2020 October Newsletter

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Direct from Darryl

What are you doing for your mental and emotional well-being?

We are implementing a new standardized assessment tool to help us prioritize services for our clients. It is a national recognized, evidence based, tool that evaluates the stabilities and strengths of a person in a wide range of topics. During the trainings, I kept evaluating myself and some of my friends to see where we would fall on the scales. The one that stood out to me was in the mental health section. The topic is “Meaningful daily activities”.

According to the tool, a healthy person has planned activities that provide fulfillment or happiness at least 4 days per week. It is considered acceptable to have planned activities at least once per week. When working with people who are homeless or in trauma, many people have not even considered planning to do something just for fun. In order to help them achieve fulfillment, we help them look at this area of their lives to set aside time for their own happiness. Personally, I failed this section. Does watching football all day Sunday count? If so, can I add Thursday night and Monday night football to have 3 days of happiness (although with Davante Adams and Aaron Jones out with injuries a lot of the joy is gone)?

In all honesty, I do not have anything planned during the next 30 days that will provide fulfillment or happiness on my calendar. Before Covid, I was always planning to go somewhere for the weekend, do activities with friends, or just go hiking. Since my vacation in July, I have done nothing but work. This is unhealthy and unsustainable. While I love my work, my mind needs to rest and recharge. I have committed to begin doing a minimum of two planned things each week. Hopefully, this will grow into more, but for now, baby steps.

I encourage all of you to look at your own life. What gives you fulfillment and happiness? Are you planning something 4 days each week to develop your happiness?

Darryl Evey

Executive Director

Domestic Violence Awareness

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. To kick off the month we partnered with A Better Way and had our Break the Silence Walk to End Domestic Violence on October 1st. We also had Doves of Big Bear bring some of their staff down to support the event. We walked 3 miles from our office on 7th Street in Victorville to Greentree Blvd. and back. Even with the High Desert heat, we had a great turnout! It was nice to hear cars honking to show support as we walked by! There were survivors, people from the community, and staff in attendance.

We would like to thank all who donated to help us with this event: Elementum Services Inc., Cali Auto Glass, Safari Landscaping, Law Offices of Stephen Dhillon, Sweet Dreams Furniture, Rockability Mafia Dolls, Laura Villa, Zen 18 Yoga, and all the guys who brought their classic cars. We also like to thanks Aguilars Tacos who fed all of us after the walk. Thank you to all of the Family Assistance Program staff at Hope House, The Community Center, and Administrative office who helped set up the event and clean up afterwards. Hope to see everyone again next year!

Rental Assistance Success Stories

Mrs. Rita, was referred by another local DV Program for rental assistance. She’s currently a dv case. Rita is currently 9 months pregnant. She was assisted with her application. When she picked up the rental assistance check she was in labor and was crying saying how thankful she was of all the help we have offer her. Later that she had contact me with updates from the hospital. She has moved into her new place with her kids and they love it.

Mrs. Clarice was referred to us by a DV Program due to her situation and needed rental assistance. Clarice has traveled on the metro link to Pomona every morning for work. Clarise had been looking for housing since her commute to work was so long and to move out of the shelter she was in. She located an apartment. The landlord was able to let her move in before her move in check was ready after we spoke to him about our program. Clarice is very thankful for the services and how professional everything is handled. Clarise call me with an update, she loves her new apartment and is thankful for everything.

Human Trafficking Updates

After reading last month’s newsletter a member of Jess Ranch Community Church made an anonymous donation to three of our clients. This donor left home at the age of 19 and felt so grateful that she didn’t fall into the wrong place at the wrong time like some of our Open Door clients have. She felt led to give to these three young women to help them get through this rough time. We appreciate the generosity and your giving heart!

The Open Door would like to share that we have moved to 323 West 7th #C San Bernardino, CA. We are still making some small renovations but we continue to operate during our regular business hours and our Hot line continues to be available 24/7.

We are also very excited to announce that we will be opening a Human Trafficking shelter next month where we will be able to assist more victims in getting out of “The Life”.

