Share your love with an Angels child this year!
     Many of you know Ellen Dameron, our wonderful Development Associate. I wanted to let you all know a little about her and the critical role she has played in where Angels is today.
     Ellen has been at her post for eight wonderful years, after becoming a foster and adoptive parent through Angels. Actually, I cannot remember a time when she has not been an integral part of Angels Foster Care. Ellen has worked with Angels as our Administrative Director with additional responsibilities in development. She handles all aspects of her job with ease and an eye to detail, and is without a doubt one of the most competent, dedicated employees I have ever worked with. 
     Ellen is skilled in all aspects of agency function as well as has strong interpersonal skills. These skills have served Angels well, as she works with donors, Angels parents, staff, non-profit partners, and foundations. She has an ability to make all parties feel valued and facilitates effective cooperation in common goals.
     It speaks volumes to add that she has given us seven months notice as she moves to a new position, which has allowed us to plan for and have her train her replacement. Although we will miss Ellen in the office every day, we look forward to seeing her join us at Angels parties and gatherings in the future! She will be in the office until the end of August, so be sure to wish her well. 

Thank you Ellen from the bottom of my heart, and my right arm.  :)

Meichelle Arntz
Executive Director, Angels Foster Care 

  The O'Neill Family
Angels is very fortunate to have a member of our staff who has been through the experience of foster parenting with our agency! Our own Kelly White O'Neill, North Santa Barbara County Development Associate, and her husband Jim are parents to six-year-old Tommy. A colleague of Kelly's recommended Angels to the family when they were considering ways to adopt.













After completing Angels foster parent certification, Tommy was welcomed into the O'Neill family a few weeks shy of his 3rd birthday.  Kelly describes Tommy as gentle and cautious but extremely loving,
affectionate and has a sly twinkle in his eyes at all times. He is very family-oriented and his favorite place to be is home. Although separation anxiety, fear of abandonment, and limited vocabulary were big hurdles early on, he has since blossomed into an enthusiastic Kindergartner who earned "Student of the Month" during his first few weeks of elementary school. 

Tommy loves to read and be read to, play board games and puzzles, and be with family. He also enjoys Karate, swimming, basketball, tree climbing and backyard play. Kelly's recalls the most meaningful part of being an Angels foster parent was watching her child flourish and become the person he was meant to be once he got the love and stability he needed. She has marveled at Tommy's intuitive nature and nurturing with regard to babies and animals and wonders if someday he will choose a care-giving profession. Thank you to the O'Neill family for welcoming Tommy into your hearts!

We'd like to express our thanks to Angels parents, Kiel and Matt and Lisa and Larry who assisted with providing nurturance and love to three children in need of short-term care. Also, thank you to Chelsie and Scott for welcoming a little one in recent weeks . 

We're happy to report an adoption in the past month: congratulations to Sissy and Dan of South Santa Barbara County for welcoming Izzy.

Angels would like to recognize the amazing efforts of TJ and Heidi of South Santa Barbara County as our Foster Parents of the Month. We are very grateful for the time you spend as foster parents, and for the love and support you have given to young children who need you.  

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Santa Maria Sunrisers Lions Club
Nate Liscomb Memorial Golf Tournament

What a fabulous day at the gorgeous Monarch Dunes Golf Course when, on June 18th, many foursomes came together to play a fun and lively round of golf to benefit the Santa Maria Sunrisers Lions Club and Angels Foster Care.  Thanks to the hard work, dedication, organization and commitment to the needs of children, the Sunrisers Lions--led by the incredibly hard working Don Bock--put on a wonderful day of friendship, camaraderie, and serious golfing!  Along with great golf, participants purchased raffle tickets for a variety of wonderful baskets and other items donated by local businesses and individuals. 
 












