,722

2013-2014 Planned Revenue. Total $813,103

Family Connections Agency Profile

Hi-Lights from June 2013 Parent Year-End Surveys As a result of participating in Family Connections this year:

Total Number of Individuals Participatingor Volunteering

Children 153

Adults 255

Volunteers 175

KTK Summer Transition Program

Children 143

Classrooms 7

School Districts Served

Ravenswood City School District

Redwood City School District

Sequoia Union High School District (Sequoia Adult School)

5

0 20 40 60 80 100

94% Understand Stages of my child's development

97% Understand the Importance of Play in a child's development

96% Know how to discipline my child in positive ways

86% Know different ways to build my child's math readiness skills

87% Use a variety of strategies for managing stress

88% Have increased family activities that emphasize fitness

90% Read to my child daily

2012-2013 Actual Annual Revenue. Total $571,354

Annual Giving (includes Young Scholars Program donation)

Earned Income (rent, interest)

Foundations

CCAT & First Five San Mateo County Grants

KTK Contract

Special Events

$154,50$250,000

$160,216

$115,187 $113,000

$20,200

Annual Giving

Foundations

CCAT (Children’s Collaborative Action Team) Grant

Earned Income (rent, interest)

KTK Contract

Special Events

$113,746

$154,028$64,000

$20,965

$102,893

$115,722

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Family Connections has been slowly expanding the breadth and depth of its programming over the past several years in response to our families’ increased need for supportive services above and beyond our core preschool programming. By utilizing a strong network of volunteers and community partners we have added critical components such as parent support groups, individual and family counseling, developmental assessments for every child in the program and more. In 2011 we implemented a more comprehensive Family Intake form that sought to assist teachers in understanding the family dynamic in more detail and served as an important tool for red-flagging any critical needs the family might have such as food or shelter.

But as Family Connections continued grow we felt that an increasing number of our families were struggling through a tough recession, unemployment challenges, housing shortages and rising basic living costs and with those challenges came the need for us to be able to provide more case-managed care. Additionally, research continued to emphasize the critical importance of a child’s first years of life which can be significantly affected by parental stress and in particular a mother’s difficulty in forming strong bonds from birth.

Armed with a sound programmatic foundation and the desire to expand our work with families whose children were newborn to 3yrs old we applied for

Recent Funding Grant Allows Family Connections to Expand Its Birth-3yr Programming

funding from First Five San Mateo County. This past June we were honored and proud to have been awarded a two year grant to implement our Nurturing Families program. The Nurturing Families program will allow us to provide a home visit by the teacher to each family at the start of the year and then again as a follow up in the spring. The visit will include an in depth intake process along with the completion of a Parent Stress Index which will allow us to pinpoint any specific needs or challenges that the parent may be facing. Additionally, First Five funding will allow us to increase our capacity by adding an afternoon session at two of our locations. There are many other elements to the program that all rounds out to what we believe will be a supportive and positive experience for new parents. We are excited to be able to share with you stories and successes along the way.

New board member Rebecca Li introduced us to Fiona Ma, Speaker pro Tempore Emeritus & Candidate State Board of Equalization 2014, last winter when Fiona graciously agreed to attend and give a few words of welcome at our 2013 Night of Dreams event. After attending our Spring Open House Fiona enthusiastically agreed to serve on our Advisory Board.

Fiona Ma was first elected to represent the people of California’s 12th Assembly District from November 2006 to November 2012 (after serving the maximum of three terms.) She was the 112th woman to ever be elected to the California Legislature and the first Asian women to ever serve as Speaker pro Tempore since 1850.

Assemblywoman Ma received her B.S. from the Rochester Institute of Technology (NY), her M.S. in Taxation from Golden Gate University (SF), and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She has been licensed in California as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) since 1992.

Fiona Ma Joins Family Connections Advisory Board

New Family Connections Advisory Board Member Fiona Ma

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Note from the Executive Director

Dear Friends,

2013 has proven to be quite a busy year for Family Connections on several different fronts. In just the past

few months we have welcomed two new staff members: Miriam Yupanqui, our new Young Scholars Program

Coordinator, and Marsha Quita, our new Program Administrative Assistant. In addition, our long time teacher,

Lorena Alcayaga, has taken on an additional role with the addition of our Nurturing Families program as our

new Intake Specialist.

