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Physically and Fiscally Speaking

Financial problems are consistently rated among the highest source of stress, which can

also cause anxiety, frustration and feelings of hopelessness. The financial stress that many

endure can lead to health problems. Stress is a known contributor to high blood pressure,

cardiovascular disease and stomach disorders, among other conditions. Part of this may

be due to the fact that many people engage in unhealthy behaviors to cope with stress,

such as drinking, smoking and overeating.

Financial trouble can be overwhelming and consuming, leading to trouble sleeping,

moodiness, decrease in focus, and a lack of energy. The combination of stress, anxiety

and lack of sleep can cause more colds and minor illnesses and can also exacerbate

existing medical conditions. In addition, those with financial problems are more likely to

neglect their own healthcare, such as not spending money on preventive care or not

adhering properly to medication and treatment regimens for chronic conditions. All of the

above factors can contribute greatly to an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle and higher

medical bills. Source: http://mma-west.com/assets/files/May-2018-Altitude-Newsletter%20(2).pdf

Policy of the Month: Personal Safety in the Office By Administration Community Catalysts of California (CCC) offices are located in areas that are felt to be safe, but

violence can happen anywhere. Staff working in CCC offices should understand the importance

of workplace security. The safety of staff members is a top priority of CCC. The following are

procedures to follow for your protection while working at a CCC office:

▪ If there is a situation within the office in which you feel that it could become violent,

get out of the building and call “911”. If you cannot get out and the situation appears life

threatening, seek protective cover. If possible, call for help.

▪ If a situation or a potential threat takes place outside the building, lock the exterior

office door and call “911”. Do not put yourself in a position to be injured.

▪ If a staff member is working alone in a CCC office before or after normal working hours,

the exterior office door is to be kept locked.

▪ If any staff member feels uncomfortable or unsafe working in a CCC office alone during

business hours, keep the exterior door locked. Ask people to identify themselves before opening

the door.

Board of Directors James Wheeler Chair Greg Murphy Vice Chair David Kuhlman Secretary Roberta Raasveld Treasurer Carey Storm Director Melissah Walker Director Jarrod Hammes Director Zeyad Moussa Director

Newsletter Staff Contributors Amanda B., Farley O., Alice O., Editors Gaby H.

Physically and Fiscally Speaking Policy of the Month Fresno Salinas San Marcos Ukiah Corporate VCS Visalia

May 2018

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Client Anniversaries

23 Years Cynthia A. | San Marcos

Michelle Y. | San Marcos

22 Years Joann C. | San Marcos

Edward G. | Fresno

21 Years Alicia P. | Fresno

20 Years Mart W. | Santa Clara

John K. | Santa Clara

19 Years Andrew B. | Santa Clara

17 Years George V. | Fresno

16 Years Brian S. | Santa Clara

Melinda O. | San Marcos

Paul R. | Ukiah

15 Years Dylan C. | Salinas

13 Years James L. | Stockton

12 Years Paul M. | Fresno

Lloyd P. | Ukiah

11 Years Veronica A. | Salinas

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May 2018

Central Valley

Fresno By Amanda Brewer What’s Going On? Fresno CAC chose to go to Pismo, CA for

May’s outing. Staff and clients all jumped in

the Fleets and zoomed off for a day of fun

and sun! The clients walked on the beach,

played in the water, and relaxed on the sand.

Even our clients that are in wheelchairs got

to go on the beach using Pismo’s awesome

beach-capable wheelchairs! After the beach

fun, everyone made sure to make time to

enjoy cinnamon rolls and clam chowder

bowls!

Nicole went to a Fresno Grizzlies baseball game with staff

early in the month. She had a blast eating good ballpark food

and cheering loudly for the home team! GO GRIZZLIES!!

Fresno CAC Chairperson, Marci received a very

generous donation from PR Plumbing Heating & Air

Conditioning INC on behalf of the Fresno CAC. We are

so very thankful for their wonderful support!!

