May is National Foster Care Month
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Foster Care Month provides an opportunity for acknowledging the thousands of dedicated foster families and other caring individuals and organizations who are supporting these young people.
It is time to reflect on some of the successes for the children, families and foster families involved. There are some amazing stories out there, stories of families that overcame struggles, stories of young people who only overcame adversity--adversity many adults couldn’t handle—but who are now becoming leaders of our nation’s future; stories of foster parents with unlimited commitment and organizations and agencies that dedicate their good works to these kids.
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If you are interested in becoming a Foster Parent, please contact
SKSF Child Placement Services at 719-345-1735.
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Here's what's happening in our Programs...
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It's Garden Season at Joey's Place
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Joey’s Place recently kicked off their garden season as Adult Program participants planted veggie seedlings. We experimented using toilet paper rolls as seed starters planting cucumber seeds and sweet peppers. Gardening can have many health benefits for people with disabilities, and can provide a source of exercise, friendship, stimulation and relaxation.
Learn more about Joey's Place...
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Adult Program Participant, Patrick Taylor enjoying his time planting!
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Danielle Murphy happily displaying her veggie seedlings!
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A Dedicated Volunteer Group: Griffis Blessing
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A volunteer group from Griffis/Blessing, a real estate management company headquartered in Colorado Springs, came to Zach's Place recently to help out. They played games with the kiddos and made friendship bracelets. Members of the Griffis/Blessing company volunteers hundreds of hours in service to a variety of civic and charitable organizations. They encourage their employees to volunteer for non-profit and charitable activities and believe that community involvement is good business.
THANK YOU to the dedicated volunteers for their time and generosity!
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Volunteers playing duck-duck-goose with kids at Zach's Place program
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Volunteers assisting in making friendship bracelets with the Zach's Place kiddos
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Here's the latest SKSF NEWS...
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Unified Title Company employees presenting check to SKSF
From left to right; Angie Cooper, UTC; Cody Lamkin, SKSF; Cindy Lamoureux, SKSF; Linda Ellegard, SKSF Executive Director; Jeanette Hodge, UTC; Sara Cripe, UTC
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Unified Title Company Donation to SKSF
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Unified Title Company
held their 4th Annual Charity Golf Tournament last year choosi
ng to donate all funds to support Special Kids Special Families programs! This week, Unified Title GIVES BACK and presented a check for over $18,000 to support Zach's Place programs for children with disabilities and their families. Their tremendous support throughout the years shows their commitment and they truly live up to their mission statement of showing distinction and integrity!
ABOUT UNIFIED TITLE
Unified Title Company, LLC is based in Colorado Springs and is a full-service provider of title insurance, escrow and related products for residential and commercial real estate transactions across Colorado. Led by Owner/President, Brian Cooper,
Unified Title's mission statement is to provide title and closing services with distinction and integrity. Distinction means that when surveyed from afar, we stand out from the crowd. Integrity means that when scrutinized close up, our deeds match our words and both are beyond reproach.
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Ent Credit Union awarded 33 Colorado nonprofit agencies a total of $100,000 through its 2018 Youth Endowment Series (YES) Grants program. Special Kids Special Families was one of the lucky grant recipients to receive a $2,500 award!
Since its inception in 2000, the YES Grants program has awarded more than $1.1 million in grants to more than 155 Colorado nonprofits that serve the diverse health, human services and other needs of children.
We thank Ent Credit Union for granting us this award and recognizing our valuable programs we provide individuals with disabilities and their families.
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Recently the Koscove Kids had a few "gigs" with puppet performances at Primrose School and Ruth Washburn Nursery School.
Koscove Kids are multi-cultural puppets each representing a unique disability. They come to life in a special way to teach children about their peers with disabilities and assist schools in efforts to implement programs of inclusion. The goals of the Koscove Kids project are to provide an opportunity for children to explore disabilities in a comfortable learning environment, gain acceptance of disabilities through understanding and foster positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities.
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We are still seeking volunteers to help with this program. Volunteer responsibilities would include
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- Transporting the puppets and equipment
- Helping set up equipment
- Performing a part to accurately convey the show’s message
- Interacting appropriately with children in audience for questions and answers
- Packing up puppets and equipment
- Interacting with other puppeteers and SKSF staff
- Distributing and collecting teacher evaluation materials
- click here to view volunteer duties
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SAVE THE DATE - BBB EVENT!
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Saturday 6/23
5:00pm – 9:00pm
Manitou Springs Memorial Hall
606 Manitou Avenue
Manitou Springs, CO 80829
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SKSF invites you to participate in our annual BBB – Bluegrass, Brews & Brats fundraising event as a sponsor, guest or donor. Enjoy local bluegrass bands, brews and spirits, a burger or brat and socialize with friends. Proceeds help support programming for children and adults with disabilities.
$20/person
Includes 2 food/drink items (items include alcoholic drinks (beer or wine), non-alcoholic drinks (water/soda), brat or burger with chips)
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Other Upcoming SKSF Events...
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Ways YOU can make a difference...
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Sheila Carver
Adult Mentor
ICAN
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Ashley Green
Adult Mentor II
Joey’s Place
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JasmineArnold
Adult Mentor
ICAN
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Karol Blasczynski
Accounting Assistant
Administrative Office
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Andrew Caston
Assistant Coordinator
Joey's Place
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WE'RE HIRING!
or
contact
HR Department
at
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Ways to SUPPORT SKSF programs
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