Family Connections Work Site
	Text Content (Revised 11/27/00)

2.0 About Us

Family Connections is a neighborhood-based Family Resource Center located in the Portola district of San Francisco. We began providing services in 1993, growing out of a collaborative at the neighborhood school, E. R. Taylor Elementary School.

Our Mission Statement: Family Connections exists to develop strong, healthy families and to build a thriving community in the Portola District. Family Connections provides opportunities for people of different backgrounds to work together and to share culture, values, knowledge, and resources.

2.1 Our Story
2.1.1 Our Philosophy

Family Connections strives to implement a set of principles that have guided our approach to meeting the varied needs of the Portola Community. These "Principles of Family Support" do not assume that the difficulties experienced by our community result from some "deficit" that only social service providers can fix. Rather, these guidelines recognize that community members' participation in finding and implementing solutions is essential to realizing a brighter future for our children, our community and ourselves.

Staff and families work together in relationships based on equality and respect.
Family Connections is not a deficit model. It isn't about "what's wrong with you" or "I'll fix you". It's about what's right with you, your family, and the community. Together we can make our neighborhood a safe and supportive place to raise children.

Staff enhances families' capacity to support the growth and development of all family members-adults, youth, and children.
We work to assess family strengths, and to find positive solutions for problems.

Families are resources to their own members, to other families, to programs, and to communities.
Family Connections provides ample opportunities for families to come together and form natural helping networks.

Programs affirm and strengthen families' cultural, racial, and linguistic identities and enhance their ability to function in a multicultural society.
Each culture has definite strengths and we receive positive values from each culture. Higher education and an involvement in community & civic affairs are priorities.

Programs are embedded in their communities and contribute to community-building process.
All of our services are participant-driven. Program ideas come directly from the use of community forums, surveys, and assessments. Outreach workers who live in the community tell us what services we need and how we are doing.

Programs advocate with families for services and systems that are fair, responsive, and accountable to the families served.
Family Connections has participant surveys for all programs. Also, monthly advisory board meetings gives us direction on necessary program changes to find solutions .

Practitioners work with families to mobilize formal and informal resources to support family development.
We have a full-time licensed therapist on site who can see individuals, families, or couples and help them find appropriate resources.

Programs are flexible and continually responsive to emerging family and community issues.
Community participant services demand flexibility. We started off supporting parents through a variety of services. Today the majority of our services are child-centered because of community requests.

Principles of family support are modeled in all program activities, including planning, governance, and administration.
Parent involvement is encouraged and parents can choose the level of involvement that they prefer. Parents put on our multicultural events, advocate for funding, and serve on our parent advisory board.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.1.3 Our Goals and Future

Family Connections has had a very exciting and busy seven years of growth and development. Our most exciting achievement to date has been the purchase of our building on May 10, 2000. We have put together a comprehensive and aggressive fundraising strategy to repay our loans. As we pay off our loans, we will begin to renovate the 2,500-square foot commercial space next door that is now part of our property. We hope to add more space to expand our child-centered programs. Eventually, we plan to renovate the entire space so none of our programs are sharing space and we have enough room to continue meeting community needs.

Many of our families are hopeful that we do program expansion into other areas, particularly youth development. The purchase price of the Family Connections building was $1,300,000. The Family Connections total Capital Campaign fundraising goal is $1,685,000. This price includes renovation expenses. To date we have raised $100,000 from the Junior League of San Francisco and the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. We also have a matching payment of $250,000 from the Department of Human Services. This brings our current fundraising goal to $1,335,000.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.1.4 Milestones in Our History

March 1993: The Very Beginning.
Family Connections was conceived by the advisory board at the E. R. Taylor Elementary School Healthy Start Program. The Healthy Start Program was a state funded Department of Education, three-year, $300,000 grant. The main objective of this program was to bring the school additional support services to help children learn more effectively. The school staff was doing a terrific job with the children, but as a collaborative we were concerned that we needed to be working more with the parents for maximum effectiveness.

At this time, a collaborative member discovered the Community Empowerment Grant through the state Office of Child Abuse Prevention. We helped write the grant and received three years of funding at $100,000 per year. The purpose of the community empowerment grant was to empower families, individuals, and community, allowing them to come together and create a safe, healthy, and supportive environment to raise children.

September 1993: Starting Up.
Maryann Fleming was selected as director of Family Connections. Her first task was to find a good location for the center. We had originally hoped to be closer to the school; however, we could not find the right space. Finally, after a two-month search, we signed a lease in November 1993 for 4,000 square feet of storefront on San Bruno Avenue approximately three blocks from the school. We needed to renovate the building by adding classrooms, bathrooms, offices, and a kitchen.

