Visit us at www.ssg.org SSG Newsle er November - December 2016

C DExecutive Director’s Message: Refl ections and Resolutions

Greetings to all with sincere thanks for all your hard work and dedication throughout the year. At this time each year I refl ect upon our agency’s many accomplishments with over 600 active staff, 300+ volunteers, talented consultants and far-reaching agency partners. I am humbled and proud of our organization’s effectiveness in serving diverse communities.

In keeping with our social mission as an organization it is important to remember we address community needs in all areas of service among all walks of life – an enormous responsibility that we all bear proudly. The communities we serve often have no other means of support.

Change starts with the individual. All of us at SSG are here because of a desire to help our fellow human beings and improve the quality of their lives. Our daily actions and activities truly matter to communities served and I am proud to state that we are extremely successful in our work with over 20,000 children, youth, adults and older adults effectively served by SSG programs this past year.

While I know I am not alone in feeling both sobered and anxious about changes in 2017 as public policies at the federal, state and county levels are defi ned under a new

administration – I am also confi dent that we will remain vigilant to protect vulnerable populations and seek innovative ways to maximize all opportunities to support the communities we serve. Public-private partnerships will continue to be a priority for SSG and we are already ramped up to pursue major initiatives in homelessness, behavioral healthcare, primary healthcare, housing, substance abuse and empowering communities. Our grass-roots programming will continue unabated in all areas. I pledge to you that I will continue to do everything within my power to uphold our agency’s mission of service and community empowerment and leave no stone unturned to seek new and improved opportunities for success.

So in an era of uncertainty and anxiety about what tomorrow may bring I hope you will all put that aside for the moment during this holiday season and cherish what’s most important to us all and that is our families, loved ones and our many blessings. Renew and refresh as the saying goes and express your appreciation to others. Please enjoy yourselves you are truly deserving.

-Herb-

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SSG NEWS HIGHLIGHTSP2

WCC CYPHERICS Graduations

Weber Community Center’s ICS department recently celebrated the graduation of four youth from the Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program. The youth are referred by the probation department, or from local schools to take part in the 5-7 month program that includes weekly group and individual counseling. After completing the ICS Program, two youth were also successfully discharged from their probation. WCC is very proud of these youth and looks forward to continuing to support their growth and development!

Immersion Pilot programWeber Community Center is excited to announce that we are teaming up with the Department of Mental Health for the implementation of the Katie A. Immersion Pilot Program. The primary focus of the pilot program is to implement the 4-Step Share Core Practice Model (Engaging, Teaming, Assessing, and Tracking and Adapting.) WCC currently has two families that are active participants in this program and are due to successfully complete the program by the end of December. This pilot program and its fi ndings will soon be presented to a panel for quality service review, and WCC looks forward to a successful partnership and to being on the cutting edge of changes to mental health services.

CYPHER had a lot of great initiatives in 2016. Here’s a look back at a few

stellar highlights!

Cris Liban, D.Env., P.E., a member of CYPHER’s Advisory Council, was recently named recipient of the Pamana ng Pilipino Award of the 2016 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas, the highest civilian award bestowed every two years by the Philippine government to Filipinos who live overseas. Please help us congratulate him!

Jim Gilmer, a well-known statewide health policy leader, is joining us to link us to key industry partners and a national initiative. Please help us welcome him!

Jeff McKenzie is spearheading the Climate Music Project, to be done jointly with RHODES FEST, an organization promoting music and arts education initiative in the spirit of Harold Rhodes who invented the Rhodes electric piano. The Climate Music Project will create original music focused on telling grass-root experiences with a changing environment and how to address it; it is part of our #MyKnowledgeCounts campaign.

CYPHER is approved to be on the GlobalGiving Accelerator Program, a 5-week social marketing initiative! The opportunity is to be a permanent hosted project provided we raise $5,000 from 40 donors by Dec 31. Please help us get the word out!

CYPHER’s Project Information on GlobalGivingProject Name: Building Grass-Root CleanTech Innovation

Link to your project: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/building-grass-root-cleantech-innovation/ --> A

shorter URL for Twitter, SMS, or Facebook is https://goto.gg/25712

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SSG NEWS HIGHLIGHTSP3

BACUP

Happy Holidays!

APCTC

APCTC’s staff holiday party took place on Friday, December 9, 2016 at the City of Cerritos Liberty Park. The day consisted of food, fun and team building activities.

BACUP UPDATES and MESSAGE FROM ANDREW POSNER

SSG welcomes Vera Calloway as the new Director of BACUP as of November 28, 2016.

