🌼 2021 April News Just For You 🌼

Creating opportunities for adults with disabilities since 1974

APRIL 2021 E-NEWSLETTER

A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dear Friends,

Thank you to those of you who reached out to me to congratulate me for receiving the Regional Center of Orange County (RCOC) Spotlight Award for Lifetime Achievement. I appreciate all your kind words and I am so very honored to have received the award. No one will tell me who nominated me but whoever you are . . . thank you so very much!

Since the beginning of December, our two locations have been under renovation. Each day, I receive a group of pictures from the contractor to show me what work is being done. When I looked at those pictures during the demolition process, it was hard to recognize what part of the buildings the pictures were taken in. The pictures I am receiving at this stage of the project reveal the great progress being made and the new look at Vocational Visions. I can’t wait for our friends and supporters to see our beautifully renovated buildings! When we reopen, we’ll be planning several events to invite you to Vocational Visions to see the renovations in person and to help us celebrate. I am especially excited for the day when we can welcome our clients back to Vocational Visions to enjoy their remodeled program areas. Our goal is to start reopening programs on some level in June meaning we may have to reopen with fewer clients attending programs to accommodate local public health guidelines. We will likely offer some site-based program options combined with some virtual services until we can reopen at full capacity. We appreciate your patience as we work through this.

Vocational Visions has truly accomplished a lot during this last very challenging year: renovations, virtual services, converting to an employee driven online payroll system, transitioning from paper personnel files to electronic files, maximizing the use of our Case Magic database to track all service delivery (making our monthly billing to RCOC much more efficient and accurate) along with so many other administrative efficiency achievements. We are so grateful to our team members who initiated these projects and saw them through to completion.

Spring is in the air! Be safe and be well!

Email Joan

MUSIC TO INSPIRE US

Ever notice how the actions you take can inspire others for good? We want to share an inspirational music video that reminds us how good choices by one, can inspire a ripple effect of good choices in others.

Watch and share please. Remember - it's not about getting the confirmation that you made a difference, it's about simply knowing that you have the ability to make a difference. We all can make a difference!

THE HIRING CHAIN performed by STING | World Down Syndrome Day 2021

NEW SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT PLACEMENT

SARAH ORANTES

We are excited to share that Sarah Orantes, a new participant in our Supported Employment program, started a brand new job at Cats Luv Us Boarding Hotel in Laguna Niguel. Congratulations on your new job Sarah!

Sarah was our only new hire for the month of March. Most of our participants are vaccinated and many are ready and excited to find employment. We assist them with direct hire opportunities and also work with paid internship opportunities. Are you connected with an employer who can hire (or sponsor an internship) for one of our amazing participants? Hopefully the music video we shared will help you to think about your connections and share those opportunities with us to pursue with our participants. We're all part of the chain and we can make a difference.

Email Us with Employment Opportunities in South Orange County

DONATION APPRECIATION

SHANE BAIRD & TROOP 818

Boy Scouts of America member Shane Baird, who is with Troop 818 in Rancho Santa Margarita, recently completed his Eagle Scout Project. This consisted of making five benches that will be located in front of our buildings. It was a group effort with his troop and the benches turned out sturdy and beautiful. We are very appreciative that Shane selected our organization for this awesome project. Thank you!

PARTICIPANT SPOTLIGHT

RACHEL LEFKOFF

This month we are shining our participant spotlight on Rachel Lefkoff. Rachel joined VV in 2015 and she participates in our Emeritus program. Rachel would like to share how much gardening has truly became a labor of love for her during the stay at home orders for COVID-19. When we say labor of love, we mean she loves to grow things that she can eat but she is less fond of the weeding part of gardening. The story begins with a gesture of kindness.

In the beginning of our lockdown last year, VV employee Pranaya got creative and built a small flower bed in front of her house. It was a great activity to pass the time being stuck at home. In hopes of maintaining her friendships with participants from VV throughout lockdown, she decided to pass on some seedlings from her garden. Below is a picture of the seedling Pranaya chose for Rachel, along with a picture of Rachel and Pranaya together.

At home, Rachel was able to successfully transplant this Lemon cucumber sprout to her family's backyard and harvest some yummy lemon cucumbers to share with family and neighbors throughout the season. Below are photos of Rachel's lemon cucumber garden and some of the fruits that were harvested. Fun fact: Cucumbers are commonly thought of as a vegetable but they are really a fruit.

Another fun fact: Lemon cucumbers do not taste like citrus.

VV has hosted a couple of gardening Zoom classes. Before we were closed to in-person programming, we had thriving gardens at both of our VV buildings. Here is a picture of the Emeritus garden from last year before we closed. We can't wait to reopen and make our gardens flourish again.

Rachel also loves puzzles and art projects. She is a huge fan of horses as well. She can't wait to get back to volunteering at The Shea Center for Therapeutic Riding every other Friday with VV when we reopen. She has signed up for Summer Horse Camp there in July. This will be her 5th year. She is so happy they are resuming it after canceling it last year due to COVID-19. We're happy too.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

MARY ANN DEHLSEN

Our organization is blessed to have a wonderful staff of Direct Support Professionals who provide guidance to our participants. This month, we would like to highlight Mary Ann Dehlsen who joined VV's HRS program in 2012. Let's learn more about Mary Ann in our Q & A below.

Question: How did you first find out about VV?

Answer: In 2012, I was looking for a job. Debbie Watkins, a job coach in VV's Supported Employment program, told me about the wonderful place she had been working at for 10 years at that time. When I heard her describe VV to me, I was sold and the rest is history.

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Question: If someone you know or just met has never heard of VV, what would you share with them to help them to understand what VV is about?

Answer: I would tell them about all of the activities that we do. We do rotating activities throughout the day and this is still true even while we are not open for in-person programming. We just have to do it over the computer for now. One group of participants is doing craft activities, another group is doing story time and another group may be doing a music activity. Every Friday, we have cooking class and the participants get to eat what they help to prepare. We have a monthly calendar with different activities scheduled and some change every month. We also have vehicles we use to rotate different participants out into the community. We go to places that are wheelchair accessible like the beach, malls, parks etc. VV is a fun place for the participants and for the employees.

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

Answer: My favorite part of my job is when I go in to start my day and I see the smiling faces of the participants that look so happy to be there. I love to see them when they come off the bus smiling because they are happy to spend another day at VV.

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

Answer: We could use more vans for the Alambre building programs so that when we reopen, we can get more participants out into the community more often.

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

Answer: Not before working at VV, but I wish I had. I enjoy my work so much that I wish I would have started earlier.

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

Answer: I love nature. Where I live, there is a good-sized backyard with 5 avocado trees (4 of which I planted), 1 fig tree and 5 citrus trees. I enjoy sharing the wonderful fruit that we pick from the trees with family and friends. My life is simple. I really enjoy being home with my plants and dogs. Below are a couple of pictures of me in the backyard I enjoy so much.

Since the pandemic, I have been baking up a storm. Every other Friday, I get to bake with the participants over Zoom. Earlier this month, we made a 'Coconut Cream Bunny Cake' which the participants really enjoyed watching and we will be making 'Empanadas' next.

Editors note: Everyone who has tasted Mary Ann's cooking and baking loves her dishes. Below is a picture of the bunny cake.

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

Answer: “Be SOMEBODY who makes EVERYBODY feel like SOMEBODY”- Nancy Prata

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Mary Ann's colleagues affectionately call Mary Ann 'Mama' because she has such a motherly energy about her. Her kind hearted nature and passion are what we treasure most about her. Keep being the kind of somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody Mary Ann.