S U M M E R Headlines apafss.org | July 2017
This is our quarterly newsletter to keep you posted on our work, activities, and events.
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July 16 Gala
July 16 is a couple of weeks away, last chance to join us for our 30th anniversary celebration. Beautiful venue, delicious food, complimentary wine, silent auction, raffles... CLICK for details.
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Update: Grant Funding
APA received tremendous news recently, when we were notified of new contract awards to provide Family Resource Center (FRC) services through joint funding from First 5 SF, the Department of Children, Youth and their Families, and the Human Services Agency. The total funding awards of over $1.9M annually for a period of 3-5 years reflects an increase of 17% over previous years, and recognizes the capacity and quality of APA's services in support of families.
We have contracts for 3 FRCs -- Chinatown, Visitacion Valley, and an API population-based FRC that serves families throughout the City. We will be recruiting and expanding our staffing. Congratulations to the management team, and grant development staff on these awards.
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Looking Beyond...
Rachel, a single mother of two, was in the process of filing a divorce against her abusive and controlling husband. She was very anxious and worried about her children’s and her own safety. Additionally Rachel was extremely stressed about the legal process due to the language barrier and not knowing how to navigate the legal system. As a result, she was unable to concentrate in the daytime and had trouble sleeping at night.
Rachel’s APA case manager referred her to our own Behavioral Health Program for weekly counseling services. The therapist introduced Rachel to... For more about this client story, please click here.
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Summer is for Learning
Summer is here and school is out, but APA knows that “summer learning loss” also kicks in. This problem is worse for children from low-income families. Students will fall behind when school resumes if they take a summer break from actively learning.
APA's Summer Reading Program begins on July 7 and meets twice weekly thereafter. This program is geared towards students going into kindergarten through 6th grade, helping them with reading and writing, teaching them phonetics. Then on August 3, together with their family, these students can join the APA/API Back to School health event and receive backpacks, school supplies as well as health information.
Thanks to APA's year round Family Economic Success (FES) Program, students participate as a group to learn English and get hands-on computer literacy training at our Digital Learning Center. We welcome them to stay for lunch after class to connect and socialize. This is a great opportunity for program staff to get acquainted with them to improve retention. Individualized training is available for advanced level students. For those looking for a job, we provide job readiness training and placement assistance. Job seekers can also come to us for an accelerated ESL program.
The year-to-date job placement and program enrollment have exceeded our target. During this fiscal year our FES Program has served 70 clients -- ESL students and/or job seekers. Besides the Chinese majority, we also provided services to 1 African American, 1 Mongolian, and 5 Vietnamese. Most of our participants are in the 31 to 60 year-old age group and 80 percent are women.
From time to time we invite industry guest speakers to present financial literacy, nutrition, and environmental awareness workshops as value added experience for our students/clients. We also lead fields trips to cultural institutions and places of interest to expand students' horizons beyond their immediate environment.
At APA, we are advocates of yearlong learning. We believe summer allows students the unique opportunity to learn new and exciting topics outside the traditional classroom.
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Experiencing It First Hand
Behavioral Health Program intern Corey Price wrote: "I am working on my master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at SFSU, and my time at Visitacion Valley Strong Families has been a great opportunity for me to practice my skills while giving back to my community. I see clients at Visitacion Valley Middle School where I help students navigate the difficulties of traumatic home lives, peer relationships, and self-esteem issues. I also see clients for psychotherapy in our center to help them working through difficult life events while promoting mental health and well-being.
"Many of the students that I work with are recent immigrants who are dealing with disruptions in their families and difficulties adapting to a new culture. Adriana is one of these students. When the family was finally reunited after being apart for years in Honduras and the states, there was a lot of conflict and stress which ended with Adriana and her siblings being separated again between the parents. Adriana now lives with her dad and rarely sees her mom.
"In counseling, Adriana was happy to find someone who would listen to her side of things and who was interested in helping her work towards positive outcomes. Since starting therapy, she has been able to better communicate with her parents and her parents have responded with compassion and support."
Internship at APA Family Support Services is an excellent opportunity for students in their senior year of college, recent college graduates, or graduate program to gain hands on experience in the area of health and social services. Please click link for more Information and contact for Public Health, Counseling, and High School and College Internships.
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Support Physical Wellness, Give to Our Cause
Martial arts, swimming, yoga, outdoor activities?
APA joined with Chinatown YMCA to provide a broad array of family strengthening services for our families in Chinatown who face multiple challenges. APA families (adults, youth, children) now have the opportunity to enjoy recreation and physical wellness activities and take advantage of programs offered at the YMCA.
To enjoy all the benefits, APA families must be a YMCA member. We need your help to continue this wellness benefit for APA families. Your contribution will help to provide the monthly Y memberships -- recreation, physical wellness activities, child and youth development, school success, language classes and much more.
Please support our cause for Physical Wellness and make a secured ONLINE Donation.
Any amount is appreciated.
To pay by check, please mail your donation to:
APA Family Support Services
10 Nottingham Place, San Francisco, CA 94133
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Recent Event
Community Family Day at the Tenderloin Rec Center: A celebration of families and cultural exchanges is held every year on the first Friday in June. This is a public event organized by APA Family Support Services and its API Family Resource Network Collaborative of 20 community organizations in San Francisco.
This year’s Community Family Day on June 2 was sponsored by Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center. Families residing in the Tenderloin and similar neighborhoods are living in congested spaces with limited opportunities to experience their neighborhood in a safe, family-friendly environment. Community Family Day provides opportunities for immigrant, low-income, and isolated families to connect with other families from their own ethnic group and the broader multi-ethnic San Francisco community.
Close to 300 parents/caregivers and 154 children enjoyed the on-site petting zoo, children’s games, cultural performances. They received information about community health and wellness resources. These families also had the opportunity to sign up for free diapers distributions, baby boxes for new and expecting families, parenting classes, various support groups, and other children summer programs.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chair Rose Chung Miss Asian Global Pageant | President Cary Chen Recology
Vice President Jacqueline Huie First Republic Bank | Secretary Julie Hoxie University of California, Berkeley
Treasurer Joyce Tso, CPA/ABV ASAM, LLP | Mai-Sie Chan, M.D. Private Practice
Van Diep KTSF-TV, Channel 26 | Stephen Koh, CLF MassMutual Financial Group
Fanny Lam Paragon Commercial Brokerage | Kory Lam HSBC Bank (USA)
Susan Sung, Ph.D., Professor Emerita San Francisco State University | Dean Yao, Ph.D. Jinfonet Software
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Amor Santiago, DPM, MPH
APA Family Support Services
10 Nottingham Place, San Francisco, CA 94133 | apafss.org | info@apafss.org
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