April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

Help a child become a hero – not a statistic

In California there are over 75,000 children in foster care. Children primarily come into foster care after being neglected, with some suffering physical or sexual abuse.

Prevention is the best hope for reducing child abuse and neglect and improving the lives of children and families. Preventing child abuse and strengthening families requires a shared commitment from individuals and organizations in every community.

Join us this month in spreading the word about National Child Abuse Prevention Month, consider fostering or adopting through foster care, and help provide a safe, loving environment for a child.

Learn more at http://www.aspiranet.org/childabuse

Family fosters hope for the future

by Tiffany Tuell
Published Thursday, March 25, 2010 in the Sierra Star

More than 100,000 children in this country are waiting to be adopted, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families Administration on Children.

There are 20,832 foster children in California waiting to be adopted, according to the North American Council on Adoptable Children.

One local family has made an impact to reduce those statistics. When Doris and Mark Brekhus of Oakhurst couldn't have children of their own, they decided to look into foster care. They contacted Aspiranet -- a foster care and adoption agency -- to discuss possibilities. Read more...

Ready for Life’s Encore Performances

By SARAH KERSHAW
Published in the New York Times: March 19, 2010

(PALTO, Calif.) IN the back room of a neighborhood restaurant here, a small group of men and women in their 50s gathered recently to mark a milestone. “I feel like when historians look back and think about this salmon lunch at MacArthur Park, they’ll see this was a real turning point,” said Marc Freedman, who started a pilot program for baby boomers to transition into second careers.

These 10 executives had all left their high-paying jobs in the private sector and joined the pilot program, and this was their formal graduation. They had taken a step familiar to some high school or college students: take a year off to regroup, rethink and figure out what they want to be when they grow up. Read more...

Hollywood Hits the Sunset

Think it takes an international production studio and hundreds of million dollars to make an amazing movie? Think again.

More than 130 community members saw proof that all it takes is talent, creativity, and hard work to produce fantastic films when they attended the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center’s 6th annual Community Film Festival on Friday, March 5, 2010. The Community Film Festival showcased ten short films created by youth and young adult participants in SNBC’s various digital media programs including Sunset Creators Reaching Every Able Mind (SCREAM), SNBC’s middle school Flash Animation Club and Summer Moviemaking Class, and the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), which is hosted by SNBC. Read more...