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NOVEMBER 2021 E-NEWSLETTER

A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dear Friends,

This year is passing quickly. I am especially amazed at how fast time seems to pass once the holiday season begins.

As I mentioned last month, we are well into the Enchanted Evening planning process. I met with our auction manager who now is able to create a website for the event where our guests can purchase tickets, enter the names of their guests, select their meal choice and pre-register their credit card information. The website platform also includes an online auction component which will allow our friends who are unable to attend the event to participate and support our organization.  All of this will be discussed and considered at the next event committee meeting on December 8, 2021.

All of us at Vocational Visions wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving! Vocational Visions will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving to give our amazing employees a well-deserved four day weekend. The Clubhouse will also be closed on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Hanukkah begins at sundown on November 28, 2021. Vocational Visions will be closed on Friday, December 24, 2021 for the Christmas holiday and on Friday, December 31, 2021 to celebrate the new year.

Please watch for our holiday appeal letter that you should receive shortly after Thanksgiving and we hope you will consider a meaningful gift to Vocational Visions during this season of giving.

Whatever is beautiful. Whatever is meaningful. Whatever inspires you. In this loveliest of seasons, may you find many reasons for joy and happiness.
DONATION APPRECIATIONS
HOLIDAY PARTY DONATIONS
If you come to our facilities this time of year, you will see that our celebrations are big with smiles and laughter. We use our resources wisely to make sure that each program does something special to celebrate the holidays.

We would like to give a shout-out to a couple of our recent donors who specifically donated for holiday events this season.

The Nickoloff's donated turkeys to our Clubhouse program for their Friendsgiving celebration held on November 20. Craig and Amy have been donating to Vocational Visions for years. Amy says they are 100% behind our House of Champions Clubhouse and want to help make it the most fun place for participants to be on the weekends.

The Dehaan's donated to our ADP program's Thanksgiving Feast which was held on November 19. It was a wonderful day for socializing and sharing with good food and great friends. A few family members even joined. David and Debra say that they are thankful to all of the staff for all they do for their son and for all of the participants.

If you would like your donation to go to a specific program or event, please provide this information at the time you make your donation.
GIVING TUESDAY
NOVEMBER 30, 2021
Giving Tuesday is right around the corner. This is an annual world-wide event that falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The founders describe Giving Tuesday as a movement that unleashes the power of generosity around the world.

Many people will be donating to organizations and causes they are passionate about in honor of Giving Tuesday. There are many ways to donate and support Vocational Visions. Even something as simple as sharing what our organization does with people who have never heard of Vocational Visions before is a way to give.

If you would like to donate money to Vocational Visions on this global giving day, Facebook's parent company is offering up to 100% matching opportunities (up to $8M worldwide) to those who donate through Facebook. It all starts Tuesday, Nov 30, at 8:00 am Eastern Time. Facebook covers all transaction fees.

Here is the link to our Facebook business page:


If you don't have a Facebook account but still wish to donate, click on the 'Donate' button at the top of this newsletter.

Thank you for considering a donation to Vocational Visions in recognition of Giving Tuesday 2021. Please contact us for donating goods or for volunteering your time, talents or skills with us.
HRS SCHOOL BUS ADVENTURES
During the height of the pandemic, our staff committed to finding creative ways to engage with our participants virtually since we were closed to all VV on-site programming for over one year. Because we couldn't take our participants out into the community, our employees sought out opportunities for virtual field trips. Not wanting to re-invent the wheel, most found pre-recorded field trip adventures on platforms such as YouTube. After a while, our HRS program staff grew tired of cycling through other people's recordings and decided they wanted to have more autonomy so they could better tailor these virtual adventures to their participants.

VV employee Noel suggested they create their own virtual filed trip and a group of very dedicated HRS staff got to work on their very own virtual field trip series. Borrowing from the idea of "The Magic School Bus", a 1990's animated children's television program (that borrowed the idea from a book series of the same name), HRS built their very own yellow school bus and named their program 'HRS School Bus Adventures'. They felt that participants would be drawn to the bus idea because most use a bus for transportation to and from the program and are familiar with the bus concept.

Below is a picture of the core creative team:
Monica Avila, Producer
Noel Gomez, Casting Director
JoJo De la Cruz, Production Designer
Sam Suonkalaniet, Technical Advisor
Ryan Santos, Co-Host, Bus Driver
Adonis Azarias, Co-Host, Bus Driver
Several other staff members from HRS, as well as other programs, have contributed as well. Even Donny, who is a a participant in our HRS program, volunteered to play the bus driver for the Halloween episode.
This series has proven to be a very big hit for participants, families and staff members alike. So far, with the help some pretty cool homemade props and green screen technology, they have explored our community, the farm, a Halloween town and under the sea. Future ideas include visiting outer space, inside the body, the jungle and making the bus into a time machine. Right now, they are busy planning their Christmas episode.