Please watch for upcoming newsletter articles on Ms. Calloway as well as Mr. Andrew Posner, past Director of BACUP.

And here is a message received from Andy: “Happy holidays! Thank you for your support and well wishes. I think of my friends at SSG often and with fondness. All the best, Andy Posner”

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SSG NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

APAIT

World AIDS Day and Organizing People with HIV/AIDS (PWHIV)

This year marked the 35th anniversary of the AIDS epidemic. In commemoration of the many lives lost, the millions that continue to be impacted, and the recent national election results, APAIT will double its advocacy efforts heading into 2017. In particular, APAIT is committed to increasing the engagement of people with HIV/AIDS (PWHIV) in its advocacy activities through a new partnership with AIDS United’s Positive Organizing Project (POP). The project will engage its consumer base in advocacy and organizing training culminating in advocacy-driven activities, including but not limited to letter writing campaigns, legislative visits at local and state levels, as well as participation in the annual AIDS Watch Lobby Day in Washington, DC.

APAIT and HOPICS forge new housing partnership for people living

with HIV (PWHIV)South Los Angeles has not only been signifi cantly impacted by the homelessness epidemic, but also by the AIDS epidemic. The dual challenge among South LA residents living with HIV and struggling with homelessness is a real and present danger in their quality of life. Through a collaborative grant with APLA Health, SSG divisions APAIT and HOPICS have partnered together to provide HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS) programming starting this fall. Services include short term rental, mortgage, and utility (STRMU) assistance, tenant based rental assistance (TBRA), and permanent housing placement (PHP). The program is funded through the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act of 1992 to prevent homelessness and promote permanent, safe and affordable independent housing.

The HOPWA team from l to r: Ron Cortes, Ismael Godinez, and Juan Rivera

TRANSLATIN@ COALITION Elton John AIDS Foundation

TransLatin@ Coalition’s Founding Director Bamby Salcedo was among the keynote speakers at this year’s Elton John AIDS Foundation gala held in Washington, DC. In addition to her speaking duties, Bamby also had the honor of introducing the legendary icon and philanthropist himself, Sir Elton John. Trans Latin@ Coalition is one of the benefi ciaries of the foundation for fi scal year 2016-2017. Congrats!

Trans Latina Coalition Founding Director Bamby Salcedo and philanthropist Sir Elton John

Chinese Brochure Focus Group

The statewide mental health awareness campaign Each Mind Matters is in full swing. In an effort to ensure culturally competent and linguistically appropriate outreach to the Chinese community, APAIT and PALS for Health have been providing technical assistance to transform promotional materials into traditional and simplifi ed Chinese language. Stakeholders were recruited to review material appropriateness through a focus group with the completed set for distribution in 2017.

Focus group participants for the Chinese language Each Mind Matters campaign

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SSG NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

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APAIT contingent at this year’s AIDS Walk

AIDS Walk 2016Team APAIT, in partnership with long-time corporate partner Neutrogena – a Johnson and Johnson company was out in force during this year’s AIDS Walk Los Angeles. The APAIT contingent marched in the 10K walk at the event’s new venue in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. APAIT’s Board of Advisors-led fundraising goal for the Walk was $10,000, which it successfully surpassed this year. Go Team APAIT!

APAITAPAIT-OC Reignites Vietnamese Positive

Support Group: Song Lanh Manh

Song Lanh Manh (translates as “positive living”), a support group for monolingual or limited-English-speaking Vietnamese HIV positive consumers, began this fall at APAIT-OC. Behavioral Health Associate Minh Tran stated “Song Lanh Manh began because of the increased demand and referrals we were receiving county-wide for culturally competent and linguistically appropriate services for Vietnamese people living with HIV.” For details about the group, please contact 714-636-1669.

RELIAS REMINDERSSG subscribes to the web-based training service Relias Learning and hope it has been and will become an excellent resource for staff across the agency. Find general information about Relias and their trainings: www.reliaslearning.com.

Employees at the following Divisions should log in at their respective Relias site/portal:• Alliance: ssgalliance.training.reliaslearning.com• APAIT: ssgapait.training.reliaslearning.com• APCTC: ssgapctc.training.reliaslearning.com• HOPICS: ssghopics.training.reliaslearning.com• OTTP-LA: ssgottp-la.training.reliaslearning.com• SILVER: ssgsilver.training.reliaslearning.com

All other SSG Divisions login to: • SSG’s Relias Site: ssg.training.reliaslearning.com

Your User Account: Everyone has a unique account as a Relias “learner”. This is your portal to: participate in trainings, access updates about what training is due, and access all your training history.

