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Board of Directors Jarrod Hammes Executive Chair David Kuhlman Vice Chair Roberta Raasveld Treasurer Alan Willardson Secretary Melissah Walker Director Kim McNealy Director

Lisa Larson Director

From the CEO Corporate Central Valley VCS Southern California Policy of the Month

December 2020

1 2 4 6 7 10

Message from the CEO By Wendy Forkas

Corporate

San Diego

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December 2020

Employee Anniversaries 27 Years

Shelley Cook | Fresno 11 Years

Jacqueline Gritton | San

Marcos 9 Years

Vanessa PerazaSan

Marcos

Irene Sanchez Imperial

Valley 6 Years

Annette Fane Fresno

5 Years

Rebecca Frausto Visalia

Alejandra Velez Imperial

Valley

3 Years

Amanda Brewer Fresno

Deborah Burkart Merced

Mark Ferreri | San Marcos

Wissam-El-Dean Khalil | Fresno Marisela Salazar | Imperial

Valley Gabriela Torres | Merced

Happy Birthday to Claudia!

The Corporate office participated in a virtual White elephant! So much fun!

HR did such a good job on their holiday décor! Check out Jose at his desk!

Corporate (cont . )

San Diego

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December 2020

Employee Anniversaries continued ….

2 Years

Ashley Abbott | Visalia

Daniel Potter | Fresno

1 Year

Maria Connie Fletcher |

San Marcos

Congratulations to the winner of CCC’s 2020 UGLY Sweater Contest, Marivel Cano! She did an amazing job on her sweater. It was so creative and bright! Second Place went to Alex Gonzalez from Imperial Valley. Third Place was a tie between Gloria Arce and Ceci Vargas, both also from Imperial Valley. In Fourth Place was Esmeralda Lopez from Visalia. A Special Recognition goes to Jose Gutierrez, Maria Lopez, and Gloria Valdez, from Corporate, Fresno, and Imperial Valley, respectively. Thank you to everyone that participated in the UGLY Sweater Contest for 2020!

Client Anniversaries

27 Years

Cora B. | Fresno

22 Years

Colleen D. | Merced

19 Years

Jania M. | Salinas

16 Years

Fernando E. | Salinas

Nicolasa L. | Salinas

15 Years

Gilbert A. | Salinas

Flavio P. | Salinas

13 Years

Cynthia A. | Salinas

12 Years

Courtney B. | San Marcos

11 Years

Sidney M. | Visalia

Central Valley

Fresno B y I s k r a D e l i c

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December 2020

Fresno management and staff participated in the first ever VIRTUAL holiday party this year! It was an adjustment for everybody, but ultimately, we had fun. Our goal during the holidays is to show our staff just how much we appreciate what they do every day. We could not have made it through 2020 without our amazing and inspiring staff. During our zoom party, staff participated in a scavenger hunt to win raffle entries. Then we played “white elephant” during the raffle. We finished off our party with an ugly sweater contest! It was great to see everyone laughing and smiling. Pictured: the attendees of the virtual holiday party doing the scavenger hunt, during the raffle and the fabulous ugly sweater contest! Thank you to all who participated!

Fresno would like to congratulate our employee of the month for November, Dante Goodwin. Dante is reliable and has been working diligently with us during these difficult times to continue to provide services to our clients. We appreciate your hard work, Dante!

Finally, all of us at the Fresno office would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. We made it through a difficult year with teamwork, perseverance, and kindness. We are all #catalyststrong!

Central Valley (cont . )

Merced B y L i s a G a l l a r d o

Visa l ia B y G l a d y s M o n j e

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December 2020

Client Anniversaries continued ….

