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June 2014 SAFF Announcements


Jobs for Foster Youth, Book Donations, Grant Funding 
& more!
Greetings! So now that school's out - what are the former Foster Youth going to do? Many are going to college in the Fall thanks in part to our wonderful troupe of tutors. But what about the summer? We have some wonderful news! Natures Bakery is hiring and they are welcoming former Foster Youth who are 18 years old or older. 
Sierra Association Of Foster Families


POSITIONS AVAILABLE at Nature's Bakery 

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Natures Bakery is looking to recruit 50 employees, most positions do not required a high level of skills, and it
is repetitive. The positions are mainly for assembly line in the distribution center in South Reno and it is packing the product, placing the fig bars in the boxes and building boxes. Some other positions will be material handlers, warehouse clerk, quality control etc.  

Qualified candidates (MUST be 18), please apply in person. You may email Nancy for an application. 

Nancy Rodríguez
Human Resources Manager
Nature's Bakery  
9460 Double 'R' Blvd
Reno, NV 89521
P: 775.883.2253 ext 119 
Email: nrodriguez@naturesbakery.com
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Visit Us @ www.naturesbakery.com


New Funding & 2,000 Books!

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Representatives from James Hardie presenting a check and 2,000 books to SAFF's Executive Director for SAFF's Literacy Education Program. Thank you!!!!!

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NEW GRANT FUNDING

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SAFF IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT HAS BEEN AWARDED  MAJOR GRANT FUNDING FROM THE WALTER S. JOHNSON FOUNDATION.

The Executive Director of SAFF, along with Tom Murtha of WCSS and Shannon McCoy and Valerie Welsh from WCSS, will be inviting people throughout the business, media, arts, therapy, education communities, as well as excellent foster and adoptive parents, to be active members of the new program THE WASHOE COUNTY FOSTER YOUTH EDUCATION TASK FORCE.

Joseph will serve as the Project Director, with Tom as Project Coordinator, and Shannon, Valerie as Project Advisers, and SAFF has hired renowned Consultant and Educational Activist Jennifer Baker to be Project Facilitator.

The Task Force will consult and design projects for the improvement of the educational outcomes of foster youth in Washoe County.  We will be having a Kick Off Picnic for Task Force Members, SAFF Board Members, and invited guests ... in July.. at the Nevada Assisted Equine Therapy horse ranch!

Excitement isn't the word... how about OUT OF THIS WORLD EXCITEMENT!!!! 



FIRST LADY'S CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH SUMMIT

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In May, The Executive Director of SAFF along with the Many Paths Community Singers  received a spontaneous standing ovation from 160 dignitaries after watching Joseph's original show which he wrote and performed at the Nevada Governor's Mansion for the First Lady's Summit on Children's Mental Health....
  
Joseph spent 3 years researching the true Nevada story about a disabled foster boy.. and  wrote the show and first performed it in New York City, and later at the Grand Sierra for the National Social Worker's Conference and then later at the Bruka Theatre.
  
Mark Emerson, son of Marla Emerson a long time Washoe County foster mom, wrote the original songs and also arranged modern versions of old classic Gospel songs....   
Each and every performance has been followed by a prolonged standing ovation and all donations go to SAFF's educational programs. 

 The story is told through the eyes and voice of the disabled teen boy's impoverished grandfather. Says Joseph " I can't find any professional support groups in the United States that focus on supporting grandparents of kids who are incarcerated."  We need to help the kids stay in school and out of jail, and we need to help grandparents whose grandchildren are in jail or juvenile detention centers."



Congratulations to Shion Galata!!!!  

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The Sierra Association of Foster Families Board of Directors, staff, and tutors, would like to congratulate SAFF's ExecutiveDirector for his son Shion's high school graduation in June and his acceptance into the University of California at Irvine to major in Bio-Chemistry to be followed by medical school.
Shion is graduating with a 4.5 GPA and was named Most Valuable High School Soccer Player. He has received numerous scholarships from the University of California, the Sons of Italy, the Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation, and others.  Says the proud Poppa, " I am blessed... but I'm also going to be going through the 'empty nest syndrome'  soon... my eldest daughter Anissa is a District Attorney in California, my middle daughter Shayda is a national TV sports producer in Las Vegas, and now my youngest is off to university in southern California on his way towards becoming a surgeon.... it will be an empty house soon!... But I am so excited to continuing my energies on SAFF's tutoring program and developing SAFF's newest program the Washoe County Foster Youth Education Task Force!... Education is so important!"



