HE OUNTY OF AN IEGO J 2007 H HAAPPPPYY NNEEWW …demonstrate outstanding achievement in developing...

TThhee CCoonnnneecctt iioonnHHHHSSAATHE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO JANUARY 2007

SAN DIEGO COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY - SAFE, HEALTHY AND THRIVING COMMUNITIES 11

HHHHAAAAPPPPPPPPYYYY NNNNEEEEWWWW YYYYEEEEAAAARRRR!!!!HHSA Wins Two More AwardsHealth Care Savings Program and SHARI Project Honored, Nine Gain Honorable Mention

The California State Association of Counties AnnualChallenge Awards were handed out recently. TwoSan Diego County Health and Human ServicesAgency programs were named Merit Award win-ners and nine Agency programs received honor-able mention.

The Agency’s Medi-Cal Administrative Activities/Targeted Case Management program was honoredfor its outreach program to school and hospital dis-tricts, transit agencies and community-basedorganizations. The goal was to let the 350,000 peo-ple in San Diego who receive or are eligible forMedi-Cal know that they are also eligible for thisprogram.

The second honor went to the SHARI (Special Help

for At-Risk Individuals) Project, a collaborationbetween the Agency, mental health providers, pri-vate psychiatrists and local hospitals. The projecthelps reduce unnecessary hospitalizations bysteering clients back to community care. The freeprogram, administered by Mental Health ClinicalServices, has reduced hospitalization costs by$355,558 to date.

Honorable Mention recognition went to Aging &Independence Services call centers, CommunityServices for Families, East Region Way Station,Elder Death Review Team of SD County, “It’s HowWe Live,” Mobile Remote Workforce Innovation inHealth Care, Project KEEP, San Pasqual AcademyAgriculture Program and School Summits on child-hood obesity.

Agency Alcohol and Drug Services Director ConnieMoreno-Peraza received the Cultural Diversity award fromthe California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs inNovember for recognition of her outstanding work inAlcohol and Drug Prevention Treatment and Recoveryfields.

The awards program recognizes the valuable contributionsby individuals and organizations in the alcohol and drugtreatment, prevention and recovery fields. Recipientsdemonstrate outstanding achievement in developing inno-vative approaches in treatment, prevention, and recoveryas well as sensitivity to cultural diversity.

Moreno-Peraza Receives Prestigious Award

Connie Moreno-Peraza, left, with Kathryn P. Jett,Director of the California Dept. of Alcohol andDrug Programs.

JJaannuuaarryy 22000077 TThhee HHHHSSAA CCoonnnneecctt iioonn


A Message fromJean M. ShepardHealth and Human ServicesAgency Director

Even though Countybusiness operateson a fiscal year,from July to June,the coming of a newcalendar yearalways brings agood opportunity toreview our operations and plan newstrategies.

2006 was a very successful year forthe Agency. Programs and regionsmanaged operations well, we providedhigh quality services, and many indi-viduals and families were helped bythe work we do. We also looked atways to get even better. Many of youwere directly involved with aContinuous Improvement Project,Business Process Reengineeringeffort, Deep Dive study, or anEmployee Satisfaction Committee.These are some of the formal teamapproaches to looking at how we dothings and finding ways to improve.

Forming an organized team is oneway to pull people together, but some-times a less structured approachworks just as well. Making a changebegins with one person having anidea and sharing that idea with others.Don't be afraid to network with yourco-workers. Since enthusiasm is con-tagious, the more you share with oth-ers, the more likely your good ideaswill come to life.

Wishing you the best in the New Year.Jean M. Shepard

The East Region’s holiday Shopping Spreeis a yearly event that has taken place sinceDecember, 2002. It’s gone from a smallone-day affair to a big three-day event.That’s quite an accomplishment for DehliaLorenzo of the Aging & IndependenceServices Community unit and the team ofabout 50 County employee volunteers whohave brought smiles to the faces of morethan 500 children in East Region.

