Monthly Newsletter

Greetings!

We are so excited to share with you all that God has been doing with our Support Group Program! This program continues to grow at a rapid pace which is a testament to how much adoptive, foster, and kinship parents need a place to connect with one another. Over the last 14 months, we have added 6 new locations. That brings us to a total of 9 support groups around the Bay Area where we are able to partner with local churches and volunteers to provide a monthly place of community for these parents.
We want to send a big thank you to the churches and wonderful volunteers who make this ministry possible! Go HERE to see a full list of the partnering churches.
And, it’s not just our support group program that continues to grow. We are just weeks from launching CarePortal in Sonoma County (event information below). Our Ambassadors in Contra Costa County have laid the groundwork for a growing church network to support the families and staff of their Department of Children and Family Services. And now we need YOU! We have been awarded a matching grant of $35,000. Will you help spread the word about Help One Child and consider becoming a financial partner to see more children and families served? Email Valerie for additional information or go HERE to participate in this great opportunity.

MINISTRY SPOTLIGHT

Thank you to Christ Central for hosting a wildly successful Parents’ Night Out over Labor Day weekend. With their team of volunteers, parents were able to enjoy a few kid-free hours to splurge on a date, run some errands, or enjoy the sweet sound of silence. The 35 kiddos had a blast playing games, singing songs, and making some fun crafts. Christ Central, thank you for blessing these families!

UPCOMING PARENT TRAINING

When: Saturday, September 21st
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Where: Morgan Hill Bible Church
Randall Ramirez, LCSW LMFT

Topic: The Role of Shame in the Life of the Adopted and Foster Child

Join us as Randall presents on how shame can be an underlying current in the life of adoptive, foster, and kinship children. Randall will also share ways that parents can help their children with this pervasive issue that often has its roots in early childhood exposure to trauma.
Click HERE to RSVP
When: Sunday, October 20th
Time: 3:00-5:00 PM
Where: New Life Church
Topic: How to Help Your Child Develop Positive Habits (To increase their well-being and yours!)

This training will be led by Donna Erickson. Donna has been a Foster Parent Trainer with the Foster and Kinship Care Education Program of the Department of Family and Children Services in Santa Clara County for the past 30 years. Being a former foster child herself enables her to also speak from a place of personal experience.

Adoptive, foster, and kinship children often experience physical and emotional deficits. These deficits can show up in the child as challenging behaviors. Based on the most current research, this training will go over simple approaches that will help caregivers manage and redirect these behaviors. Topics will include:

  • Looking at stress differently
  • How the ‘Cognitive Triangle’ affects behavior
  • Overcoming resistance to change
  • Memories/past experiences
  • Reframing/rewiring/re-doing
Childcare: Please RSVP for childcare by filling out this form by 5 PM Sunday, October 13th.
Childcare RSVPs are required each month so that we can plan accordingly. Please be aware that if you do not RSVP we may be unable to provide childcare for your child.

SAVE THE DATE

FIRST ANNUAL HARVEST CELEBRATION

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH
7:00 – 9:00 PM
MENLO CHURCH, SAN JOSE CAMPUS
RSVP@ helponechild.org/harvest-celebration

Don’t miss this opportunity to come together as a family for worship, for encouragement, and to celebrate the harvest! God has been doing amazing things through the work and volunteers of Help One Child.

Program Highlights:

Mike & Kristin Berry
Volunteer of the Year
Family Testimony
State of the Union
Dessert!

DAD'S CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT

FB Cornhole Tournament

Help One Child and Peninsula Covenant Church are hosting a cornhole tournament for adoptive, foster, and kinship dads. This is a fun way to hang out with and get to know other dads who have a similar day to day experience as you.

Saturday, October 12th
4:00 PM

Go HERE for more information and to RSVP

CHILDCARE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We believe parent education can make a huge impact on a child. It affects their life, day in and day out.  Take a look at the different trainings coming up with childcare needed.

We are in need of a few volunteers to help with childcare for our Monthly Parent Training for adoptive, foster, and kinship parents. This monthly training takes place on Sunday afternoons at New Life Church in Cupertino.

Please fill out this ONLINE APPLICATION. Contact Rachel Taylor for more details.

 

We are looking for monthly volunteers to provide childcare for our new Redwood City support group hosted at Peninsula Covenant Church.

Please fill out this ONLINE APPLICATION. Contact Rachel Taylor for more details.

NETWORK HIGHLIGHT

Journeys Beyond the Cosmodrome is an experimental documentary by Jeanne C. Finley (a Help One Child Mom) which tells the story of nine Kazakh orphans at the cusp of legal adulthood during their final months at the Akkol orphanage. Through an atmospheric yet pointed lens, the film approaches the subject of disrupted childhood by focusing on the power of imagination as a tool for facing the unknown.​
An original score composed from the teenagers’ written words recalls the imagined futures the orphans carry as they leave the home that has guided them to this threshold, and to which they can never return.
Premier: Mill Valley Film Festival
October 5th,  11:15 AM  Rafael 2, 1118 4th St, San Rafael, CA 94901
October 9th,  7:00 PM  Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94720