Your username is your employee ID number • If you were hired on or after Feb 1, 2016,

your employee ID number is in the upper right hand corner of your paycheck stub

• If you were hired prior to Feb 1, 2016, contact HR if you forgot your employee ID number

• You can also click “forgot username” if you forgot your employee ID number

Your initial password is the word ‘password’. When you are logged in for the fi rst time, you will be prompted to update your password.Staff are enrolled in trainings by their supervisorIf interested in any trainings, see your supervisor

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SSG NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

DEVELOPMENT TEAM

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SSG/HOPICS IN ACTION!Group Addresses LA County Board of Supervisors on 12/6/16

Executive Director Herbert Hatanaka and HOPICS Division Director Veronica Lewis proudly led a group advocacy effort at the LA County Board of Supervisors meeting on 12/6/16 in support of homeless funding via a ¼-cent sales tax. The Board voted unanimously to place this tax increase on the March 7, 2017 ballot. If passed, the money will fund the county’s 47-point plan for addressing LA’s growing homeless crisis. As of the last homeless census in January 2015, the county counted nearly 47,000 people sleeping on the streets, in tents, in cars and in shelters and temporary homeless housing programs—a 19 percent increase from 2013’s count.

Herb is very proud of SSG/HOPICS’ leadership, unwavering vision and comprehensive service design to combat homelessness especially in Service Area 6. “The years of advocacy and service have been well spent. We have been saying this for decades. Housing plus services is the only way to go and we are fi nally seeing a new era of integrated and focused planning. Even in the midst of national political turmoil I see LA County leading by example to effectively serve our homeless families. I know we will prevail in 2017”.

For more on LA County’s 47-point plan for addressing LA’s homeless crisis here is the link: http://priorities.lacounty.gov/homeless/

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SSG NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Happy holidays from OTTP-LA!

OTTP-LA PNYP

Happy holidays from PNYP!

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SAFETY

Try the Tire Tread TestFind Your Recommended Tire Infl ation

Locate the recommended tire pressure on your vehicle’s tire information placard which is attached to the door edge, glove box or trunk lid and can also be found in the owner’s manual.Tires are designed to be used on more than one type of vehicle. The correct pressure for your tire is what the vehicle manufacturer has listed on the placard. NOT what is listed on the tire itsself.

Time to Replace Your Wiper BladesWindshield wiper blades should be inspected at the start of each season--most importantly winter and summer. Winter weather wreaks havoc on visibility and a weak blade is going to fail on you. Start the season off prepared!

Also:• Make sure your vehicle is working properly and can

be seen by other drivers.• Pay attention to the road –minimize distractions.• Avoid the Other Driver.• Scan for erratic drivers and expect the unexpected.• If you suspect another driver is impaired (drunk or

drugged) give them lots of space and contact the police.

SOME DATES TO REMEMBER FOR JANUARY - FEBRUARY

1/1 New Year’s Day 1/2 New Year’s Day Observed (SSG Holiday) 1/16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day (SSG Holiday) 1/28 Lunar New Year 2/14 Valentine’s Day 2/20 President’s Day (SSG Holiday)

Happy Holidays!

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EARTHQUAKE DRILL AT THE CORE OFFICE

Staged re-enactments to prepare for the real thing!

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Your Name or Picture May Appear in SSG’s Newsletter and Website

If you participate in an agency event and an article or picture from that event is submitted for publication, your name and/or picture may be included. If you do not want your picture or name to be included, please refrain from being photographed at events and let your supervisor know not to include your name in articles. You may also contact Tonie Diaz in the HR Dept. at adiaz@ssg.org or Leah McGowan for newsletter

publishing and donation inquiries at lmcgowan@ssg.org.

SAFETY

AFTER THE SHAKING STOPS:Carefully assess your environment with all your senses. Be careful not to inhale airborne particles (keep eyes and mouth closed) and be on the alert for heat or smoke. Listen for anything that may still be shifting or falling. Then, open your eyes and look around in all directions. Has anything shifted or fallen? Slowly get up, being sure to not hit your head or stumble into anything that has moved. Look at the ground - are there any broken objects or glass that could hurt you?When you are back on your feet:You may need to evacuate your building if there was strong shaking, especially if there are reports of structural damage. You may also need to turn off your gas valve if you smell gas. Consider turning off your circuit breakers, but only do so one by one and after you have shut off all light switches to prevent any sparking which could cause a fi re.Once you have determined that you are safe, begin informing others or check in on others. Text fi rst, talk second - a text is far more likely to go through. Cell lines may be busy, due to the number of phone calls others are making. Texts take less bandwidth than a phone call.