“Road to Emerald City” Raises $380,000

This past Saturday Hillsides hosted its annual benefit, “Road to Emerald City,” where guests followed the yellow brick road to raise $380,000 for programs and services serving vulnerable children and families living in Los Angeles County. As I looked around The California Club in downtown Los Angeles, I saw how the Benefit Committee had transformed it into the Land of Oz where Dorothy and the Wicked Witch also made a special appearance. With generous donors like Jacob Maarse Florists who  donated the floral designs for the evening’s theme, I was amazed at just how much time, talent and energy is put forth to make such a spectacular event.

Kudos goes to Benefit chair Cathy Brennan, who set the stage for an unforgettable evening. We are also fortunate that Hillsides has many board members, supporters and volunteers that work with us behind the scenes to acquire amazing displays and items like the replica Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in the “Wizard of Oz” previously on loan to The Smithsonian Museum from the Collection of David A. Pacheco that were displayed at the event. Other items were the candy bar that was a hit with the guests as were the hundred auction packages available for bid, and 1.5 carat natural Colombian Emerald opportunity drawing, donated by SN Queens. The Riboli Family of San Antonio Winery and Roger and Michele Engemann generously donated the wine for the evening.

Our emcee and celebrity auctioneer Fritz Coleman of KNBC reminded us that he has been supporting Hillsides a quarter of a century as he mentioned the centennial that we will be celebrating next year. Dr. Drew Pinsky, time and time again, continues to speak about the important work we do and emphasizes the value we give individuals to help them through troubling times. Hillsides is lucky to have such a committed emcee and celebrity auctioneer along with Cathy Brennan, who with her committee, worked tirelessly to present this evening. Most of all, without the sponsorships, we could not host such an elaborate evening. I want to thank our major sponsors who demonstrate a significant commitment through their generous contribution. Publicly, I would like to say, again, we could not do all we do for the children and families in our care, without your dedication to our mission.

Thank you to Susan and Bill Noce, Bolton & Company Insurance Brokers, Marge and Sherm Telleen, Don and Sally Clark, Linda and Stephen Gill, Clara Maarse and Hank Maarse-Jacob Maarse Florists, Ben and Judy Reiling, Paul Rusnak-Rusnak Auto Group, Swanton Family Foundation, The Walt Disney Company, Western Asset Management and many more who shared in our vision of the “Road to Emerald City.”

The weekend was filled with momentous occasions, not just for Hillsides guests as they reached the Emerald City, but for others who also partook in the viewing of the Oscar Academy Awards. And as I sat there also participating, I couldn’t help but think how grateful I was for the extraordinary performance by so many at Hillsides that we had our own awards to give.

Best Picture: Road to Emerald City

Producer: Susan and Bill Noce

Actor in Leading Role: Fritz Coleman

Actress in Leading Role: Cathy Brennan

Best Director: Development Department

Costume Design: Goldsmith & Klein

Art Direction: Jacob Maarse Florists

Music: Mark Levang & Band with special appearance by John Mahon

A special thanks goes to or guests for attending, viewing, and bidding. I wonder ... who will get next year’s awards?

"Job" Well Done For YMO Residents and Employers

As many of you know, Hillsides sponsors a very innovative program of services for youth transitioning from the foster care system to independence called Youth Moving On. The services provided include supportive housing, counseling, educational orientation, job readiness and financial literacy.

When YMO was started several years ago I believe that one of the tenets of the program was to encourage the participating youth to pursue an educational program, whether vocational training or enrollment at the local community college. Our experience, however, has taught us that as important as education is as a fundamental component to long-term success, employment is the decisive factor to achieve independence.

So through the generous support of the Deutsch Foundation, Hillsides and a number of other providers of services to this population have set out to develop a curriculum. The curriculum aims to lead these young adults through a process that enhances their ability to secure employment and begin to establish the foundation of financial independence.

This past Sunday 60 Minutes aired a segment featuring a very innovative employment program that not only trains the unemployed, but also places them in jobs and pays them during an initial employment period. This mitigates the cost to employers who accept participants as interns. The end result is a dramatic increase in full-time employment. This program sounded very familiar to me because it is exactly what we do with the YMO residents that participate in our job readiness program.

Villa Sorriso in Pasadena

For the past several months we have paid the salary of a YMO resident who interned at a local restaurant. The restaurant provided this young man with professional training and a supportive environment and slowly, but surely he acquired skills and confidence. As the internship drew to a close, the young man applied for a position at the establishment and we got news yesterday that he has been hired as a full-time employee.

A4

This young man is just the most recent example of the success of this effort. To all the young adults who have persevered through these internships and have been rewarded with not just employment, but equally as important, confidence and hope, congratulations! And, of course, to the employers who partner with us to make this innovative program possible, especially Karen Tanji of Villa Sorriso and Mark Mertens of A4, thank you for believing in these young people.

One youth at a time, in spite of the challenges, YMO and Hillsides make the extra effort to help all we serve achieve their dreams with milestones like employment.

Three Qualities of a Sweet Valentine

By now, many of you have received the great Valentine card that, once again, was hand painted by our longtime Board member and artist, Lyn Spector. The card depicts the familiar heart-shaped candies with the words: faith, hope and charity. When you stop to think about it, isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is all about--these three qualities that are at the root of all we do at Hillsides.

