Virtual Tasting Event with Thirty-Seven Wines

Lifehouse is proud to be partnering with Thirty-Seven Wines to bring you a Virtual Wine Tasting event via Zoom on Sunday, July 19, 2020. 15% of the proceeds and any related sales will be donated to Lifehouse! These funds will help Lifehouse with increased payroll expenses for our dedicated Direct Support Staff as they continue to keep our Lifehouse Residents healthy and safe throughout this pandemic. There are no Covid 19 cases among our staff and clients. We hope to cheers to this success with you!

Having a glass of wine with our friends and family is something that we've all been missing during these challenging times. We encourage you to share this experience with your community, and invite your friends and family to participate. It's virtually like meeting for a drink, or you can even gift a tasting pack to someone from afar. It's a creative and fun opportunity to connect with those special people in your life!

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THE LINE-UP

TASTE THREE AWARD-WINNING WINES: The Virtual Tasting will be led by highly renowned Wine Maker, Shane Finley.

2016 Reserve Thirty-Seven Chardonnay

Awards & Ratings: Top 100 wines in Sonoma County: 2019 Sonoma Magazine, 90 Points: 2019 Wine Enthusiast, 98 Points: Gold Medal, Best of Class, 2019 North Coast Wine Challenge.

2015 Reserve Thirty-Seven "Hermit" Red

Awards & Ratings: 90 Points, 2019 Wine Enthusiast: Gold Medal, 2018 SF International Wine Competition, 92 Points: Wine & Spirits Magazine June 2018

2015 Reserve Thirty-Seven Pinot Noir

Awards & Ratings: 92 Points: James Suckling Nov. 22nd 2018, 90 Points: 2018 Pinotfile.

TO PARTICIPATE: ORDER THE 3-PACK OF FINE WINES

BY FRIDAY, JULY 10TH $122 (plus tax & shipping).

Pick up available at the Lifehouse Office. For those who live out of state and want to participate, shipping is dependent on the weather. Please call the Lifehouse office to discuss options.

Buy any Thirty-Seven Wines using the code “lifehouse”.  When used at checkout 15% of the proceeds from that sale will go to Lifehouse. Share this code as it applies to all sales up to July 31st!

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ABOUT THIRTY-SEVEN WINES

Thirty-Seven Wines produces remarkable, small-lot wines handcrafted from high quality sustainably-grown grapes from their estate in the Petaluma Gap AVA. Defined by the wind and located along the southern tip of the Sonoma Coast, their cool-climate, award winning wines are rich and complex with well-balanced acidity and tannins.

The proprietors Al and Lisa Brayton are a Major Sponsor and Participating Winery at our annual Great Chefs and Wineries event every year. Their commitment to supporting Lifehouse and the individuals we support is truly outstanding. Lifehouse is grateful for this very important community partnership.

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Elevate Your Tasting

ORDER THE "CHEESE CHAT" BOX

BY FRIDAY, JULY 10TH $35

Use Code: FREESHIP9 for Free shipping!

The "Cheese Chat" Sample Box by Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese Co

Look no further then the "Cheese Chat" sample box to make your Virtual Tasting experience complete.

Northern Gold

Black Butte Reserve

Havarti

30% of the proceeds from each sample box will help Lifehouse with increased payroll expenses for our dedicated Direct Support Staff as they continue to keep our Lifehouse Residents healthy and safe throughout this pandemic.

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ABOUT PEDROZO DAIRY & CHEESE CO

Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese Co produces high quality, traditional farmstead cheese. Their family-run, grass-fed dairy and cheese operation is committed to sustainable and responsible stewardship. There cows have year-round access to the outdoors and graze on natural grasses as long as the pastures are in bloom.

Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese Co was an honorary participant of Great Chefs & Wineries 2020. Lifehouse is thankful for their support for the Virtual Tasting and we look forward to growing our community partnership!

Home for Life

Joy | Independence | Connection

The dreams and aspirations of those we serve to live a full life remain front and center to our mission, even now, in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.

