August, 2009
Since Summer didn't really arrive (weather-wise) until July, it seems rather cruel that we are moving in the direction of Fall and Back-To-School so soon!
Here's how I spent my Summer thus far:
I am very fortunate to have a grant that offers the opportunity to spend some time in Truro every summer to write. I come in to CFFC two days a week and write the other five days. It always turns out that about 2/3 of the time is writing things related to CFFC and about l/3 is doing work on books and articles and other things that I have hanging over my head! This year was no different. The first four to six weeks were spent on grant writing. We applied for three federal grants this year from the Children's Bureau. Two of them were predominantly written by us (with collaborators, but no one large one) and one is done in total collaboration with The Walker School. All are exciting demonstration grants and would give us an opportunity to make a large contribution to the thinking in the world of adoption, foster care, kinship care and residential treatment. We will probably hear by end of September, so keep fingers and toes crossed!
The summer is a time of comings and goings at CFFC. We have new and wonderful interns on board this year from Boston College and Lesley University. We also hired four new Fee For Service clinicians and they are magnificent! We always require that our new folks come to the ARC Intensives on the Cape, so the staff all packed up and went from July 12th to 15th. It was the 24th year for ARC and we held it at the Provincetown Inn, which ended up being a gorgeous venue. It was nice for those attending to have time for the pool or the beach and picnic lunches in the midst of some very strenuous thinking and learning. We were able to feature two new films and have panels discuss them ("For the Life of Me" by Jean Strauss and "Off and Running" by Nicole Opper). Both were riveting, beautiful, poignant and filled with adoption-related issues and concerns. Alison Larkin (the internationally acclaimed comedian and bestselling author of "The English American, a novel",) regaled us with her comedy, brilliance, voice and poise. She was magnificent (as always)! We had fabulous panels and great attendees to the conference and the evaluations were overwhelmingly grand!
As you recall, CFFC lost quite a bit of our State funding - all of our Post Adoption Funding - this past year. This is a huge loss for many of our families and children. We do have some individual donors who have helped out in our time of need, and we will be expanding our space so that we can have more clinicians and can accommodate more families, children and individuals, as well as groups and trainings in the coming year.
We are negotiating a lease fee for a floor in a building two blocks from us. This would give us additionalroom for training, seeing clients, art therapy, groups and meetings.
Here is how you can help!
The rent is being taken care of by a grant from a Friend of CFFC, and we are getting furniture from an office that is closing, but we will still need:
- to pay all of the expenses of setting up:
o phones
o IT
o computers
o utilities and supplies
o 10-12 new Mac Computers
o 2 printers
o 1 fax machine
o 10-12 phones
o An LCD projector
o A projection screen
o TV
o DVD/VCR
o Speakers
o Couches from IKEA
o Lamps
o Other furnishings that will not come with our free furnishings (from Advisory Board member, John Almeida)
o Rugs
o A small refrigerator
o Microwave
o Toaster oven
o Art supplies
o Children's books
o Toys and dollhouses
o Puppets
o Video cameras
o Cameras
o Software for macs
We are eager to move in and get settled and to start seeing families and children that have had to wait for openings in space due to our wait list. Now that we have trained four new therapists, we are ready to expand our services.
If we should get any of our federal grants, we will also be ready with space for new personnel, and we will be ready to do the trainings on site, rather than renting space away from CFFC.
We have our Courage and Curiosity Auction and Award evening coming up November 10th at the Marlowe. If you have some great auction items for us (flights, sports tickets, restaurants, salons, special events...) please contact larisak@kinnect.org.
We need items and then we need BIDDERS!!! So save the date and invite friends!
These are some of the many ways you can help sustain CFFC in our mission to help children and the families that love them! Please join us in our uphill battle in this dire time of economic decline (which always ends up devaluing children somehow)!
We've lost a lot. We've gained a lot. We need your help more than ever!
Sincerely,
Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao
CEO and Founder
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SAVE THE DATE
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 Center For Family Connections is hosting a fundraiser event on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge, MA.
This event will celebrate National Adoption Month and is the 8th Annual Courage and Curiosity Fundraiser, in honor of the extraordinary courage and the eager curiosity of the children and families in adoption. All funds raised will directly support CFFC's mission of providing innovative programs and services for children, families, and professionals in the world of adoption, foster care, and other complex blended families-including teen 'zine creation, our theater enrichment program, clinically supervised visits, pro bono clinical services, and countless other much-needed programs and services. The funds raised at our last year's event totaled almost $30,000. This year our goal is $50,000. Please help us reach this goal by donating auction items, placing an ad in the event program, and/or attending the fundraiser with a group of friends to bid and help the lives of children and families.
Click here for donation forms. |
Check out our Upcoming Group!
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** Fall Teen Group Information Coming Soon!!! **
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Fa.C.T.
International/Transracial Post Adoption Course
Announcing a
NEW
8-month Certificate Course for those touched by International and Transracial
Adoption!