10 Years

Karen B. | Merced

Andrew L. | Fresno

Almarosa S. | Salinas

9 Years

Maria C. | Imperial Valley

Tom T. | Salinas

8 Years

Elijah M. | Santa Clara

Ruben M. | Imperial

Valley

7 Year

Nicola B. | Salinas

Brent D. | Santa Clara

6 Year

Monica M. | Fresno

5 Year

Eugene H. | Salinas

3 Year

Brenda L. | Stockton

1 Year

Thomas P. | Merced

Hello to all the Awesome Catalysts in all the

CCC offices! This has been a year that we will not forget. Here in Merced as we move into the new year, we will continue to strive to be safe and make good choices, which will contribute to our own good health and that of

our clients . It was very nice to be able to deliver CCC masks to all our clients here in Merced County. Thank you, Butterfly Club, for providing these Awesome masks to match our own that we received earlier in the year. Everyone Be safe and continue to press on during these critical times we are all facing.

December was a very busy month for Visalia. Case Managers went out to Costco and purchased blankets for all Visalia clients. Case Managers drove out to client’s homes and via contactless delivery dropped off blankets on their doorstep along with a holiday card. Our clients loved their blankets! We also had a drive-by Holiday event for our staff. We hired a taco truck to prepackage a plate of tacos along with a to go drink and raffled off gifts via Zoom for the staff to pick up. Our holiday event was good, and we are proud to be able to give back to our staff while still following guidelines. Finally, we held a Toilet Paper Challenge for our clients and their house managers. Every participant had to create something out of toilet paper and then present their creation. One of the best creations was made by our house manager Brandi Cross. It was very creative, and everyone loved her idea for the project. We had a very good ending to our 2020!

Veterans Community Services B y A n g i e S t r i e p l i n g & A l e x R o c k a b r a n d

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December 2020

Hello Catalysts! #TeamVCS continued the good work into the holiday season-housing and providing support to our Veterans! While we did plan for a holiday party and some fun (via Zoom) , unfortunately due to some of our wonderful employees being out and other unexpected challenges, we decided that it would be best to celebrate a new start to a very new and HEALTHY 2021! But, to add a little holiday cheer for our awesome team, each VCS employee was sent an ornament in their favorite color with their name inscribed along with: #TeamVCS. Many employees shared photos of their ornament proudly displayed on their tree. Those ornaments sure looked pretty and sparkly!

Lastly, we welcomed our newest #TeamVCS employee this month, Case Coordinator, Erik Rodriguez. Erik previously worked for another Veteran specific agency, working directly with homeless Veterans. He is passionate about helping homeless Veterans find housing. After hearing about all the great work VCS gets done for our Veterans, Erik wanted to join VCS and be a part of their journey from homelessness to housing. WELCOME ERIK! We are excited to have you a part of our team.

This month we want to highlight Case Coordinator Julian Nunn! One of his clients was asked about changes in their quality of life quality and they said, “Yes 100%” while another said, “I’ve gone from homeless to having housing, and using the resources [Julian] provided.” When that same Veteran was asked to comment on their experience with VCS and make any suggestions they said, “Everything is good to go.” What a cool and collected way to say “Julian, you rock.” Paraphrased of course! Thanks for taking such good care of our Veterans, Julian! We want to wish a Happy Birthday to Housing Coordinator Mark ‘Cal’ Callen who celebrated his birthday in December!

December 2020

Southern California

San Marcos By Teri Geston

Supported Living Program / Tailor Day Program By Durry Tahmas

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Congratulations to Kristin Yodock for her promotion to Quality Assurance Administrator. San Marcos office and your Tailor Day clients will miss seeing you. YOU'VE GOT THIS!

As part of the Tailor Day Alternative Service option we now have, the San Marcos office invited our clients to decorate the individual office doors. A client who participated was Marta C. with assistance from Kristin Yodock.

Southern California (cont . )

San Marcos ( c o n t . ) B y A l i c e O l s e n

Imper ia l Va l ley By Ana Norris

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December 2020

2020 has been a very busy year with many challenges but our IV Team has shown that we can face anything if we do it together! Many people had no idea what Zoom was and now, we base almost all our meetings there. FaceTime is our new best friend and social distancing remains a fully integrated part of our lives. We adapt to all changes for the wellbeing of our coworkers, clients, and families. When you do what you love it is easy to make the necessary changes. Our staff is the best at making it work. YOU ROCK!

