A Message from Carol Bishop,
Kinship Center Executive Director
Thank you to our community of supporters for continuing to believe in our work and helping us make a difference in the lives of children in our community who most need our services. They need us now more than ever, particularly in these challenging times, and your support makes our work that much more effective and efficient.
Your support is making a tangible impact on our community: a total of 51 children have been adopted through Kinship Center's Placement program this past year, and we have completed our second virtual Pathways to Permanence training with 27 people in the process of becoming foster parents. That''s 27 more families that will potentially soon be caring for children in foster care who need them. Kinship Center prioritizes reunification with the child''s biological family. When that is not the safest and healthiest option for the child, foster care and adoption are the next steps. Several of our foster families are caring for children and teenagers who are in the reunification process.
Our mental health clinics continue to serve children in both our King City and Salinas clinics and our Mobil Crisis Response Team is up and running, serving children across Monterey county. Our new wraparound contract is also up and running, and currently accepting referrals from the county.
Our ongoing goal is to keep the most vulnerable children in our community safe by creating and supporting permanent and loving homes. It' is inspiring to see the children and teenagers who have had to face so much in their young life overcome these challenges when surrounded by love, understanding, and support.
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Carol Bishop
Regional Executive Director
Kinship Center
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Introducing Dawn Henson
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We''re so excited to announce that Dawn Henson has joined Kinship Center's Executive team!
Dawn is partnering with Carol Bishop in the role of Regional Executive Director and has currently been busy overseeing our Wraparound program, Mobile Crisis Response Team, our two mental health clinics, Intensive Treatment Foster Care, and several developing mental health programs in Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo Counties. Dawn comes to us from Seneca''s Santa Clara programs. She has hit the ground running, and has brought 29 years of great experience in mental health and child welfare to the Central Coast.
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A Heartwarming Testimonial to Kinship Center
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"About a month ago, I bought new plants and shrubs for the yard. I started gardening and about halfway through, had to stop to run an errand. When I got back home, my son was in the yard, the planting was done, and things looked better than I could have done them myself. I told him how beautiful it was and said that I knew cooking was his passion but did not know that gardening was too. I asked him where he learned how to do all of it. He said, ''At Kinship Center''s Camp PAKK, they taught us how to garden and said that whenever we were feeling stressed or anxious it would help.''
After all of these years (he''s 22), he still remembers the love and lessons of Kinship Center. This is why I am forever grateful to all of you"
-Kinship Center adoptive mother.
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Psycho-Educational Parenting Classes
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"Support through donations helps us offer the training series with regularity. The content is critical for the caregivers served by Family Ties."
-Norma Smith, Family Ties Program Director
Family Ties offered a series of psycho-educational group counseling/parenting classes for relative caregivers. Topics discussed included strategies to deal with the difficulties in virtual learning, how to manage anger in children and adults, and how to work with children with ADHD at home.
Through community support, our Family Ties program continues to provide emergency assistance for food, clothes, rent, and purchase of beds for children in placement with relatives.
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White Party Virtual Fund-A-Need
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Thank you to everyone who donated!
We were able to meet the total $20,000 matching gift challenge! You can still donate to this campaign any time and see all of our awesome supporters who have donated.
We cannot wait to see everyone on October 9th, 2021, for our next Kinship Center gala!
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Monterey County Gives!
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Mark your calendars for this year''s Monterey County Gives! on 11/12/2020.
Once again, Kinship Center is participating in Monterey County Gives! You can make an early gift to become a Challenge Gift donor, where you or your business will be featured on our webpage: https://www.montereycountygives.com. When the campaign goes live, you''ll be able to donate to Kinship Center through 12/31/2020 at midnight, and a percentage of your donation will be matched.
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Change Happens Together Holiday Auction
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Change Happens Together Instagram Holiday Auction!
December 7th-11th 2020
Our first auction was such a hit that we''re doing it again! This is a great opportunity for some virtual holiday shopping. Be sure to follow @change_happens_together on Instagram for more details and to participate in the auction.
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Foster Care and Adoption During COVID-19 and Wildfires
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While we have adjusted to the limitations and ever changing regulations guiding our work during this pandemic, we have supported our families and helped them navigate through an additional crisis: wildfires. We continue to be amazed at how committed and resilient our families, children, and staff are during these times.
We have had several children/youth leave our program through either placement with a relative or successful reunification. While many of our applicants come with the motivation to grow their family through adoption, they understand that the primary goal is for a child to obtain permanency through successful reunification first, and then through legal guardianship/adoption with a relative, or to remain in their care. Kinship Center's families know that they will continue to be supported by our team and that their gift of safety, security, stability, and love, will benefit that child, or children, for the rest of their life.
We have a high need for families that can care for older children and teens. If you are interested in becoming a foster parent or want to learn more, contact barbara_may@senecacenter.org or fill out our inquiry form.
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Gabilan Wine Raffle Results!
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Kinship Center Gabilan Chapter''s annual Wine and Food Festival was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, but the chapter members got creative and held a virtual wine raffle that raised an INCREDIBLE $60,000! This money provides vital funding to Kinship Center''s foster care and adoption service in San Benito County. Thank you Kinship Center Gabilan Chapter!
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For questions, comments, or more information, you can respond directly to this email. You can also call (831) 455-4713 or email austin_shilstone@senecacenter.org.
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Important tax information
No matter how you file your taxes, all donations are tax-deductible up to $300.
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