"We’ve come a long way,” Lorenzo said. “Atfirst, I was able to keep all the donations inmy small cubicle area and now the wholeconference room is stuffed with more than1,000 toys and gift items, 350 ‘Spiderman’backpacks and 500 Neighborhoods for Kidst-shirts for a three-day spree. In addition,each family receives a family pack envelopefrom Hometown Buffet.”

The happy faces benefiting from this event come from a variety of unitswithin East Region and Aging & Independence Services: foster care,childcare, APS, IHSA, PHN, and CPS. Social workers and PublicHealth Nurses usually accompany their clients and assist them with thedelivery of the gifts. In the end, all volunteers agreed that what makesthis effort worthwhile is that everybody tries to provide a personal touchto their interaction with the families benefiting from the event.

Children were delightedby the East Region’s“mascot” for their holi-day Shopping Spree.

East Region Shopping Spree Brings Smiles

The East Region’s holiday Shopping Spree has grown every year andnow the toys fill a conference room.

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Emergency Survival ProgramThere are many resources available to help you. For example, the County’sOffice of Emergency Services offers an Emergency Survival Program (ESP) withmonthly tips to increase emergency preparedness at home, in the community, at work and at school.

The January theme is “Floods,” what to do before, during and after a flood.

The County’s emergency page will provide valuable information in the event of a disaster.

KCET returned to the campus of San PasqualAcademy to update viewers on the students andgrandparents and a memorable graduationceremony for a half-hour special episode ofCalifornia Connected called “Family Matters.”

Due to an unforseen sequencing error at KPBS (thelocal California Connected affiliate) the show neveraired on its original airdate in December. Instead,the show will now be seen on Friday, January 26that 9 p.m.

The KCET crew was on location for two daysshooting the updates for the new show. CaliforniaConnected first visited San Pasqual in March 2006and returned three months later to follow some ofthe students on graduation day.

According to California Connected producer AngelaShelley, “It was a multi-tissue ceremony.

“The emotional connection the seniors and the fos-ter kids have for one another is palpable. For me, apiece is perfect when we capture people in the actof just being themselves and that’s what happenedwith this story. Its power is in its simplicity,” Shelleysaid on the show’s website. “I’ll never forget them(the seniors and the grandparents).”

Viewers can check out www.californiaconnected.orgto see updates on the people featured in the show.

If you miss the program, you can also see it onlineby going to the archives section and typing in thename of the program - “Family Matters.”

KCET-TV Charmed by Return to San Pasqual

“Grandma” Jean hosts poetry slams at her house once aweek for San Pasqual students. She’s pictured withMyles, who writes poetry.

Bryan Moore, left, runs the Transitional Housing programat San Pasqual. He’s pictured with Marcos, a 2005 grad-uate who is able to continue to live on-campus becauseof Bryan’s program. Photos courtesy of KCET-TV.

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SAN DIEGO COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY - SAFE, HEALTHY AND THRIVING COMMUNITIES

This year 20 low-income families receivedChristmas toys through the generous contributionsof San Diego Kearny Mesa UPS employees andtheir UPS Toy Express. UPS employee Joe Terzolimade the connection with Community ActionPartnership (CAP) of San Diego. He expressed aninterest in donating to needy San Diego families.Children were then selected by their case managersin Family Self-Sufficiency programs. These pro-grams are funded through CAP and provide serviceto economically disadvantaged area residents.

Children in these needy families would not other-wise have received any gifts for Christmas. SantaClaus helped out by giving the presents to each andevery child on December 20 at the San DiegoCounty Library Headquarters on Overland Street.

Central Region Director Rene Santiago handed outcertificates of appreciation to UPS and to Terzoli.UPS Toy Express hopes to make this an annualevent as the children were happy and thankful toreceive the presents this holiday.

CAP and UPS JoinForces for Toy Express

Agency Central Region Director Rene Santiagowatches as Santa Claus checks his list during theUPS Toy Express held in conjuction with CAP.

