The Cheerful Helpers Courier - January 2024 |
On March 10, 2024 we invite you to join us as we celebrate our 65th Anniversary. The celebration will take place in our new home. For more information and to learn how you can contribute click here!
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| Team Henry
Susan Marion, Alumni Parent
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"How do we love and support our child" was the topic I was asked to address in this article. The love part is easy, for we love with all our hearts and strive to understand and support Henry in all his life goals. How we support him is more involved because it involves many people. We call them “Team Henry”. We include Henry in identifying a need or want that Henry desires and build a community of people to assist us in supporting him toward those goals.
Right now, at this perfect time of year, we are working on a difficult goal….to have a girlfriend. We support him on many levels by including psychological and logistical ideas that move him closer to that goal. We work on the psychology of having a girlfriend by first normalizing the experience for him and having him see that many people his age want that and are working toward that goal. Also, we help him identify emotional or behavioral issues that may interfere with him having a girlfriend and work with him on those issues.
For example, if impulse control or perseveration are a problem (i.e. too many calls or texts), we work on him seeing the world from another person’s point of view (“Social Thinking”). We ask questions like “What do you think someone feels when you text them multiple times?” We realize that we could just put in a rule for him to follow but the process of him coming up with the rule himself because he understands how the other person might feel has proven to be more effective and empowering overall.
“Team Henry” consists of a combination of people to assist him in finding love. We have a behavioralist providing psychological and practical support by zoom for 1 ⁄ 2 hour, 2 times per week to “check in '' on his goal of living a fully adult life. He attends classes and functions with the support of his aides so that he has exposure to people and fun activities. I am always on the lookout for new opportunities that either exist or need to be created.
To sum up how we love and support our child, we do so by listening to him and creating a “village” to support his life goals by helping him to grow into the most independent adult he is capable of being. So far, we see no slowing in growth or capacity in sight!
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| Community Outreach
Sam Zarate
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For years, Cheerful Helpers has been informally known as “the best kept secret in Los Angeles”. Our community has followed us from Cedars Sinai to Immanuel Presbyterian Church to The Stockel Building. We value our community and it is our responsibility to continue to grow, to get our name out there, and to spread our mission across the greater Los Angeles area.
In our quest to spread our mission, community outreach has become an important tenet of Cheerful Helpers. Events like Open Houses or Regional Center Fairs provide an opportunity for new communities to learn about Cheerful Helpers and the work that we do. School visits, library visits, and even coffee shop visits have allowed us to connect with our local South Los Angeles community and introduce our services to our neighbors. Inviting agencies and early education institutions to visit Cheerful Helpers, to see us in action, is another way we have been actively reaching out to
expand our community.
It is often said that the best intervention is simply being there for one another; there is power in numbers. In strengthening our partnerships with regional centers, schools, agencies, etc. we are creating a network of partners who believe in our work just as much as we do. These new stakeholders will help us share our mission, providing hope to families with young children experiencing significant developmental, social and emotional challenges.
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On February 8, 2024 Rebeca hosted a "next school" meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to support families in thinking about their students' next school placement. Alumni parents attended the meeting to share their experience.
Erin’s class - is welcoming a new student bringing her class to 5 students.
First Grade - is learning about sight words and phonics as well as identifying their meanings and using them in written or spoken language.
Rebeca’s class - is practicing words with the letters L, M, N, O, and P. Students are discovering new learning tools to stay regulated and attentive in class.
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A Tour of the Stockel Building |
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The Cheerful Helpers staff teamed with Jesse Newman and Leo Decter to create a video tour of the Stockel building. The video will be permanently housed on our website allowing visitors a glimpse inside our building.
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- Friday, March 1: Parent Teacher Conferences
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Saturday, March 2: Alumni Support Group (LINK), 9am - 10am
- Sunday, March 10: 65th Anniversary Celebration RSVP
- Announcements or additions for the Courier? Use this link!
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