Last year, when Lifehouse celebrated it’s 65th anniversary, we launched the capital campaign, Home for Life: Campaign for a Permanent Home for Lifehouse. Our new headquarters will help control operating costs and provide us with a permanent home from which to offer a lifetime of services. Lifehouse provides an array of services and support that facilitates a full life for over 360 people with developmental disabilities in the Bay Area. We also want to acknowledge our 400+ staff who are working every day to get us through this crisis.

Lifehouse will rise to this challenge with ingenuity, compassion, and resilience. We are facing challenges to our operations, fundraising, and advocacy for our staff and the people we support. In times like these, Lifehouse and other nonprofit organizations in our community stand shoulder-to-shoulder, and we encourage you to support our efforts. Lifehouse needs you now more than ever.

Warmest regards,

Nancy Dow Moody

President & CEO

LIVE NOW: Lifehouse Virtual Experience

Dear Friends,

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted Lifehouse. Day and work program services have closed, requiring Lifehouse staff to work overtime, now that all the people we provide services to are “sheltered in place” in their own homes.

Therefore, it is with a heavy heart, that for the first time in Great Chefs & Wineries 30 year history we will not be holding our event. Instead, we are offering A Virtual Experience available to all.

We need your help more than ever! Please put your electronic devices to work for Lifehouse. Online Bidding is available! Donations are encouraged.

Thank you for supporting the 360 people that Lifehouse supports and the 400+ wonderful staff who are working diligently to get us through this crisis.

Nancy Dow Moody, President & CEO

Photo By David Charnack

Photo By David Charnack

Photo By David Charnack

Photo By David Charnack

Photo By David Charnack

To Register for Online Bidding

Go to gcw2020.givesmart.com or

Text "gcw2020" to 76278

The Lifehouse Virtual Experience

Open until 5:00 PM, April 18, 2020

Premier Silent Auction The Lifehouse

Wine Room Hand-selected by Great Chefs Wine Committee

Fine Jewelry & Art

Specialty Items

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You won't be spending $350 for a ticket to Great Chefs & Wineries this year. Instead, please consider purchasing 5 tickets for $300.

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Huey Lewis Honorary Chairman

Photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR NEXT YEAR

GREAT CHEFS & WINERIES 2021

Saturday, April 17, 2021

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#lifehouseagency #GCW2020 #greatchefsandwineries

lifehouseagency.org | greatchefsandwineries.org

marinautism.org | greatexpecationsmarin.org

Great Chefs & Wineries Goes Virtual

Dear Lifehouse Community,

For the first time in Great Chefs & Wineries 30-year history, it is with a heavy heart that Lifehouse regretfully must cancel the April 18 2020 event. This event is a significant fundraiser for Lifehouse. I am grateful for your patience as we have explored other options and we are excited to announce that we will move from a physical event to a virtual event!

Because the auction is such a critical part of our fundraising efforts, Lifehouse will really need your help in offsetting the lost revenue from this cancelation. We will be holding a “Virtual Silent Auction”. Auction items will be available to bid starting April 3, with new items added regularly. The silent auction will close at 5:00 PM on Saturday, April 18, 2020, the date our event was originally scheduled.

We are also working with our auctioneer, Damon Casatico, in presenting a “Virtual Live Auction” with some fabulous experiences. The list of “live auction” items will be available to review prior to April 18. Details to follow. Please remember that Great Chefs & Wineries generates a substantial portion of the funds raised by Lifehouse each year, thus we urge you to participate in the online auction and raffle, and also to encourage your friends to participate. Stay tuned for more details on our virtual event.

With the cancellation of the physical event, Lifehouse would like to extend the following options to those who have already purchased tickets and reserved tables:

1. Donate your ticket and/or table to Lifehouse and receive a tax deduction for the full purchase price.

2. If you would like to receive a refund, please contact Nancy Dow Moody

at 415-526-5309.

Please remember we will continue to recognize our sponsors, restaurants, wineries and other vendors in upcoming advertising, newsletters, and social media.

