to the previous quarter`s newsletter

Bay Area Crisis Nursery
FOUNDED IN 1981
Inside this issue:
Census Data
2
Musings
3
In Honor of
4
Nursery Stories
5
Thank You
6
Upcoming Events
7
Upcoming Events
Saturday, October 24
Bunco
Saturday, August 22
Alan David Vasilauskas
Memorial Golf
Tournament
Friday & Saturday
September 25-26
Yard Sale
Saturday, November 14
Gala
Holiday Fashion Show &
Luncheon
November 15, 2015
Crab Feed
January 15, 2016
THIRD QUARTER 2015
Letter from Sister Ann
Our main focus for 2015 is
client and community outreach. During the July Board
Meeting I told this outreach
story which emphasizes the
tremendous power of sharing
the mission and ministry of
the Bay Area Crisis Nursery
with members of the community. It began when I attended
a potluck luncheon held by
the Presbyterian Women’s
Club in Walnut Creek in the
early eighties. Bertha and
Betty Lewis’, twin sisters, took
to heart my request that each
person share the story of
BACN with others. They
shared with their friends &
coworkers. Don Mitchell, Bertha’s boss heard the story of
BACN from the twins. In the
early nineties, through our
newsletter, I shared my
dreams of expansion and the
need for money to expand. As
a result of receiving a copy of
this newsletter from the twins,
Don donated a home in Walnut Creek to be sold for expansion funding. The sale of
this home brought in
$500,000 which enabled us
to build The Don and Mary
Mitchell Family Center. Don,
who has since passed away,
considered himself the
“captain of the ship” and continued his financial support of
the Family Center so that services to the families who bring
their children to the Nursery
could be expanded and improved. His wife Mary, be-
came a childcare volunteer for
several years and financially
still supports the nursery. Recently, I had the privilege of
visiting with Mary. We together relived the years of friendship and support between
Don, Mary and I. When I
shared with the Presbyterian
women the story of BACN I
had no idea what a tremendous impact this would have
on the future of the Nursery
and our ability to provide safety for the children of our community and support for their
families. Once again I ask that
you do not keep the mission
and ministry of BACN a secret
– share our story with your
friends, family and coworkers.
Infants, toddlers, preschoolers, young children, parents
needing help during times of
stress or crisis—this is why
BACN exist. Beautiful trees,
buildings, lawns and landscaping—these provide a
special environment for the
children entrusted to our care.
Gas, electricity and water—
these allow us to operate a
safe and comfortable environment. The prolonged drought,
the cost of utilities and maintaining the beautiful trees &
landscaping we have been
blessed with are now a great
concern for us. As a licensed
facility we must keep high
standards of sanitation & climate control. Temperatures
ranges are set by state regulations, working surfaces must
be sanitized frequently and
clothing, towels and bedding
are laundered more frequently
than in a normal home. This
ups our water, gas and electricity use. We love our trees
and landscaping, but due to
the prolonged drought we
looked into alternative ways to
save. Solar energy programs
were not available for a nonprofit business and lower energy rate programs did not
apply to residential business
sites. I need people in these
fields to help us navigate options available to us. Currently
we need a new roof on 1515
Mendocino (the house I live
in). In 2001 we were told the
roof would last two years
maximum, & a friendly roofer
has donated his service to
continually patch it—when it
leaks in my bedroom! We
need trees trimmed & cared
for - this has not been done
for many, many years. We are
grateful to Bartlett Trees for
doing free emergency work
many times when branches
have broken – they will give
us a good discount for cutting
all the trees, but can’t take on
all four lots as a donation. Are
there other companies that
would help? We need companies willing to help us navigate the landscape problems
– there is a lot of property –
maybe several companies
could join forces. Maybe
some one knows of funds
available for some of these
Page 2
Executive Director
Sister Ann Weltz
Development Director
Nancy Thomas
Program Manager
Tamille Davis
Office/Case Manager
Lisa Heimbruch
Board of Directors
Bill Gallagher
President
Herb Hellsten, Jr.
Treasurer
Louann Ginn
Secretary
Members
Joyce Wong
Dan Aiman
Karen Scott-Hultman
Linda Law
Letter From Sister Ann
projects. Our main concern is
to have the necessary funds
to operate the children’s
homes, however, we are very
concerned about being
responsible landowners,
respectful of our environment,
conservers of our resources
and good neighbors. If you
can help please call me at
(925) 685-9740.
In the past few months we
have seen an increase in the
number of new families
turning to the Nursery during
times of crisis. We are glad
that our outreach efforts are
reaching new clients who
need our services. Homeless
families continue to be a big
concern since housing for the
poor is very limited in the
county & many families are
trying to live off salaries that
won’t support the cost of living
for their family. Car trouble or
cont.
health problems can put these
families into crisis overnight.
