Our Uplift with a Gift program is in full-swing, and as usual, the outpouring of gifts is overwhelming! Learn how you can spread some holiday cheer this season and other CLC highlights in our latest newsletter.
Give the Gift of Joy to a Child in Foster Care this Season!
As we reflect on the past month, we have so much to be grateful for this season. Because of your generosity, we raised over $250,000 at our annual Art of Advocacy gala! In addition, we continue to be astonished by our community of supporters who consistently show up to help ensure our young clients and their caregivers have access to school supplies, warm clothing, baby care essentials, funding for extra-curricular activities, and more.
Our Uplift with a Gift program is in full-swing, and as usual, the outpouring of gifts is overwhelming! However, we need more help. There are over 100 children waiting to be matched with a donor! The holiday season can be difficult for children and youth in the foster care system. With your participation, we can make the season a little bit brighter. Please consider sponsoring a family or purchasing a gift for a child in need of holiday cheer. We are accepting donations until Friday, December 9th. Learn how you can shop our wish list and more here: https://www.clccal.org/get-involved/upliftwithagift/
Thank you for all that you do to support children and families in foster care!
CLC Family Photo Day
This autumn, CLC hosted our first-ever family photo day in partnership with Photo Safe! Many adults who experienced foster care report having very few pictures from their childhood. Photo Safe is an important nonprofit organization that provides (and preserves) photographs for children in foster care. We were thrilled to invite families and youth to capture milestones for our clients who lost precious memories during moves or have never had access to professional photographers. We can’t wait to share the photos with our clients – just in time for the holidays! Thank you to Karen Segal and her entire team for making the event a success and to Echoes of Hopes for providing fantastic food through The Lime Truck.
We look forward to making more memories for our clients with Photo Safe in the new year.
NorCal Spotlight: Giving Thanks
On Thanksgiving Day, CLC Sacramento staff, led by case manager Joshua Bryant, provided a full Thanksgiving meal to youth and staff at the Warren E. Thornton (WET) Youth Center. Youth at the WET Center are awaiting foster care placements and unable to spend the holiday with family. Through Joshua’s generosity, they were able to enjoy a bit of the holiday spirit with the communal meal.
Donor Spotlight: Ticket to Dream
Ticket to Dream is dedicated to creating hope and opportunity for foster children. Our Sacramento office is lucky to partner with Ticket to Dream, who this year provided 50 backpacks filled with binders, notebooks, binder paper, pencil pouches, markers, pens, pencils, rulers, and the tools students need to succeed in school. Ticket to Dream also offers unique enrichment opportunities for youth, like tickets to Sacramento Kings games. This fall, Ticket to Dream partnered with the Cameron Champ Foundation to introduce youth in foster and kinship care to the game of golf. Clients learned basic golf skills and received some great giveaways, including BEARPAW shoes. We are grateful for our donors like Ticket to Dream, who strive to help foster children and youth grow to reach their full potential.
Staff Spotlight: Yesenia “Yesi” Lopez
This year’s Art of Advocacy gala highlighted the moving testimony from CLC Transition-Age Youth (TAY) Case Manager and former CLC client, Yesenia “Yesi” Lopez. Her story of hope, perseverance, and strength is worth sharing. Watch Yesi’s journey from foster care to CLC case manager below.
Thank you to Director Joanna Friedman of Magnify, who has helped CLC create videos that spotlight CLC clients sharing with you – in their own words – their experiences in foster care and the role CLC has played for them and their families.
November is Native American Heritage Month 
This month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the significant contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes and their accomplishments and raise general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced historically and in the present.
As child welfare professionals, it is critical that we know how to apply the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), recognize the events that preceded it, and appreciate the importance of culturally responsive practice with American Indian and Alaska Native children and families.
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