by Rachel Humphreys
Executive Director
Director's Message
Dear Friends of La Cuna,
Welcome to the first edition of our newsletter. As our grass-roots efforts grow,
we hope to keep you informed about La Cuna's mission, programs and achievements.
Every day, a young child enters the foster care system, in critical need of a safe,
stable and loving home. Every day, La Cuna is ready to help with parents who open
their hearts and homes, and programs that enhance their ability to parent the child.
Home is where the heart is, and La Cuna and its supporters have the heart. La Cuna
is unique - we provide placement of babies and young children ages 0 to 5 in culturally
appropriate homes.
This year, we've had much to celebrate and many to thank. We've placed our 50th
child, celebrated two years of licensure and established some traditions, such as
our Mother - Daughter Tea and Heroes Luncheon. We achieved these milestones with
your support and encouragement. With your help, 94% of our children have remained
in a La Cuna home until they were reunified with their family or adopted. These
children have avoided typical multiple home placements that threaten their ability
to bond and thrive.
La Cuna's real heroes are our parents. Each one of our parents is totally remarkable.
We will highlight a family in each newsletter so that you can see the magic happening
in our La Cuna homes.
We are proud to announce that La Cuna has achieved another major milestone - we
have initiated a sophisticated evaluation project that we've been working on for
5 years. This study will not only help us improve our own programs, but will also
help us identify best practices that we will share with others. The study will measure
the emotional, psychosocial and physical health of each of our La Cuna children
at six month intervals. The San Diego First 5 Commission has generously funded the
start-up of this study and Dr. Laura Proctor of The Child and Adolescent Services
Research Center will coordinate it. We couldn't be more thrilled.
Your support and dedication to La Cuna over the last two years has been incredibly
humbling and heartwarming. Enjoy the newsletter and thank you for taking the time
to read about what's new here at La Cuna.
Warm regards,
Rachel
La Cuna in the News
Jordan, age 2
We are proud to announce our 50th Placement! This achievement is truly remarkable
and exceeds our expectations. Most brand new foster family agencies place only 10
to 12 children a year for their first two years due to start-up requirements and
rigorous bureaucracy. Since obtaining our license two years ago, we've placed 50
children in safe and loving La Cuna homes! Our 50th placement garnered some great
news coverage on television, print and radio, including Channel 10, Univision Television,
Univision Radio, the Union Tribune and Ranch and Coast Magazine. We wish to congratulate
two-year old Jordan and the Rodriguez family and wish them the very best.
The Morales family (Children left to right- Gabriel,
"Arturo" and Annette. Adults left to right- "Graciela"
(bio Mom to "Arturo"), Elizabeth and Andrew Morales)
La Cuna at Home
Our La Cuna parents provide loving care to young children and provide shining examples
about what real, caring parenting means.
In February 2006, the Morales family opened up their hearts and home to 3 day old
"Arturo*" after his mother, "Graciela*," made some wrong choices that affected the
safety of her child. The Morales family, Elizabeth, Andrew and son Gabriel, provided
Arturo with love, comfort and care he needed to live a healthy life. The reassurance,
support and mentoring the Morales family provided for Arturo's Mother inspired her
to be a better parent. After 14 months...
more »
La Cuna at Work
La Cuna is doing very important work in foster care for children birth to five years
old. We have a saying; "one size doesn't fit all in foster care." What we mean is
that babies in foster care should not be treated the same as any other foster child.
The very youngest foster children and babies have very specific needs at a very
critical developmental age. At this tender age, proper brain development requires
that a child have a secure attachment to a primary care giver. It takes a special
person to take in another person's child to love, nurture, and protect. It also
takes specific training, ongoing support and age-appropriate services. This is why
La Cuna is special.
more »
Give a gift to La Cuna
and brighten the life of a young child!
When you give a gift to La Cuna, you give the gift of hope and help improve the
life of a child in desperate need of a loving home.
