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Southwest Key E-Newsletter: July/August 2008 |
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Southwest Key Earns Accreditation by
Leading National Standards Agency
We are pleased to announce that Southwest Key has been nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), one of the world’s leading human service accreditation organizations.
COA accreditation attests that an organization meets the highest national standards of best practice and is delivering the best quality services to its community. Southwest Key Programs is proud to join COA’s Community of Excellence, which is comprised of more than 1,800 private and public organizations that serve over 7 million children, youth, individuals and families in North America. Southwest Key was one of the largest and most diverse organizations that COA has accredited since its inception.
Founded in 1977, COA is an independent, not-for-profit accreditor of the full continuum of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations. COA’s mission is to partner with human service organizations worldwide to improve service delivery outcomes by developing, applying and promoting accreditation standards. COA
envisions excellence in the delivery of human services globally, resulting in the well-being of individuals, families and communities.
The COA accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administrative operations and service delivery against national standards of best practice. All of the programs contained within an organization for which COA has a service standard are subject to review as COA reviews and accredits the entire organization, not specific programs.
Southwest Key will celebrate with a public event at the beginning of October in Austin where COA’s National Executive Director Richard Klarberg will formally present the prestigious designation in person.
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Southwest Key Receives $102,000 Impact Austin Grant
to Create Cultural Arts Program
Southwest Key received a generous grant from Impact Austin, a women’s philanthropic organization, to help initiate a Performing Arts Center in East Austin. This year, five $102,000 grants were awarded to various organizations in different categories; Southwest Key was selected as the final recipient for the cultural category.
Dr. Juan Sanchez, Southwest Key CEO, presented to over 500 women at the annual conference who cast their vote to fund Southwest Key that night.
“The goal of the program is to revitalize this forgotten community by igniting the creativity and pride of its residents through the arts, by providing youth and adults in this community access to the arts, and allowing this community to preserve its wonderful heritage and cultural traditions,” Dr. Sanchez told the crowd.
The funds will provide area youth and adults with the opportunity to learn and perform traditional, Hispanic-focused arts: mariachi, ballet folklorico, and bilingual theater, which reflect the overwhelming ethnic makeup of the neighborhood.
Students have already started artistic courses under the direction of some of Austin’s finest arts instructors. Southwest Key partnered with Teatro Vivo of Austin to offer bilingual theater courses, the Ballet East Dance Company to instruct students in ballet folklorico and Zeke Castro, a prominent mariachi instructor and former Austin Symphony musician to lead the mariachi courses. Students are currently enrolled in a summer intensive program and will perform at the Southwest Key amphitheater on August 22 at 5:30 pm to showcase their summer talents.
“The Performing Arts Center is important because these are the kinds of activities that [kids] they’re going to continue to foster,” said Rupert Reyes, Artistic Director of Teatro Vivo and instructor for the bilingual theater course. “It does more than preserve confidence, it translates into other skills that kids will be able to transfer to school and other areas of their lives. They’re getting something that a lot of kids don’t get exposed to.”
Southwest Key hopes to be able to expand the Performing Arts Center in the near future. While Impact Austin helped Southwest Key make a significant leap by providing seed money for the program, Southwest Key will continue to look for partners to help with materials, technical support and other needs.
If you would be interested in partnering with Southwest Key to donate costumes, instruments, props or other resources, please email Ananda Moss or call her at 512.583.2576.
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In Focus: Fatherhood Program- San Antonio, Texas
By Eliana Maruri
Valentine J. had been through the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), the state’s juvenile corrections agency, before. The last time he was there however, he was referred to parenting classes with Southwest Key’s Fatherhood Program in San Antonio, Texas. He didn’t know what to expect and didn’t know if it would really help. He was 17 years old and was weeks away from becoming a dad.
Fast forward eight months later: as I sit across the table from him, Valentine talks to me about his experience with the Fatherhood Program. It has changed his life, he tells me. He has not run into any more legal problems. I ask him if he thinks he would be a different person and father had he not been referred to the Fatherhood Program. He looks at me and says “I’d probably be in jail, locked up or probably end up dead.” He says it was the first time he received support services that really worked.
The program offers more than just a parenting class, Valentine found support in all areas of life. He says, “If you’re struggling, they’ll help you with pretty much anything.” The Fatherhood Program goes beyond offering counseling and offers assistance to its participants if they are in need of bare necessities such as clothing, food or shelter.
