Stories of Impact

• Children's Education

  Moving through Adveristy

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Children's Education

On The Move

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Moving through Adveristy

SM is a Latina raised in Napa. While enrolled at Napa High School, she began struggling to keep up. Her principal introduced her to Leadership Academies run by On The Move. SM immediately found a community of young people experiencing similar challenges.

While participating in the Leadership Academies, SM’s grades improved. She graduated with honors and remained connected to On The Move when she left for college. Last year, On The Move launched a drop-in recovery center for adults with mental illness. When seeking a director, OTM contacted SM. Her degree and passion aligned with the needs of the program and she was hired as program director.

• Children's Education

  Embracing Higher Education

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Children's Education

Summer Search

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Embracing Higher Education

Supported by Summer Search, a young man from a low-income background was also able to embrace higher education as a goal. And, as a young student, he developed a love of travel sparked by a Summer Search trip to China. After graduating, he left Napa to attend a small liberal arts college. Inspired by his summer trip experiences, he found it easy to make friends and connections. While at college, he offered personalized campus tours to any interested Summer Searchers.

Post-graduation, he returned to Napa and is now a user-centered design researcher for a medical consortium. In addition to volunteering as a mentor in many programs, he also chairs the Summer Search Alumni Board.

• Community Health

  Healing Begins at Home

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Community Health

Aldea Children and Family Services

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Healing Begins at Home

Ben was an angry five-year-old foster child who struggled with numerous mental health challenges, including PTSD and mood disorders. His first five years were spent homeless and abused, his parents addicted to methamphetamine. Ben was more violent and defiant than other foster kids and bounced through eleven foster families, feeling more unwanted and isolated with each change.

But when Ben was placed with a special Aldea foster family and received the therapeutic support he needed, he could finally begin to heal. Now Ben lives with his “forever” adoptive family and is embarking upon a brighter future.

• Community Health

  Emotional Tumult

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Community Health

Mentis

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Emotional Tumult

Following the South Napa earthquake, a client experienced fear and instability; emotions he had previously experienced as a result of growing up in a home where domestic violence and substance misuse were a constant.

A therapist helped him to normalize his emotions, offering education around how to cope with the symptoms he was experiencing. He reported regaining a sense of trust and security, which allowed him to get the necessary rest he needed to reduce his emotional distress and resume his daily activities.

• Community Health

  Loving Baby Gertie

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Community Health

ParentsCan

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Loving Baby Gertie

Gertie’s parents were devastated when they learned that their eight-month-old baby, who had Down syndrome, had also developed a bone marrow disorder.

With the help of ParentsCAN, they received information about treatment options for Gertie’s conditions and received the guidance they needed to navigate complex medical and social service networks for Gertie’s care. The family connected with other parents through a support group and now feel more empowered and less isolated.

• Community Health

  Mother to Three

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Community Health

UpValley Family Centers

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Mother to Three

Martha and her husband came to UpValley Family Centers when Martha needed immediate fibroid surgery, but was uninsured. In pain, unable to afford surgery and concerned about her ability to parent her three children with no family in the area to help, Martha was desperate.

UpValley Family Centers worked closely with the family to apply for financial assistance, which was approved. Martha received her surgery and today is healthy and happily raising her three children without the financial burden of a huge medical debt.