Friday, Jul. 30, 2010, Mercedsunstar.com
By MIKE NORTH
mnorth@mercedsun-star.com
TURLOCK -- Eddie Perez, an Atwater resident who works as a house supervisor with at-risk teens in Turlock, sat down for dinner one night last week.
He was interrupted by a phone call.
It was a former resident of the Excell Center, the foster home where Perez works. He had called to catch up with Perez, a man he considers a close friend and mentor.
After hanging up, Perez continued with dinner, only to be interrupted by a second, and later a third phone call from other former center members who wanted to chat with him.
Perez finally got a chance to eat after the third call. He said he didn't mind the interruptions at all. He's glad to know he's made an impact on so many lives.
Perez, along with others at the Excell Center, part of San Francisco-based Aspiranet, takes pride in jump-starting the lives of at-risk teens who need guidance, and they're experts at finding innovative ways to do it.
The center is based in Turlock, but many of its employees and the young men it tries to help hail from Merced County.
The center just finished its latest project -- painting buildings around the facility.
It may sound like a mundane task, but for the young men at the Excell Center it was an exciting chance to learn a new trade, said Art Chaparro, development director for Aspiranet.
"Most of them found their niche -- what they like, what they want to do," he said.
About 425 gallons of paint was donated by Lawrence Eleyh, owner of Mirage Painting in Turlock. He was also one of the contractors helping to teach the young men various painting techniques.
When the contractors arrived at the Excell Center to help with the painting, the residents were fascinated by the process, Chaparro said.
Opening the residents up to various trades broadens their idea of what's available to them, he said.
Chaparro hopes to start more programs like it. Plans could include plant care and carpeting work, assuming someone in the community is willing to partner with the Excell Center as Eleyh did.
The center has also enjoyed success with two other programs aimed at teaching the residents new trades and skills, said Ted Ayres, assistant regional director for Aspiranet.
One program involves training dogs for the blind and for hospital visits. Another involves growing fruit, vegetables and raising various animals including chickens and goats, he said.
These programs don't only benefit the residents of the Excell Center, they benefit the community, Ayres said.
Programs the Excell Center provides help the troubled teens with better social and intellectual skills, said Shamerin Shamoon, a clinical social worker at the facility.
"There's quite a bit of research that suggests when you allow the children to learn skills, they use those skills to contribute to their home, to their community," she said. "They feel better about themselves, they feel worthy, so it increases their confidence, and they feel they can be successful in other areas."
A lot of the troubled teens living at the Excell Center were raised in environments that didn't give them a good shot at success, Shamoon said.
"The level of abuse and neglect that these children have gone through is heartbreaking," Shamoon said. "What we teach them here is you cannot change the past, but your future is within your control. I've had several youths that I've actually enrolled in college."
Many of the residents at the Excell Center arrive with poor social skills and emotional issues, she said. But because of the structured environment and programs the facility offers, they leave with confidence and opportunity.
One resident even received a summer-job offer from one of the contractors, Shamoon said.
"Do you know what that does to a 17-year-old's confidence? He was valued, he's important," she said.
Life changes like those make working at the Excell Center less of a job and more of a way of life, Perez said. He started working there for the paycheck, but stayed for the camaraderie.
As long as he's able to make changes in the lives of at-risk teens, he said he'll continue to make the long commute from Atwater.
There are kids within the Aspiranet system who need foster homes. To inquire about serving as a foster parent, call (877) 380-4376.
Reporter Mike North can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or mnorth@mercedsun-star.com.
Read at Mercedsunstar.com.
If you appreciate fine art, you will
Vote for Art Chaparro!
Right now, through Friday, July 30th, go to http://www.oxnardsalsafestival.com/, click on Dancing with Our Community Stars and then click on Vote for Art!
If you missed his world class performance, Art rocked the stage with his partner Kelly Richardson, at the 2010 Oxnard Salsa Festival’s Dancing with Our Community Stars Competition last Sunday. Check it out on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwo9HAdVaNA
Art danced to the song “Esperanza,” which means “hope” in Spanish. When you vote now, you will be helping Art become the 2010 “People’s Choice” winner but, better yet, you will be providing much-needed hope to foster children and families throughout Ventura County.
