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Reaching for Change!
The Open Door staff and volunteers
While the Open Door program has seen growth and success with dozens of participants there is still an ever growing need to continue fighting this epidemic in our community. Last week during a street outreach sponsored by Molina Health Care, we reached out to 21 women and at least one minor. Every week we see dozens of women and girls, with new girls appearing each week. Some are immediately receptive, some not at all, and some warm up to us because they see us out regularly. Our goal during each outreach is to build relationships and let these victims know people truly care about them and there are other options available. It can be a bit shocking the first time a volunteer does outreach in the community. The numbers of victims we see, how active the streets are and how friendly the women are can be a lot to take in. We have a dedicated group of volunteers, who continue to show up with a readiness to help in anyway. Outreach is a great opportunity for our volunteers to get involved and experience hands on how important our mission is. Our goal is to facilitate our outreach services multiple times a week and the only way we can accomplish this goal is by the help of our volunteers. If you are interested in doing street outreach or volunteering, please contact
kinsey@familyassist.org
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Quantum Mechanics helping victims
By: Darryl Evey
In school we learn lots of things that we are sure we will never use. Adults comment that they have never used algebra. Students are frequently complaining about the real world application of the tedious lessons. I love to learn new things and I especially love thought experiments, especially if they are paradoxical. Recently, I was able to use some quantum mechanics to help our case managers.
Case managers meet with our clients weekly to help them set goals and work towards achieving those goals. Many of our clients have had extremely difficult lives and have suffered multiple forms of trauma. This makes them challenging to work with and can sometimes exacerbate the case managers. In a recent meeting, one of the case managers felt that maybe she should help the client make a contingency plan. She was unstable and struggled with following through. This made it probable she would not succeed in her plan. Should we encourage and put our effort into helping her succeed or should we accept that she would not succeed and start making a plan to address her failure? I suggested we consider Schrodinger's Cat.
Erwin Schrodinger created a thought experiment to help consider quantum mechanics. I won't go into detail as to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, but if you have some time it is worth reading about. Schrodinger proposed that if he put his cat in a box with poison that would be released at a random time, the cat would either be alive or dead at any given time. This would require that when considering the status of the cat, one would think of the cat as both alive and dead. This is a good representation of how to address our clients.
We never want to give up on our clients. We also cannot take a Pollyanna view of our clients that will not prepare them for the eventual setbacks that everyone experiences. We need to work with the assumption that they will both fail and succeed. Both outcomes are reasonable expectations and plans need to be developed. I never thought a college physics class would help serve the people in our program, but the discussion has helped our case managers prepare for both success and failure.
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If you were to walk into the UPS store in north Apple Valley or Hesperia, you will find Family Assistance Program spotlighted and being recognized in our community. One wall in both locations has been created to look like a back drop with a Hollywood spotlight, showcasing Family Assistance Program and the different programs we provide. Thanks to Misty Sanchez the owner for both locations, their staff and customers will be collecting blankets and socks to help victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, and runaway/homeless youth. Brigitte Gonzalez, who is the program manager for Family Assistance Program; became acquainted with Misty at a High Desert Resource Network meeting. Which is like a specialized chamber of commerce for non-profits, schools, ministries, public services agencies, and businesses. Misty approached Brigette with the offer of being spotlighted for the month of November and the opportunity to become community partners. Both locations plan to spotlight and collect donations for a different local nonprofit every month. Family Assistance Program is always looking for ways to build and develop new relationships with community partners. Only through these connections can we strengthen our growing community.
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Sweet Appreciation
The Fam Spot youth drop-in center has provided services to over 130 High Desert teens since opening in 2015. It all started with our youth advocate, Patrina Stewart and a handful of teens who helped develop the program and reached out to the community about this new resource. Fortunately, we have had the opportunity to expand our tutoring services and take the youth on field trips along the way too. The agency expected the close relationship the youth advocate developed with the teens but was pleasantly surprised by the bond that developed with the other staff. The youth truly appreciated the time these individuals spent with them; teaching, listening, participating in their lives. Basically, giving them a chance. To say thank you, the kids pulled together a mix of recyclables, their own money, and a donation by the youth advocate; and purchased tasty treats from Edible Arrangements. Melissa Woods who facilitates anger management/healthy relationship classes and Mary Moore who is the finance assistant received the tasty treats. Melissa has helped the youth navigate through many issues pertinent to their age group during her weekly classes at the drop-in center. Mary has helped them discover new forms of arts and crafts; which in turn became a fundraiser for their program. Family Assistance Program is grateful to have such dedicated and compassionate staff on their team.
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Working Together For The Better Of Our Community
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Family Assistance Program takes pride in helping members of our community and that includes other agencies and businesses. Here are a few we have partnered with this month!
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