By Zoey Giesberg, MSW At last month’s FACTx conference, I gave a presentation on California’s Self Determination law. It’s a complicated law that revolves a regional center’s client ability to control what services they get, and more information on it can be found here. In my presentation, I was joined by two students in the GAP program to talk about our personal experiences and what the law would mean to us. But while I was trying to relay information on…
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By Linda Andron-Ostrow, LCSW On October 14 and 15th, our old friend TED made his presence felt at the Electric Lodge in Venice through the voices of over 30 individuals whose lives have been touched by autism and other disabilities. I can say that it was as amazing as I hoped it would be. Families, professionals, interns and individuals with disabilities were in the audience, both live and remote, where wisdom was shared 15 minutes at a time. And as…
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Leadership One of the most important elements that ensures the relevance and success of any nonprofit organization is that special group of individuals who devote their time, resources and expertise to ensure that the organization is true to its mission. This is often referred to as the “governance” level of the organization, and it comprises the board of directors, advisory board(s), as well as standing and special committees. At FACT we have been especially blessed to have had the devotion…
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Welcome to Staff Spotlight! Here we honor special members of the FACT staff who help our community and give them the kudos they deserve! This month, we celebrate Destinie Hernandez. Destinie supports one-on-one with college student Christian on areas like mobility training and college prep like campus navigation and safety plans and strategies. FACT recently received a call from Christian’s mother about how Destinie has touched Christian’s and her lives. With her permission, we’d like to share that wonderful message:
By Linda Andron-Ostrow, LCSW Yes, he is a talking bear that’s has starred in two movies. But the TED I’m referring to is a series of short talks of 15 to 18 minutes on various subjects with the aim to teach and expand people’s minds. You may have seen TED’s videos all over the Internet and make up conferences all over the world. TED himself was not available as he works for a corporation. But he did think that the idea of…
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Thanks to all who attended in person or online. If you would like to view some of the presentations, contact [email protected] This was the full line-up: October 14, 2016 8 to 9 AM Check In/Welcome: Marc Haupert, Interim Executive Director 9: 00 AM Linda Andron-Ostrow: Opening Remarks 9:45 AM Susan Schmidt Lackner, MD: “Biomedical Interventions: Healing the Whole Child” 10: 20 AM 15 MINUTE BREAK 10:35 AM Erika…
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It is a true pleasure and honor to be greeting you as the new Interim Executive Director of FACT. Of course first off I want to acknowledge Linda Andron for her fierce determination and dedication to FACT and to the wide diversity of clients and families it serves. We held a thank you dinner for her at the end of June and the outpouring of thanks and praise from current and former staff, clients, colleagues and families was remarkable. Her…
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Powered by Eventbrite Note: come back regularly to learn about new performances, events and opportunities that will be part of this fun day! Due to overwhelming popular demand, The Strindberg Laboratory’s “Jails to Jobs Program” and FACT are proud to bring back their very popular show, Daroca’s Curious Journey, a fantastical play about a circus troupe’s madness when they arrive at a magical bus stop. The play is 30 minutes of original stories, dances, songs and plenty of mayhem! The…
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William Shakespeare once wrote “parting is such sweet sorrow”, and we at FACT know this feeling well. Our wonderful President Karen Heads is stepping down after many years of wonderful service to our community. She and our other outgoing board members will continue to serve in FACT’s leadership on committees, and so wish them the best of luck, and welcome our newest board members with open arms! Click below the cut for more pictures of our 2016 board dinner!
By Linda Andron-Ostrow, Director of Programs and Services I would like to thank everyone who read our last email blast announcing my position change, and mostly to the many people who responded. It really highlights the fact that at FACT, we are a family. To clarify, I am not retiring but rather transitioning. Transition has many meanings to many people, but what all transitions have in common is change—ideally a change that is gradual and keeps supports in place. The word succession contains…
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