Nine Agency staffers were rewarded for their cre-ative suggestions recently with DIBBS awardsfrom the County. The awards presentation wasmade by Board Chairman Bill Horn.

Magdalena Valladolid won a $283 ProductivityAward and $54 Tangible Award for her suggestionthat eliminated repeated faxing of internal reportsat the Crisis House that will save the County anestimated $6,019 in the first year. The evaluatorsaid, “She saw a need, responded with a solutionand has maximized East Region dollars.”

Ivy Stein’s idea to implement a voucher systemfor client transportation earned her a $50Productivity and $50 Intangible award. It wasnoted this suggestion will improve customer serv-ice, save time, be more efficient and cost effec-tive. The resulting savings are estimated to be$639.

Eileen Mills earned her $58 Productivity Awardfor creating a process manual to simplify a com-plex and cumbersome form the State provided.The County adopted the process and the State ofCalifornia provides her manual as a resourcestatewide. The estimated savings will be $1,173.

Intangible Award winners of $50 each included:Laurie Horton (using cell phone cameras toobtain photo evidence for CPS), Loreto Negado(reducing bleach exposure for testing employees),Karen Baluyot (utilizing a “FastFiler” system forCWS), Cynthia Martinez (electronic date stampfor the Information Center of the Lemon GroveChild Care Section Unit), Jeanne Hansen (no-fee411 calls for field workers) and Iris Bentz-Hora(allowing Public Health Nurses to earn ContinuingEducation Units for their monthly meetings).

Intangible Benefit Award - $50: For benefits that cannot be calcu-lated in dollars or time savings.

Tangible Savings Award - $50 to $20,000: For a reduction in abudgeted expense or as an increase in revenue.

Productivity Savings Award - $50 to $1,000: For a reduction in theamount of staff time needed to accomplish a particular task thatcan be reallocated to another task.

DIBBS Pays Dividends

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Lemon Grove FRC Employee Shares Kindess With Others

By Alicia Harvey VeraRandom acts of kindness are a wonderful way toreach across time, space or culture to touch the lifeof another being. Some of them are just very small,simple kind deeds. But even the smallest, mostsimple act of kindness can make a difference insomeone's life in a very big way.

We had the chance to experience one such act atLemon Grove FRC recently when employees weresummoned to conference room B. As I approachedthe area, a long line of about 20 staff were com-menting on the generosity of their co-worker asthey waited in line. It turns out that Aurelia AraceliCruz surprised everybody by cooking a generousserving of Pancit, Lumpia Shanghai, sweet bread forFRC and Childcare staff.

Immediately I thought we have to make this a lastingmemory, so I brought my camera and asked staff ifthey would like to be photographed for an article to highlight this affectionate expression. Everybody wasvery happy and appreciative for Cruz' gesture and headed back to their desks with a full plate. I inquiredfurther and found out that this seemingly random act of kindness is just another example of what has beena regular, consistent pattern of performance by Aurelia Araceli Cruz when she was hired in May.

I asked Cruz what motivated her to act this way and she replied that it'sher way of saying Merry Christmas to everybody. She enjoys cooking andsharing her cooking creations. Her coworkers commented that Cruz“Spoils us; she is a very giving person." Sylvia Melena, manager, added,"She's an includer, that's her #1 strength; she is a very accepting person,who continually strives to make others feel comfortable and part of whatshe is involved in. She frequently brings delicious home-made dishes,which she freely shares with all."

Back at my desk, I thought: this is it. Here I can find others who think thatthose things, in general, can, and have to be better for everybody. Weneed to be able to build a society where we can all be treated with respectand kindness - and that starts with our own actions on how we arerespectful and kind to others without expecting a reward in exchange,except perhaps the genuine, silent smile of those around.

Lemon Grove FRC employees (clockwise) BrendaMacias, Gemma Delima, Kathy Miner, ElbaEspinoza, Erika Medina, and Melinda Fernandezenjoy the Pancit and Lumpia Shanghai treats AureliaAraceli Cruz brought in for her co-workers.