Introducing: 
THE LET IT SHINE SPIRITUAL BAKERY

SAFF's Executive Director spent 7 weeks working with pre-teens in writing and performing a skit titled THE LET IT SHINE SPIRITUAL BAKERY... which they performed at a Reno church ( the kids' church)... the story is about the Upside Down Bridge which connects Happy Town with Unhappy Town.. the kids were wonderful to work with... SAFF believes in the power of creativity and education to help kids learn the ingredients to happiness!
Post by Center for Spiritual Living Reno.


We hope everyone has a great summer! 

Be safe and happy.. and make sure our youth keep discovering the joys of learning and academic success!
 
Joseph Galata 
Reno, Nevada



NEWS EXTRA!




Galata, A Man Who Does ‘A lotta” Good
By Kiara Brisker - 12/17/13

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“I’ve taught dance to children in Israel, whose grandparents were survivors of the holocaust,” Joseph Galata, 61, said. “I learned that these survivors were not teaching their children about what they went through in the concentration camps; so I was choreographing dances with kids and teenagers about the holocaust, and I learned then that I had to do messages real subtly.”

Galata’s goal is to positively influence people through the arts.  His most recent event was a Thanksgiving musical titled, “Welcome to the Family Table,” a family-oriented event geared toward the prevention of violence against children with disabilities. 

Taking from his experience working with the Israeli children, he subtly introduced messages of positivity for foster families and children with disabilities throughout the whole show through poems provided at the beginning of each act.

Galata has had the job of being an educational storytelling tour guide conducting tours in different parts of the world, familiarizing many historical, mythological, spiritual, and even ghost stories to passengers who were eager to learn. As a performing and creative artist, he has written, directed, produced, and performed original shows throughout the United States and Europe. As an educator and counselor, Galata has been an arts and media education specialist and grief counselor for over thirty years. 

As a man with many talents, he also devotes every day of his life educating the community on social issues. Galata has also excelled at one of his most important talents, which is being a single dad of three children as well as looking after his year old grandson...

Read Full Story
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NEWS EXTRA




Read Full Story
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The Sierra Association of Foster Families, SAFF, created one of the most unique tutoring programs. It helps foster children in the Northern Nevada area by giving them one on one tutoring help. Through referrals from social workers or court judges a foster child can enter the tutoring program.   Then every week a tutor meets once a week with the foster child to help them with their schoolwork. The tutors can cover any subject from elementary school to their senior year of high school. What sets this program apart from other tutoring programs is the tutors come to the kids. They drive to wherever the foster child is and the tutoring takes place there.

            The Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation is a major source of funding for SAFF’s tutoring program. Each year the foundation has given large amounts of money to help insure that all types of children get the education deserve. This funding allows SAFF to pay the tutors and keep the tutoring program running. The tutoring program does receive other funding and grants but the Frank M. and Gertrude R. Doyle Foundation contributes the bulk of the much needed funding.

Sierra Association of Foster Families’ 
Tutoring Program: A New Technique
By: Kendall Stone

BREAKING NEWS

SAFF is overjoyed to announce that Chrissi Barnett, a professionally certified bookkeeper, social media specialist, media producer, and licensed foster parent is now SAFF's bookkeeper and social media specialist.

Please know that all checks from SAFF must be approved by both the Executive Director and bookkeeper and bear the signature(s) of either or all of Ms. Rose Santos, Ms. Gloria Torme, and/or Denise Joy Jackson - Board Members.

Any checks signed by any other names or distributed by the former bookkeeper is not valued. Also, the Executive Director is the only person with SAFF who holds an authorized agency credit card. Any use of the card number by any other individual is not authorized. In this day and age of hackers, thefts, fraud, and identity misuse, we must be as protective  as we possibly can.

THE SIERRA ASSOCIATION OF FOSTER FAMILIES IS A TAX EXEMPT 501c3 NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION RECOGNIZED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S IRS... CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.. FOR ADVICE ON WHETHER YOUR CONTRIBUTION CAN BE DECLARED AS TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTACT THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OR YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR. SAFF IS INCORPORATED AS A NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION IN THE STATE OF NEVADA, RECOGNIZED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NEVADA.

© 2011-2018 Sierra Association of Foster Families, 501(c)3
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