Day of Hope 2013 a Day to Remember

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Group Portrait 1 The gentle fairways and pristine gardens of the  Los Angeles Country Club provided an elegant and peaceful environment for the Day of Hope 2013 event. It was a day to remember for scholarship recipients, donors and the co-sponsors of the event, AMCAL Multi-Housing and LifeSTEPS.

With their parents and friends looking on, 10 scholarship awardees received honor from the Partnership for Hope. AMCAL’s Executive Vice-President, Maurice Ramirez and LifeSTEPS’ Executive Director, Beth Southorn introduced each recipient and presented them with their awards.

“Take this opportunity, go out into the world, and hit a home run!” Beth Southorn encouraged the recipients. “Not only will your world be changed, but you will change the world for others.”

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Maurice Ramirez also introduced

the Partnership for Hope’s newest

undertaking, The Hope Society.

“The Hope Society is a way to keep our Hope scholars, donor investors, and the people at AMCAL and LifeSTEPS connected on a continuing basis.” Maurice said. “It will be a valuable resource to our scholars as they seek internships and employment after they graduate.”

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Each of the attendees received a Hope Society pin as gift, and it was announced that a Hope Society Facebook page will serve as the communication hub for this new venture. The launch of the Facebook site will occur sometime in early October.

The Partnership for Hope was established by AMCAL Multi-Housing and LifeSTEPS in 2011. The purpose of the partnership is to raise funds for college scholarships, client emergency assistance, youth development activities, and employability services for residents at AMCAL properties served by LifeSTEPS. Thus far the Partnership has raised over $300,000. Since its founding, Partnership for Hope has awarded 23 individuals with scholarships and hundreds of residents have been supported through other functions of the fund.

Donations to the Hope Fund can be made by clicking the SUPPORT US tab.

North Natomas “Explore Your Library” Event

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On Wednesday, May 22, LifeSTEPS partnered with the Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Public Library Foundation, Friends of the North Natomas Library, and several housing agencies to introduce the numerous positive resources available to local residents at the North Natomas Library. 101_0020The Explore Your Library event allowed attendees to learn about all of the free programs available and also receive a library card if they didn’t already have one. Residents were also encouraged to sign up for the summer reading program that is being offered by the Sacramento Public Library system. As a result, over 80 participants signed up for the summer reading program!  Children that attended the event got to have their faces painted and get a balloon animal. Adults were able to sit in on short classes that highlighted resume tools, employment resources, and many other helpful and free programs. 954702_10151619296489890_1341783771_nThe event was enjoyable for all LifeSTEPS staff and all the residents that attended!

What library resources have you or the residents in the communities you work in utilized recently?

LifeSTEPS’ Caroline Epps to Speak at NPH Workshop

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On Tuesday, May 7th LifeSTEPS’ Director of Policy and Partnerships, Caroline Epps, and Linda Coleman from ABHOW, will be teaching a workshop at the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, also known as NPH.  NPH is the collective voice of those who support, build and finance affordable housing so it’s with great anticipation that LifeSTEPS is able to support them by providing training to their members.  The title of the workshop is “Breaking Down Barriers to Service – How to Engage Residents”.

The workshop will focus on strategies used for resident engagement and will cover the following issues:

The strengths and challenges to resident engagement among the various populations affordable housing serves.

Understanding generational differences.

Tools that are used such as conducting needs assessments, building resident committees, and volunteerism.

A collective effort to synthesize best practices shared among the presenters and participants.

Click Here to register for this workshop and to get more information.

LifeSTEPS Helping Residents Have a Voice on the CA Homes and Jobs Act

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In the months of April and May LifeSTEPS staff have been teaching the “Our Political Voice” curriculum with residents. This curriculum has been designed to educate and encourage residents towards civic and community involvement. In tandem with this curriculum, LifeSTEPS staff will be helping to bring support to an effort happening across the State by participating in the Homes and Jobs Act.

The CA Homes and Jobs Act, SB 391, is an effort to provide a permanent source of funding for affordable housing. Efforts across the state are taking place to hear the voice of residents that express support for the passage of this Bill. LifeSTEPS staff are part of a postcard campaign which gives residents of affordable housing the opportunity to sign on the support of the Bill.

The CA Homes and Jobs Act passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on a 5-2 vote on Wednesday, April 24th! The victory won in the Governance and Finance Committee was due to the work of many across the state. The Bill will now proceed to the Senate Appropriations Committee.