Aurelia Araceli Cruz

"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I cando or any kindness I can show to any fellow human being let me do it now. Let menot defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." - Stephen Grellet (1773-1855), Quaker missionary.

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Compliance Office:(619) 515-4244

Toll-Free Compliance Hotline:(866) 549-0004

An ethical workplace is your right... and your responsibility...

San Diego County Immunization Branch conductsan annual telephone survey of San Diego Countyresidents. One of the surveys conducted was of 582parents/legal guardians of San Diego County ado-lescents. The adolescent survey focused on theimmunization status among 11- to 15-year-olds inorder to determine vaccination coverage levels foradolescents residing in San Diego County, identifytrends ini immunization between 2003 and 2006,and identify opportunities for new vaccine education.

Results from the survey included the following:36.9% of respondents have heard of the new

HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine, while 59.8%have not.

53% of all respondents would want their child toreceive the new HPV vaccine. *

36.6% of respondents did not know whether theywould want their adolescent to receive the new HPVvaccine.*

51.9% of parents/legal guardians would wanttheir daughters to receive the HPV vaccine com-pared to 39.3% of parents/legal guardians with sons.Parents of adolescent girls were significantly morelikely to want the HPV vaccine for their child.

* Before responding, those who have never heard of the new vaccinewere told the vaccine is used to prevent cervical cancer.

To request additional health statistics describinghealth behaviors, diseases and injuries for specificpopulations, health trends and comparisons tonational targets, please call the County's CommunityHealth Statistics Unit at (619) 285-6479. To accessthe latest data and links, including the CommunityProfiles and the 2004 Core Public Health Indicatordocument, go to www.sdhealthstatistics.com.

Youth joined active older adults and other volun-teers at Intergenerational Games in November atboth the U.S. Olympic Center in Chula Vista and theBoys and Girls Clubs of East County.

Aging & Independence Services, which created theidea of the Intergenerational Games, seeks toexpand this valuable event to communities through-out the county. The goal is to bring young and oldtogether to promote healthy and active lifestyles,while increasing mutual understanding and respectbetween generations.

Teams of youth and older adults participated notonly in athletic events but educational activities,such as the Food Pyramid Relay, which sent teamsrunning back and forth between a bag of groceryitems and a blank food pyramid. As teams placedgrocery items on the pyramid, they learned aboutthe food groups and proper nutrition behaviors thatwill help them fight the growing obesity epidemic.

All youngsters and older adults received medals fortheir participation, made new friends, and formedbonds that reinforced the day's theme "Everyone's aWinner." These events would not be possible with-out the support of community-based agencies.

Amethyst Lawson (left), Robert Maass and HaleySnider enjoyed AIS’ Intergenerational Games.

Older-Younger Pairing Makes Everyonea Winner at Intergenerational Games



Who Had More Fun?It's Friday night, December 1st. The buzz in theroom is clearly powered by the energy of eighty-sixchildren zipping about. In one corner, a DJ spins thelatest hits - the bass reverberating in the wide-openacoustics of the auditorium. In another area, SantaClaus' ho-ho-ho elicits smiles and squeals of laugh-ter while other children make crafts and check outthe stylistic maneuvers of an Eveoke DanceTheater performance. Off to the side, in a separateroom, children relax in front of a movie screen.Food is abundant and delicious.

It's hard to believe, with all the fun being had by thechildren, that the people enjoying themselves themost just might be the thirty-seven sets of fosterparents who get a night for themselves. The LaMesa Sunrise Rotary, in collaboration withNeighborhoods for Kids, put on this respite night atHelix High School.

Maybe the foster parents shopped for Christmasgifts. Maybe they saw "Casino Royale" or anothernon-animated movie. Maybe they attended theFoster Parent Holiday Banquet at the Foster ParentAssociation.