Client Anniversaries Continued from pg. 2 10 Years Norma H. | Salinas

Jose A. | Salinas

7 Years Ricardo F. | Imperial Valley

Luz G. | Salinas

6 Years Lulcia R. | Stockton

Dee Anna P. | Fresno

Christopher W. | San Marcos

5 Years Bruce B. | San Marcos

Ruben H. | Imperial Valley

4 Years Vernice W. | Fresno

La Tonya C. | Stockton

Michael M. | Imperial Valley

3 Year Douglas S. | Visalia

Jerrard W. | Santa Clara

Nelly O. | Imperial Valley

2 Years Karen V. | Imperial Valley

Elizabeth J. | Merced

1 Year Sharakon J. | Santa Clara

Clara Y. | Santa Clara

Larnal Y. | Santa Clara

James V. | Santa Clara

May 2018

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South Bay Sal inas By Farley Odad

What’s Going On?

Two birds with one stone they say, well, our client Jesus M. just proved

that. This month not only did he get his driver’s license, he also got a

job as a janitor and stocker at a gas station. We are proud all very proud

of Jesus, keep it up!

Our clients and staff went on a walk

and they enjoyed the beautiful views.

We would like to send a big “thank you” to Salinas Valley Fair for

donating free tickets for our South County client’s. The fair had a variety

of shows, games, rides and many other things for the client to enjoy.

On Saturday, May 12th, our clients and their families were invited to

attend a live choral performance from Monterey Peninsula Voices that

included over 100+ singers! One of our staff members, Mary S, who

was one of the evening’s singers, had helped us get 50 complimentary

tickets to this stellar event. Family members of our clients were also

invited to help honor them and celebrate Mother’s Day with their

children. Overall, we had 32 clients and their family members attend,

and 2 lucky staff members. Songs from famous movies like Moana,

Alice and Wonderland, Slumdog Millionaire, and Ghostbusters were

performed, as well as musical themes from James Bond, The Pink

Panther, and Star Wars. The performance, which had been attended

by 450 people, was truly awe inspiring. The best part was seeing our

clients enjoying themselves alongside their parents. This was a

wonderfully new and rewarding experience for many of our clients and

we hope to offer a similar event in the future. Thank you for your

generosity.

Employee Anniversaries 30 years Jim Jenkins | Corporate

16 Years Karen Bennet | Ukiah

10 Years Tara Ramirez | Imperial Valley

9 Years Kathleen Hartland | San Marcos

Terri Ramirez | Imperial Valley

8 Years Ma Yang | Fresno

7 Years Ladessa Lohr | Ukiah

6 Years Ian Stigliani | Salinas

3 Years Jeannette Guerrero | Visalia

John Howard | Ukiah

Kaelin Ware | Stockton

2 Years Richard Erskine | Fresno

May 2018

Southern California San Marcos By Alice Olsen What’s Going On? Knott’s Berry Farm fun day for our San Diego & San Marcos Clients & Staff.

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SE would like to Welcome Aboard or better yet, extend a Welcome Back! To our new EC James

Herring. You just couldn’t stay away could you?

A BIG Thank You! To EC/DSA Trudy Levenson for putting together a CAC event at Boomers! for

our San Diego clients to enjoy some fun in the sun.

To ES Marti Diegan “WAY TO GO, YOU ROCK!” Marti continues to place our clients in the Job

Development program in to new employment opportunities.

Thank you to DSS Ron Clayton for continuing to assist with everything under the sun. As well as

CS Eula Wilburn, EC’s Maria Juguilon, Orlando Garcia, Isabel Bolanos, M. Gabby Siboni, Rebecca

Anthenill.

Employee Anniversaries Continued from pg. 4

1 Year Amber Aspeitia | VCS

Eddie Castillo | VCS

Cindy Doerfler | San Marcos

Duchun Goodwin | Fresno

Jared Jameson | Visalia

Daniel Ligon | Ukiah

Terin Ortega | VCS

Adrianna Rux | Santa Clara

Isidro Sandoval | Fresno

Scott Wilson | Visalia

Redwood Coast Ukiah By Jennifer Bilstein What’s Going On?