Community Center Updates

Ahea shared a story about one of her previous clients, Mr. Robert, who attended anger management class in 2019-2020. Ahea ran into Mr. Robert outside of work, and he recognized her and wanted to say hi. Right away, he showed her his class A driver’s license for truck driving. He also shared with Ahea that when he was provided his certificate of completion, he took it to his parole officer and from that day on, he no longer had to check in with parole. He was happy and thankful for our services and expressed that we made an impact on his life. Evelyn has been working with one of her TRO clients. Evelyn initially helped the client file the initial TRO and is now helping her file renewal documents. Evelyn helped her add supporting evidence and translate all text messages from Spanish to English. She also was able to communicate with court staff and ask questions and help her contact Riverside County Sheriff Court Services so they can serve the other party. The client expressed that she is thankful for the help. She had experienced so many barriers because she isn’t an English speaker and was grateful that Evelyn could walk alongside her through this complicated process. During September, we serviced 531 individuals and provided clothing and hygiene to 168 individuals. We assisted 65 individuals with replacement ID vouchers so they can obtain their ID’s. We provided 23 bus passes to individuals to attend their court hearings, job interviews, and appointments. We finalized the Census 2020; in total, we outreached 1,000 individuals. We had a generous community member donate a large donation of brand-new shoes. Because of this donation, we’ve been able to provide our clients over 100 pairs of shoes. We’ve also had another generous donor, Esperanza, who has been checking with us weekly to provide us donations. Esperanza is always happy to provide our agency donations for our clients. We are appreciative of all donations that we receive! You can find an official mail ballot drop box on the corner of C Street and 6th Street in Old Town Victorville at our Community Center. Drop your ballots off any time!

Next Step Re-Entry Program

Next Step wants to give a big thank you to the community for all of their generous donations! Words can’t express our gratitude. We have males, females, and children within our program so anything is greatly appreciated.

If you would like to donate, please contact Next Step: kelly@familyassist.org

From one of our Next Step clients:

Hello my name is Tammy and I am writing this letter to share my experience within the Next Step Program. I first came here in January 2020. I was homeless and didn’t have a safe place to go and Next Step took me in with open arms. I received many resources, was able to gain employment, was assisted with getting a car and insurance, participated in counseling groups, and had individualized treatment plans. This program has helped me to become a responsible adult and citizen. I am blessed to receive all of this support from the case managers and team here at Next Step. Thank you for all that you do!

-Tammy

Next Step Morongo Basin

This month we had three new participants enter our program. Staff was able to work with these individuals and learned they needed California ID cards in order to gain employment, apply for benefits and achieve other necessary goals. Staff was able to transport them to the DMV. As you can see in the picture, they are very happy to have been able to accomplish this goal.

Family Assistance Program continues to strengthen our partnership with other community programs to provide comprehensive care to our participants. Morongo Basin community members and participants who have successfully completed our Next Step Program continue to volunteer. This month our graduate Paul, who is also a volunteer, came and picked up our participants and took them to a NA meeting and to coffee after the meeting as a way to celebrate their consecutive days of abstinence from mind altering substances. The staff at Family Assistance Program remain proud to be part of such great accomplishments of our participants, past and present!

FAM Spot Updates

Unique, one of our Fam Spot youth, started her own clothing business. Her business started small but has now expanded. Unique is running the business on her own and is dedicated to continuing growing. We are incredibly thrilled for her success and let her know that we are here to support her!

One of our TAY participants, Tajanae, was able to find employment and save money while participating in our TAY housing program. She has now exited the program and moved into her apartment in Las Vegas, NV. Tajanae stated that she will always remember the help and support that the Family Assistance Program provided her. We are immensely proud of Tajanae and are happy to be a part of the journey. We wish her the best in her future endeavors!

Family Assistance Program envisions a community where each person has a loving, nurturing home life. We provide the tools necessary to create healthy interpersonal relationships, economic empowerment, and stable housing.