Just recently one of our
mothers’ completed her AA
degree. She applied for a
nursing program & found a job
in the home health care field.
Two days before starting her
job her car broke down. Her
new job requires transportation to visit her patients
throughout the county. With
much maneuvering & a lot of
help from friends she was able
to purchase a dependable car.
She now is paying a car
payment as well as rent. I pray
daily that her new car runs
smoothly, that her new job
continues to be something she
loves & excels in and that she
will be able to enter the
nursing program & fulfill her
dream of becoming a nurse. It
is due to your generous
support that BACN has been
Census Data
PLEASE REMEMBER TO
GIVE US A
2015 2nd Quarter Admissions by County
Contra Costa County
261
Alameda
94
Other
27
2015 2nd Quarter Admissions by Reason
EVERY MONTH
Crisis
85
Stress
198
able to continue to support
families during difficult times.
Currently we are dipping into
our reserve funds to operate.
This is normal at this time of
year. If we have a good giving
season this year we will be
able replace the reserves &
start 2016 with a healthy level
of reserve funds. Pray for us,
spread the word for us & God
will touch the hearts of those
who can help us move
forward.
I am so grateful for each &
every one of you who have
generously supported us
throughout the past thirty four
years. You have truly kept the
children of our community
safe & given families the
support they needed to raise
their little ones. May God
bless you & your families.
With Love and Gratitude,
Page 3
Musings with a Message
The Crisis Nursery has been
blessed over the years by
wonderful volunteers giving of
their time and energy. Their
service to the children is often
cited by our Founder and Director Sister Ann Weltz as the
overriding reason the Nursery
has stayed in operation for 34
years. Because of them we
are able to provide a warm,
loving, homelike environment
to the little ones. Because of
them we are able to carry out
our mission of preventing
abuse and neglect of the children of families in crisis.
I know of no other group more
dedicated to the Bay Area
Crisis Nursery than our invaluable volunteers. We need
more of them. I’m asking
each of you to thoughtfully
consider bringing your talents
to the Nursery. We need additional individuals willing to
work as a team to communicate our mission to both the
community of clients needing
our services and to the community of supporters willing to
by Board President Bill Gallagher
enable the continuation of our
programs. Outreach activities
are a vital and ongoing task.
There are many short-term
activities that can use your
help. For instance, our annual
yard sale, the holiday activities
at Christmas, mailings of
newsletters and other communications. Volunteers are always needed for the annual
Crab Feed, Gala and other
fundraising events. The
Nursery has ongoing planning,
marketing, finance, personnel
and other committees that are
vital to the Nursery’s ongoing
operations. And finally, the
Board of Directors meets every other month to provide
overall supervision. I would
love to have others join me on
the Board who share a passion for the Nursery’s mission.
Besides a personal commitment to preventing child abuse
and a desire to ensure that
food, clothing, love and other
necessities are there for the
children when they come for a
visit, the attributes needed for
our volunteers are a desire to
“make a difference”, common
sense, a willingness to give 2
hours a month to BACN and
any expertise in selected areas such as reading/analyzing
financial or budgetary reports,
corporate management experience, comfort with producing
written communications, ability
to work in a team environment
and other general skills. If you
are a person who is retired,
working at home or working in
finance, technology, personnel, administration or other
corporate field that might be
interested in volunteering on a
BACN committee or on the
Board, please call 925-6856633 and ask for the Volunteer Coordinator. The children
who make 1,000 visits a year
to the Crisis Nursery depend
upon our help. Please help us
help them. Thank you.
Celebrating 34 Years of Helping Families in Crisis
In honor of BACN’s 34th Anniversary,
we had a picnic on July 18 at Larkey
Park in Walnut Creek that included
entertainment from Alfred the Magician. It was a lovely day and a great
time was had by all who could attend.
Many corporations
will match your
charitable
contributions,
sometimes dollar for
dollar, and help you
make them with
automatic payroll
deductions. This
maximizes the impact
of your giving and can
influence your
companies charitable
activities to the charity
of your choice.
