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National Nutrition Month

National Nutrition Month is here! “Go Further with Food" is the theme for 2018, and its

importance is timely for many reasons. Whether it's starting the day off right with a healthy

breakfast or fueling before an athletic event, the foods you choose can make a big

difference. This month’s observance focuses attention on the importance of a balanced

diet, making informed food choices, developing sound eating and physical activity habits.

A balanced diet is important because your organs and tissues need proper nutrition to work

effectively. Without good nutrition, your body is more prone to disease, infection, fatigue,

and poor performance. Children with a poor diet run the risk of growth and developmental

problems, poor academic performance and bad eating habits that can persist for the rest

of their lives. At the core of a balanced diet are foods that are low in unnecessary fats and

sugars and high in vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, grains,

proteins, dairy and healthy oils.

Source: http://mma-west.com/assets/files/March2018AltitudeNewsletter.pdf

Source: http://mma-west.com/assets/files/October-2017-Altitude-Newsletter.pdf

Policy of the Month: Harassment Prevention By Administration

Community Catalysts of California (CCC) provides employees a workplace free from

harassment and intimidation. CCC will not tolerate actions that promote or create a hostile work

place.

Employees who engage in harassment, intimidation of employees, clients, or others will be

subject to immediate expulsion from CCC property and disciplinary action up to and including

termination.

No posting or solicitations for donations, sponsorships, gifts, birthdays, cosmetics, or other

purposes may be conducted at an office, work site or to clients without the prior written approval

of the Chief Executive Officer or his/her designee.

Gambling, including all "pools,” is prohibited at all offices, work sites and with or in the presence

of a client.

Distribution or posting non-work related literature by employees during working time is also

prohibited, as is distribution of literature in working areas. "Working time," as used in this policy,

excludes meals and break periods.

Board of Directors James Wheeler Chair Greg Murphy Vice Chair David Kuhlman Secretary Roberta Raasveld Treasurer Carey Storm Director Melissah Walker Director

Jarrod Hammes Director

Zeyad Moussa Director

Newsletter Staff Contributors Amanda B., Alice O., Ana N., Erica B., Farley O., Jennifer B., Valerie G., Jessica R. Editors Gaby H.

National Nutrition Month Policy of the Month Fresno San Marcos Imperial Valley Santa Clara Salinas Visalia Ukiah VCS Manteca Corporate Client of the Quarter Employee of the Quarter

March 2018

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Client Anniversaries

22 Years

Gylda G. | Imperial Valley

20 Years

Wayne H. | San Marcos

19 Years

David C. | Santa Clara

Michael P. | Santa Clara

Lee Roy B. | Imperial Valley

16 Years

Donald P. | Manteca

14 Years

Aletha R. | Manteca

Carolyn B. | San Marcos

13 Years

Rueben O. | Salinas

Roberto B. | Salinas

12 Years

Veronica J. | Fresno

Omar V. | Salinas

Jose G. | Salinas

11 Years

Thomas C. | Salinas

Maria S. | Salinas

Tomas S. | Salinas

10 Years

Anthony B. | San Marcos

Liberty M. | Imperial Valley

9 Years

Maryanne S. | Imperial Valley

Donald M. | Imperial Valley

Joseph A. | Manteca

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March 2018

Central Valley

Fresno By Amanda Brewer

What’s Going On?

Fresno announced February 2018 Employee of the Month, Alfred Simmons!

Congratulations!

We held our monthly client advisory meeting on 3/19/2018 – The group elected Cicely

(on right) and Marci (on left) as the Client Advisory Chairmen. The committee

collectively decided what the monthly activity/outing is going to be. They chose to go

to the movies next month!

We held the Client Advisory BBQ/Potluck at the Fresno

office on 3/24/2018. Clients enjoyed hotdogs, nachos,

popcorn, and desserts while watching “Ghostbusters”.

This was followed by a Surprise Easter egg hunt!

Client Anniversaries Continued from pg. 2 8 Years

Juan E. | San Marcos

Joyce J. | Santa Clara

7 Years

William M. | Imperial Valley

Martin Q. | Imperial Valley

Rosemary N. | Visalia

6 Years

Angel M. | Imperial Valley

Fred H. | Ukiah

Robert G. | Ukiah

David M. | Ukiah

Richard S. | Ukiah

5 Years

Marta O. | Imperial Valley

Scott C. | Manteca

Glenn S. | Manteca

4 Years

Karyn A. | San Marcos

Rafael D. | Ukiah

Samantha A. | San Marcos

Daniel P. | Santa Clara

3 Years

Alma G. | Santa Clara

2 Years

Lisa R. | Manteca

Kevin M. | Fresno

Cheryl V. | Imperial Valley

Charles S. | San Marcos

1 Year

Gina S. | Santa Clara

March 2018

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Southern California San Marcos By Alice Olsen

What’s Going On?