On the volunteer front we recently said goodbye to three amazing board members: Laura Abram, Cynthia

Becker and Lynette York (Lynette will continue with FC in her staff role as Finance Director.) Joining our

board are two long time supporters Rebecca Li (a Little Hands alumna) and Meg McLaughlin (a former Little

Wonders and St. Paul’s Nursery School Board member.) Both of these new board members come with a

wealth of experience and expertise that has already been put to good use in our organization. Finally, we are

honored to have Fiona Ma join our Advisory Board (see accompanying article.)

These new staff and policy volunteers will be extremely important as FC enters a programming year like none

before in our 20 year history. We have two new focuses expanding our work with both our youngest children

through the Nurturing Families program as well as our older children through the Young Scholars program.

Young Scholars will allow FC to embark on a long desired goal to provide support and guidance to children

and their families graduating out of our program and entering the K-12 school system. We are fortunate in

that we have secured significant funding support for both of these new programs resulting in a nearly 30%

increase in our projected operating income from our 12/13 fiscal year to our new 13/14 year.

I hope that you will share in the excitement by re-visiting Family Connections if it has been a while or by

recommitting to our organization as a returning or continuing donor. We would not be able to continue this

important work without you!

Cooperatively Yours,

Renee Zimmerman

Executive Director

P.S. although we only print this newsletter once per year, you can stay connected monthly through our

e-news. To make sure we have your most up to date email please send us a quick confirmation to:

director@familyconnections.org.

NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSAN CARLOS, CA PERMIT NO. 162

Mailing Address:

Family Connections P.O. Box 358 San Carlos, CA 94070

Site Locations:

Belle Haven School Menlo Park

414 Fourth Avenue Redwood City

1070 Beech Street East Palo Alto

3rd Annual Night of Dreams Recognition Event Honorees Announced

Mark your 2014 calendars for this not to be missed event. Tuesday February 25th is the date; Sharon Heights Country Club is the place! We are proud to honor the following individuals and entities, all of whom have contributed in

significant ways to Family Connections over the pastseveral years:

Outstanding Volunteer – Karen Manship

Outstanding Community Partner – The Burlingame Mother’s Club

Outstanding Funders – Andrea & Andy Ballard

Although in just its third year, Night of Dreams has become our single largest and therefore most important fundraiser. There are many ways you can support this event by: attending, bringing a friend who may be interested in learning more about Family Connections and by sponsoring the event as an individual or business. Don’t miss this fun, inspiring evening. Registrationinformation will be posted soon at www.familyconnections.org.

In This Issue:

A Mother’s Journey 1

A Mother’s Journey (continued) 2

Behrens-Curry Homes’ Christmas in August 3

2012-13 Donor List 4

Family Connections Agency Profile 5

Grants Expands Birth to 3 Program 6

Fiona Ma Joins Family Connections 6

Note from the Executive Director 7

Night of Dreams Event 8

A Parent Child Education CenterBuilding a Path to Achievement

Family Connections

Our Mission

To establish the resources and broad recognition to be the first place that low-income families go for early childhood and parent education – empowering children and their parents to learn, grow and dream.

Our Vision

To foster the potential of our community’s youngest at-risk children and their families by giving them the skills to succeed and the confidence to have a positive impact on the world.

Board of Directors: Nic Kiyasu - President Andrea Ballard Meg McLaughlinDebbie Denton Joyce Romeo Rebecca Li Amy SahnLeslie Mayerson Denise Touhey

Advisory Board:Carrie Du Bois Alisa Greene MacAvoyRabbi Nat Ezray Patricia Meyer Don Horsley Memo MorantesSteven Kaufman John SeybertFiona Ma JoAnn SokolovSister Trinitas Hernandez Dr. Sally Stewart

Executive Director:Renée Zimmerman

Contact Us:

Family Connections P.O. Box 358 San Carlos, CA 94070 phone: 650.369.6467 email: director@familyconnections.org www.familyconnections.org

If you know of someone who would be interested in receiving the Report Card, please let us know. Or, if you received this newsletter and would like your name removed from

our mailing list, contact us at 650.369.6467 or director@familyconnections.org. Newsletter Layout by Glen So.