There was also a "Grand Prize" raffle featuring featuring 4 VIP seats to an upcoming Dodgers Game at Dodgers Stadium or cases of local, boutique wines.  The golfers enjoyed a wonderful tri-tip lunch prepared by the chef at Monarch Dunes and also were awarded various cash prizes for their golf skills.  Angels Foster Care was present with our information table and was able to share the message of foster care to the golfers and event volunteers who were interested.  This golf tournament reflects the many years of service the various Lions Clubs in North County have given to Angels Foster Care--we are so grateful to their willingness to support our work and shine a light on the needs of babies and toddlers in foster care in our area.  

Support Angels! Amazon Prime Day
Tuesday, July 12
Shop Amazon.com on this day featuring more than 100,000 deals exclusively for Prime members, making it one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Amazon will donate a portion of all sales to Angels Foster Care of Santa Barbara. To sign up or start, click here.


Annual Angels Foster Family Picnic
Saturday, September 24th, 3-6pm (*note time change)
happy_kids_cake.jpg
Hans Christian Andersen Park, Solvang

Calling all Angels to join us for our annual family gathering with food, fun, and time to visit with friends new and old. Help us celebrate a big milestone - our 10th Anniversary!!

Thanks to the generous donation of a wonderful BBQ by the Kiwanis Club of the South Coast, we can offer a family friendly afternoon of good food and camaraderie. If you have any friends interested in learning more about foster care, please invite them to attend as our guests! Everyone is welcome at our annual summer/fall get together! We look forward to seeing you and will update you with details as they are confirmed. 


1st Annual Baby Bottle Campaign! 
October, 2016
In honor and recognition of the 200 babies Angels Foster Care has helped in the past 10 years, we are celebrating our anniversary in October with 200 baby bottle banks that we hope you can help us fill with funds that will help continue our work for 200 more babies! Please help us distribute these 200 banks around our community in October to spread the message about the need for foster families as well as to help raise the money we need to recruit, train, certify, and assist the foster families who are helping babies every day. Maybe you can get the bank filled in a day?  A weekend?  All month long?  Whatever gets collected will be appreciated!  The following are some places the banks might get set up for collection, if you have ideas or contacts that can help, please let us know!
  • Local businesses or offices
  • Churches
  • Scout groups
  • Sports Teams
  • MOMS Clubs
  • Local schools
  • Service Organizations
  • Philanthropic Groups
Please contact Kelly White O'Neill if you can help or have suggestions of places that might want to participate.  


Visit our web site for full details on requirements, training, support and adoption. Now is a great time to begin the process in order to take advantage of our Fall Foster Parent Training Series. Note that pre-screening and certain paperwork are required before prospective foster parents may enroll in parent training classes. Please contact Angels as soon as you are ready to begin the process. 

If you can't foster, please consider a  donation.


Temperment














Every child is born with his own individual way of approaching the world--a temperament. Here's how you can tune in to your child's temperament to anticipate how they will react in certain situations.
 
Generally, there are five characteristics that describe an individual's temperament:
* Emotional intensity
* Activity level
* Frustration tolerance
* Reaction to new people
* Reaction to change

     Temperament is not something your child chooses, nor is it something that you created. A child's temperament shapes the way he experiences the world. A child who is cautious and needs time to feel comfortable in new situations and a child who jumps right in are likely to have very different experiences going to a classmate's birthday party. A child who can handle a lot of sensory stimulation will experience a trip to the supermarket differently from a child who has a low threshold for a lot of surrounding noise and action.
     Understanding your child's temperament helps you be a better parent. Recognizing patterns in your child's behavior that are influenced by temperament can help you anticipate your child's responses to certain situations. If you know that your child has a hard time making transitions, you can guess that family visits might be challenging. You could share this observation with your child's social worker and talk about how you can work together to make those shifts easier. For example, the social worker can give your child a reminder that it will soon be time to go home. You might also choose to spend a few minutes helping your child finish what she is doing, rather than move her into the car right away.

