Yummy and Fun! - The Children`s Place

The Children’s Place
Winter 2015 News Letter
Yummy and Fun!
The Children’s Place would like to thank all those who
participated in Our 6th Annual Fall Fundraiser
Hosted by Mat-Su Title Agency, LLC
Soup and Bread Luncheon
There was good food, good company, and good fun.
The silent auction included gifts, homemade goodies, and beautiful quilts.
All money raised went directly to The Children’s Place
NEVER, NEVER, shake a baby!
The Children’s Place is now scheduling Abusive Head Trauma/Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention
presentations with the Mat-Su Borough School District and other youth organizations.
For more information , or if you would like to become a volunteer with our Abusive Head Trauma/
Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention program, please contact Jalean Mallett at The Children’s Place
(357-5157)
It is that time of year, once again, to file for the
Alaska Permanent Fund.
It is also the time of year to make a difference through giving. Just imagine, if you
give... your neighbor gives... another ... and another…how quickly it will add up in
making a difference. With one donation at a time, we can make good things happen
all across Alaska. When making a donation from your PFD through Pick.Click.Give.,
you can make an impact by sharing just a little with a cause you care about. The Children’s Place would be honored to be an organization you choose through
Pick.Click.Give. when filing this years PFD application. Contributions received through
the Pick.Click.Give. program are used to support services for children and families
seen at The Children's Place.
S’mores for More: Wasilla High Students making a difference .
Deb Haynes’ Human Relations class at Wasilla High School has chosen The Children’s Place as the nonprofit who will benefit from the sales of their delicious homemade S’mores. The students are getting
much more from the S’mores than expected. It is impressive how these students recognize many different
facets of this fund raising project. In a recent Frontiersman newspaper article, students conveyed how they learn to work
together as a team and appreciate what each individual student has to bring to the project. The students were also noted as
understanding the importance of being excellent stewards in the community through the class and Peer Helper program.
Last but not least, these student are also gaining employability skills they can use in future employment. Money raised will
be used to help children and their families in dealing with traumatic events in their lives. The Children’s Place would like to
applaud these youth and Deb Haynes for their contribution to The Children’s Place, and ultimately the difference they are
making in our community. A wonderful in depth article “Gimme S'more” was featured in the Frontiersman on December 9,
2014. The complete article can be accessed on the Frontiersman website at http:// www.frontiersman.com
If you would like to receive the newsletter via e-mail or would like to be removed from our mailing list, please send a message to:
hjohnson@thechildrens-place.org or call us at 357-5157.
Sparkling Moments
October: ~ Soup and Bread L uncheon, our 6th A nnual Fall Fundraiser Hosted by M at-Su Title Agency, LLC.
~ Executive Director, Paula Jones, presented to the Wasilla Noon Rotary about The Children’s Place.
~ KTVA Channel 11 story on child abuse awareness and prevention, featuring The Children’s Place.
November: ~ T he Children’s Place staff attended the 2014 A lask a Child M altreatm ent Conference.
~ Lights in the Night Banquet awards were received by several members of the Mat-Su
Multidisciplinary Team received awards for their contributions in addressing Child Abuse.
~ The Children’s Place article about Child Advocacy Centers in the Make A Scene Magazine:
The People’s Paper.
December: ~ T he Children’s Place Open House and Cook ie Day.
~ The Children’s Place applied for Reaccreditation with the National Children’s Alliance.
ChildFirst Alaska is a joint effort by the Alaska Children’s Alliance, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Law, Office of
Children’s Services, UAA Child Welfare Academy and Child Advocacy Center staff and Multidisciplinary Team members.
This nationally recognized, best-practice model is an intensive 5-day course, with a full day in class followed by homework in the evening.
In order to receive certification, attendees must successful complete a practice interview applying the ChildFirst© protocol and pass a written essay exam at the end of the course. Thanks to instructors Deven Cunningham, Brittany Dunlop, Lori Markkanen and Tisha Simmons
for making this class a success!
~ The BEST of the BEST ~
We, at The Children’s Place, would like to mention how lucky we are as a community to have the Mat-Su Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT). The Mat-Su Multidisciplinary Team includes representatives from the District
Attorney's Office, Alaska State Troopers, Palmer and Wasilla Police Departments, the Attorney General’s Office, the Division
of Juvenile Justice, Office of Children’s Services, The Children’s Place, and mental health providers Playful Journeys, Deb
Haynes, Brad Holl, Nick Wahl, and CoDI.