$1 = 1 vote
With your help, Art Chaparro, Aspiranet and the foster children and families they support will all be big winners!
July 16, 2010
TriCountySentry.com
Oxnard , Calif. -- When Kelly Richardson was paired up with Art Chaparro, Aspiranet’s Director of Development, to participate in the Oxnard Salsa Festival’s 2010 Dancing with Our Community Stars (DWOCS) competition, little did she know that she would discover another passion in addition to dancing – helping foster children.
Chaparro, who is dancing for Ventura County foster children programs, has no formal dance training. Richardson, an investment bank receptionist by day and salsa teacher and performer by night, volunteered her time to teach Chaparro how to perform “the hammerlock, grapevine and the gentlemen’s break.” These salsa moves will be a part of their routine when they step on to the dance floor at the Oxnard Salsa Festival’s Dancing with Our Community Stars July 25th competition.
I had been praying to find an avenue that would allow me to use my passion for dance to help others,” said Richardson. “Meeting Art and learning more about Aspiranet was an answer to this prayer.”
Richardson, who teaches private and group salsa lessons at Isabelle’s Dance Academy in Santa Monica and performs salsa and Flamenco throughout Southern California, plans to continue her support of Aspiranet after the DWOCS competition ends by volunteering to teach foster teens how to dance.
"There is such a sense of empowerment and confidence that develops in people when they learn new skills, such as dance,” said Richardson. “I believe that confidence could serve as a source of inspiration for foster children and help them find their inner hero.”
Richardson is just one of six professional salsa dance instructors paired with the community dancers to choreograph and polish their routines. The couples, each dancing for a different charitable organization, are given six short weeks to learn their routines and then, on July 25th, compete at the Oxnard Salsa Festival in front of a panel of judges and thousands of audience members. The popular vote, measured by the amount of money each charity dancer collects, determines the winner.
Hector Sanchez, who is dancing with Mary Olson, General Manager for KCLU Radio, is no stranger to the DWOCS competition. Sanchez, a past performer, is volunteering as an instructor for the second year in a row.
“I love Dancing with our Community Stars,” said Sanchez. “It is a great way to energize the community about dance and at the same time, raise funds for worthy charities.”
Sanchez, who comes from a dancing family, started his own salsa club while in high school and is currently a member and dance instructor of the prestigious Santa Barbara Dance Center . In addition to being a student at UCSB and working full-time, Sanchez owns his own dance performance company, called Justbaila. By the July 25th competition showdown, Sanchez and Olson will have practiced their routine together for over 30 hours.
“The connection between partners is the most important component of a successful dance routine,” said Sanchez. “This year, my partner is very hardworking and competitive. Our passions balance each other perfectly.”
The other DWOCS salsa instructors in this year’s competition are:
• Vanessa Hernandez, a teacher at Ventura’s House of Dance, who has been dancing since age three. She is paired with Doug Green, who is dancing for The Social Justice Fund for Ventura County.
• Jesse “Chuy” Rodriguez, an Oxnard and Los Angeles dance champion. Rodriguez was the 2009 winner of the DWOCS Dance Contest with partner and FOOD Share CEO Bonnie Weigel. This year he is teamed with Jax Rains-Turk who is dancing for Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast.
• Ricky Campos, director of Oxnard’s Reyes De La Rumba dance team, which has been representing Oxnard in Salsa Congresses nationwide for the past 11 years. Campos is paired with Sandra Laby, who is dancing for the Ventura Music Festival and performing on her 50th wedding anniversary.
• Christina Maggio, has traveled and taught dance throughout the tri-counties, El Salvador , and Mexico . Maggio is partnered with Will Reed, who dancing for St. Vincent de Paul/Winter Warming Shelter.
The real winners of the Dancing with Our Community Stars competition are the six participating nonprofit organizations. This fundraising opportunity has raised more than $115,000 over three years for local charities.
Dancing With Our Community Stars is being held at the Oxnard Salsa Festival on Sunday, July 25th at 1 p.m. at Plaza Park in downtown Oxnard . To learn more about the Dancing With Our Community Stars competition and vote for your favorite charity and dancing couple, go to http://www.oxnardsalsafestival.com/.
Read the article at TriCountySentry.com.
