In the Loop with WestCare California Welcome to the WestCare California Loop! November 27, 2013

A member of the WestCare family who has

been very busy with community outreach

lately is Louis Angel, a Substance Abuse Coun-

selor at our Belmont Facility. Late last month,

he flew to Utah to speak at the Focus on the Future conference, presented by the Utah

Department of Human Services’ Child Welfare

Institute. He presented on the topic of having a

strong father figure in the lives of children

while relating it to his own history of addiction.

Louis recalls the event: "Going to Utah and

presenting my life story of addiction, struggles

and overcoming was an awesome experience

for me. I never imagined in a million years that

my testimony would be told in front of 500 to

600 social workers. It was truly a once in a life

time opportunity for me. I would like to thank

the Casey Foundation, Birth Parents National Network and the National

Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds who made this possi-

ble." Louis has also began hosting his own online radio show, Recovery

Radio. Please see the “Upcoming Events” section for info on his most re-

cent show and how you can listen in.

Upcoming Events Employee Spotlight

This month’s issue is dedicated to embracing those that we have in our life as

well as remembering those that have left us. We can continue to learn from

those that we hold close and honor the memory of those that we have lost. Take

care and happy holidays, everybody. - Michael Mygind, Special Projects Officer

Recent Happenings at WestCare California...

December 2nd: Episode now available

for listening. Recovery Radio, hosted by Louis Angel featuring Valentin Ferrel. Listen by visiting http://

www.blogtalkradio.com/nnia1/2013/12/01/recovery-radio-with-louis-angel

All pre-recorded episodes are availa-ble for listening on the same website following their live recording dates.

December 5th: The Living Room will be present at World AIDS Day at

Fresno State University. Contact TLR at: (559) 486-1469

December 20th: Holiday/Staff Appre-ciation Luncheon at the Wedgewood Banquet Center (4584 W. Jacquelyn,

Fresno) from 12:00pm to 4:00pm. RSVP via email to Bron-da.foster@westcare.com by 5pm on

12/2/2013.

Would you like your program featured in the WestCare Loop? Contact Michael Mygind at michael.mygind@westcare.com

Louis Angel

Upcoming Birthdays...

November 14th - WestCare Fall Graduation: WestCare California

hosted its annual fall graduation and sober living celebration on Nov. 14,

2013 to a packed house of family, friends, alumni and current clients, showing

up to represent for the 24 graduates of WestCare California's programs at

the beautiful sanctuary of the Westside Fresno 7th Day Adventist Church.

As always, Deputy Administrator of WestCare California, Lynn Pimentel, deliv-

ered a poignant and thought provoking message of “Living Life on Life’s

Terms” to the graduates; transparently sharing her recovery experiences, living

without regrets, and concluding remarks laced with a little Eminem humor to a

receptive crowd. WestCare California's Sr. V.P, Sean Jenkins, uplifted the audience reminding everyone that it takes a village to

raise a child and thanking the graduates for allowing WC to be a part of the village.

The night’s keynote speaker, Tony Hoffman, is a native of Fresno and former professional BMX athlete who is now a devout

Christian and founder of the Freewheel Project, a youth outreach program where he teaches Central Valley youth how to race

BMX bikes. Hoffman spoke intensely about his addictive past, passionately describing his storied struggles and recovery out of

the gutter.

This fall’s event was a compelling spiritual testament to WestCare’s impact on the lives of people, as heard in the God-filled

testimonies of its graduates and joyous cheers of approval by the audience. They were presented by Co-Chair Sean Witten, who

was given a gift of appreciation by one of the graduates, and like others in the church, was brought to tears by the graduates

who expressed their heartfelt thanks, and deepest appreciation to WestCare's administrators and staff for being there for them

and allowing them to embrace their "Starting from the bottom and now we're here" theme and to take the next step in life as

part of the WC Family Philosophy: To be born again.

It was truly a night for all to remember and never forget!!!!!

October 26th - The 2013 Fresno AIDS Walk: The second annual Fresno AIDS Walk was once again a celebration of the

lives of those who are affected by the HIV/AIDS virus. The walk hosted over 250 walkers and runners and raised over $19,000

in generous donations from registrants, teams and community sponsors. All proceeds will support The Living Room’s continued

operation. Thanks to everyone that came out and showed support for this worthy cause and took part in this inspiring event.

