VILLA ESPERANZA SERVICES - CORONAVIRUS PROGRAM UPDATES

Dear Villa Families,

Happy New Year to you all. I hope this message finds you healthy and safe.

With the regional rise in COVID-19 cases due to the presence of the Omicron variant, we need your assistance and full participation in all mitigation efforts. Our main priority is the safety and well being of all our students and staff. In addition, we want Villa school to remain open and functioning for in-person instruction.

We are asking for your help, here are some things that you can do to assist:

1.) Continue to expect that your child wears a mask while indoors and outdoors while on campus.

2.) Keep your child home from school when they have any symptoms of COVID-19 (which include runny nose, sore throat, cough, low grade fever, etc.) until you have confirmed that they do not have COVID-19 and have notified Villa Esperanza Services of the negative test results.

3.) Screen your child each morning for any of the symptoms mentioned above.

4.) Seek vaccination for your child (age 5+) at any of the Pasadena or Los Angeles County vaccination clinics.

As parents/guardians, you are the greatest source of support in minimizing the spread of COVID-19 in our school. It is clear that students who attend classes with symptoms become a source of exposure for others and we must prevent the spread of the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health states that the greatest protection against COVID-19 for children (age 5+) and adults is vaccination. Vaccines and boosters are readily available through several Los Angeles County clinics and local pharmacies, and most no longer require an appointment.

Thank you for helping us to keep our students and staff safe. If you have any questions, please contact me directly at TGolden@VillaEsperanzaServices.org or at (626) 449-2919, Ext. 117. We will be resuming the monthly school family zoom meetings this month. Look for an email later this week with all the details.

Sincerely,

Terrell Golden, MA, Ed Admin
Principal
TGolden@VillaEsperanzaServices.org

Dear Villa Families and Caregivers,

We hope this message finds you healthy and safe. Villa has been monitoring the changing COVID-19 situation. Villa's top priority remains the protection of the health and safety of each person we serve and our staff.

It is out of an abundance of caution and care for your loved ones and our Villa staff, that we have made the decision to temporarily shift to providing alternative/remote services for the following Villa Day Programs:

• Dimensions Day Program
• Adult Day Program (ADP)
• Community Integration Program (CIP), Pasadena
• Community Integration Program (CIP), Ventura County (this program transitioned to remote services earlier this week)

These programs will shift to remote beginning Monday, January 3, 2022, through at least, January 24, 2022. We will monitor the situation and communicate any updates as we go.

Adult programs that will remain providing services in person at this time include:

• Licensed Residential Programs
• Group Supported Employment, Individual Placement
• Independent and Supported Living Services

We know this is a challenging time for everyone and this is certainly not how we wanted to bring in the new year. We thank you for your understanding and support. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact your program Manager / Director. You can also contact me directly at DGoodus@VillaEsperanzaServices.org or via phone at (626) 449-2919, Ext. 101.

We wish you good health and happiness for the new year.

Sincerely,

Darryl Goodus
Vice President of Adult Day Programs

VILLA SCHOOL UPDATE - December 13, 2021

Dear Villa Community,

It's my honor to welcome Terrell Golden to our Villa Esperanza Services School. Mr. Golden will serve as Villa School Principal starting today, December 13, 2021.

Mr. Golden comes to Villa School with educational leadership experience. He holds a Master of Arts in Education from California State Long Beach with a focus on educational administration. Since 2014, he has served as Acting Assistant Principal, Dean of Students and Intervention Coordinator for a local charter school. He's been instrumental in creating systems and pathways for student success. Early in Mr. Golden's teaching career he served as a special education instructor.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at KWhite@VillaEsperanzaServices.org or call me at (626) 449-2919, Ext. 112. Mr. Golden can be reached at TGolden@VillaEsperanzaServices.org and at phone number (626) 449-2919, Ext. 117.

Sincerely,

Kelly White, MA, LMFT
CEO

Please see below for Villa's COVID-19 Prevention Plan and Face Covering Guidance as well as the Villa School's reopening plan.

ADULT PROGRAM UPDATE - October 1, 2020

Dear Family Member/Care Giver:

We hope you and your family are well. We miss all our participants and are looking forward to the day when it's safe and appropriate to reopen in-person programs.

In the meantime, please join us remotely! Villa programs offer many ways to stay connected and engaged. Each program has a monthly calendar with Zoom activities for everyone, including information regarding activity packet/supply drop offs as well as drive -thru events where supplies can be picked up from our programs.

Remote Support is Offered for Your Family Member(s) on a Daily Basis

Programming and classes include:

• Exercise
• Virtual Volunteer Opportunities (ex: creating greeting cards)
• Art
• Socialization and peer support discussion groups
• Theme park, zoo, and museum tours
• Self-advocacy group discussions
• Prevocational skills training
• and MORE.

Materials and packets are available and can be dropped off to your home on a regular basis if requested.

Our goal is for participants to engage in their program(s) and connect with their peers, staff and their community.

Our Villa team is continuously working to enhance the variety and the quality of activities being offered. If you have ideas and/or feedback regarding the activities please contact the Directors/Program Managers. Also please feel free to reach out to us regarding any challenges which you are having with connecting to virtual activities to see how we can work on overcoming these challenges together. Below are their emails:

• Director of Adult Day Services (Includes ADP, Dimensions, and CIP)- Michelle Lam
  
• ADP - Montrey Taylor
  
• CIP Pasadena - Perla Moran
  
• CIP West Region - Irene Racius
  
• Dimensions - Claudia Cortez
  
• Employment - Michael Greene

Your input is important to us, so please let us hear from you about how we can assist. As soon as we have further information regarding when in-person services will resume we will share that with you.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at DGoodus@VillaEsperanzaServices.org or call me at (626) 449-2919, Ext. 101.

Respectfully,

Darryl Goodus, MBA
Vice President of Adult Programs