Thanks to funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we are able to provide the
full course free of charge to families and individuals touched by international and transracial
adoption, and at a greatly reduced price for professionals seeking a post graduate certificate.
Save
the Dates for these eight, unbelievable trainings!
Saturday,
September 26th 2009 8am-4pm
Changing
Trends in Adoption and After Adoption
Wednesday,
October 21st 2009 8am-12pm
Core
Issues in Adoption-Therapeutic Strategies with Adoptive Triad Members
Wednesday,
November 18th 2009 8am-12pm
Attachment
and Pre and Post Adoption Issues for Birth and Adoptive Families
Saturday,
December 5th 2009 8am-4pm
Trauma
and Healing
Wednesday,
January 13th 2010 8am-12pm
Child
Centered and Sensitive Treatment in Adoption
Wednesday,
February 17th 2010 8am-12pm
Clinical
Practice with Diverse Children, Youth and Families in Adoption
Wednesday,
March 10, 2010 8am-12pm
Search
and Reunion Issues for Adoption Triad Members
Saturday, April 10th
2010 8am-4pm
Final
Presentations and "Graduation"
To
register, or for more information and a full course description, please contact
Larisa Kottke at larisak@kinnect.org. The full course description will also
be available on our website soon.
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Orton Gillingham Approach
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The Orton Gillingham Approach is a multisensory approach to reading and writing that
is helpful for children and adults with dyslexia. The Orton Gillingham
method stresses the connection between written words and their spoken
sounds. Students learn to read and spell, not just memorize words.
Here are a few helpful tips on this approach:
1. Individualized
2. Cognitive
3. Rule based phonetic approach
4. Systematic least complex to most complex
5. Concrete to abstract
6. Simultaneously multi-sensory
7. Directly taught no guess work involved
Annie Butler is a trainer in this method and can be reached at anniembutler@hotmail.com
For more information please visit:http://www.orton-gillingham.com
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Special Thanks!!!
CFFC would like to extend our warmest
thanks to Jewel and Emma the wonder dog
for all their help and support with the writing
of our grants.
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Childsplay: Waiting for the Dawn
Bob Childs has built violins for nearly 35 years, customizing every instrument to meet a musician's desires in feel and sound. With his ensemble Childsplay, up to 30 musicians who share a love of Childs' instruments come together to blend various specialties into a unique brand of contemporary fiddle music.
For more information on Childsplay, please contact
Diane D' Angelo- ddangelo@shorefire.com
Nora Lyons- nlyons@shorefire.com nlyons@shorefire.com Shore Fire Media, 718.522.7171 http://childsplay.org
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Are you an adult who has been transracially adopted by white parents? Do you know one? Please see the letter below about an exciting study exploring those experiences.
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August 2009
Hello:
You are invited to participate in a study exploring the experiences of adults who were transracially adopted by White parents. In research, the topic of transracial adoption has often been addressed through the perspectives of adoptive parents and my hope with this dissertation project is to understand more about transracially adoptive family dynamics through the experiences of adopted adults.
I am interested in bringing voice to the stories of adopted persons of color who were raised by White parents and, thus, am looking for individuals who would be willing to participate in an in-person interview. Interviews will be conducted in a place designated as most convenient by each participant. Further, each interviewee's confidentiality will be protected; no names will be associated with interview materials.
If you are a transracially adopted adult who was raised by White parents and are interested in participating in this study, or would like more information, please contact me at rmr2119@columbia.edu.
Thank you so much for your consideration of my request.
Best regards,
Rebecca Redington, M.A.
Doctoral Candidate in Counseling Psychology
Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology
Teachers College, Columbia University
rmr2119@columbia.edu
*Rebecca was the research cordinator a CFFC before going on to Columbia for her doctoral work
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Center For Family Connections
350 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02141
617-547-0909(p)
617-497-5952(f)
www.kinnect.org
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Quotes from this year's 2009 ARCheology Summer Intenstives Attendees
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- "Loved getting examples of self-care and experiencing them and having the time to try them out."
- "I thought this was a wonderful conference! A lot of work, preparation and a great amount of knowledge was presented, most impressed with the CFFC staff. You all worked so well together and were welcoming and nice."
- "As a social worker who has worked in public child welfare for 34 years, we have very difficult decisions to make - should we keep sibling groups together. This conference has given me validation that the work that me and my unit is doing is good work, that we are thinking outside the box. I know that there is much work to be done in my agency as all programs speak a different language and we need to understand one another."
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It's not that I'm smarter than everybody, I just work on problems longer
- Albert Einstein
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Are you on Facebook?
To join our Group click here
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Dream yall! Keep dreaming everyday!! If there's one thing they can't take from you it's YOUR DREAMS! Stay around people who encourage you and STAY AWAY from dream killers. One wise person had this to say about dream killers: "You should never kill someone else's dreams with your nightmares!"
Keep dreamin yall!!
-Rev Run
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Failure is an event and never a person
- Zig Ziglar
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Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else
- Judy Garland
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