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ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Cowboy Cab 2018 - June 9th - Save the date!
- Ready to Work 2018 - Our fall Work Readiness classes begin at Sonoma Valley High School this month. Come meet the graduates at Saddles Restaurant on March 16th.
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A LETTER FROM CRISTIN
Our
January newsletter provided a glimpse of some of our favorite highlights for 2017 and now the numbers are in! Last year, we served over 500 teens! Within our Ready to Work program alone, 77 teens completed Work Readiness Certification, 135 gained work experience (36 in our micro-businesses, 40 as volunteers, and 59 in part-time jobs in the community), and 88 participated in specific workforce training in culinary, mechanics, welding, or construction.
This would not have been possible without the energies and dedication of staff, board, community partners, advisors, donors, and volunteers. The numbers there are also amazing. We registered 527 volunteer hours just in the last three months of 2017, and we far surpassed our end-of-the-year fund-raising goal.
Such a team effort provides the resources needed to expand services for our youth. Plans are underway for an advanced Work Readiness workshop, job fairs, increased work experience opportunities, and access to new career pathways, career placement and coaching. We look forward to sharing our progress with you and continue to extend a heartfelt thank you for all that you do to support Sonoma Valley teens.
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BOARD ANNOUNCEMENTS
We extend a huge thank you to Lorraine Ashton as she completes her term as President of the TSS Board. Her energy and leadership contributed greatly to all that we have achieved over the past two years. Lorraine will continue on the Board as Past President as she turns over the reins to Doug Hanford and Judy Scotchmoor who will serve as Co-Presidents. Debby Kweller takes on the role of Secretary.
We also welcome Sandy Drew to the TSS Board. Sandy played a key role in our end-of-the-year campaign and will chair our Fund Development Committee.
Sandy is a semi-retired nonprofit consultant who served as Director of Development at KQED and Lick Wilmerding High School prior to joining the international consulting firm, Marts & Lundy. During her consulting career, Sandy worked with a variety of nonprofits on governance, strategy and fundraising and also served on a number of nonprofit boards. With more volunteer time available, Sandy became involved with several local nonprofits including FISH, Pets Lifeline and the Sonoma County Adult Literacy program. She became aware of the positive impact Teen Services makes on the lives of teens and their families and is eager to help Teen Services continue its good work.
Information on the full board is available
here.
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READY TO WORK UPDATES
We kicked off the year with a special luncheon for teachers at Sonoma Valley High to inform them about the enhanced curriculum for our Work Readiness classes and the success of the addition of job coaches for those teens who complete certification. The discussions were lively and the lunch prepared by the Lovin' Oven much appreciated.
Classes begin on February 15th and culminate with a graduation celebration at Saddles Restaurant on March 16th.
For more information, contact Program Manager, Francesca Fifis:
[email protected]
or 707-939-1452.
Once again, Teen Services will be participating in Speed Networking, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. At this popular event, teens have the chance to make a one-minute pitch about themselves with local business leaders. The event will take place at The Lodge on March 5th from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. To see a glimpse of the fun from the 2017 event,
click here .
Work Experience: Lovin' Oven
Every Tuesday 5-7 teens gather in the kitchen to prepare a meal for the clients of Sonoma Overnight Support. Much of the food is donated by Whole Foods and Meals on Wheels, and we are now serving meals to twice the number of SOS clients each week.
In addition, we were pleased to cater the fundraising dinner and auction for Seeds of Learning, a local nonprofit dedicated to improving educational opportunities in rural Latin America.
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OTHER NEWS AT TSS
Many thanks to the Sonoma Plaza Foundation for their very generous donation of $13,826 in support of Teen Services Sonoma.
From left to right: Judith Brant, Denise Silver, Cristin and Penny McKesson.
We cannot express our appreciation for this significant donation without special mention of Kathy Mazza who was a driving force behind the Sonoma Plaza Foundation and a long-time friend of Teen Services Sonoma. Kathy is very missed here on Earth but will always be in our hearts.
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A SPECIAL SALUTE TO OUR VOLUNTEERS
Throughout the year, members of the community support our efforts in so many ways: baking pies alongside our teens, refurbishing bikes, decorating cookies, coaching a Ready-to-Work teen, editing the newsletter, taking photos, offering other in-kind services... the list goes on. We now have a more effective way to track our volunteers, so hopefully we will not overlook anyone, but for now, a huge thank you to the following people who gave of their time during the last quarter of 2017.
Barry Ansell
Chris Argenziano
Glenn Arsenault
Lorraine Ashton
Susan Baldwin
Tauni Berger
Mike Boyd
Joe Capriola
Steve Cohen
Donna Dambach
Rayne Dessayer
Jon Dicker
Brigitte Doneux
Ruth Fatouhi
Paul Felso
Roland Gangloff
Pat Grillos
Valerie Henderson
Ted Hoffman
Jeanne Leonard
Joe Lieber
Hugo Martinez
Jeanne Montague
Paul Kenney
Debby Kweller
Marguerite LaDue
Jody Leeds
Carmen Lopez
Marney Malik
Norma Martinez
Pat Meier-Johnson
Elsa Nelson
Jeni Nichols
Elizabeth Nicolosi
Claire O'Brien
Marcia Petersen
Jennifer Pham
Kanak Raj
Sydney Randazzo
Tammy Samut
Kim Schuh
Judy Scotchmoor
Norma Sherpa
Tom Sours
Stephanie Stubbs
Eva Yearsley
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See what's happening on our social sites:
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