This month was our Active Shooter Drill and the Staff

never know when our Office Manager will put them

through. These surprise Drills! Great job to all the

staff that participated in this drill when it went down,

the doors were closed & locked and those who were

accessible to the shooter were very active in stopping

her.

South Bay

Santa C la ra By Erica Barber

What’s Going On?

We would like to wish our DSA Lori the best of luck on her new journey. She has been with us for

15 years and is moving to Oregon. Lori is always so reliable and patient with her clients, we

appreciate her time with us and will miss her!

We also said goodbye to 2 of our clients this month as they transitioned to SLS. They were a joy to

work with.

A blast from the past came to visit us this month! Our old client Tom was visiting his mom and

wanted to have lunch while he was out here. He lives in Kentucky now and says it is a much better

environment for him. He plays music in a band and even shared with us a newspaper clipping of

him in which he was pictured with his dog. We are glad to know he is doing well.

Imper ia l Va l ley By Ana Norris

What’s Going On?

Our clients had a wonderful time bowling

during the Advisory Event this month.

Our Day Program Clients having fun on a

sunny day while waiting for the bus.

Employee Anniversaries 17 years

Stephanie Hernandez |

Manteca

11 Years

Carmen Valenzuela | Santa

Clara

Irma Manjarrez | Imperial Valley

10 Years

Jessica Ramos | Manteca

Hugo Sanchez | Fresno

9 Years

Dana Steckling | San Marcos

7 Years

Kitty Riggs | Ukiah

6 Years

Eloy Rocha | Imperial Valley

5 Years

Steven Camacho | Visalia

4 Years

Chelsea Coffin | Manteca

Brenda Carrillo | Salinas

Esther Teran | Imperial Valley

3 Years

Archie Green | San Marcos

March 2018

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South Bay Sal inas By Farley Odad

What’s Going On?

A mini potluck to celebrate our March babies and way to go Maria G for receiving a “Certificate

of Excellence” during this month’s staff meeting. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.

Central Valley Visa l ia

What’s Going On?

CCC Staff celebrated client

Sidney’s Birthday with ninja

turtle themed party. He

enjoyed cake and ice

cream with his friends.

Client Tamiko celebrated

her Birthday at the park

playing different games like

Bingo and Uno.

Clients got together and

had taco night ! They

played board games and

had a delicious dinner.

Employee Anniversaries

Continued from pg. 4

2 Years

Vanessa Aguirre | Visalia

Kelli Arvizu | Fresno

Marisa Baker | Visalia

Perry Smith | Visalia

1 Year

Kimberly Laws | Merced

Redwood Coast Ukiah By Jennifer Bilstein

What’s Going On?

Well here we are at the end of March already. Spring is here and

summer is fast approaching! First, we’d like to wish a big Happy

Birthday to clients David M., Jean, and Mark, DSA Sharon K. and

CM Diana!! Happy Birthday to you all! We hope you enjoyed your

special days!

Our Client Advisory Committee meeting this month was a huge

success!! We met in the late afternoon on a Friday and had each

client bring something to pitch in to our first ever CAC Salad Bar.

We had such an amazing turnout!! Our CAC Salad Bar could’ve

rivaled any fancy restaurant! We had such big variety of

ingredients that all the salads made were very unique! There

were typical items such as mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, bell

peppers, onions, and croutons. And then we also had some

clients bring in varieties of the same ingredient; for example, one

client brought in three kinds of cucumbers, another brought in

two kinds of beans, and JoAnn donated three kinds of healthy,

organic salad dressings. All in all, everyone had a great time at

the meeting and they didn’t have to cook dinner that night, they

all had the salad bar for dinner!

We would like to extend congratulations to a couple more people

as well…

Congratulations to our CM Mone for all her hard work and

dedication to the Junior Giants Program for the last several

years! Mone was acknowledged by the Junior Giants and

received the prestigious Willie McCovey Award recently.

Congratulations Mone!!