Page 4
In Memory of Those we Love with gratitude we thank you…Second Quarter 2015
IN MEMORY OF
Donation Made By:
Alexander, Sean Michael
Mr. & Mrs. John Alexander
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Allen
Dugan, Alana
Mellekas, John
Mr. Joe Dugan
Ellege, Brigit
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Gallagher
English, Elise
Mr. Mmke Axelberg
Juliana Bryant
Mr. & Mrs. Ronn English
Julie Bryant
Mr. & Mrs. Nanette Renzi
Mr. & Mrs. Eileen Matthews
Bill Promes
Barsotti, Barbara
Richard and Marcia Barsotti
Bruce, Marge
Mr. Bill Bruce
Burns, Richard
Peter & Judy Vasconi
Coffee, Dennis
Mrs. Nancy Colchico
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Miller
Paoli, Peter
Laura Beard
Mr. & Mrs. Gene Centeno
Mrs. Nancy Colchico
Musselman, Clarence
Gabin, Gary
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Gallagher
Phillips, Rener
Dwight & Anne Needham
Risherll, Lloyd & Jessie
Peter & Judy Vasconi
Henry, Michael
Mr. & mrs. Wayne Schafer
Schroder, Gordon
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Crosby
Dwight & Anne Needham
Mr. & Mrs. Blair Akey
Trevisani, Fred
Henze, Tom
Mr. & Mrs. George Wildes
Mr. & mrs. Donald Meek
Hesse, Walt
Rick Beaumont
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Hopkins
Kearney, Jeremiah
Joanne Gressang
Conti, Sue
Mr. & Mrs. Clem Viano
In Honor of those we love...with gratitude we thank you...Second Quarter 2015
Banducci, Suzanne
Carol Alvord
Young, Rev Carlton
Planned Giving
Beatrice & Anne Benham
Adams, John
Beatrice & Anne Benham
Crabaugh, Freddie
Barbara Breslau
Borja, Hannah
Mr. & Mrs. Reed Custer
Piombo, John & Betsy, and Sarah
C. Detwiler
Giving to charity may improve your sense of wellbeing. Knowing that you sacrificed something such as
time, finances or property in order to help others in
need can give you a sense of purpose in life or work
and inner satisfaction. Have you considered including
the Nursery in your estate planning? More information
on this subject will be available soon on our website at:
Kirk, Adell
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Huvane
www.bayareacrisisnursery.org
Page 5
Observant Children catch Tamille
From time to time we have little
visitors at the Nursery or the
Dahlstrom that remind us when
something’s out of whack or
when we’re doing something
wrong and need educating on
how to do something right. It’s a
combination of refreshing, annoying, and surprising, but always
downright funny.
I remember a time when I was
filling in for one of the staff and
had to give baths to two sisters
who’d just been admitted when I
was told that I gave the bath
wrong and that the towel I had
chosen was a “boy” towel and not
a “girl towel”…because it was
blue and not pink. Oops!
Another time I grabbed a book
about a ballerina accidentally and
got a five minute lecture from a
little 4 year old soul who happened to be male. He said that
he couldn’t read about any old
ballerinas because they were for
girls. I had to get a different book
immediately or he couldn’t go to
bed!
The latest lesson came in the
form of a reminder that we all
need to heed. Since we are constantly monitoring water usage
during handwashing, teeth brushing and bathing as well as dishwashing and laundry, the children
have become keenly aware of
our efforts as they observe and
are reminded regularly that we
need to save water because of
California’s drought.
I was in the Nursery washing my
hands at the kitchen sink and
chatting with one of the staff. I
must’ve been a few seconds too
long when an observant three
year old shouted across the
room, “DON’T WASTE WATER!!!!!!!!!!!” Surprised, I looked
up to see who it was and he repeated it, “we’re not supposed to
waste water, ok?”
The look on his round and cherubic face was priceless; all
scrunched up seriousness, he
was standing up with a pudgy
little finger pointing at me in serious accusation. I immediately
turned off the water…and profusely apologized. He nodded,
smiled and sat back down to
continue eating his lunch. All of
the other children seemed just as
surprised as I was for his outburst
but no one said anything, they all
just looked at me, then after a
beat, continued eating and chatting among themselves.
“Surprised, I
looked up to see
who it was and he
repeated it, “we’re
not supposed to
waste water, ok?”
Sometimes it takes a kid to let
you know how things are really
supposed to be done.
BUNCO - A fun way to support BACN
The game of Bunco (a social dice
game) is our newest fundraiser
for the Nursery. It happens four
times a year at Concord United
Methodist Church at 1645 West
St, Concord from noon to 3:00.
Lunch is included, we have a
50/50 raffle, and prizes are
awarded! No skill is required and
fun is had by all! Our next Bunco
event is October 24. The cost is
only $30. Make your reservation
online by clicking on the red heart
on our WEB page and noting
Bunco in the comment section.
You can also send a check to the
nursery at 1506 Mendocino Dr.,
Concord and note Bunco on the
check. Reservations are required. Happy rolling!
Remember to like
us on Facebook and
share our posts on
your page for your
friends and family
to see.