We hope everybody had a great month! We’d first like

to wish a big Happy Birthday to client KT! KT enjoyed a

night out to dinner and a movie for her birthday.

We had a busy month this May. We started off the

month by participating in the Mendo Human Race. It’s a

5K ran by North Coast Opportunities, a local non-profit,

to help raise money for other non-profit organizations.

We successfully raised approximately $500 for our

Client Advisory Committee! And we had a great time

doing it! Some clients even did the Mendo Human Race

and then took off to go see the Les Schwab Monster

Truck Spring Nationals in Santa Rosa, CA. One client,

David M., was brave enough to even go for a ride in a

monster truck! Everybody had a great time that day.

We also had some clients who went to check out the

Matsuri Japanese Art Festival. Everyone who went had

a great time seeing Japanese drumming and swordplay.

We also went to a local event, Pastels on the Plaza,

where people purchase squares in the local plaza to do

artwork on as a fundraiser for a local school.

To top it all off, we had a Client Advisory Committee

meeting at our office where many clients got together

with each other the night before and put together crock-

pot dishes. The following day they let them cook and

then brought them to the office as a crock-pot potluck!

The dishes were delicious, and everybody had a fun

time getting together and cooking. We’re already

looking forward to next month!

May 2018

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Corporate

By Gaby Heredia

What’s Going On? This month we had a Board Meeting and our CEO Jim Jenkins was presented with a certificate

of appretication for his dedicated 30 years at Community Catalysts! Congratulations Jim, thank

you for everything you do!

May 2018

Board Chair, James Wheeler, and CEO, Jim Jenkins Board Members Greg Murphy, James Wheeler, Roberta Raasveld,

David Kuhlman, and Jarrod Hammes with CEO Jim Jenkins

We would like to thank VCS Case Coordinator Renee

Holmes and her client Phillip for joining our Board

Meeting this month. We hope they enjoyed their visit

to the Corporate office.

VCS

By Valerie Garcia

What’s Going On? Below is a Heartfelt testimony from a VCS Veteran along with a lovely photo of himself and his VCS advocates; May Espejo-Case Coordinator and Wendy Montenegro- Housing Coordinator!

“Several months ago, I ended up at VCS. My electricity had been turned off and I had a court date because I was being evicted due to none payment of rent. Our income had been reduced a lot. My girlfriend lost her job. She has diabetes and several other medical conditions keeping her from being able to work a schedule. I was directed to VCS when I called 211. I don't know exactly what I expected. I didn't think that someone could really help me, but I was willing to try anything that might help to keep us from being on the streets. When I walked through the door the VCS office I was greeted with a smile and asked if I would like to have some water or coffee. I met with an intake specialist (Wendy Montenegro) who asked me some questions and I filled out some paperwork regarding eligibility. Shortly after that I was told that I qualified for the program. From there I was connected to a case coordinator (May Espejo) who walked me through forms and appointments that I needed to make. The whole time I was treated with respect and felt that everyone that I dealt with seemed professional in every way. To my amazement, everything came together in a very short time. I am back in good standing with my landlord. My lights are back on and I have more confidence that I will be able to make it. I want to thank VCS so very much for all their work in making this happen for me. They made me feel like family.”

VCS celebrated our April Birthdays as

well with a Pizza Birthday Pot Luck!

A very Happy Birthday to Renee

Holmes-Case Coordinator; Robert

Lundberg Case Coordinator; Wendy

Montenegro-Housing Coordinator;

Whitney Willis-Employment specialist!

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May 2018

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Central Valley Visa l ia By Gladys Monje

What’s Going On?

Our Clients had a great time one their trip to the beach this month.

Client Timothy attending a parade. One of our staff’s daughter, June, ready for her prom! June goes to the same day program as some of our clients.

May 2018