Our March 🌱 2022 News is Here for You

Creating opportunities for adults with disabilities since 1974

Connect, Follow, Like and Comment on our Social Media

DONATE

March 2022 E-NEWSLETTER

A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends of Vocational Visions,

I’ve just got a few more chances to reach out to you via this newsletter as I will be retiring on June 30, 2022 after 9 years of service at Vocational Visions. I’m looking forward to more time with family, friends and especially my 6 grandchildren! My (almost) 9 years at Vocational Visions have been, at times, very challenging, but always rewarding. Our participants, who strive to build meaningful lives in very personal ways, are always the inspiration that gets us through the most challenging times. Our clients' successes are the greatest reward of all! It’s been my great pleasure and honor to lead the incredible team at Vocational Visions and I am so very grateful to the Board of Directors for their unwavering support. The Board of Directors Search & Selection Committee will recruit, select and hire the next Executive Director and have mapped out their process to accomplish this. Stay tuned!

Our Enchanted Evening Committee is hard at work preparing for the September 17, 2022 gala and is so looking forward to welcoming everyone back together to celebrate. Our client performers are rehearsing and getting ready for their big night. Auction donations are arriving every week from our very generous community partners. This year, our Enchanted Evening event will have its own website where you can purchase tickets, select your meal choice, let us know with whom you want to sit along with a host of other options that will enhance your Enchanted Evening experience. We truly encourage you to join us to celebrate and raise funds to support our important work and mission. We’ll let you know when the Enchanted Evening website goes live. Don’t miss out on the fun!

I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that Amy Gill, our Marketing Coordinator, gathers all the information and puts this newsletter together every month. She has just improved this newsletter so much since taking on this responsibility and I so appreciate her effort and results. Great stories, participant highlights and so user friendly. Thank you Amy!

EMAIL JOAN

DONATION APPRECIATIONS

YEAR-END FUNDRAISING APPEAL UPDATE

Five more 2021 Year-End Appeal donors surprised us with some late arriving donations raising our total from $18,303 to $20,168.13 from a total of 55 donors. We are very lucky to have such generous donors.

CITY OF MISSION VIEJO PRESENTS

OSO FIT 5K FUN RUN & HEALTH FAIR

We had such a wonderful time at the 2022 Oso Fit Fun Run and Community Health Fair on Saturday morning, February 26th at the Village Green at Norman P. Murray Community Center. We think it is awesome that they have different running / walking courses to suit everyone's abilities and fitness levels.

We would like to thank everyone who participated from the volunteers to the runners. Not only did we raise $335 for Vocational Visions, we also made some nice community connections. Between employees and participants, we had representation from most every program which means a lot to us. Here's a look at some of the VV employees, participants and family members who represented us on this super fun day. Thank you to all who made this day extra special for VV.

You may also watch these photos in a musical slideshow:

2022 Oso Fit Fun Run and Community Health Fair

PARTICIPANT SPOTLIGHT

KRISTEN CULLUM

This month, we are shining our participant spotlight on Kristen Cullum who joined us in 2016. Before joining VV, Kristen worked at the El Pollo Loco restaurant San Clemente for 15 years with support from Project Independence. When she decided that she no longer wished to be employed, she found our Emeritus program and our Clubhouse program to be the perfect fit for her. When asked what she thinks about these programs, she doesn't hesitate to answer "They are a lot of fun!" At VV, Kristen loves volunteering at The Shea Center (where she cleans horse saddles and feeds the horses) and at Mission Viejo Christian Church. She also enjoys all community outings and bingo is her favorite indoor activity.

Kristen lives at home in a house full of love. She shares her home with her mom, dad, brother Kyle, sister-in-law Brooke and nephew Christopher.

She also has a sister named Katie, a brother-in-law named Mick, one niece named Kaylin and another nephew named Micah who live close by. In her home, they also make room for 5 pets. They have three dogs (Alice, Maddie and Gus) and two chameleons (Darth Vader and Rama). She feeds and (sometimes) walks the dogs because it's important to help out. Kristen has her own room and it's important to her to make her bed every day. She has room for a stationary bike that she uses regularly and a TV, of course. Her favorite TV show is 7th Heaven because it is happy and upbeat with good lessons.

Kristen has been dating another VV participant named Michael (who is part of our DTAC Pala and Clubhouse programs) for seven years now. They didn't meet at VV. They were basically set up by their sisters who, after talking one day, thought "wouldn't it be neat to get your sibling to meet my sibling?" Their first meeting was at Knott's Scary Farm and their story is still being written today. Kristen and Michael have so much fun together. They take turns picking out movies to watch and they really like being part of the New Horizons program at the Tustin YMCA. If you haven't heard about this program, check it out because it's pretty neat.

Kristen prides herself in having strong friendships. This doesn't surprise Kristen's mom Linda who says friendliness is one of Kristen's strongest traits. She is like a celebrity that people gravitate toward. Kristen's best friend is Amy and they have been friends since they were seven years old. Even though Amy lives in Pennsylvania now, they always find time to see each other.

Last summer, Kristen took a fabulous 10-day vacation to Kauai with her family and she made so many great memories that she would like to share with us here.

We'd like to thank Kristen for sharing about her life. We are able to see, through her story, just how joyful and kind she really is. We're also so glad she found her perfect match at Vocational Visions as well as her perfect match with Michael. The love of a family is life's greatest blessing and we at VV really do feel like part of Kristen's family.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

ENRIQUE MUSNGI

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 Enrique Musngi who joined VV back in 2006. He is an Independent Facilitator in our Emeritus Program.

Question: How did you first find out about VV?

Answer: I learned about VV through my wife who started working here in 2004. I'm still here and so is she.

__________________

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 would describe VV as a community. We are dedicated to ensuring that developmentally disabled adults receive the care and love they need, along with the opportunity they deserve to be a part of the community that we live in.

__________________

Question: What is your favorite part of your job at VV?

Answer: I appreciate the small rewards like being able to help them with their basic needs like eating and toileting. A little help can go such a long way.

__________________

Question: What is something that could be added, removed or changed to make VV better?

Answer: I would keep it as is.

_________________

Question: Did you volunteer or work with people who are uniquely abled before working at VV?

Answer: No.

_________________

Question: Are there any interesting, unique or fun facts about you that you would like to share with us?

Answer: I have been married for 56 years. We have 6 children and 1 grandchild. My advice for a long happy marriage is to follow each other. Maybe that's why my wife and I both work at the same place.

I enjoy gardening, housekeeping and watching Filipino drama movies. I have lived in the United States for 21 years now. I love my job and I don't ever want to retire.

_________________

Question: What is your motto for life or a quote that really resonates with you?

“Live your life to the fullest!”

_________________

Congratulations Enrique on 15 years of dedication to our participants at Vocational Visions. You are appreciated so much by our participants and our employees.