Gifts of Money, well-leveraged - The easiest way to support La
Cuna is to make a monetary gift. We currently have an opportunity to leverage our
funding and thus help greater numbers of foster children in critical need of a loving
home. An anonymous donor has committed $15,000 on the condition that La Cuna will
match that funding three ways before the end of 2007- meaning if we identify two
other gifts of $15,000 we will raise a total of $45,000 including his gift.
We hope you will make a secure donation, in the amount comfortable for you, online
at
www.lacuna.org
or mail your gift to: La Cuna, Inc., 3180 University Ave., Suite 260, San Diego
CA 92104
Gifts of Love - If you or someone you know wants to become a foster
parent, please call or tell them about La Cuna! Contact Morgan, who is bi-lingual,
at: 619.521.9900 to find out if foster parenting is right for you or attend our
next prospective parent informational meeting.
Learn more »
Celebrating Mother's Day
Community Involvement
La Cuna Celebrates Mother's Day
On May 20, La Cuna held it's second annual Mother Daughter Tea at the Paradise Point
Resort and Spa. La Cuna honored Kristi Pieper-Rossbacher for her significant contributions
towards the health and well being of San Diego children. Chair Dawn DuCharme and
honorary chairs Yolanda Walther-Meade and Yolanda S. Walther-Meade helped make this
year's tea a resounding success. The tea raised over $60,000!
more »
Our Hero - Robert McNeely
Honoring Robert McNeely
On August 16, 2007, La Cuna honored Robert A. McNeely, Executive Vice President,
Community Development and Chairman and CEO of the Union Bank of California Foundation,
with the Cuna Hero/ Héroe Award 2007. The event celebrated Mr. McNeely's
significant contributions to children and was held at the University Club. Dr. Johnny
Carter chaired the event.
Those who attended included Delores McNeely, Steve Francis, Juan Garcia, Chuck Hansen,
Alan Sorkin and Enrique Schon. Special thanks to the Chevron Corporation for underwriting
the event!
Muchas Gracias
Our heart-felt thanks to those who have committed to gifts at the following major
and special levels of giving!!
Major Giving $100,000+
San Diego Social Venture Partners
Special Giving $10,000+
Alliance Healthcare Foundation
The Bravo Foundation
City of San Diego
Compassion Capital Fund (CCF)
Cuatrecasas Foundation
First 5 Commission
The Guadalupe Fund
Nancy and Whitten Humphreys Memorial Fund
McCarthy Foundation
Myron Eichen Memorial
The Parker Foundation
San Diego County's Community Services to Families Project
St. Germain Auxiliary
Stranahan Foundation
Union Bank of California
Weingart-Price Fund
Cathy Lloyd
Cathy Lloyd honored as outstanding board member
Cathy Lloyd of KyXy Radio was honored as Outstanding Board Member of the Year in
2007 for her commitment to our cause. She is incredibly competent and reliable,
and was responsible for bringing in $75,000 to La Cuna last year through her grant-writing.
She serves as Secretary to the Board, member of La Cuna's Executive Committee and
Chair of La Cuna's Marketing/Media Committee.
A Look Ahead
Saturday October 27th, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, start-up of next cycle
of parenting classes (4 consecutive weeks)
Sunday November 11th, 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM, quarterly cocktail party
for board members, spouses and new friends of La Cuna. Call Rachel at (619) 521-9900
if you would like to join us! Board member Marsha Piper has graciously offered to
host the event.
Thursday December 6th, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM Posole Holiday Celebration
- Come meet all incredible families and children, celebrate them and enjoy traditional
Posole soup! RSVP to Rachel.
Mission Statement:
The mission of La Cuna is to ensure that Latino foster infants and toddlers grow
up safe, happy and healthy, and to develop best practices that improve the lives
of Latino children in foster care across California.
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La Cuna, Inc.
1380 University Ave., Ste 260
San Diego, CA 92104
Tel: 619.521.9900
Fax: 619.521.9911