San Bernardino’s Team Building Day!

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Submitted by Norma Bermudez
AA/HR for San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC

In late July, San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC programs went to San Juan Capistrano for team building with a day full of activities. Staff were able to learn about each other and their surroundings. Everyone joined in team building exercises/games, a guided tour of San Juan Capistrano Mission, and ended with a nice luncheon at a restaurant by the mission. This was fun team building! A BIG thank you to the management team for making this possible!

Gladman Celebrates Telecare's 50th

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Gladman MHRC celebrated Telecare’s 50th Anniversary with a big party in their back yard. The entire Gladman crew set up a fantastic party  that included a live band, fun party games, and face painting! A big thank you to the dietary team at Gladman and the amazing job they did whipping up burgers and hot dogs in a flash! They catered the entire party and served some delicious food for all to share. Check out a glimpse of the activities below.

Sausal Creek Parties at the Ballpark!

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Sausal Creek staff and their family members celebrated Telecare’s 50th birthday by taking it out to the ballgame!

On July 19th, staff had the pleasure of watching the Oakland A’s hit home run after home run while playing the Minnesota Twins. Final Score: a whopping 14-1 victory!!

It has been a year of many transitions at Sausal Creek as they said good-bye to the long-time leadership team of Pansy Taft-Butkowski (Administrator) and Sabrina Spellman (BOM/HR/AA). Pansy and Sabrina have moved onto other positions within the organization and Carolyn Rapier (former Administrator for Cordilleras) is now leading the Sausal Creek team into Telecare’s next half century!

SOAR Gets Spirited!

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By Kezzia Bullen
Clinical Director at SOAR

SOAR has some very spirited team members and we like to have spirit week (yes, like in high school) a few times a year. We have a theme each week and one of them was celebrating Telecare’s 50th year anniversary! We all love to eat and we have a themed potluck each day of the week too. We know that working in this field is very stressful and is often not immediately rewarding (and can take a lot of energy.) So, we like to make things fun whenever we can–often it’s all that gets us through on really tough days.

A special thank you to Bisa and Sheila for their spirit leadership. Bisa made all the props and decorations each day; THANK YOU!  Everyone on the SOAR team participated and chipped in for a fun and food filled week. I feel incredibly lucky to work with this work family.

LA Step Down Recognizes Members with Annual Picnic

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By Kathleen Wells
HR/AA, Telecare LA Step Down

Each year, members participate in an art contest to design our annual members picnic t-shirts. This year, Priscilla R. was the winner. All members and staff wore the t-shirts while participating in an array of activities including but not limited to; arts and crafts, dominoes, water balloon toss, basketball, Frisbee, ladder golf, arts and crafts, dominoes and other board games, also there was a karaoke and dance contest. We all enjoyed a wonderful barbecue meal of hot dogs, hamburgers (with all the trimmings), beans, potato salad and cookies for dessert.

Santa Cruz PHF and CSP Celebrate Telecare’s 50th!

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On July 17, 2015, Santa Cruz Psychiatric Health Facility and Crisis Stabilization Program celebrated Telecare’s 50th anniversary by hosting a big party at the facility. The festivities included a BBQ with wonderful food and treats. Telecare employees and County related staff and visitors attended. The theme of the celebration was Community Awareness and how Telecare can make a difference in Santa Cruz County.

Thank you Mark Kik for planning and cooking, and everyone who made this celebration a success!

LA Step Down Celebrates Telecare’s 50th!

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Los Angeles Step-Down has had a very busy month! We’ve celebrated our members annual picnic with many activities and an ole fashion barbecue in the park. Then, two weeks later, we also celebrated Telecare’s 50th Anniversary along with our open house! The “Taco Man” came in and cooked up some carne asada and pollo street tacos with beans, rice, and salsa. There were gift bags for our visitors; and for entertainment our members provided karaoke, dominoes and dancing. All were a huge success with our members, family, friends, colleagues, vendors and neighboring businesses.

Sonoma ACT Celebrate Telecare’s 50th!

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By AJ Rylaarsdam
Clinical Director at Sonoma ACT

On July 1st, Telecare Sonoma ACT celebrated the Open House of the McMinn Housing Project while also celebrating Telecare’s 50th anniversary. Staff and members relaxed in the shade of the redwood trees, enjoying lunch and visiting with each other while appreciating the community benefits of this stable housing project. One resident generously gave tours of her apartment throughout the afternoon for those curious to get a closer look. This was a celebration that brought together people from different community agencies.