The one thing that is certain, however, is that bothfoster parent and child alike had a grand time onthis Friday night.

Sister City Program Brings RussianVisitors to Polinsky Center

The Polinsky Children's Center was the site of aninternational forum on November 30th whenPolinsky Director Edward Cadena exchangedinformation on public residential child care facilityprograms with Deputy Mayor Igor Golubev andassistant to the Mayor Vitaly Vakushev ofVladivostok, Russia.

The visit was arranged by Larry D. Sieck,President of the San Diego-Vladivostok Sister CitySociety and his wife, Terry.

Golubev, in charge of education and social servic-es, including services for children, and Vakushevwere accompanied by interpreter Yulia Galtseva,who was instrumental in helping all three partiesunderstand the cultural similarities and differencesbetween the two countries and their programs forchildren.

Cadena's overview of our court/judicial/foster caresystem elicited a flurry of questions and commentsfrom our Russian guests. It is interesting to learnthat in Vladivostok, parents whose children areplaced in orphanages for their protection must payinto trust funds which are established during achild's placement and from which a child maydraw funds.

An interesting side note is getting a handle on thesize of Russia. It takes 10 hours to fly from NewYork to Moscow and another 10 hours to fly fromMoscow to Vladivostok.

Foster families enjoyed a night out courtesy of Neighbor-hoods for Kids and the La Mesa Sunrise Rotary Club.

Send in kudos!Proud of a coworker? Send text (and photos):

[email protected] - or contactyour section editor, listed on page 9.

HHSA Events Calendar - Check outwhat’s happening, or, advise your

Web contact to post events.

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Agency Promotes Safety as Part of AnnualToys For Tots Distribution in North RegionsA truckload of toys, donated through the USMarine Corps Reserves' Toys for Tots pro-gram, was distributed to more than 130 low-income children on December 9. Staff at theNorth Central Regions' two Family ResourceCenters teamed together to organize the toydistribution from the Kearny Mesa site loca-tion.

Each year, the Kearny Mesa and MissionValley Family Resource Centers have teamedup with the Toys for Tots program to distributetoys in the community. Families registered inadvance for their gifts, which were availablefor children 14 years of age and under.

In preparation for this and other holiday gift-giving activities that occur in December, the Agency promoted "Safe Toys and Gifts" month at a press con-ference held on December 8th. Assistant Deputy Director Donna Hand welcomed the media covering theevent, discussed the Saturday toy distribution, and noted the importance of educating the public on toysafety.

The Agency's pediatrician, Dr. Amethyst Cureg, provided information onchoosing safe and age-appropriate gifts during the holiday season.According to the most recent national statistics (2003, from the NationalSAFE KIDS Campaign), approximately 155,400 children ages 14 andunder were treated at hospital emergency rooms for toy-related injuries.Nearly half of these children were under 4 years of age. Dr. Cureg talkedabout the important safety steps that both families with children and gift-givers can take to prevent toy-related injuries and deaths.

Lead staff involved in this year's activity included Supervising HumanServices Specialist Craig Maze, Supervising Clerk Florence Trent, andHuman Services Specialist Theresa Drager. Drager won the praise of hermanagers for making the most referrals to the program and translating theapplication form into Spanish.

This was a voluntary group effort showcasing our workers' teamwork, holi-day spirit, and caring for the families we serve. Smiles from the childrenand their parents, plus a big hug from a young girl to District ManagerMark Silvia, showed how much the families appreciated the gifts.

Agency Assistant Deputy Director Donna Hand, left, and AgencyPediatrician Dr. Amethyst Cureg hold a news conference promot-ing “Safe Toys and Gifts” month.

Mayra Guzman and herdaughter Lizbeth wait for theNorth Regions’ Toys for Totsdistribution to begin.