Daniel Z. sits in the chair next to him. Daniel was introduced to the Fatherhood Program after being involved in the Intensive Supervision Program in San Antonio. He told his caseworker that he had a baby on the way and was invited to take part in the Fatherhood Program. He found that what he liked most was being able to talk about his problems with other guys who that had similar backgrounds and similar problems.
“You never see a group of guys communicate like we do” says Daniel. Both guys talk about the close niche of friends and confidants they have found at the Fatherhood Program. They say it has helped them tremendously to be able to sit and talk with one another. “It’s helpful, fun and therapeutic,” says Valentine. Among other things it has helped him manage his anger and be a better father to his eight month old daughter. He says it even improved his relationship with his own father, “Me and my dad talk more, we spend more time together now.”
Daniel says he has been able to relieve stress. The Fatherhood Program has taught him what to expect when his baby arrives and how to cope with new developments, “It’s not only about understanding the baby,” he adds, “it’s about understanding the female perspective, too.”
Jerome Mauricio looks on from the other side of the table. The look on his face tells me he is proud of both guys. As the Fatherhood Program caseworker, Jerome has worked with Valentine, Daniel and 64 other males currently in the program. He is on-call 24 hours a day and expresses how unique the Fatherhood Program is. He currently runs five different groups around San Antonio including one at the Bexar County Jail and another at the TYC center.
In its sixth year of existence, Jerome says that the program has reached out to a sector of population that had been forgotten. He states that the program has an open door policy, “They can always come back for support, it’s an ongoing program, it never stops.” When I visited the facility, he was getting ready to prepare the students for an upcoming job fair. The participants were also getting ready to take part in their next self-building activity, making a mask that signifies who they are on the inside and the outside.
Jerome continues to establish relationships with the juvenile justice courts and parole officers to receive participant referrals. He says half of the males in the juvenile courts are fathers and the program works to provide a therapeutic alternative and helpful service to many of these young fathers. Jerome also notes that many of the participants have been collaborative friend referrals--in other words many current participants influence other young men to take part in the program.
With its unique supportive structure, it is probably the reason many participants keep coming back even after their completion with the program. Valentine completed the Fatherhood Program a couple of months ago but he continues to attend sessions, volunteer and participate in activities. “I can’t wait for Thursdays to come up and get together, talk and watch movies,” he says. Valentine is currently working over the summer and plans to go back to high school. He hopes to become an Italian chef someday and is back on track toward achieving his goals.
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California Unaccompanied Minors Programs Partner with San Diego County Office of Education
Southwest Key’s Unaccompanied Minors Program in California completed its first school year in partnership with the San Diego, California County Office of Education. The partnership materialized in October of 2007 and is currently in summer school session.
The San Diego County Office of Education provided Southwest Key with one bilingual teacher that divides her instruction time between the Lemon Grove and El Cajon programs in California. The 25 students now follow the same California curriculum that other students in San Diego County public schools follow. The curriculum includes courses in ESL, Math, Science, World History and Physical Education. Before the partnership emerged, Southwest Key taught its own educational curriculum. Now, the partnership allows students to receive school credit within the school district.
“All kids are entered in the school system and they receive credits when they enroll into school,” said Ismael Aviles, El Cajon Program Director. “They start integration into the educational system of the U.S. while at Southwest Key. Whenever they move to another county or state, an educational file has already been started for them.”
The partnership has allowed for a more formalized integration into the California school system. Students take all standardized entrance and exit exams and have shown significant improvement, according to Daniela Rios, Lemon Grove Program Director. Rios says that having an extra teacher has allowed for more individualized attention. Furthermore, the San Diego County Office of Education is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Aside from the educational support that the San Diego County Office of Education provides, they also donated computers, school supplies and other educational resources to the programs. According to Rios, the students have transitioned well to the curriculum and the partnership has acculturated the students into a school setting that models other county schools.
After their stay with the Unaccompanied Minors program, some students have enrolled in California school systems and have been able utilize the credits they earned while at Southwest Key. Those that are repatriated are provided with a report card and are able to request a transcript from the San Diego County Office of Education.
While a school district partnership is currently unique to the California programs, Southwest Key is working to partner with school districts for Unaccompanied Minors programs in other states.