At the 2014 Child Maltreatment Conference Awards Banquet (Lights in the Night) 2 of 5 state wide awards were presented
to our own Mat-Su MDT Members. Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson was recognized for her contribution as an individual, and
Mat-Su ABI Crimes Against Children Unit received an award for their work as a team.
The Mat-Su Multidisciplinary Team Mission:
Bridging agencies so children and families can find support, protection and justice.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
(the following are excerpts from an online CDC article at http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy)
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations
ever conducted to assess associations between childhood maltreatment and later-life
health and well-being. The study is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente's Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego.
The initial phase of the ACE Study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to
1997. More than 17,000 participants completed a standardized physical examination.
The ACE Study findings suggest that certain experiences are major risk factors for the
leading causes of illness and death as well as poor quality of life in the United States. It
is critical to understand how some of the worst health and social problems in our nation can arise as a consequence of adverse childhood experiences. Realizing these connections is likely to improve efforts towards prevention and recovery.
Childhood abuse, neglect, and exposure to other traumatic stressors which we term adverse childhood experiences (ACE)
are common. Almost two-thirds of our study participants reported at least one ACE, and more than one of five reported three
or more ACE. The short- and long-term outcomes of these childhood exposures include a multitude of health and social problems.
Resiliency
Resiliency is the ability to overcome difficulties. These difficulties may be tragedy, personal
crises, trauma, or every-day type problems. There are some ways to improve resiliency in our
children. One protective factor is “knowledge of parenting and child development.”
These include:
*Have clear expectations and rules
*Establish consequences
*Verbally say “I love you”
*Praise a child in their success
*Let a child know you are available to help
Promoting resiliency is a great way to strengthen our families. Healthy families strengthen our community.
(Submitted by Erin Rockey, R.N. @ The Children’s Place)
Earning dollars for The Children’s Place by using your Fred Meyer rewards card.
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Link your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to The Children’s Place at www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards.
You can search for us by name or by our non-profit number (84670).
It's that easy...please share
$$ Make your Amazon dollars go further $$
Support Matanuska Community Health Care Inc.(The Children’s Place) by shopping at AmazonSmile.
Register at Smile.amazon.com and choose Matanuska Community Health Care Inc. as your charity.
The Children’s Place Board of Directors
Michelle Steward—Chair
Nicole Caldarea—Vice Chair
Paul Dombroski—Treasurer
Terry Archibald—Secretary
Anna Clark—Director
Kibe Lucas– Director
Roger Beck, DDS —Director
Paula Jones— Executive Director *non voting
member
Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, MD—Medical Director
*non voting member
Our Board has vacancies! If you have ever considered
serving on the Board of Directors for
The Children’s Place, now is the time!
Please contact us at 357-5157.
For more information about The Children’s Place, please visit our website at: http://www.alaskachildrensplace.com
The Children’s Place
P.O. Box 871788
Wasilla, AK 99687
www.alaskachildrensplace.com
907-357-5157
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THE CHILDREN’S PLACE 16TH ANNUAL FUNDRAISER GALA
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Evangelo’s Restaurant in Wasilla
Our gala includes dinner, entertainment, a fabulous silent auction, and a small live auction.
Please watch for your personal invitation which will be mailed in March 2015.
Table Sponsorship Levels:
__ Platinum $5,000 __ Gold $2,500 __ Silver $1,250
A table sponsorship reserves 8 seats. Limited single seating is also available on a first come first
serve basis for a suggested minimum donation of $75 per person. Seating is limited.
To reserve a table, single seats, or make a donation, please contact:
The Children’s Place at 357-5157
Thank you for your support!
The Children’s Place is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Your tax-deductible donations are accepted and greatly
appreciated all year.
Donations are accepted in the form of cash, checks, money orders,
cashier’s checks, Visa and Master Card.
We are funded by:
State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
Alaska Children’s Alliance
Mat-Su Borough Human Services Community Matching Grant
United Way of Mat-Su
Alaska Children’s Alliance
and contributions from many corporate and individual donors.
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