S P R I N G F O R W A R D apafss.org | Apr 2017
This is our quarterly newsletter to keep you posted on our work, activities, and events.
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TURNING 30 - July 16 Gala Celebration
APA Family Support Services' 30th Anniversary Gala will be held on July 16. We return to The Green Room, SF War Memorial & Performing Arts Center for the event. This fundraising event honors Dr. Don Wong, APA's founder. Sutter Health CPMC is our Title sponsor. Please SAVE THE DATE. For more information...
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Volunteers are the Lifeblood of Nonprofits
At APA we are very grateful to have a "family" of volunteers collaborating with, and supporting, our team on a variety of programs and events.
Our extra special acknowledgement and heartfelt thank you goes to Gayle Chan, volunteer fundraising chair for numerous years. Her dedication and resources helped APA's fundraising events to meet our goals. We would also like to thank her family--Eric Chen, Cary Chen, Celia Chang, and Cory Chen--for their support and engagement in our fundraising efforts.
Volunteer Sonja Antonitis, who co-facilitates the "Sister Circle" at Sunnydale/Visitacion Valley with our Family Service Worker Sylvia Brooks and Bilingual Case Manager Nancy Tenorio, says: "Volunteering is a chance to help change the world one person at a time. If every able person just does one kind thing a day for a disadvantaged or hurting person, what a different world we would be living in! APA Family Support Services has so many wonderful programs to choose from to begin volunteering. The staff is so caring and dedicated. They inspire me to do more...There are endless things you can do, there is no shortage of people who could use your help."
 Sonja and Mark (left & center in the photo) connected with Sumilu Cue (right), another volunteer, at an APA event last year. Together these two ladies collaborated with staff at our Visitacion Valley family centers on a "Winter Coats & Shoes" project to provide warm jackets and shoes for some of the children in our program. Sonja volunteers because for her "the love you get back from meeting new people and making new friends will touch you for the rest of your life."
Longtime volunteer Jeffrey Cheuk has this moving testimonial on volunteering, "I owe APA a great deal for helping me. I have been coming to APA for about 7 years. I started to come to APA when my son was about 6 months old. I remember taking him to Discovery Land many years ago. With APA's help I have learned how to improve in my parenting skills. For that reason I feel I can never repay them with my gratitude. That is the reason I would dedicate as much time as I can volunteering to help others. I feel at home with the APA family, every time I visit. For the many years you have been by my side. I say 'thank you APA' and I will always be here to dedicate my time."
 To acknowledge our volunteers, we hosted a Volunteer Appreciation event on February 25 at APA's office in Chinatown. Over 40 attended this Saturday gathering. Executive Director Amor Santiago and members from the Board of Directors were on hand to meet and greet our volunteers. After a dim sum lunch, certificates of appreciation were distributed during a short program. There was ample time available for socializing, networking, and catching up with friends afterwards. Thanks to all who participated.
For a list of our recent volunteers and volunteer opportunities, please click this link.
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New Board Member
We welcome Kory Lam, VP/Cluster Branch Manager with HSBC USA, who joined our Board of Directors in early March. Kory became involved with APA as a volunteer on the Gala committee last year and immediately enlisted the help of her team members to be greeters at the Gala sign-in table. Since then she has been very supportive in identifying resources--funding and people--for our programs and operations.
On March 27, Kory invited Adey Tesfaye, HSBC USA's Senior Regional Community Development Manager, for a tour of our Visitacion Valley Strong Families center and our Chinatown Family Support Center. Program Manager Jack Siu greeted Kory and Ms. Tesfaye at VV Strong Families while Program Director Amy Yu and our Executive Director, Amor Santiago, welcomed them at the APA Family Support Center at the Chinatown YMCA.
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Active Determination Pays Off
Tina decided she wanted to get back into the workforce. Since 2012, when she was in her early twenties, she'd taken time off to care for her five children and attend to her poor health. So now, as a single parent and with help from her own mother, it was time to go back to work and at an outreach event at Mercy Housing in Mission Bay, Tina joined the APA Employment Program.
APA staff reviewed Tina's background information, which included working at Goodwill and retail at other places, and determined she was... For more about this client story, please click here.
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Baby Box – Register for Free Portable Crib
Expectant parents living in San Francisco who register on Baby Box University will be able to receive a baby box, provided at no cost by The Baby Box Co., regardless of socioeconomic status. To be eligible, the baby must be born before or on November 1, 2017. APA's Visitacion Valley Strong Families at 50 Raymond Avenue is one of the distribution centers in San Francisco.
Each Baby Box is lined with a mattress and comes with a pack of diaper, wipes, breastfeeding pad sample and parents magazines. This portable crib provides a safe sleep space for infants up to 6 months old. The baby box program, which originated in Finland, is a tradition dating back to the 1930s that helped the country achieve one of the world's lowest infant mortality rates.