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College Connections Program Leads Summer Academic Enrichment Program Under New Director
Southwest Key’s College Connections Program completed its first school year in May, working with numerous Johnston and LBJ High School juniors. The program was established last fall under Southwest Key’s educational component through a grant given by the TG Public Benefit Grant Program.
College Connections aims to provide students with tools to go on to college through a series of support services that include academic tutoring, college visits and college application workshops.
Summer was no exception to this group as they launched the East Austin Summer Institute for Excellence (EASIE). The EASIE summer program was developed to create an academic exchange between the College Connections students and younger students in the Boys & Girls Club at Southwest Key. It was also created to support and improve education for East Austin students in the summer months while helping students prepare for the upcoming school year.
Moreover, the program was also inspired out of the fact that over the summer months, a majority of students in the East Austin community must work. In an effort to meet both needs while prioritizing their academic development, EASIE was created to provide TAKS and SAT tutoring in the morning, and thanks to a generous grant from a local philanthropist, was able to provide the students with weekly stipends for their academic, tutoring and academic services in the afternoon.
The EASIE program began its four-week long session at the end of June under the direction of Linda Barrera, College Connections’ new Program Director. “This gives them a really good experience to put on their resumes to submit to colleges,” said Barrera. “These students have now become teachers; they’ve created their own lesson plans, they’ve come up with their own curriculum and they’ve learned patience.”
While this was the first time for several College Connections students to participate in a program similar to that of an internship, many were surprised to learn what the experience taught them. “It brought out my teaching skills and I also learned how to deal with my own brothers at home,” said Anthony Soria, Johnston High School College Connections participant. He said one of the things he enjoyed the most from working with younger kids was seeing them smile everyday.
Throughout the rest of the summer, the College Connections Program will resume to work on researching and applying to universities as well as applying for financial aid. The students just returned from the Derek Jeter Leadership Conference in Arlington at the UT Arlington campus on August 7. They will visit the University of North Texas and hope to make another trip to Houston to visit area schools.
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LULAC Presents Southwest Key Founder and Board Member with Social Justice Award
Dr. Juan Sánchez, El Presidente/CEO of Southwest Key Programs, was honored at the 61st Annual California LULAC convention in June. The California League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) recognized Dr. Sanchez with a “Rising to the Challenge” Social Justice Award 2008 for improving the quality of life for the Latino community. Southwest Key board member Victor Garza was also recognized at the annual convention for his advocacy and activism on behalf of immigrants and veterans in California.
In addition to the two awards, California LULAC passed a statewide resolution of commendation in support of Southwest Key’s work with unaccompanied immigrant children. Through the resolution, LULAC recognized Southwest Key for reunifying thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children with their families in the United States and abroad each year while providing shelter, food, education, counseling, legal and medical services in its ten shelters in Texas, Arizona, and California. The resolution states: “Southwest Key Programs honors and respects the individual cultures and traditions of the children in their care and provides humanitarian services in a nurturing and therapeutic environment 24 hours per day to support them through their journey.”
The resolution pledged that LULAC will work jointly with Southwest Key Programs to address issues related to Hispanic communities across the country. “After visiting these shelters, LULAC leaders believe Southwest Key Programs must be replicated around the country to provide a much needed service to immigrant children in the United States,” says Argentina Davila-Luevano, California LULAC State Director. “At a time when anti-immigrant sentiment is again on the rise in America, programs like Southwest Key are a welcome sanctuary for our immigrant children.”
The theme of the convention was “LULAC Rising to the Challenge for Education, Immigration, and Healthcare.” Dr. Sanchez was recognized for his efforts to step up to the plate and help LULAC meet those challenges. Southwest Key partnered with the community to charter five local LULAC councils in the Govalle/Johnston Terrace neighborhood of East Austin this year. The councils will work with residents and Southwest Key to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, and civil rights of the Austin Latino community.
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Austin City Council Candidates Reunite at
Southwest Key for Runoff Election Forum
In the follow up to the previous candidate forum hosted by Southwest Key in May, Southwest Key reunited Place 4 City Council candidates Laura Morrison and Cid Galindo at the East Austin Community Center days before their runoff election for a question and answer session.
As part of Southwest Key’s mission to empower the East Austin community, Southwest Key has launched an active and conscious voter campaign with the goal of empowering people in a political context.