January 1994: Habitat for Humanity Says Yes!
Habitat for Humanity agrees to come on board and handle all of our necessary renovations. Habitat creates and coordinates all of the drawings for renovation and provides the volunteer laborers for the job. Family Connections pulls the permits and hires the general licensed contractor to oversee the volunteer workers. Construction work finally begins in late March of 1994.

June 1994: Move-in Day.
We are now officially home. In the meantime the director's office moves from E. R. Taylor Elementary School to the new facility on San Bruno Ave. We had been doing ESL classes at Family Connections since we leased the building in 1993. Now we have the opportunity to add our first afternoon summer program for children, exercise classes, and nutrition workshops for parents. Shortly after we moved in, the Portola Branch Librarian called and said they had been evicted and desperately needed a small space to use while they relocated. They moved in later in the month and left 18 months later.

August 1994: IRS Says Yes.
We are granted official tax exemption status, our 501(c)3. We have already served over 100 participants in our first year.

December 1995: Families Say Yes.
We offer our first fee-based program. After three months of successful operation, we have a waiting list for our programs. This year, we served over 200 participants.

September 1996: In the Money.
Family Connections becomes a grant recipient of the Junior League of San Francisco and the Mayor's office of Children Youth and Family. The money from the Office of Child Abuse Prevention ends. Luckily, and just in the nick of time, our new funders become financial partners.

Also this month, we added two more child centered programs: Parent-Child Drop-In and Pre-K.

May 1997: Safety First.
Family Connections helps to get the first traffic light on San Bruno Avenue. The San Francisco Organizing Project (SFOP) invites us to participate in a community action to make San Bruno Avenue a safer place for children. Our kids create a skit about safely crossing the street, and perform it at an action meeting attended by 200 neighborhood residents. The action meeting is effective. A traffic light was installed at a busy intersection, making it safer for kids to cross the street when coming to Family Connections.

Our numbers continue to rise. We are now serving our 350 participants a year.

September 1998: We are Legal.
Family Connections receives a dual license for child care. One is for our after school program, Homework Club, and the second is for Pre-K.

September 1998: New Services.
City College of San Francisco has now placed a morning ESL class each weekday during the school year. Students are very happy that they can take English classes right in their own neighborhood.

Summer 1999: We're Too Big.
Family Connections has growing pains. We have outgrown our current space of 4,000 square feet and are trying to figure out what to do. We see over 600 participants per year. Our computer class, Pre-K class and the ESL classes all share the same space. We are overcrowded and have long waiting lists. Our board of directors began discussion on plans for expansion.

November 1999: Hopeful.
The Family Connections building has been put on the market. We find out about it 6 weeks later. Two offers are already on the table. We start making legions of phone calls to find out what our options are. We agree that if at all possible, we need to buy the building. We have already invested over $100,000 in improvements, we are well known on the street and there are no other properties that are big enough on San Bruno Avenue to accommodate our needs for expansion. Two months later, the Low Income Housing Fund begins to put together a loan package for us.

February 14, 2000: It's Love!
Low Income Housing fund commits to give us a bridge loan so we don't have to raise the funds first to come up with the hefty down-payment. There are no other immediate barriers in the way. It looks like we will actually be able to buy the building!

May 10, 2000: A Done Deal.
Family Connections buys their own building. We are very pleased that we are now permanently anchored in the community. We can build a future based on all the hard work that has gone into Family Connections up until this point. If you are interested in donating to our capital campaign please check out the Get Involved section.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.2 Our Location
2.2.1 Neighborhood Description

The Portola district has been a lesser-known neighborhood in San Francisco. There are many community groups, including Family Connections, that are attempting to gain more visibility and additional services for this area. Our neighborhood primarily consists of single-family homes and a major shopping area on San Bruno Avenue between Silver and Mansell Avenues. The Portola district is in the southeastern quadrant of San Francisco. Although there are no exact boundaries, our neighborhood consists of the area bounded by Route 101 to the east, Madison Avenue to the west, Mansell Avenue to the south, and Silver Avenue to the north.

Our participants come primarily from within the neighborhood. We originally started Family Connections because there were few family services in the neighborhood. Currently, family services include the Silver Avenue Health Clinic, the Boys and Girls Club, the Recreation and Park Department's Palega Playground, the Portola Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, and Family Connections. Average income is moderate to low and the average household size is larger than that in many parts of San Francisco.

We have a high concentration of Chinese immigrants that have moved into the neighborhood in the last five to seven years. This neighborhood was primarily Italian and Maltese in the fifties and sixties, with increasing ethnic diversity occurring in the seventies and eighties. Today, the people served by Family Connection are approximately 60% Asian, 25% Latino, with the remaining 15% a very multicultural mix.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.2.2 Map

Content not developed.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.3 Our People
2.3.1 Staff Profiles

Maryann Fleming, Executive Director
Maryann Fleming is the founding and current Executive Director of Family Connections. She has been involved in non-profit organizations since 1984. For eight years prior to the start of Family Connections, Maryann was program director for a drug prevention partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District in which parents were taught how to prevent substance abuse and other problems.

