2014.Year - Grail Family Services

Grail Family Services
Empowering San Jose Families
GFS Board of Directors
Sonia Avitia, President
Duanne Welsch, Vice President
Lori Burns, Secretary
Diana Gilbert, Treasurer
Sharon DeAngelo
Marshia Escobar
Javier Gonzalez
Nereyda Hurtado
Zulma Maciel
Manuel Martinez IV
GFS Staff Members
Veronica Goei
Executive Director
Jessica Cruz
Office Manager
Martin Huici
Dear GFS Friends,
It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of 2014. What a great year this has been for the
GFS family! Staff and Board worked for several months to complete our 2014-2018 Strategic Plan.
This document gives us the roadmap for taking GFS to the next level. Some of our many accomplishments this year include: promising results from Habla Conmigo Academy™, our project in
partnership with Stanford University; launching the Family Engagement Impact Project (FEIP) for
the Alum Rock community; and our active role in the development of the Si se puede! Collective
(Amigos de Guadalupe, School of Arts & Culture, GFS and SOMOS Mayfair). The Collective brings
together these agencies to promote greater collective impact in the community through joint
advocacy, and coordinated service delivery and accessibility. We have four new members on our
Board of Directors; we launched our first pledge campaign; and we even created a new website.
It is fair to say that this was a very productive year. There is so much to be grateful for. We would
not be able to do our work without the trust and support of our funders and individual
donors. We are also extremely grateful to our partner agencies, who share our passion and commitment, and to our volunteers, especially the Reading Mentors. And, we are thankful for our
partnership with the families we serve; their resiliency and strength is always such an inspiration.
This is the time of year when we appeal to our supporters and friends to help us continue the
work we are doing. Please consider a financial contribution in support of GFS.
On behalf of GFS and the families we serve, we wish you a wonderful Holiday Season and all the
best for 2015. With gratitude,
Program Director
Leticia Gonzalez-Ratchev
Family Literacy Manager
Gabriela Alvarado
Family Literacy Coordinator
Jorge Garcia
Family Services Specialist
Cynthia Leyva
Parent Services Manager
Glorianne Jimenez
Parent Services Coordinator
Leslie Flowers
Development/Communications
Coordinator
Brenda Arenas
Child Enrichment Coordinator
Silvia Beltran
Child Enrichment Staff
Maria Frias
Child Enrichment Staff
Martha Frias
Child Enrichment Staff
Maria Serna
Child Enrichment Staff
November, 2014
People are Talking about Habla Conmigo Academy™!
Stanford University Professor Dr. Anne
Fernald, our partner in the development of
Habla Conmigo Academy, was recently invited
to the White House to share her research on
“the word gap” and the promising results
achieved through Habla. The event, hosted by
the Obama administration, Too Small to Fail,
and the Urban Institute, brought together educators, psychologists and other interested parties to share best practices and lessons learned
around “bridging the word gap.”
Habla was also featured in an article this
month in the Stanford Report, which noted
promising results based on preliminary data
from half the Habla study sample. Moms who
participated in Habla increased the amount of
Habla moms learn that talking, singing and reading
with their child every day will create the languagerich environment their child needs to succeed.
child-directed speech to their toddlers compared to the control group, and their children were
more efficient in language processing than children in the control group. The project has been
extended for three additional years, and we look forward to continuing this great partnership.
Dr. Fernald commented in the article on the GFS/Stanford University partnership: “We had a lot
to learn from our community partners at GFS about how to design a culturally sensitive parenteducation program that was grounded in an understanding of both the traditional family values in
this population, and the many challenges faced by vulnerable immigrant families.”
More than 600 Attend First FEIP Community Event
Thank you to our
Supporters!
Alum Rock Union Elementary
School District
Bella Vista Foundation
Castellano Family Foundation
City of San Jose
Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation
Heising-Simons Foundation
Junior League of San Jose
Leo M. Shortino Family
Foundation
Manufacturer’s Bank
SanDisk
Santa Clara County Social
Services Agency
Silicon Valley Community
Foundation (SVCF)
Parents signing up for workshops and activities
We launched our evidence-based program, Raising A Reader, at Dorsa Elementary School and at Grail Family Services.
Approximately 100 children now have
access to quality age- and languageappropriate books on a rotating basis. GFS
staff, through weekly workshops, is teaching families a set of simple techniques that
allow them to bond with their children
and create more effective reading routines. Finally, we are working closely with
our FEIP partners in Alum Rock to develop
family engagement messages that will be
easy for families to put into practice.
Target
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
With your help, and the help
of individual donors, GFS has
served more than 1500
families with young children
this year.
Parents and children learning together
/GrailFamilyServices
@GrailFS
Grail Family Services
2003 E. San Antonio Street
San Jose, CA 95116
408.347.7892
www.gfsfamilyservices.org
Children learning through games
Grail Family Services has a
New Website!
The Safeway Foundation
Please follow us!
The Family Engagement Impact Project
(FEIP) held its first community event October 11 at San Antonio Elementary School.
More than 600 parents and children
attended. The event, Parent University, was
coordinated and carried out in partnership
with the Alum Rock Union Elementary
School District, our FEIP partners and
several other providers. There were parent
workshops, instructional games for children, and activities that encouraged
parents and children to learn together.
Breakfast and lunch were provided, as well
as resource tables for families.
GFS is happy to announce that we have
launched our new website! We were ready
for a “make over.” Many thanks to Arturo
Ortiz, a local web designer who volunteered his time and expertise to give us a
new look. Arturo grew up in this community, and our website is a great example of
him “giving back.” The new website has the
latest information about our programs, our
supporters and what we have planned for
the coming years. Please take some time to
visit the site, and don’t forget to sign up on
our mailing list if you haven’t already. We
have some exciting things coming up that
you won’t want to miss!
Save the Date!
April 17, 2015
GFS Annual Luncheon