Page 6
A grateful thank you to the following who donated items to our Crab Feed in January:
Pyramid Alehouse
A Trio of Black Women
Genova Delicatessen
Grocery Outlet
Ride the Ducks
SF Police Officers Association,
Jeremy Gibson,
Aslanian Family Foundation
H & R Block
Rosalie Hopkins
Spight Family Foundation
Tower Grille
Big C Athletic Club
Big O Tires
John Muir Gift Shop
Linda Law
United Sportsman
Walkabout Footwear
continue to send us
Patrick Brent
Buena Vista,
Mary’s Pizza Shack
Min’s Kitchen
Whole Foods
Yankee Pier, Rocco’s
unused portions of
Carpriotti’s
Clayton Valley Bowl
Mosaics by Cindy
Laura Nakamura
Joanne Doughty
Darlene Jensen
BART tickets. We
Concannon Vineyards
EZ Designs
Wendy McMillan
Candy and Danielle Peese
Barbara Abbott
Nora Jensen
submit those tickets
Fitness 19
Monica Garner
Powell’s of Lafayette
Renaissance Rialto Theatres
Deborah Neil - Chaucer PI
Lisa Heimbruch
Thank you to all who
to the Tiny Ticket
Program and average
about $1000 a year
from that effort.
Thank you again!
Are you a member of a
club or organization and
interested in
having someone come
out to talk about the
Nursery. If so, please
contact Nancy Thomas
at 925-685-6633 or email
nancythomas@bayarea
crisisnursery.org
Your generous contributions made the Event a great success for the Nursery. Hope to
see you next year January 15, 2016!!
Thank You to PG&E’s Women’s Network Employee Resource Group for selecting
BACN as one of its 2015 Grant recipients. A great debt of gratitude also goes out to
Melissa Hines, one of our dedicated volunteers, and the PG&E employee who nominated us for this grant! We’re so fortunate she thought of us for this opportunity. Maybe
you know of a grant or other employer giving program opportunity that we might qualify
for? We’d love to hear from you too!
The nursery is often the
beneficiary of a Boy Scout
Eagle project. Recently
Ryan Wong and his team
of scouts built two planters, planted a small tree,
provided a new bench to
sit on, and evened out
the ground in front of
the Wall of Sharing. We
thank Ryan and his team
for their hard work.
It makes the Wall of
Sharing a peaceful place.
Page 7
Upcoming Events
The Yard Sale is coming, so let’s clean out your closets! We are accepting gently
used children’s clothes, toys, car seats, travel play pens, strollers and other assorted children’s items. We will also accept used adult clothes, shoes purses, jewelry, games, books, small kitchen appliances and other items. Unfortunately, we
cannot accept large or heavy items such as cribs, furniture and microwaves. Drop off your
donations at the nursery September 1 through September 18. The Yard Sale is Friday,
September 25 and Saturday, September 26 from 8 AM to 2 PM. For Information on
Volunteering go to: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f49a9a62eabf94-bayarea
Backpack collections
(large and small for
our younger children) for our students heading back
to school this Fall is
ongoing.
Polish up your horse shoe, grab a rabbit’s foot, and find that four leaf clover. This year’s
GALA is a casino night theme, so bring your lucky item with you. A prize will be awarded
to the lucky item judged to be the most unique, so SAVE the DATE!!
Date: November 14, 2015
Location: Diablo Country Club, 1700 Clubhouse Drive, Diablo, CA
The Bay Area Crisis Nursery has been chosen as one of the beneficiaries of The GFWC
Dublin/San Ramon Women’s Club 2015 Holiday Fantasy Fashion Show and Luncheon
Fundraising Event. We would appreciate your support of this event, and what a great
way to begin the holiday season!
Date: November 15, 2015
San Ramon Marriot at Bishop Ranch, 2600 Bishop Drive, San Ramon
Social at 11:30, luncheon seating at 12:40 and Fashion Show to follow
Tickets are $65 with an RSVP by Oct 15
To purchase tickets online or for further information go to
http://dsrwomensclub.org/our-events/ or call 925-785-3395 or 925-413-5134
The 6th Annual Alan David VAsilauskas Memorial Golf Tournament with proceeds
benefiting Bay Area Crisis Nursery will be held on Saturday, August 22, 2015.
Boundary Oak Golf Course
3800 Valley Vista Rd
Walnut Creek
Please contact Michele Vasilauskas Conforto at 925-260-3290 for more information
Thank you to those
who have donated
and an advance
thank you for the
ones that will come.
WANTED: Do
you work for
Fremont Bank or
know someone
who does? If so,
please contact
Nancy Thomas at
925-685-6633
34 Years of Helping Families
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
CONCORD, CA 94521
PERMIT #42
1506 Mendocino Drive
Concord CA 94521
925-685-8052
www.bayareacrisisnursery.org
Calling All Donors and Volunteers!
Do you have a story you’d like to share with the Newsletter audience? Drop us an email at
[email protected] and it may be included in a future issue. As always,
thank you for your continued support of Bay Area Crisis Nursery.
Would you prefer to receive your
Newsletter via email? If so, please email
us at [email protected]
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