Thank you for supporting Lifehouse and the over 360 people with developmental disabilities that we serve and our 400+ wonderful staff who are working diligently to get us through this crisis.

Sincerely,

Nancy Dow Moody

President & CEO

Wellness University

Building Better Lives Together

Photo By David Charnack

“The Wellness University” was born out of Margaret Flores’ dream to create a series where Lifehouse Residents can share resources in order to lead healthy lives. The series will share practical easy wellness tips, simple delicious and nutritious recipes, fun exercise tips, latest health discoveries, and any tips that inspire creativity and increase the quality of our lives.

Along with the Lifehouse Technology Program and the residents at San Anselmo House, Margaret has facilitated the creation of “The Wellness University’s” first recipe tutorial video. We hope that you will follow along and enjoy as we discover the wealth of resources that exist in the Lifehouse community.

First up is the wonderfully delicious recipe for Butterfly Pea Flower Tea!

sharpening Our Edge

Meet Our New Quality Assurance (QA) Team

Lisa Ann Carbone, QA Specialist

With a robust staff development program in place, Lifehouse is now establishing an internal Quality Assurance (QA) Program this fiscal year to guarantee consistency, quality, and assurance that services are in accordance with program designs, contracts and Title 17 regulations. The program is to be headed by two QA Specialists, Lisa Ann Carbone and Claudia Silva, to accommodate our growing programs.

Claudia Silva, QA Specialist

The mission of the QA Team is to teach, assist, and support both our individuals that we support as well as our direct support staff.

In addition to QA Training, Lifehouse continues to provide comprehensive training for staff and weekly training on a variety of topics as part of employee orientation and enrichment. The Lifehouse Training Room in the new Lifehouse building, with flexible seating structures, will provide ample space for classes that will benefit our Lifehouse staff and established colleagues in the special needs community. We look forward to sharing Lifehouse’s expertise and experience to assist other organizations serving similar populations.

The new Lifehouse Training Room will be versatile and adaptive to a range of different applications to accommodate different training situations, from classroom to breakout style.

This feature and other happenings around Lifehouse can be found in our Annual Report and bi-annual Newsletters. To receive your copy in the mail subscribe here.

Lifehouse Residents at Work

Lifehouse Residents at Work is an ongoing series exploring the people we support at their places of work and how they got to where they are today.

Jeanna Eriksen, Lifehouse Resident

Q: WHERE DO YOU WORK?

A: I have been working for the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities for the past three years.

Q: WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT POSITION?

A: I currently work on the SAC Committee (Sacramento Advisory Committee), which is a regional committee of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities. I do advocacy work for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Q: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR STRONGEST SKILL THAT YOU BRING TO THE WORK PLACE?

A: I am motivated, tenacious, and I get things done.

Q: WHAT MOTIVATES YOU?

A: Tackling challenges and making change happen.

Q: WHAT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN FINDING A JOB?

A: People not believing in me.

Q: HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR CURRENT POSITION?

A: I started with Area Board 4, the Sonoma regional office of the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, back in 2009. I was asked to be on a local committee and I did that for five years. Then in 2017, the opportunity came up for me to be on the SAC committee. I applied and got the job!

Q: WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?

A: I recently became the Chairman of the SAC committee.

Q: HAS LIFEHOUSE BEEN HELPFUL IN REACHING YOUR CAREER GOALS?

A: Lifehouse empowers me in my role as an advocate. They provide me with the staffing needed for personal care, transportation, and assistance with resources.

Q: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO OTHERS ABOUT HIRING INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES?

A: We have had conversations about this in the council. I would encourage them to hire us because we are very dependable and reliable. We show up on time and we do the job well. People with developmental disabilities are just as equal and beautiful as those without disabilities and work just as hard.

This feature and other happenings around Lifehouse can be found in our bi-annual Newsletters. To receive your copy in the mail subscribe here.

