To celebrate Month of the Military Child, SAY’s Healthy Start Military Family Resource Center worked with Grandma Sparky to provide a Blue Ribbon Ceremony honoring students at a local elementary school comprised of 95% military children. Grandma Sparky motivates youth to understand that they make a difference in their community and pushes them to reach their dreams.
SAY San Diego has begun a new partnership with the San Diego Family Justice Center (FJC) this month. The FJC, operated by the San Diego City Attorney’s office, provides an array of needed support services for victims and survivors of family violence. SAY’s child development team will assist with their on-site Child Watch, and as a referral resource for their clients. During National Child Abuse Prevention month, we are pleased to further expand this central focus of SAY’s mission, in the area of child well-being, child abuse prevention, and family strengthening.
For more information, please contact Chris Jewell, VP of Child and Youth Development: chris@saysandiego.org
SAY San Diego’s CFO, Jane Drover (pictured center), was honored as a finalist for Top CFO of 2019 by the San Diego Business Journal. Congratulations Jane for this well-deserved honor!
Thank you to the San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization (CECO) for awarding a $500 grant to equip the parent-infant room at SAY San Diego’s Early Childhood Center! SAY is grateful to CECO’s President Mavette Trinidad Sadile, and the countless County employees who make our work possible!
Ann is a busy working mom, juggling many responsibilities both at home and on the job. As a military spouse who travels frequently for work, Ann has an added challenge coordinating childcare with her active-duty husband. Thankfully for Ann, even on long days when she can’t pick her daughter up from school right away, she knows that Nola is safe, happy, and well-cared for by SAY San Diego’s after-school PrimeTime staff.
When Ann’s husband received orders to move to San Diego three years ago, it wasn’t an easy transition for their daughter, Nola. Military children move an average of 6-9 times during their school careers, and this was her first move. The added support of SAY’s after-school program at a school located in a military neighborhood made the transition easier for Nola, who was able to interact with other kids who have been through military moves and with SAY staff well-versed in helping kids acclimate. “Nola just loves to be there, running around and having playtime with her friends,” comments Ann.
SAY offers low-cost and free before and after school programs at more than 40 sites, and the added benefit is the reassurance the programs provide for working parents like Ann. “The kids are well cared for by teachers who are warm and comforting,” she says of SAY’s PrimeTime program. “My mind is at ease knowing that she is safe on campus. I can’t say enough about the staff. They are amazing.”
The program also helps Nola academically, as the staff are available to help with homework and answer any questions the kids may have. “It’s reassuring to know that if my husband and I have to work late, Nola’s homework will already be done by the time we pick her up,” Ann muses, noting that those precious extra minutes leave more time for family.
Ann and her husband are like so many of the hardworking parents that SAY partners with every day to make life better for their children.
On Saturday, March 9, Donna Wilson and Marissa Lujan from of SAY’s Child and Youth Development team attended the STEMPower Conference at the San Diego County Office of Education. Their science display explained what SAY San Diego is teaching our youth about lights and current.
Thank you to everyone who supported SAY San Diego’s Champions for Youth campaign! We raised $107,200 to support children and families in our programs, our most successful campaign ever! With your support, we more than doubled the number of donors from last year, which helped us earn $54,000 in bonus funds!
In partnership with Live Well San Diego, SAY’s Healthy Start Military Family Resource Center provided free blood pressure screenings to the public on Love Your Heart Day, February 14. Love Your Heart is a one-day annual event where organizations from across the U.S. and Mexico join together to promote heart health.
SAY San Diego is pleased to announce our partnership with the new San Diego Waves basketball team. Waves basketball players and members of their Dance Team are volunteering with SAY San Diego’s after-school programs to provide children with demonstrations, instruction, practice and fun. SAY San Diego’s President and CEO, Nancy Gannon Hornberger remarked, “It is a big thrill, quite honestly, for SAY San Diego youth, families and staff alike, to partner with San Diego Waves! The Waves role models, who have such a strong commitment to personal excellence and to community service, will have a huge positive impact on the thousands of young people who are part of the daily fabric of our programs.”
SAY San Diego and the Waves make a great team. The Waves mission is to create an uplifting professional sports environment that creates role models for children and provides affordable family fun with a positive community impact. Jen Moore, Vice President of Business Operations at Waves San Diego, commented, “SAY San Diego’s focus on engaging the community with a holistic approach that enriches youth, empowers individuals and families, and engages communities is a perfect fit for the vision of the San Diego Waves Basketball team.”
The San Diego Waves are a new team in The Basketball League (TBL). The team holds the following core values: Mutual respect; a commitment to excellence, innovation, integrity and quality in everything they do; and a culture of hard work, character, teamwork, integrity, and above all, community. The team embodies these core values by building community relationships through support of local charities and causes. The players and dancers spend a significant amount of time volunteering in San Diego County. They have worked with woman’s shelters; supported toy drives; participated in charity auctions; and ran a basketball clinic for homeless men in recovery. Now they are volunteering on multiple days per week to provide support to children in SAY San Diego after-school programs!
The San Diego Waves love to involve their fans in the game experience as active participants, not merely spectators. If you would like to attend a game, note that the San Diego Waves offer all SAY San Diego families free children’s tickets with an adult ticket purchase. Use the promo code “SAY” online or at the door. https://www.sandiegowavesbasketball.com/single-game-tickets/
By Nancy Gannon Hornberger, CEO
We are pleased to welcome clients and community partners to our new main office at 4775 Viewridge, in Kearny Mesa. We have designed meeting spaces with community partners in mind and hope that many groups and organizations will use them. Please also stay tuned for an open house in the coming weeks!
In collaboration with San Diego County Probation Department, the San Diego County District Attorney has provided new support to SAY San Diego to expand our Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Program. This program is designed to engage and support adults who have committed misdemeanors to heal trauma, set and act upon goals, and build communication and relationship skills. Once completed, clients are eligible to have their court cases dismissed. As a result of this expanding partnership, SAY will grow its already robust CBT program, to serve approximately 1,400 more participants, countywide.
Many thanks to Country Friends for recent support of our Bridges to Success fund, which bridges gaps and meets urgent needs by providing emergency funds for our clients and families who experience financial challenges.
The turning of each year brings an opportunity to once again say THANK YOU, and to invite your ideas and involvement in the new year! Best wishes for 2019.
Allie Lindsley