Maryann was involved with the Healthy Start Collaborative at E. R. Taylor Elementary School in 1992 when discussions began to focus on family support. The Healthy Start school staff was very effective helping children succeed at school, but we all felt the work could be enhanced by more parent involvement. Maryann participated in writing the successful Office of Child Abuse Prevention grant that served as the original seed money that funded Family Connections. In 1993, Maryann was selected as the first employee/director of Family Connections.

Maryann has strong beliefs in the concepts that formed Family Connections: resiliency, empowerment, and participant-driven services. She has been able to actualize some of these ideals in her work at the center and is proud of Family Connections growth and success. She attributes this success to a tenacious temperament and to the many talented people that have made significant contributions to the center over the years.

Grace Vargas, Office Manager
Grace's main function is to assist the Executive Director in running the facility and to provide office support to other staff members when time allows. Grace performs many functions at Family Connections: acting as a receptionist, explaining programs, and coordinating outreach workers and staff. Although she joined Family Connections only recently, she is happy to be part of this family and looks forward to having a future with the organization. A native San Franciscan, she has a family of four grown children, two lovely granddaughters, and three dogs. Her interests include a home travel business, family gatherings, gardening, spending time with friends, fine dining, dancing, and of course traveling.

Gina Mendicino, Licensed Family Therapist
Gina has been with Family Connections for three years and oversees our Parent-Child Drop-In, Tuesday Night Tutorial, College Bound, and Child/Family Therapy programs. She enjoys working as a team player and loves working with people of all ages. She particularly enjoys seeing a young child grow and move through the various programs Family Connections provides. She is a San Francisco Bay Area native. She enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Linda Mastrangelo, Homework Club Teacher
Linda has enjoyed working as a Homework Club teacher for the past five years. She is also currently employed as a teacher's aide at E. R. Taylor Elementary School, where she has worked for the past 14 years. Linda was born in San Francisco where she still resides with her husband and five children. She appreciates the diversity of culture here in San Francisco. She enjoys reading, walking and loves to travel.

Lupe Alvarez, Outreach Worker
Lupe has worked for Family Connections since the summer of 2000. Lupe works in the office performing a variety of duties as assigned. She also helps with the Parent-Child Drop-In program, setting up the Champion and Fun room, preparing snacks, and playing with the children. Lupe comes on Tuesday evening to assist children with their homework; she finds this to be fun for her and rewarding. Lupe Alvarez is a native of San Francisco. The first six years of her life she lived in the Mission District, and then moved to the Portola District where she now resides. She is a mother of three children and who dedicates her time to work and to her wonderful family.

Linda de Martini, Homework Club Teacher
Linda has been a teacher in the Homework Club program for the last four years. She has also been employed as a teacher's aide at E. R. Taylor Elementary School for 15 years. A native San Franciscan and a longtime neighborhood resident, she enjoys interacting with children and especially takes pleasure in the extra hugs she receives from them everyday!

Leona Galea, Homework Club Substitute Teacher
Leona has been a substitute teacher in the Homework Club program since 1996. She is also employed as a teacher's aide at E. R. Taylor Elementary School for 15 years. She especially enjoys the energy and creativity of the children attending our Homework Club Program. Living in the neighborhood where Family Connections and the school are located makes her job rewarding and enjoyable. Reading, traveling, surfing the net, and watching the soaps on TV are a few of her favorite hobbies.

Jeryl Irvine , Homework Club Teacher
Jeryl has been working as a teacher in the Homework Club program for the last three years. During the school day, she works as a Special Day Class teacher's aide at E. R. Taylor Elementary School. She enjoys tutoring the children, and has learned many things herself from all the children she has worked with over the years. Jeryl lives in San Francisco and enjoys being with family and friends, traveling, and visiting new places.

Gladys Alva, Homework Club Substitute Teacher
Gladys has been a teacher's aide at E R. Taylor Elementary School for 14 years and has worked for the San Francisco Unified School District for 26 years. She has worked with children ranging from 4 through 12 years old. Two years ago, she started working at Family Connections as a substitute in the Homework Club. Gladys was born in El Salvador and has lived in San Francisco for over thirty years. She currently attends the City College of San Francisco, in order to obtain her teaching credentials. She completed 45 units in child development at City College and earned an associate's degree in 1970. She enjoys working and interacting with children of all ages and cultures, and particularly enjoys seeing a young child grow and move through the various programs Family Connections provides. In her spare time, she enjoys being with family and friends.