Since our regular End of Year Staff Party was put on hold due to social distancing, the San Marcos Management team chose to create gift bags filled with much needed items to help everyone relax. Staff all got a blanket to snuggle up with. Popcorn, hot chocolate, hot cider, and chocolates to eat and drink as they relax over the holidays. We also created mini gift bags for our clients which were delivered just in time for Christmas.

We would like to thank Maggie Alvarez for over 10 years of service. Your hard work and determination to help those in our vulnerable population is a reflection of what CCC stands for. Thank you for all you do.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and safe 2021. May this new year be filled with more adventures and fun than 2020 had.

December 2020

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Southern California (cont . )

Imper ia l Va l ley By Ana Norris

Shopping on Amazon? Make sure you go to: www.smile.amazon.com. For every eligible purchase, AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of the purchase price!

Did you know you can support Community Catalysts of California while

you shop online? It’s as simple as starting your Amazon search on

www.smile.amazon.com and choosing CCC as your charitable

organization of choice!

For every eligible purchase, AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of the purchase price.

As you can see, our client Yvonne G. & DSA Sandra Rodriguez enjoyed a nice walk at our nearby park. Always being safe and taking advantage of any opportunity to continue to work with our clients.

Thank you, Lizette S., for being safe! Lizette was rewarded with a sweet gift from her Case Manager. Being safe has its rewards!

We cannot express it enough to everyone at CCC how grateful we are for all that you have done during this difficult year! We have proven that together we can overcome anything to help our clients.

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December 2020

Safety Topic of the Month: Slips, Trips, & Falls

Policy of the Month: Incident Reporting

All incidents, as defined below, involving Community Catalysts of California employees and clients must be reported as specified. Failure to do so in a complete and prompt manner may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination. In certain circumstances, failure to properly report incidents may result in criminal or other legal action being taken. An incident is a description of the circumstances in which one of our clients or employees is injured, abused, or otherwise suffers harm or potential harm. Or, in which the client or employee acts as the aggressor, cause or instigator of injury, abuse or other harmful or potentially harmful actions. All incidents must be documented in a written Community Catalysts of California Incident Report. A verbal and/or written report must be made to the Chief Executive Officer within twenty-four hours of any instance. Examples of situations appropriate for an incident report include, but are not limited to: • On/off the job injury or accident • Aggressive behavior or fighting • Epidemic outbreaks • Poisonings • Catastrophes/fires or explosions • Threatening gestures or statements • Verbal abuse or harassment • Unexcused tardiness or absenteeism • Theft of property • Arrest, incarceration or questioning by law enforcement

Slips happen where there is too little friction or traction between the footwear and the walking surface. Common causes of slips are wet or oily surfaces occasional spills, weather hazards, loose, unanchored rugs or mats flooring or other walking surfaces that do not have same degree of traction in all areas Trips happen when your foot collides (strikes, hits) an object causing you to lose the balance and, eventually fall. Common causes of tripping are obstructed view, poor lighting, clutter in your way, wrinkled carpeting, uncovered cables, bottom drawers not being closed, uneven (steps, thresholds) walking surfaces Physical Factors:

• Be aware of your physical condition: you are more likely to have an accident if you are fatigued, sleepy, or sick.

• If you take medication, be aware of its effects and assure that you are safe to work. • Corrective lenses may be necessary for impaired vision. Wear them if necessary but be sure

to also follow any eye protection requirements. If you work in an area with many hazards, it is especially important to pay attention, to avoid being distracted, and to not rush. Slips, trips, and falls constitute the majority of general industry accidents. According to OSHA, they cause 15% of all deaths, and are second only to motor vehicles as a cause of fatalities. Slips, trips and fall hazards also need to be controlled for visitors. Controls: Following established health and safety rules not only ensures safe conditions, it creates a safety conscious culture and shields your organization from possible claims or compliance issues. A checklist like the example below outlines some potential hazards to look out for.