“It was important for Southwest Key to host the candidates as voters were going back to the polls,” said Joella Brooks, Deputy Executive Director at Southwest Key. “Southwest Key is committed to providing a forum for the residents of East Austin to be heard.”
Both candidates were asked questions about quality of life issues in East Austin including education, employment and affordable housing and both mentioned their commitment to work with East Austin on these pertinent issues.
Daniel Llanes, Director of the Southwest Key VOTA! Campaign said that the forum was part of the effort to underscore the importance of voter participation and education. “We are committed to increasing voter participation and education and this is why we had the candidate forum. It gives people opportunity to assess first hand who deserves their vote,” said Llanes.
Southwest Key was an early voting site for the City Council elections, runoff elections were held June 14. Laura Morrison was declared the final winner for the Place 4 Austin City Council seat.
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East Austin VOTA!
Campaign Gears up for November Elections The biggest challenge during an election is to motivate people to vote, according to Daniel Llanes, Director of the Southwest Key VOTA! Campaign. But Llanes plans to attack that problem this year with the VOTA! Campaign for the November elections.
Llanes has worked arduously on the campaign since February to mobilize the East Austin community for local elections. With the presidential elections coming up in November, he is once again focusing on registering as many East Austin residents to vote as possible. Historically, the Govalle/Johnston terrace area of East Austin has had one of the lowest voting rates in the city. Llanes wants to change that.
“Our goal is to increase voter registration and participation by 300 percent,” said Llanes. “We want to educate people so that they’re informed and they realize what’s at stake in the elections.” While 300 percent might sound ambitious, Llanes believes it is possible to achieve this if each registered person encourages three other people to register.
Llanes is currently recruiting volunteers to work voter registration sites and is working to partner with local East Austin venues to set up these sites. Southwest Key will be the primary voter registration site for the campaign but Llanes plans to set up sites at local restaurants and libraries. Starting in September, Llanes will start to make voting presentations to the community. The presentations aim to educate people and accelerate voter registration numbers.
“This is a historic time and we want to take advantage of the momentum to increase the participation in Govalle/ Johnston Terrace,” said Llanes. “Traditionally this is the area that has the least voter turnout and we’re working to reverse that trend.” While Llanes also found that many people are already registered to vote, he says it is a bigger challenge to get them to the polls. He is placing a large emphasis on educating voters this year to raise awareness and motivate people to turn out and cast their ballots.
Moreover, the VOTA! Campaign will work to raise awareness about other state and local elections that will also be held in November. Llanes emphasizes that voting in other elections besides presidential elections is critical for change. “Sometimes people think their vote doesn’t count, but especially in the local elections, our individual votes absolutely count,” said Llanes. “People have yet to understand how important their vote is in local elections because these elections are won and lost by a handful of votes.”
If you would like to be a part of the VOTA! Campaign and volunteer or contribute in any manner, please contact Daniel Llanes at 512.431.9665 or send an email to dllanesrb@earthlink.net. Please contact Daniel is you are also interested in having a presentation made to you or a group; presentations end at the end of October.
Southwest Key will be an early voting site for the 2008 November elections. The last day to register to vote is Monday, October 6. Early voting runs from October 20 through October 31. Elections are Tuesday, November 4.
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Brownsville/Combes
Unaccompanied Minor Programs Merge
Southwest Key’s Unaccompanied Minors Program located in Combes, Texas recently merged with the Unaccompanied Minors Program in Brownsville, Texas. Previously, Brownsville housed Casa La Esperanza and an Unaccompanied Minors Program under the same roof. Administrative staff however, found it in the best interest of all programs to have one central Unaccompanied Minors Program in Brownsville.
With a distance of only 30 miles, the program achieved its move in one day. The switch was made on June 6. All staff, children and materials were able to make a smooth transition. As a result, the Unaccompanied Minors Program currently serves 72 students; capacity is set for 78 students.
Prior to moving, all programs participated in activities that allowed all students to meet and familiarize themselves with other students and staff in order to make a seamless transition. According to Isabel Rodriguez, Brownsville Program Director, the move has accommodated everyone well and the children are happy with their new homes.
“Merging was more conducive to have one program director in one site. We have everyone together and it really helps us out tremendously,” said Rodriguez. “We are now able to have more structured programming for both programs. It’s been easier for accountability and for daily programming to have one central location.”