Judie Madrigal-Arnold, Homework Club Substitute Teacher
Judie is a substitute teacher for our Homework Club. Judie currently is a teacher's aide at E. R. Taylor Elementary School where she supports students with special educational needs in their Inclusion Program. She has been working for the San Francisco Unified School District for the past six years. Judie was born and raised in San Francisco in our Portola District. She loves the neighborhood and continues to live here while she is raising her own daughter.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.3.2 Stories

Story #1
Violence is something that plagues most city environments. Whether it is in the home or on the streets, most of us have heard about someone being a victim of a crime. We have had close contact with such a family here at Family Connections. The family we will share about has been personally touched by tragedy. Family Connections played a vital role in helping support this family in the time of need, and was able to provide long term, stable support over the years we have been in contact with the family. The incident of violence, which was a drive by shooting, happened several years ago, but left it's mark on the whole family, possibly forever. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time for a young family man named Paul, has been something he has had nightmares about ever since. Gunshots rang all around him as he was walking on the sidewalk one summer day. The bullets were meant for someone else, but hit him instead. The gunshot wounds have left him partially paralyzed. He has chronic, painful headaches from the bullet fragments permanately lodged in his skull. He is unable to keep a job because of the headaches. Paul would like to spend his days resting and shielding his eyes from light or strong stimulation. He, however, is the primary care giver for his young daughter named Amanda. This is not an easy job for him to do alone. His wife is bed ridden with long term health problems and is often weak and unable to help him care for their young daughter or herself. Paul came to Family Connections looking for some relief from the stress and pain that were part of his familiy's daily life. He had lost hope. Family Connections was introduced to the family through the Child/Parent Drop In program. Paul needed a respite, or break from his scared, clingy daughter. She didn't want to leave his side for a single minute. She was painfully withdrawn, sad and anxious. The safety, routine, and stimulation of the Drop In program, over time slowly allowed Amanda to trust and open up to other children and adults. She had been the only child in a home of tired, ailing, and depressed parents.She needed a break as well. The family desperately needed support and a helping hand. Housing, medical, advocacy and legal support referrals were made over time to the proper agencies. Family Connections provided weekly support in terms of counseling, therapy and respite. Slowly the stress and tension began to lift off of Paul. In turn his sad little daughter began to laugh and play with other children. Upon turning 3 she was eligible to enroll in our Pre-K program. She continued to blossom and grow. Our service exchange program enabled Paul to cover the cost of the daily Pre-K tuition. She received a partial scholarship and Paul could work off the rest of the tuition with small, non-taxing jobs around the center. Paul felt useful in being able to help Family Connections with tasks that fell by the way side. He put in one or two hours per week, in exchange for knowing his daughter was in a safe, educational Pre-K environment. The commitment to helping families find their strengths and working to enhance them is a big part of why Family Connections is such busy, thriving agency.

Story #2
Family Connections works with people of all ages. We welcome with open arms, a family's new baby. We welcome each evening, the elderly as they come to pick up their grandchildren from our Homework Club program. We strive to make our agency open and inviting to all ages, cultural identities, disabilities and lifestyles. We encourage and support each family's efforts to assure their children are cared for in a safe manner. The challenges most families today must face juggling work, home, children, finances and health related issues are simply staggering. All of our programs support the natural bridge between the generations. Our large and thriving Chinese American population relies heavily on grandparents to provide daily childcare. One such family came our way that we feel particularly fond of these days. Isolation and understimulation for toddlers and the elderly are common themes when families are confined to the home day in and day out. One such grandmother, whose name is "Mrs. Z", and one such grandchild, named "Andy" comes to mind. Through a flyer that we posted around the neighborhood, and the encouragement of a neighbor, Mrs. Z brought her grandson into our Child/Parent Drop In program. This little boy was shy, fussy and aggressive towards those around him. The grandmother looked shell shocked in her interactions with other parents, grandparents, and staff. Something felt and looked "off" to us. The 3-year-old boy looked miserable and unhappy. Grandma looked stressed, angry and frustrated-- A disaster waiting to happen. We began reaching out to this family and learned more about their current stressors, wants and needs. Through our Bi-lingual parenting classes and support group, we began to learn of the stress, isolation and sadness this family was under. Cultural issues, language difficulties and money concerns put added stressors on the family's working husband and wife who felt they were doing the best they could to provide for the family. They instructed the grandmother to stay indoors all day long. They were worried for her safety if she were to leave the building. Family Connections provided a safe, neighborhood based, walking distance agency for this family to attend. Andy is now enrolled in our educational, enrichment Pre-K program five mornings per week. Mrs. Z attends daily English classes. The whole family attends our Community Events. Andy is happier, calmer and more at ease with other children and adults. Mrs. Z feels supported and less burdened by the stressors of caring for a young child alone. She has made friends and is enjoying herself, and at the same time still contributing her time and role to her family-A success waiting to happen!

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.4 Facility Tour
2.4.1 Photographs

Content not developed.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||

2.5 Contact Us
2.5.1 E-mail Form

Content not developed.

|| Return to Top || Work Site Home Page ||