And, Congratulations to our RM JoAnn for her endless strength

and pursuit for health!! JoAnn typically participates in several 5K

or 10K runs throughout the year and 2018 is no exception. She

recently completed a 5K at the 2018 Whale Run in Fort Bragg,

CA. JoAnn used the Jeff Galloway walk/run method and did a

fantastic job in the competition! Congratulations JoAnn!!

March 2018

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VCS

By Valerie Garcia

What’s Going On?

March was a success for VCS! This month Joshua Miller, SSVF Intake Specialist, referred his

client Justin over to Terin Ortega in the HVRP department. Terin Ortega, HVRP Job Developer,

provided numerous employment referrals to Justin including ACE Parking. Terin established

a working relationship with Mike Dowd, Community Outreach Manager, and she was able to

secure Justin an interview with ACE Parking. Justin had an amazing interview and secured

employment with ACE Parking. Justin was informed on March 7th, 2018 that his discharge

upgrade was granted to a General Under Honorable Conditions discharge from an Other Than

Honorable. Justin was also granted an 80% service-connected disability and he will receive

backpay! Justin plans to put most of his backpay in savings, purchase a car, and take his

mother and son to Hawaii! Justin expressed great gratitude for staff at VCS and explained how

excited he is that everything is falling into place for him. A special thank you to Joshua Miller

and Terin Ortega for their assistance and dedication to the clients we serve!!

We are sad to say our goodbyes to our amazing Benefits Coordinator, Brittany Koval but wish

her success at her VA internship! She will be missed but we are looking forward to Joshua

Miller taking over this role. Congrats on the promotion Josh! We also welcome our new VCS

employees, Blanca Jimenez- Intake Specialist, and Karina Hiraoka Case Coordinator/ Intake

Specialist!

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March 2018

VCS celebrated our March Birthday’s with a

very yummy Asian food themed luncheon

pot luck and delicious chocolate Birthday

Cake!! A very Happy Birthday to Mawuena

Taylor, Stella Arias, Demi Grooms, and Alex

Rockabrand!!

North Valley Manteca By Jessica Ramos

What’s Going On?

Leatha Gleason, DSA was blessed with a healthy grandson on

March 22, 2018. JP weighed 8lbs 8oz. Congratulations Leatha!

Our very own superstar, Dwight Mahabir, DSA and Actor, will be

performing April 27th – May 20th in “Driving Miss Daisy” at Murphy’s

Creek Theatre.

Clients, Sam, Kelly, Rosella and Chris went on a casino trip to

Jackson Rancheria to celebrate Sam, Kelly and Rosella’s birthday.

They enjoyed their day playing on the slot machines.

Congratulations to Rosa Vizcaino! She was presented with her 15

years of service award and gifts at our staff meeting this month.

Thank you, Rosa, for your dedication!

Corporate By Gaby Heredia

What’s Going On?

This month we celebrated Pebbles’ and

Adela’s Birthdays. We had a beautiful cake

from extraordinary desserts that was

enjoyed by everyone. We also said

goodbye to our HR Coordinator Adela. We

will miss her very much !

We would like to welcome our new HR

Coordinators Alicia Auvil and Chris Kang!

March 2018

March 2018

Client of the 1st Quarter Arthur O.

Arthur has been participating in Independent Living Services for about eight years and

during this time we have learned that he enjoys collecting superheroes, movie

characters, and DVD’s. Like most of us, Arthur has faced challenges when it comes

to maintaining an active lifestyle. In 2018, Arthur decided to make a change. He started

regularly attending the gym and working with a personal trainer. He also started

attending physical therapy, which according to his mother, has been very helpful. With

his support system and new dietary requirements, Arthur was able to lose 34 pounds!

It is amazing to see the new Arthur who appears happier and has become more active.

He has also become more conscious when choosing what food to eat. Arthur has

shown his friends and family that it is possible to make a positive change in one’s life

which will benefit us for years to come. Arthur is an inspiration to all of us and has

shown us that anything is possible if you work hard. We are very proud of all his

accomplishments.

Employee of the 1st Quarter Vanessa Orr

Account ing C le rk

Vanessa has been part of the CCC family for 18 years now. Throughout her time

here she has demonstrated what true dedication is. She is very consistent with

updating client hours by sending regular reports and is always there to help if you

have a question. She is always available and quick to respond, which is very much

appreciated. Vanessa is very positive and friendly while maintaining a professional

relationship with fellow employees. She is always clear when communicating with

different offices and always gets back to you in a timely manner. It is obvious that

she is very committed to our organization. Thank you, Vanessa, for all your hard

work and dedication, it does not go unnoticed.