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Voices of Youth Legacy Lives on After
Closure of New York Office
After much consideration, a decision has been made to close Voices of Youth (VOY), Southwest Key’s foster care advocacy program in the Bronx, New York as of July 31, 2008. The program was founded by Jennifer Nelson, our Chief Operations Officer and a colleague, Gessy Nixon, who was a veteran of the New York City foster care system in 1999 to support, train, empower, and advocate for young people leaving foster care, while also advocating for change within the child welfare system. VOY became a part of Southwest Key in late 2000. Our current program director, Giselle John, was originally hired as an administrative assistant just days after “aging-out” of foster care. Voices of Youth won numerous awards and received national recognition over the years, becoming a respected program within the child welfare community. In recent years the challenges of fundraising and changes within child welfare had a major impact on VOY. As such, all involved with the program felt that VOY was no longer able to meet its original intention and it was better to close our doors.
Southwest Key is very proud of the legacy of Voices of Youth that lives in the young people who became a part of our familia. Many have transitioned into adulthood fairly smoothly – raising children of their own, managing careers and relationships. In addition, the philosophy of our work has been integrated into the entire Southwest Key organization. Southwest Key operates in an under-served neighborhood in East Austin and has implemented the work and approach of Voices of Youth with the young people we work with here. Southwest Key also operates programs throughout the country that work with youth in need of services by providing those services in their communities and keeping them from out-of-home care and/or detention. Curriculum developed by Voices of Youth that is strengths-based and empowerment-focused has also been provided to all of these programs - impacting thousands of youth every year throughout the nation.
We wish Giselle the best of luck as she leaves Southwest Key to pursue a graduate degree and her work with the Annie E. Casey Foundation where she is able to impact young people throughout the country by sharing her personal and professional skills with child welfare systems looking to implement a youth engagement model.
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College Connections Student Selected for
Miss Teen Texas State Finals
With over 500 girls competing in Miss Teen Texas Pageant, Southwest Key College Connections student Karla Berrones was selected to advance to state finals in Dallas on July 28. Karla is a senior at LBJ High School in Austin and is enrolled in the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA) at LBJ. She hopes to attend Columbia University next year to study architecture and has plans to go on to grad school. Karla has participated in Southwest Key’s College Connections program since the Spring of 2007 where she had the opportunity to benefit from SAT tutoring, participate in college campus tours and serve as a mentor and tutor in the East Austin Summer Institute for Excellence, a program led by College Connections students for younger students.
“[The pageant] helped me work on my public speaking skills and helped me with job interviews,” Karla says. She also notes that Southwest Key helped sponsor an ad program for her for the Miss Teen Texas Pageant. She notes that Southwest Key has been very helpful in preparing her for college, “I’m thankful that I got in the program,” says Karla. “I’m glad to be able to get support from people that support Latinos and minorities.”
Karla is not the first person in the Southwest Key familia to make strides in the pageant circuit. Our own Ms. Denice Brooks-Cutts, Executive Assistant to Southwest Key’s Deputy Director, was crowned Miss East Austin in 1975. The following year in 1976 she became Miss Black Texas and went on to win fourth runner up in the Miss Black America pageant. Following her success, Denice was accepted into the Julliard School of Music where she studied Music Theory. She spent the last fourteen years travelling across Europe touring as a background vocalist for many big acts such as Luther Vandross, Gladys Knight, Anita Baker and many more before joining Southwest Key. Denice recently married in April 2008.
“Pageants are self esteem builders,” says Denice. “As a young girl it made me feel as if there was nothing I couldn’t achieve.”
 
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Important Dates
Fore the Kids Golf Classic
Monday, October 20, 2008
Grey Rock Golf Club
www.swkey.org/golf.html
Fore the Kids Golf Classic Player Registration Deadline
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
www.swkey.org/golf.html
Youth Cultural Arts Performance
(mariachi, bilingual theater,
ballet folklorico)
August 22, 2008
5:30pm - 6:30pm
Southwest Key Amphitheater, 6002 Jain Lane, Austin
Computer Literacy Courses
Mondays (en espanol)
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Tuesdays (English)
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Southwest Key’s AMD Community Technology Center 6002 Jain Lane, Austin
VOTA! Campaign Deadlines
Last day to register to vote: Monday, October 6
Early voting: October 20- October 31
Elections: November 4 |
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