Aspiranet Foster Family receives exterior paint job from Lancaster Painting

The Bakers have welcomed 70 children into their home over the last fifteen years. They are giving, patient, kind and forgiving. They accept youth the way they are and help them believe in the limitless possibilities of the future. They give every foster youth tools they need to be their best and prepare them for the twists and turns that life always presents.

Great people like the Bakers deserve recognition for all they've done as foster parents. Thanks to Lancaster Painting of Turlock, that well-deserved recognition came in the form of an exterior paint job valued at $6,000. The Bakers were nominated as recipients of Lancaster Painting's Paint it Forward contest by Aspiranet social workers Sharon Salaiz and Sandra Genova.

Forty community volunteers showed up at the Baker's home Saturday, Feb. 25th ready to paint. In just a few hours, the work was complete. The Baker's home now matches the beauty found inside as they care for foster youth.

Thank you, Lancaster Painting, Light House Communications, Paul's Paint Company and Sherwin-Williams making Paint it Forward a reality.

Please check out the photos from Paint it Forward below:

Beautiful!

lunch time!

Taking a water break

Priming the Exterior

Bobbie Baker

Aspiranet Social Workers Sharon and Gina

If you'd like to partner with Aspiranet, please contact us. 

Experience Corps Volunteer Raul Castañeda Honored as California Senior Leader

An active member of Experience Corps for the past three years, 66-year-old Raul Castañeda has spent more than 600 hours tutoring and mentoring young students at San Francisco’s Hillcrest Elementary School. On February 27, 2010,the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health honored Castañedaas a California Senior Leader. Castañeda was among a diverse group of 31 men and women aged 60 and older recognized at the event for their outstanding contributions to community building, healthy aging, and social justice in the state. Over the next 15 months, Castañeda’s involvement with the Senior Leader program will include organizing senior advocacy efforts and collaborating with public health graduate students.

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SNBC Hosted National Night Out BBQ A Success

On Tuesday, August 4, Aspiranet Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center (SNBC) hosted a National Night Out event at its Rec Connect Center.

SNBC Director of Policies and Partnerships Michael Funk, San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong, SNBC Rec Connect Program Director Ryan McCarthy, and Aspiranet CFO Lewis Overton, Jr.

The nationwide National Night Out campaign is a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch. The campaign involves citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations, and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide. In all, over 37 million people participated in National Night Out 2008.

National Night Out is designed to:

• Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
  
• Generate support for, and participation in, local anti-crime programs;
  
• Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and
  
• Send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.

SNBC participated in the event with an open invitation to the Sunset Neighborhood to partake in free food, games, face painting, and music at SNBC's National Night Out BBQ! The event was held on a sunny afternoon at the SNBC Rec Connect Center, at which SNBC is working to strengthen San Francisco recreation centers as lively community hubs with new and improved programs for youth and their families.

To view a photo gallery of pictures taken at the SNBC National Night Out Community BBQ, please visit http://snbc.org/photos/national-night-out-2009

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School Volunteers Discover Fountain of Youth Experience Corps Bay Area Seniors Gain Improved Quality of Life

From Grantee Magazine, a California Wellness Foundation publication
By Cathy Curtis

San Francisco-based Aspiranet (formerly Moss Beach Homes, Inc.)—which established the Bay Area site of the national Experience Corps program in 1998—received a three-year, $150,000 grant from TCWF in June 2006 for core operating support for an intergenerational, volunteer-based tutoring program that concurrently improves senior health.

“The goal behind creating a team of volunteers is that they see each other on a daily basis,” said Kaleda Walling, ECBA director. “This is a way for them to connect and share similar interests.”

Studies of Experience Corps volunteers show that the program provides multiple health and social benefits. The Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health surveyed volunteers who had participated in the program for four to eight months. These seniors said they were more active (63 percent) and felt stronger (44 percent). They had also made new friends and spent fewer hours watching TV.

• Read full article in Grantee Magazine
• Visit Experience Corps Website

Experience Corps® Bay Area Featured on ABC-7 Bay Area TV

Retirees Inspire Inner-City Kids to Thrive
Experience Corps® Bay Area volunteers were featured on the evening news, demonstrating their engagement with children at San Francisco’s Malcom X Elementary School. Mentors, like Amanda Prescott and Barbara Thomas, explained that they enjoy helping children learn.