October 24th - October 25th - SASCA Training: On October

24th & 25th our Director of Criminal Justice Services-Don Smith,

brought all of our SASCA staff together for in-service training. This

time together was well appreciated by staff participating from our

SASCA offices in Sacramento, Fresno and Bakersfield.

October 22nd – November 11th - Honoring Those Who Serve Fundraising Challenge: Along with 27 other organi-

zations, WestCare as a whole took part in the Honoring Those Who Serve fundraising challenge presented by the Newman’s

Own Foundation. This challenge gave organizations who work with veterans a platform to raise funds for their program/s. All

organizations were allowed to keep the proceeds, but were given the opportunity to win additional funding by winning a spot in

the top three in addition to bonus challenges. WestCare as a whole did not quite reach a spot in the top 3, but did win both

bonus challenges for being the team with the quickest rate of increase and the first team to receive 10 donations first within a

given amount of time, netting an additional $6,000 to the funds already raised. After all was said and done, WestCare has

raised over $10,000 during this short campaign! The funds raised by each individual program are theirs to keep and the bonus

awards will be divided based on each program’s level of participation. Great job, everybody!

November 7th - HomeDepot Gives Back to HomeFront: On Thursday, November 7th, 2013, 70 volunteers from The

Home Depot Foundation came out to WestCare's HomeFront facility for female veterans to build a park and make improve-

ments to the facility in response to a $15,000 grant that their foundation generously awarded to WestCare for this purpose.

After the work was done, an empty lot was transformed into a park, a barren side lot was given beautiful planters, and various

other improvements were made to the site. We would like to thank the foundation and its volunteers not only for their hard

work and generosity, but for taking the time to help those who have given us so much: Our veterans.

October 31st – Halloween : Fresno’s staff was most definitely in the Halloween spirit.!

November 11th - Veteran’s Day Parade: San

Joaquin Valley Veterans took part in the 2013

Veterans Day Parade in downtown Fresno with staff

dressed up as wartime icons, Rosie the Riveter and

Uncle Sam.

Staff and clients from WestCare’s Fresno sites (Left)

created a turkey using handprints hat explained all

that they are grateful for. (Right) Bakersfield’s staff

joined in as well!

The main recreational area before

(Left) Staff and after (Right) the

project.

The many great volunteers from the

Home Depot Foundation. (Below)

November 27th - Holiday Celebrations

San Joaquin Valley Veterans held a Thanks-

giving Dinner with all the fixings at their new

office and welcomed all staff and clients.

Monday, December 2nd: Shawn Jenkins

Tuesday, December 10th: Mardi Palacios

Monday, December 16th: Maurice Lee

Tuesday, December 24th: Jenny Gonzales

Monday, December 30th: Patricia Smith

Wednesday, January 1st: Michael Mygind

Thursday, January 2nd: Jenny Magdaleno

Four new In-Prison Programs Awarded: WestCare California was recently

awarded four new in-prison programs. One of the programs is a Women’s

Long Term Offender Pilot Program at the Central California Women’s Facili-

ty (CCWF) in Chowchilla, CA. We will also be providing substance abuse,

criminal thinking, anger management and family relationships services at 3 of

CDCR's established reentry hubs located at High Desert State Prison

(HDSP), Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (SATF) and Valley State Prison

(VSP). The focus is on pre- release programs for inmates who are within four

(4) years of release with a moderate to high risk to reoffend with a goal of providing cognitive behavioral treatment

programs prior to release and to facilitate a successful transition back to their communities in order to reduce their

likelihood of reoffending.

The staff and residents of the Bakersfield facility signed 100 holiday

greeting cards to send to troops through the Red Cross “Holiday

Mail for Heroes” program. The program will deliver the cards to

service men and women who are stationed away from home for the

holidays, and those in veteran’s hospitals.

“The health & wellness committee has selected Val Ferrel from Hanford YMAX

and TREES for the Health & Wellness Committee's Choice Award for the month

of November. Val has cut down on his fast food intake drastically and works out

on his elliptical daily. He has also traded his traditional breakfast burrito for oat-

meal. On behalf of the Health & Wellness Committee we want to congratulate

Val for living a healthy lifestyle.” - Irene Gutierrez

This board was created by Kathaleen De Leon from OPTIONS and Suzanne

Alaniz from CPRS. November’s theme was Random Acts of Kindness Month!

Health & Wellness News

Valentin Ferrel