Buckelew Programs

March 2010 | In this Issue:

• From the Executive Director
• Blue Skies Café Shining at One Year!
• How to use Stimulus Funds to Create Work Opportunities
• You Can Leave a Legacy…
• Hold the Date: Buckelew to Host Free Educational Session on Cognitive Enhancement Therapy

From the Executive Director:

Headlining this issue is the first anniversary of Blue Skies Café.  It’s been a remarkable experience to have witnessed the personal growth of our café baristas over this past year.  Despite coming to the café with significant challenges, each and every one has blossomed under the tutelage of Allen, our café manager, and Laura Lee, our café counselor, to achieve new heights in their drive to develop successful, sustainable livelihoods.  If you haven’t yet visited Blue Skies Café, please stop by sometime for great food, a first-rate espresso, and personal inspiration.

Did you get to see the Editorial in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat praising the work of Buckelew in the community?  This was a major coup for us, so we’ve made the full editorial available to you here and on our website.  And to top it off, the Editorial prompted a flood of positive Letters to the Editor from people whose lives have been changed for the better through the work of Buckelew.

My latest blog reports on the fascinating community forum we hosted in the end of January on mental health recovery services in developing nations of Africa and South Asia, and what we can apply to our little part of the world here in the North Bay.  We will be hosting several such forums for members of our community throughout each year.  You can read about our next forum—and other news you can use—in the remainder of this issue, so please read on!

Steve

P.S.:  Please remember to hold the date of Thursday, July 1, 2010 for the dynamic and improved MarinScapes Opening Gala.

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Blue Skies Café Shining at One Year!

Come on over to Blue Skies Café to help us celebrate our one-year anniversary on Friday, March 19!  We’ll be running anniversary specials and festivities. Serving local, organic foods and organic, sustainably harvested coffees Blue Skies Café is a Green-Certified social enterprise business.  Read about the difference that working at Blue Skies Café has made in  the lives of its employees:

• “It was a great experience!  It increased my quality of life by teaching me to be more comfortable talking to people, and being out in the public.”
• “It helped me become independent through hard work.”
• “I was a barista in my 20s, now I’m in my 40s, and it gave me a chance to hone my skills and remember things I forgot…It was a feeling of family, comradeship, and accomplishment.”
• “I came to the program dealing with low self-esteem and a depressive mood, which made starting new things somewhat challenging.  My depression has lifted…and my self-esteem has gone up through this process.  I credit the care of the Buckelew staff as part of this positive change.  This extends to the staff not directly involved with the café as well.  Many of the Buckelew staff were customers at the café and regularly added their patience and encouragement to the experience, making for a very supportive environment.  Their presence at the café was a blessing.”

You can read a new review of Blue Skies Café and you can follow the daily happenings of the café on its Twitter feed.

Blue Skies Café is located at 3240 Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael.  We’re open Monday-Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

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How to use Stimulus Funds to Create Work Opportunities

On February 11th, Buckelew Programs’ Blue Skies Personnel Services hosted its quarterly Employer Advisory Council to inform local businesses on how to find competent and eager employees using federal stimulus dollars.  Buckelew Programs was recently awarded American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds to create jobs for people who have experienced barriers to employment due to mental health challenges. 

Representatives from companies that have long worked with Blue Skies Personnel Services, such as Staples, Bank of Marin, and Jessie et Laurent Culinary Service impressed upon new Employer Advisory Council attendees, such as Vector Unit and US Pure Water Corporation, the advantages of working with Buckelew’s Blue Skies Personnel Services.

Bank of Marin’s Joan Capurro recounted her moving experience of assisting Blue Skies Personnel by conducting “mock interviews” with Buckelew clients seeking work.  “Each person was fully engaged with their lesson, and completely open to learning how to come across well to their perspective employers.  Everyone came away with a strong sense of what they can deliver.”

If you represent a local business that is interested in hiring qualified and reliable employees with the help of federal financial incentives, please call Dan Daniels today at 415.456.9350 x115 or email him at dand@buckelew.org.  He’ll tell you how your firm can hire good employees—at no cost to you—for up to the first six months of employment.  Read more about Blue Skies Personnel Services.

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You Can Leave a Legacy…

Would you like to discuss your participation in the Buckelew Legacy Society? We are available to answer any questions you may have about our planned giving program. We can provide language for you to take to your attorney. We can discuss your legacy gift in a confidential setting. The first step is to contact Jody Berces, Development Coordinator at 415-457-6966 ext 237 to set up an appointment to discuss your Legacy Gift.

Gift Possibilities:

• A Bequest - the simplest of planned gifts. A direction in your will or trust for a gift to Buckelew Programs. This can be a specific amount or a percentage of what remains after providing for your heirs.
• Life Insurance - name Buckelew Programs as an owner or beneficiary of the policy.
• A Life-Estate Agreement - transfer title of a residence or second home to Buckelew Programs while retaining use of the real estate for life.
• Gift Annuity - a gift of appreciated stock or other property, for which you or other beneficiaries receive fixed annual payments. Payment is based on the age of the beneficiaries at the time of the gift. In general, the donor receives an income tax deduction now and avoids capital gains tax on the sale of property.
• Charitable Remainder Trust - a gift paying income to you or to your named beneficiaries.
• Retirement Plan Assets - name Buckelew Programs as a beneficiary of a IRA 401 (k), 403 (b) profit-sharing or other retirement plan. The donor may receive an income tax deduction now and avoid estate taxes later.
• Contingency Planning - for those who have significant estate commitments for family or other reasons may consider a "contingent bequest" that would address your Buckelew Programs priority should all other beneficiaries pre-decease. Virtually every member can provide a contingent clause while maintaining commitments for young family members or elderly parents.

You can read more about how to leave a legacy gift to Buckelew programs here.

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Hold the Date:  Buckelew to Host Free Educational Session on Cognitive Enhancement Therapy

Buckelew Programs will host a free 90 minute community education forum on Cognitive Enhancement Therapy (CET), led by Ray Gonzalez of the Center for Cognition and Recovery in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, April 9 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. at the Meadowlands Assembly Hall of Dominican University in San Rafael.

CET is an evidence-based practice that helps people with schizophrenia and related mental illnesses improve their processing speed, cognition (attention, memory, and problem solving) and social cognition (the awareness to interact wisely with others).  Research strongly suggests that impairments in these mental capacities contribute to functional disability in people with schizophrenia.  CET rehabilitates these capacities and, thus, maximizes success in all activities of recovery.  As a result, CET participants increase their potential to engage in meaningful social roles and to live independent, self-determined, and satisfying lives in the community.

Buckelew will be evaluating the potential to implement a CET program for its clients.  This introductory session is open to the public.  You can register to attend this community forum here.