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County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency

Chief Administrative Officer - Walter F. Ekard

Health and Human Services Agency Director - Jean M. Shepard

Editor - Tom Christensen

Aging & Independence Services: Denise NelesenAlcohol & Drug Services: Kate Martin

Central Region: Elise LorentzChild Welfare Services: Cathi Palatella

East Region: Katie JuddFinancial & Support Services: Marion Morris

Mental Health: Bonita MaglidtNorth Central Region, North Coastal Region,

North Inland Region: Nina ConstantinoPublic Health: Wilma WootenSouth Region: Angie DeVoss

Board of SupervisorsGreg Cox, District 1

Dianne Jacob, District 2Pam Slater-Price, District 3

Ron Roberts, District 4Bill Horn, District 5

Section Editors

The North Regions (North Coastal, North Inland andNorth Central) "advanced" once again (rather than"retreating") by hosting a special day for supervisors.

This was the second annual event, held at two locations:Marina Village on November 14th for North Centralsupervisors and the North County Regional EducationCenter on November 16th for North Coastal and NorthInland supervisors.

Approximately 120 supervisors from all North Regiondivisions were included: California Children Services,Child Welfare Services, Family Resource Centers, PublicHealth Centers, and North Coastal EmploymentServices.

Deputy Director Nick Macchione and Assistant DeputyDirectors Donna Hand and Francine Nickell kicked offthe events, citing the importance of the supervisors' rolein effectively communicating the mission and the visionof the Agency to our front line staff.

Throughout the day, supervisors engaged in strength-based activities focused on leadership, including: FindYour Strengths (an ice-breaker game centered on super-visors' strengths from the "Now Discover Your Strengths"book), Empowering Leadership (discussion/activities onsolutions related to progressive discipline), "The AnimalIn Us" (teambuilding exercise), and "SuccessionPlanning for You, Your Staff, and Your Team/Department"(brainstorm and action plan development for successionplanning at different levels).

According to participant evaluations, many supervisorsnoted how much they valued the Advance and the skillsthey learned.

Second Annual North Regions’Supervisor Leadership “Advance” Held

North Coastal and North Inland Region supervisors(above) gathered for a photo at their “Advance” on Nov.16th, while the North Central Region supervisors (below)did the same on Nov. 14th.

El Cajon FRC Toys for TotsThe El Cajon Family Resource Center providedhope and happiness through the gift of new toys todisadvantaged children and families who mightotherwise be overlooked this holiday season.

Through the generosity of community donationsand the coordinated efforts of the Miramar MarineAir Station and the El Cajon FRC, toys were dis-tributed to approximately 200 needy children.

Staff also took the time to make a simple reminderphone call to connect with the families they servehoping that it might make a difference to that onechild receiving their holiday gift.

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HOLIDAY SEASON ACTIVITIES FORPOLINSKY CENTER CHILDREN

The outpouring of the com-munity's generosity duringthe holiday season was againevident at Polinsky Children'sCenter with the Toby WellsFoundation's annual donationof decorated Christmas treesproviding a festive flair in thecottages, intake and visitationareas. The Foundation alsoprovides toys, games andWalMart gift cards for all ofthe teen girls and boys.

The flurry of activities continued on December10th with Salon Day. This special annual eventwas hosted by local beauticians who donate theirtime and talent providing the children with hair-styles, haircuts, pedicures, manicures, hair prod-uct and a catered lunch.

On December 13, Viejas transported the childrento the Viejas Recreation Center in Alpine for theirannual holiday party which included crafts, enter-tainment, gifts, food and drinks. After the party thechildren were treated to an Ice Princess show atthe Viejas Outlet Center.

"Shop With A Charger," an annual event, spon-sored by the Donnie Edwards Foundation, tookplace on December 18th and is a PolinskyChildren's Center favorite. Each child goes shop-ping for holiday gifts with a Charger and $100 atWalMart and afterwards participates in activitiesand enjoys lunch.

The kind and generous time and commitment ofSan Diego agencies, companies, organizations,and individuals ensures a glorious holiday experi-ence for the children at Polinsky Children's Center.We extend to everyone our sincere thanks andgratitude for providing them with an invaluable andjoyous holiday season.