Along with the ACT members who are residents of the McMinn apartments, staff from Sonoma ACT, Sonoma County Behavioral Health, Sonoma Community Housing and Eugene Berger Property Management were all in attendance. The McMinn housing project is a very successful collaboration between these agencies providing affordable housing in a remodeled apartment complex for eight ACT members. The McMinn apartments are more than a home for our members; it is a healthy recovery community in which members know and support one another in their daily lives. We honored Paula Cook of Sonoma Community Housing, by presenting her with a plaque, for her hard work on seeing this project through from its inception several years ago to its success today. Thank you to everyone who attended and made this celebration a fun and successful day.

La Paz Celebrates Telecare’s 50th!

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La Paz celebrated Telecare’s 50th year with a fun Mardi Gras theme party. Staff munched on BBQ chicken, tri-tip, pulled pork, ribs, salads, a 4-tier cake, and cookies, while listening to tunes from 1965! They even played Telecare Bingo and had 1965-themed trivia. Overall, the party looks and sounds like a great time! Thank you to the staff that worked hard to organize this wonderful event!

TAO Throws a 4th of July Bash & Welcoming Celebration

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Submitted by Anthony Delgado
Administrator at TAO

One of the ways in which Telecare TAO welcomes its members is through celebrations! They are a great opportunity for members and staff to play and enjoy each other as part of one single tribe or community. This is a time when in the spirit of celebration, recovery, and community, all divisions between members and staff disappear and all that remains is the humanity that binds us together.

Orange County is currently developing a newsletter to highlight the FSP philosophy and how it’s visible in programs. TAO submitted this example to the county as an example of the practices they have used within their program in hopes to encourage others.

Santa Barbara Programs Celebrate 50 Years!

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by Richelle Bucayu
Administrator Santa Maria ACT & McMillan Ranch

On June 26, 2015, Santa Barbara County programs Santa Maria ACT, McMillan Ranch, and CARES Crisis Residential took time away from superhero duties to celebrate 50 years of helping members recover and obtain the life they envision.

Staff, members, and member families came together at a superhero-themed summer BBQ picnic to acknowledge and thank the heroes among us - staff for their dedication and limitless compassion; members for their resiliency and hopefulness; families for their support, patience, and willingness to understand; and our community collaborators such as county Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services for striving to make positive changes in the community and allowing Telecare to make that difference.

Thank you to our fabulous party planners for a successful picnic: Megan McGuire, Anita Morin, Michele Chisum, and Carla Anderson. Thank you to Tele Trujillo and Dr. Levy for the tasty BBQ. Thank you to my managers, Robin Squires and Martha Mancha for your behind-the-scenes assistance. I am so grateful for every staff contributing to the teamwork needed to make this a successful Telecare birthday. Thank you everyone!

Stanislaus PHF Superhero Party!

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The super heroes of Stanislaus PHF showed their true identities for a fun-filled 50th anniversary party last week.

“The theme was chosen because it reflects how lucky we are to have a dedicated staff who always go above and beyond the call of duty to help our clients in their recovery,” said Talal Alsaleem, administrator of the PHF.

The party consisted of a superhero costume contest, delicious cake, and provided a great opportunity for staff to let loose and be silly around each other.

Thank you to the Stanislaus PHF Superheroes who put the party together and made it truly special!

Villa Fairmont Celebrate with a Multi-Cultural Conga Bash!

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Submitted by Marti Winterhalter
Director of Rehabilitation, Villa Fairmont MHRC

Costumes, and candy, and conga–oh my! Villa Fairmont celebrated Telecare’s 50th with a multi-cultural bash!

We had food from many of the cultures represented by our staff. We feasted on Nigerian, Filipino, Afghan, Indian, Chinese, Mexican cuisines and Down Home Fried Chicken–we topped off our feast with Linda Young’s (RAL)”1 Stop Sweet Shoppe.”

It was a “cultural dress” day as well, and so many of our staff showed off their beautiful cultural costumes. In addition from doctor’s to dietary, we donned wild and wacky garb in our photo booth and finished up the party with a conga line to the Afghan singer Aryana Sayeed “Anar” (Pomegranate)!

Orange County Celebrates Telecare’s 50th!

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Orange County program’s came together for one festive 50th anniversary party earlier in June. STEPS and AOT staff attended a party with Telecare leadership, county service chiefs from their respective program types, and Mark Refowitz, agency director for Orange County Health Care Authority, who had some very kind words about Telecare.

Party planners added some fun by affixing trivia about 1965 to their 50th balloons, and guests were treated to some entertainment from a member playing acoustic guitar and singing. The party also included a touching speech from a staff member and member–and let’s not forget about the 50th anniversary cupcakes!

Thank you to the staff and guests that helped make this party fantastic!