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Experiencing It First Hand
Counseling Program intern Stephanie Ha, who works under the supervision of Lillian Lai, Assistant Program Manager, wrote: "Since June 2016 I have had the opportunity to work with clients from diverse backgrounds and with different needs. Staff members at the various sites were welcoming, helpful, and supportive. I appreciate the autonomy and flexibility in arranging my schedule as I also work 30 hours a week. Upon starting this internship, I wanted to gain experience working with adults, and my supervisors have made every effort to accommodate and prioritize my learning objectives. This extremely valuable learning experience not only added breadth and depth to my clinical repertoire, it has further reinforced my commitment in the community mental health field, providing a solid foundation for my first year internship."
Internship at APA Family Support Services is an excellent opportunity for students in their senior year of college or recent college graduates 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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Helping Hands
Gathering within the neighborhoods builds families and communities. APA organizes and participates in various community events throughout the year where parents and children can have the time to enjoy each other, take part in some fun and games, enjoy cultural experiences, and learn about available community resources. Volunteers are our partners in events and projects -- be it raising funds, purchasing/wrapping gifts for the holidays, transporting items, setting up or cleaning up, cooking or serving meals, leading children activities, participating in program surveys.
Many thanks to the volunteers who joined our teams to serve at these year-end events:
November 19, Healthy Thanksgiving Community Meal and Fair in Visitacion Valley
Hosts: APA and River of Life Church in San Francisco
Sponsor: Sutter Health CPMC
November 19, Thanksgiving Fun Day and Outreach for APA Clients in Chinatown
Partially funded by: Paragon Real Estate Group Community Fund
November 19, Gift Wrapping for APA Families Holiday Party
Gift sponsor: National Association of Asian American Professionals / NAAAP SF Bay Area
December 17, APA Families Holiday Party for All APA Clients
Partially funded by donation from: HSBC Bank (USA)
Partner: NAAAP
Gift sponsors: NAAAP, Moms Against Poverty, Barney and Barney
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Give to Our Cause, Support Physical Wellness
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, and 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
Congratulations to Ying Tao Zhao and Hai Ying Ji! They finished the Chinatown YMCA Year of the Rooster 5K Run held on February 19. These two moms are from our Chinatown Family Support Center's Women Support Group. Other support group members chipped in to help them raise funds for the charity run. It is their way of giving back to the community and to provide moral support for each other.
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Recent Events
In Chinatown: On February 1, the Women Support Group at Chinatown's Family Support Center celebrated Chinese New Year with a potluck lunch. A volunteer led a workshop in ornament making using new year red envelopes. There were 30 parents and caregivers with 30 children at this gathering which concluded with a birthday celebration for one of the caregivers. PHOTOS
At Visitacion Valley: Black History Month was celebrated on February 25 at the Sunnydale Community Center. This Career Day community event was held jointly by APA’s Visitacion Valley Strong Families and the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco. First 5 San Francisco, The City and County of San Francisco, and SF Department of Youth & Their Families sponsored the event.
Over 100 parents and children attended. Besides the fun and games, lunch boxes brought in by volunteers, the program of the day was a presentation by speakers from diverse professions and Q&A with questions from the children. One of the panelists--an author--gifted copies of the book he authored to the children and did a book signing.
In Chinatown: April 1 was our 6th annual Family Wellness Day held in Chinatown YMCA. From 10 am - 1 pm, health services were provided to attendees such as blood sugar testing; medication consultation; women health education; nutrition, healthy diet & life style; oral health education. The children enjoyed fun activities. There were giveaways and lucky draw. Community resources information were available.
Altogether 100 families and 113 children participated. Our team of 20 volunteers included 6 pharmacy students, 2 medical students, and 2 professors from Touro University plus 10 youth and parents. PHOTOS
Upcoming Events
In Chinatown: Tasty Tuesday will be held on April 25 at the Chinatown YMCA from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. Ms. Yennie Lo of San Francisco-Marin Food Bank will lead an interactive cooking workshop for families, featuring healthy recipes that parents/caregivers and their children can prepare together. Children must be at least 3 years old to join the workshop. Child care will be provided for children under age 3, along with a variety of early literacy activities.
This event is a project of the Chinatown Family Resource Collaborative, and is funded by the Joint Family Support Funders. Please click here for more information.
At the Tenderloin: APA-APIFRN Family Day 2017 will be held on June 2 at the Tenderloin Rec Center, 570 Ellis Street. This community family event is free and open to the public, featuring authentic ethnic food, multicultural demonstration. Community organizations will be on site to share health information and community resources. Please click here for more information.
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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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