While the creative team says it's a lot of work to put together with no budget for props, sound and lighting, they are devoted to keeping this going for the long term and revising it as they need to when we fully return to traditional in-house programming. The smiles on the participants faces make it all worthwhile. Each episode is recorded and will be uploaded to our VV YouTube channel for on-demand watching. You can check out their first 'Under the Sea' episode here:
We know a lot of work goes into planning and presenting each episode. Congratulations to our HRS program for bringing this highly creative activity series to our participants.
PARTICIPANT SPOTLIGHT
RANDALL CONSTANTINO

This month, we are shining our participant spotlight on Randall Constantino. Randall has been a participant at VV since 2008. He first joined our DTAC Alambre program and then transitioned to our Emeritus program in 2010. If you haven't yet met Randall, you're in for a treat.
After 13 years at VV, Randall shares "I'm here because I love it." He attends programming in-person on Tuesdays and Thursdays and remotely accesses our Zoom activities on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays as part of our hybrid programming due to COVID restrictions. On Thursdays, Randall typically goes out into the community along with a group of his VV peers and staff. Community outings, like going to Irvine Spectrum, are one of his favorite activities and he looks forward to more frequent opportunities to be out in the community once the pandemic is completely behind us.
When Randall is on-site at VV, he enjoys participating in all of the activities. Whether it's attending our 'VV Life Skills Program' or arts and crafts or whatever, Randall is not the type of guy who is picky or gets unhappy easily. He embraces everything that comes his way. In fact, when talking about his upcoming Thanksgiving plans, Randall says whatever he and his family decide to do, he will go with the flow and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with the people he loves.

Randall is an honorary PQL assistant which means he helps the staff in any way he can. For example, he makes sure the daily activity board is updated in the mornings. Randall is super helpful by nature and this extends to everyone at VV, not just the staff.
Randall can easily spot when someone is down or not having a good day. This is when he springs into action by offering to listen. "It doesn't make me feel good inside when I see others unhappy," Randall says. "I want to help and love everyone. I know I can't force anyone to feel better or be happier but I can be there to listen and encourage them if they are open to it."

At home, Randall lives with his parents, grandmother and Lola, the family dog. He has two brothers and one sister.
Randall loves his bedroom / office space at home and it gives him plenty of room for his collections (he loves to collect money and paper). It also has space for his own computer and his own TV which, if on, is likely tuned into Game Show Network. Randall is in charge of getting the mail from the mailbox every day at home. One thing we have all learned at VV is that you can count on Randall when he has a job to do.
Randall certainly has a good philosophy about life which many of us can probably benefit from, especially during the stressful holiday season. Sometimes, the best plan is to go with the flow. It works for Randall.

A few years ago, Randall helped to share the message about our organization's mission by starring in a video that gives insight to his daily life. It's a pretty awesome video with some great words of wisdom from Randall and we invite you to watch it.
Thank you very much for sharing your wisdom with us Randall.

"When asked what is the meaning of life, a wise man responded, life is an opportunity to create a meaning." - Viktor E. Frankl
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
MALUCA
Our organization is blessed to have a super staff of Direct Support Professionals who are committed to enhancing the lives of our participants. This month, we are highlighting Maluca who joined VV in 2017. She is a Program Quality Lead (PQL) in our Emeritus Program.

Question: How did you first find out about VV?

Answer: I learned about VV through another person who was working here.
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Question: If someone has never heard of VV, what would you share with them to help them to understand what VV is about?

Answer: I always tell them that I'm in love with our participants. How can you not appreciate their different skills and talents when facing a new experience? Every single try they do is a success. There is much to learn from them: simplicity, adaptability, etc.
  
Regarding stories, I'd share about the following:

  • Grace's genuine enthusiasm when we meet every day for a crafts class on Zoom, along with her mom
  • Nicole's excitement when she wins a bingo game on Zoom
  • Frances' request of "give me a hug" with her beautiful smile
  • Debbie's subtle smile which is a favorable change after the pandemic
  • Garrett's ability to quickly read numbers

And the stories continue . . .
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Question: What is your favorite part of your job at VV?

Answer: Definitely the direct interactions with our participants - either in person or through the Zoom activities that we have adapted to so we can provide the most support possible during the pandemic.
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Question: What is something that could be added, removed or changed to make VV better?

Answer: Not only for VV but for our daily lives - less dependence on our smartphones. It may seem difficult but it's important and possible.
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Question: Did you volunteer or work with people who are uniquely abled before working at VV?

Answer: My husband was diagnosed with ALS (a progressive neuromuscular disease) in 2016. I took care of him during his illness. He passed away two years later.
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Question: Are there any interesting, unique or fun facts about you that you would like to share with us?

Answer:  My given name is María Luisa Camacho. When I was in middle school in my home country of Colombia, I chose to change my name. Due to the fact that most Latin female names start with María followed by another name, when someone calls just for "María" in a group of women, every María turns to look! That's why I changed my name. Using the firs two letters from my first, middle and last names, I created the name Maluca which I still go by today. It’s so unique that, whenever I hear it called, I know it’s for me.
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Question: What is your motto for life or a quote that really resonates with you?

Answer: I have three:

1) "Bloom where you are planted now." 

2) "Your thoughts are seeds that you plant."

3) "Life is an attitude. It's what you choose to believe."
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Thank you very much for putting your heart and soul into our participants and our mission here at VV. You make a difference.
CALENDAR
Epilepsy Awareness Month
National Family Caregivers Month
Alzheimer's Awareness Month
World Kindness Day
Thanksgiving (holiday) *
Day after Thanksgiving (holiday) *
Giving Tuesday 2021
VV Board of Directors Meeting
EE Planning Committee Meeting
Entire Month of November
Entire Month of November
Entire Month of November
November 13, 2021
November 25, 2021
November 26, 2021
November 30, 2021
December 8, 2021
December 8, 2021
* Vocational Visions is closed for these holidays
SHOP FOR THE HOLIDAYS
EARN DONATIONS FOR VV
Click on this link to smile.amazon.com to go right to the page to select Vocational Visions as your charity for Amazon purchases.

Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to us.

Click here for instructions to activate AmazonSmile on your Amazon mobile app.
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Link your Ralphs Grocery Store shopper's card to Vocational Visions:


Then, swipe your shopper's card, or enter your associated phone number, whenever you shop at Ralphs and Ralphs will make a quarterly donation to us.