Faith has to do with that which is unseen and yet somehow perceived.  For the child that has yet to experience the security of a stable home, scholastic achievement or emotional well-being, believing it is possible or attainable is indeed a leap of faith. But convinced of the capacity of each child to improve and indeed thrive, we reach out and coax them to have faith in themselves.

Hope is that great motivator, giving us reason to persevere with the reasonable expectation that the best is yet to come. For the youth that has experienced multiple foster home placements, struggling to graduate from high school and no prospect of employment, hope is very elusive.  Marshalling our resources to provide affordable housing, incentives to stay in school and coaching around job skills makes all the difference for the young adult who, for the first time because of permanent housing, money in the bank and a steady job, has indeed reason to be hopeful!

Charity can be translated as love, that selfless act of care for another. For the child who for good reason questions whether love is indeed unconditional, relationships are approached cautiously and with some skepticism. But the consistent, non-judgmental care that we strive to provide to child and parent alike often is an eye opener to a new perspective on a world and life that actually can be characterized by honest affection and caring. True love conquers all!

At the end of the day, we hope that they are able to believe in themselves and be hopeful about their future so they may be free enough to love in return.

Faith, hope and charity: these Valentine qualities reflect our greatest wish for all we serve.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Homeless Youth Step into Affordable Housing

More than 5,000 youth, when they turn 18, emancipate or “age out” of California’s foster care system, and nearly 1,000 youth exit care each year in Los Angeles. They lose access to all state-funded foster care services and, for the most part, also lose connections to adult support received while in the foster care system. Research has indicated that without housing, education or emotional support, 65 percent of foster youth will face homelessness, twenty percent will be arrested or incarcerated, 46 percent will complete high school and only one percent will graduate from college. For these reasons, Hillsides founded Hillsides Youth Moving On (YMO) in 2004. 

By providing comprehensive services such as transitional housing, education, employment, mental health and mentoring support, we help youth transition successfully into adulthood. YMO helps youth avoid negative circumstances and achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Former foster care and probation youth take their first steps to independence when they arrive at YMO. Today, YMO has increased its capacity to accommodate ten more youth in permanent housing. 

Over the summer, we began a collaborative effort with First Place for Youth to secure funding from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to provide affordable housing and support services for a minimum of twenty youth over the next two years.  Permanent Housing, unlike transitional housing, has no pre-determined amount of time for youth to receive housing.  Youth can stay in their apartments and assume the lease as long as they pay their rent on time.  To ensure their success in this endeavor, YMO will continue to provide comprehensive case management, mental health, and career planning to all youth to guarantee a seamless transition to full self-sufficiency.

YMO also partnered with New Economics for Women (NEW), an organization that empowers disinvested communities, who willingly offered eight one and two bedroom units for our youth located at La Villa Mariposa apartments in Los Angeles. At our YMO complex, we have assigned two studio units for youth participating in this new collaborative.

This week we hosted a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony at La Villa Mariposa apartments. The Reverend Cecil L. Murray, board member of LAHSA, shared words of inspiration and encouragement to our youth. Youth present were overwhelmed with the thought of having their first place. They expressed how far they have come.

For these youth, reaching this milestone in their journey is incredibly significant. Having experienced systemic trauma, abuse, run-ins with the law, or bouts of homeless, they have prevailed from these situations. We have created conditions and placed a great deal of attention to offering a comprehensive program whose pathway leads to their successful transition into self-sufficiency and independence.

Our collaborative relationship with LAHSA, First Place for Youth and NEW is so important in trying to alter the daunting statistics for these youth. With the help of others, whose goal is also to support youth in their transition from foster care to successful adulthood, we can make significant impacts in the lives of these youth. I am privileged to be part of their journey into adulthood and thankful that others have joined along their path.

Referrals Indicate We are a Provider of Choice

Recently at a Child Welfare League of America Board meeting, a colleague approached me concerning a niece he has and the family’s attempts to secure appropriate treatment for this adolescent girl in Los Angeles. He hoped that we might be of assistance. After an initial assessment, a visit to the campus and authorization by DCFS, a referral for placement in our residentialtreatment program has been made for this young girl, the only glitch is that there is no room.

Whether in our residential program or in our community-based services, we continue to receive more referrals than we can handle. This, of course, is a good indicator that we continue to be a provider of choice, but it is a significant dilemma for children and families that can not really wait for a bed to open up or an available appointment. As we always do in situations like this we attempt to refer these cases to other agencies.

Over the last few months, Hillsides has conducted a planning process and although it is an on-going process, we have agreed upon an organizational strategy for the agency: to maintain and further develop our position as a preferred provider of education and behavioral health services to vulnerable children, youth and their families. In a sense this organizational strategy is an affirmation of what historically Hillsides has attempted to be, a place or, better yet, a resource for all we serve to see their lives improved, hope restored and success assured. Building on this, our strategy is to be clearly identified as a premier organization, sought after by referral agents and families alike to address the needs of very vulnerable children and youth.

Publically stating this strategy helps us to organize our programs, services and indeed all operations to achieve this goal. It is also a way to direct the efforts of our committed staff, Board and volunteers around achievement of this goal. Being bold enough to state our intention to become the area’s premier provider of services  for vulnerable children and youth also invites the kind of scrutiny that will hold us accountable to indeed provide the services that would allow us to claim this statement!

Nothing is good enough for those we serve, they deserve and require only the best and it is our job to do just that for them and, in the process, continue to be sought after as a preferred provider of such desperately needed services.