Jun 22, 20215 min read

We are burned out - but happy!

Message from Jc Montenegro!

If the last two months you have not received any news from us, it is because we have been extremely busy with the end of the year preparations. We have been nonstop providing services that the children and families need, but we are back with our e-news!!!! Here you will have all the amazing things that we have done the last two months.

For a while, I have been thinking about the amount of work that the whole organization has been investing in the children and families of our community. This has been possible only because of the heroes who have been committed to put their lives in the line just to accomplish our mission. These heroes are our staff!

The Salesian Family Youth Center is one of the few organizations that has kept their doors open throughout the pandemic. We increased our working hours from 4 hours per day to 11 hours per day. I can see the way our staff is doing their best to keep our home open to the community. And these thoughts are dedicated to all our staff.

Even though burn out is real, our mission has excelled beyond measure! As sign of appreciation each staff member has received our membership super hero t-shirt. They have been our front line workers responding to our community needs for the past year! My Dear Staff,

Thank you for your commitment and love for our children. Thank you because you have done anything in your power to establish a safe and healthy environment for our children. It has not been easy but you have been there for all the children and families in need. You have provided multiple forms of support in person and online. You have adapted to the reality of the needs of our children. For many of our children you have been their salvation.

Now it is time to enjoy our summer and be ready for the next academic year! Thank you once again because without you nothing would be possible.

Thank you.

Fun Friday on 5 de Mayo!

Every Friday the We Care program has "Fun Fridays". Most children don't get homework for the weekend so tutors plan special activities for Fridays.

On 5 de Mayo, we celebrated diversity with a big fiesta and piñatas!!!

Children got excited to dress up and have fun!

Celebrating St. Dominic Savio Feast Day!

Our youth took over St. Mary’s parking lot playing kick basketball (kickball variation). After a short water brake, they gathered around the fire for a reflection on St. Dominic Savio. Joanna Cordero led the reflection speaking in-front of her peers for the first time. She spoke about what she had learned about Savio and how she identified with being blamed for things in her life that she did not do. Many teens in the group could relate and they demonstrated by snaping their fingers in agreeance. Joanna shared that she looks up to Savio’s ability to not see himself as victim and forgive those who did him wrong. She challenged everyone to become saints and do better each day.

Rising money to send our Head Counselors retreat!

Working together with St. Mary's church our Head Counselors raised 1,200 dollars to attend a weekend retreat in the mountains. In this picture you can see two of our board members supporting the pancake breakfast and our mission in Boyle Heights.

At the retreat they learned about our mission and how they can become the best version of themselves to serve the children of our community.

Helping our young people get closer to God!

As part of our strategic plan, we have been collaborating with St. Mary's Church as one Salesian presence in Boyle Height. we offer to the young people who choose to develop their relationship with God the opportunity to be part of our faith formation program. At the end of the two years, they get confirm and now we are looking to get them involved in our youth ministry. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL NEW CONFIRMED!!!

Some of these young people are now serving as camp counselors in our summer program!

End of the year celebration!!!

YES!!! this year we hired some water jumpers to celebrate the end of the school year.

Our children were happy to have some out of the box activities to celebrate the end of this year.

Champion of the OC Showdown - Girls Varsity Division

Congratulations to Salesian Force Girls Varsity basketball team. Who thanks to the leadership of Coach Oda won the OC Showdown Girls Varsity Division championship. In the process they eliminating GBL (the team where Shaquille O'Neal's daughter plays). CONGRATS!!! Final score was 40 to 38.

Supporting our Salesian NUNS!

As Salesian Family we supported our nuns to raise money for youth programs. Our youth were excited to participate and challenge Sr. Elizabeth to ride a bicycle. This fundraising lead us on a beach outing.

Online Jazz by Rosevelt High School Jazz Band!

We are looking for new ways to engaged our young people in the virtual world. This video demonstrates the amazing creativity of our leaders and young people. Each one of them from their own homes recorded their piece and send it to an alumni who edited and pieced all together like a puzzle :)

Adios Fr. Rafa and Welcome Fr. Marco

Fr. Rafa has a great heart for the young people and all their crazy ideas!!! He has supported youth concerts, processions and more! Fr. Rafa has been a key factor in the success of our collaboration between the Salesian Family Youth Center and the church. During the pandemic he visited homes, celebrate funerals, refurbished the church temple and was always available to whoever needed of him. Now, Fr. Rafael has been assigned to Watsonville where he will continue spreading God's love for the youth.

We also want to welcome Fr. Marco, a Salesian who comes from Colombia and has plenty of experience working on parishes. We are excited to continue our collaboration with St. Mary's church under the leadership of Fr. Marco!

Salesian Youth Leadership Conference!

Eleven of our young people participated in a week long Salesian Leadership Training. Over 80 young people from California and Texas were present online. They learned about Salesian Spirituality, Social Justice and group dynamics based on their strengths. This important activity is part of our commitment to develop our young people to become good christians and honest citizens. Jc Montenegro our Executive Director was part of the presenters.

Head Counselors Retreat - Getting Ready for Camp Salesian 2021!

To get ready for our Camp Salesian 2021, the group of young adults who will be leading this experience took a trip to Frizzer Park to reflect and find ways to better work with our children. The weekend long retreat consisted on team building exercises, planing activities, choosing of counselors and more!

We wish our young adult leaders the best this camp season!

Strategic Planning meeting!

For the last year the administration team has been surveying all the stakeholders to see where do we want to be in the next three years. The last part of this effort was to present all the draft of the strategic plan to our team members. This weekend all of us gathered to evaluate what has been done the last year and to plan the next 3 years strategic plan.