Centralized Child WelfareServices Distributes ComputersOn Saturday, December 2, 237 computers were dis-tributed to San Diego County foster families and rel-ative caretakers. This was a joint effort between theSan Diego Futures Foundation and the CentralizedChild Welfare Services Foster Home Licensing pro-gram. The event was held at the Agency’s 8965Balboa Avenue site. Futures Foundation set up anon-site computer lab and provided the families withtraining on use of computers and the Internet.

The Computers forFoster FamiliesProgram was initiatedin 2002 after theBoard of Supervisors,at the direction ofGreg Cox, designat-ed the San DiegoCounty Foster HomeLicensing Program topartner with SanDiego FuturesFoundation to pro-

vide free refurbished County computers to fosterfamilies. The program helps to strengthen and sup-port our county's foster and relative caretaker fami-lies, and increases computer and Internet access forSan Diego County foster youth.

As theyreceivedtheir com-puters, thesmiles onthe faces ofthe childrenand familiesnot only reinforced the partnership's commitment tochildren and foster families, but also gave the part-nership the opportunity to share in the spirit of givingfor this holiday season.

Have you submitted a DIBBS lately?

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SAN DIEGO COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY - SAFE, HEALTHY AND THRIVING COMMUNITIES1111

Twelve lucky children waiting for forever familieswere chosen from the San Diego County AdoptionsProgram to participate in this year's Shop with aJock™ sponsored by Junior Seau Foundation.

The Junior Seau Foundation provides San Diego-area youth ongoing support in the form of scholar-ships and financial support for a variety of pro-grams. It achieves its mission through financialcontributions from corporations and individuals.The foundation's mission is “to educate andempower young people through the support of childabuse prevention, drug and alcohol awareness,recreational opportunities, anti-juvenile delinquencyefforts and complimentary educational programs.”

The Foundation teams with Mervyns, corporatesponsors and individual donors for the AnnualShop with a Jock™. During the holiday season,Shop with a Jock™ gives underprivileged childrenthe opportunity to shop for gifts for their lovedones. To make this event unforgettable each childshops with an athlete from the San DiegoChargers, NFL alumni, San Diego Padres or a localcollege athletic team. Following a dinner, many fun-filled games and motivational words from JuniorSeau himself, the children are then paired with anathlete who accompanies them on a holiday shop-ping spree throughout Mervyns.

For many years, Junior Seau symbolized the heart,intensity and drive of the San Diego Chargers. Heset the standard for work ethic. Junior “was” theChargers - the hometown boy who made good,playing for the team he idolized while growing up inOceanside. Seau has always been known as beinga team leader on and off the field.

Seau believes that it is essential for children tolearn about giving during the holiday season - hehopes the children who participate in this holidayevent will experience the true meaning of the sea-son as they shop for gifts for their loved ones.

The 12 children waiting for adoptive familiesenjoyed the event and were able to go beyondwhat they had imagined as far as their holidayshopping. One set of siblings bought gifts for theiryounger sibling who they are not currently livingwith and miss very much. This event gave morethan just material things to the children: it also pro-vided a feeling of belonging and empowerment tothem.

Adoptions Teams Up with Junior Seau to Bring Smiles

Fatimah Abdullah, top right, helps Stacy from theSan Diego State University water polo team andAlexis shop for their Christmas gifts.

San Diego Charger Jacques Cesaire, center, spendssome time with 7-year-old Trevelle, left, and 10-year-old Daryon before they hit the store in search of theperfect Christmas presents.

Director’s Call-InShare your ideas and concerns with

HHSA Director Director of OperationsJean M. Shepard Paula Landau-Cox

First Friday of each month •• 8 a.m. - noon(619) 515-6555

HE OUNTY OF AN IEGO J 2007 H HAAPPPPYY NNEEWW …demonstrate outstanding achievement in developing...

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