Greetings!
Our annual Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 5 was a
festive, spirited event, attended by well over 100 people, including residents,
staff, families and other guests.
We gathered in the resident lounge, which was decorated with lights and a lovely Christmas tree.
We were regaled by Alma de Mexico, a troupe of Mexican dancers with
beautiful costumes and wonderful dances.
Gil Trevino entertained us at the piano. And of course there were Christmas tunes.
The residents were dressed to the nines and
in high spirits. We were pleased
to be joined by friends of our residents from their day programs, churches and
other groups. The Assistance
League of Santa Barbara provided an amazing array of goodies for our holiday bake
sale-thank you! And the Friends
and Family Group brought snacks and beverages. Thank you to all who came and helped
make it a special day for the residents.
Happy Holidays to all of you from all of us at Hillside House!
Pam Flynt Tambo
Executive Director
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Middle School Students Make a Difference
 Four students from Santa Barbara Middle School chose
Hillside House for their Community Service Project this past month. For one week, the students came for a
few hours each afternoon and played games with the residents, helped them on
the computer, took them for walks, did art projects with them and just spent
time together. These visits are a
highlight for both the students and the residents.
The letters we received from the students after the end of
the project show what a meaningful experience it was for them. We thought we'd share some excerpts with you:
"I wish we got to work there longer. I didn't want to leave
on the last day. I really grew
close to some of the residents." -Emily
"It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. I began my week at Hillside House
thinking that I was there to brighten the residents' days, but shortly realized
that they were brightening my day as well." -Sophia
"Working at Hillside House was amazing, and not at all in
the way I thought it would be. I
came in thinking of myself as a teacher and left a week later knowing I had so
much to learn. The residents
became my teachers. . . . From the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting me
join the team for those special days." -Eliana
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New Recycling Center Lets Residents Help Out More
 One of the most common of human desires is the desire to be
useful and to participate in the human community in some way, and our residents
are no exception. Many of them
long for a job to do or ways to contribute to the life of the House. For some
of our residents helping with the recycling is a favorite activity which
fulfills this desire. Several of
them carefully and proudly tend their own small recycling buckets inside
Hillside House, and one can hardly walk down the hall with an empty can before
it is snatched by some eager hand.
The staff of Hillside House welcome this involvement for the obvious
pleasure and satisfaction it brings to our residents-and it is one less thing
for us to do!
Formerly, our recycling was spread all over the campus, with
bottles, cans, paper and plastic in numerous locations. Staff had to empty the numerous small
buckets into the dumpster outside, which was not reachable by our
wheelchair-bound residents. Now
residents and staff are pleased to have a beautiful, new, wheel-chair
accessible recycling center outside.
Morgan, Sue F., Brian, Tom, Joan and others help keep Hillside House
tidy and ecologically-responsible by bringing the recycling from the containers
inside the house out to this new recycling center, where they each have their
own bins that they tend. Thanks to
Dan Flores and the Facilities crew for a beautiful job, building the recycling
center.
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 Remembering Lynne
We were saddened by the
loss of another long-time resident recently. Lynne Cameron passed away on October 20. Lynne was 72 years old and had lived
with us for over 18 years. Her
inspiring courage, positive energy right up until the end, and love of life
made Lynne well-loved at Hillside House and beyond. Lynne was always interested in new experiences, always ready
for a trip to town. She loved to
make art and was also passionate about going to church on Sundays and attending
a weekly bible group. Residents and staff alike expressed their love of Lynne at a heartfelt memorial service at Hillside House.
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Finally! A
Good Use for Those Unused Gift Cards
 You know those gift cards that you get from loving friends
and family around the holidays?
Gift cards for Borders Books or Crate and Barrel or numerous other
places. You know how they often
tend to sit around for months and months and you never get around to using
them until one day they just get lost or thrown out by accident?
Now there's no need to let the kindness of your friends go
to waste. Put those gift cards to
good use. Hillside House now has a
service that will allow us to accept gift cards and receive the cash value
(minus a processing fee) as a donation, so your gift cards will directly
benefit our residents. Sometimes
we are able to use the gift card directly to purchase needed items.
Just mail the gift card to: Hillside
House, 1235 Veronica Springs Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93105, and we will send you
a receipt for your tax-deductible gift. Thank you and Happy Holidays!
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