Your Child Can Adapt
     A child's behavior and approach to the world are shaped by his experiences and especially by his interactions with you. For example, children who are temperamentally shy can become more outgoing and comfortable in new situations when their parents help them sensitively and slowly adapt to new experiences.
     Also, no matter how consistent a child's patterns may appear to be, sometimes children can--and will--catch you off guard by acting in ways that you do not expect. A child who is usually wary of strangers might fall madly in love with a visiting friend. The fact that your child can surprise you is one of the most exciting and even delightful rewards of parenthood.

Culture Matters
     Different cultures place different values on behavioral styles. For example, some cultures value children who are quiet and obedient. Others value feisty, assertive kids. One dad, who lives in the inner city, expressed worry that his son was too laid back and not assertive or tough enough. He was afraid that his child would get bullied and taken advantage of by others. What qualities do you value and desire? How might your cultural values influence the way you see your child's behavior?

There is No Right or Wrong Temperament
     It's very important for children to be accepted for who they are. It is true, though, that some temperaments are easier to handle than others. A parent with an intense, reactive child or a child who is very shy and slow-to-warm-up will tell you that parenting these children can be a challenge at times. Stefanie, the mother of 2-year-old Danielle, described how she had moved to a new neighborhood and was desperate to meet some other moms. Finally, one day, a mom walked by with her very happy toddler who eagerly sought out Danielle and even offered to share her snack. Danielle, a slow-to-warm-up and intense child, pushed the bag away and then threw a huge tantrum when Stefanie tried to encourage her to play nicely. Stefanie later told her husband that Danielle was going to ruin her social life. (She also describes Danielle as incredibly creative, smart, and passionate.)
     Most parents prefer some of their child's temperamental characteristics to others. Frank is shy and slow-to-warm-up. Frank's father sometimes feels his patience dwindling and wishes that his son Frank was the kind of kid who would just get on with it rather than take so long to settle in. The mother of very feisty Carlos sometimes wishes for a disappearing pill, like the day Carlos' exuberant hug knocked over a friend who hit his head on a chair as he fell down.
     Parents struggle with these kinds of feelings for a range of reasons. Your child's behavior may remind you of parts of yourself that you don't like so much and want to change--like being easily hurt by someone's unkindness. Conversely, you may feel discomfort with ways in which your child is very different from you--such as her ease and comfort in new situations when you like to take things slow. It is quite normal that you will like and feel more comfortable with some aspects of your child's temperament more than with others.
     Siblings can be (and often are) temperamentally very different. One mother told us, "In our house, we have two kids, and we parent them in two different ways." If you have more than one child, how are they alike? How are they different? How do you adapt your parenting style to meet each of their needs?

Be Your Child's Champion
     Have you ever found yourself feeling isolated from or misunderstood--even put down--by family, friends, and neighbors who disapprove of or judge your child? You are not alone. It can be empowering to see these situations as opportunities to educate others about your child. For example, a father explains to his aunt, who is not getting the warm reaction she wants from her niece, "Sophie, like a lot of other kids, needs time to adjust to new people." Dad then hands her Sophie's favorite book, helping his aunt learn to approach Sophie slowly.
     You can also help others see your child's behavior from a different perspective. Here's how a mom describes her daughter, Tess, to a neighbor who is critical of Tess's feisty nature. "Tess knows who she is and what she wants. She is loving and she is fierce. She puts her whole heart into everything."
     Remember, the goal isn't to change your child's temperament, but to help him or her make the most of her unique temperament--both its strengths and the areas where she may need more support. By watching and learning from your child, you can begin to slowly and sensitively help your child adapt, to expand his world, and to feel more confident about his place in it.

- From "Tips on Temperment" from Zero to Three (www.zerotothree.org)

Volunteers Needed!  
As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary throughout 2016, Angels Foster Care has a number of events and activities to celebrate this milestone and shed light on the issue of foster care in our County.  Volunteers are needed throughout the year for various activities and events.  If you have time, talent, or any resources you can share, please contact us and we can let you know how you, your club, your church, or your group of friends or family can help!  In North County contact Kelly or in Santa Barbara, contact Ellen.  You can always give us a call at (805) 884-0012.  
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