Shining Lights in the Dark

a letter from the president & ceo

Nancy Dow Moody
President & CEO

Hello Everyone,

In appreciation to our Lifehouse staff during the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) here are a few highlights of staff contributions that demonstrate how many people went above and beyond their basic job duties. We know the list is not comprehensive, and want to share our appreciation to all Lifehouse staff and send our wishes for everyone’s safety.

North Bay Evacuations

Tran Van and Jonathon Hurst have teamed up to support Michele Selzer. Michele needed to evacuate late Saturday night and Tran, who was on shift, never wavered in her commitment accompanying Michele to Wilson House in Novato, not knowing when she would return to her home, also in Santa Rosa. She remained by Michele’s side until Tuesday to ensure safe transfers and care for Michele. Jonathon responded to the need for a second staff to assist with transfers and has come 2 times a day since to assist Tran and has offered his skill, strength and gentle nature to make what is a scary situation for Michele a bit more tolerable.  Thank you also to Carmen Kinney and the Wilson House team for welcoming Michele.

Mary Gerber and Gillie Irwin are a dynamic duo supporting people receiving ILS in the North Bay. When evacuations were ordered for more people we support in Santa Rosa they crawled through stop and go traffic to knock on the doors and evacuate those requiring assistance. In the stressful times, they were a picture of self-control and courage.

Ben Winer, versatile in his ability to respond to the needs of a multitude of people, traveled between counties to provide support to whoever had immediate need. This is a trait Ben exhibits throughout the year, much to the advantage of the people receiving Lifehouse supports. Uwe Harck with Anna Johnson and Chris Snyder with Jeana Eriksen have evacuated and have remained with the people they support throughout. Each have a rich history with Anna and Jeana respectively, supporting them prior to Lifehouse initiated services within the past year.  Meanwhile Barry Taylor has remained by Dillon Scheer’s side, while Rosania Salinas and Inanna LaFevre have been supporting Lisa Barron and Green House in Novato respectively around the clock.

Many members of North Bay management were up around the clock over the weekend fielding texts and calls to coordinate evacuations and staffing support. Many thanks to Sabrina Wilson, Makeylia McCorley, Shelby Gray, Megan Daos, Irish Krings, Essence Cook, Bill Toupal, Jacob Portlock, Anja Hansen, Olivia Vain and Lisa Carbone. Some members of the team continued to coordinate services while undergoing their own evacuation orders. We feel extremely fortunate for the commitment of our team members.

Johanna Schleret was instrumental in monitoring the ever-changing evacuation map and matching it to the map of where all people Lifehouse supports in the North Bay. Thanks to her ingenuity, we were able to move quickly and accurately.

Marin Power Outages

ICF and ILS teams did non-stop follow up to ensure the residents in our group homes were safe and care met regulatory requirements.

Crys Rohmer was relentless going to various homes to check on the well-being of the residents and to deliver supplies after completing her overnight shifts at UCSF ER. She even took the time to put on her nursing cap at Lifehouse and stop by to evaluate someone with a bit of a cough. With all her spare time she arrived at day program to heat up lunches for the people she supports. Crys’ generosity did not stop there, she also donated a mattress to an ICF resident because theirs has deflated.

Kayla Hotchkiss, Sara Holiday and Christine Leider were teaming up early this week to make sure all 3 ICFs had the supplies and staffing supports needed to minimize the effects of the power outage.

In the ILS, Mike Sus coordinated services throughout the power outage. Makayla Moore was busy transporting residents to areas with power to lessen the impact and gather supplies.

Michael Miller, our maintenance tech, went above and beyond by setting up generators, schlepping gas and ice, and fielding questions.

Finally, thank you to the Marin SLS Team, including Mario Newton, Ciara Turner, Holly Skidmore, Felicia Romero, Danita Mazzoleni and Gary Malfatti. Claudia Silva repeatedly made herself available to meet the needs of others. Your diligence made all the difference.

Finally, thank you Kate O’Connor and Michelle Condit. They were at the heart of coordinating all the evacuation efforts, logistics for staffing, delivery of ice, batteries, communications supporting staff and the people we serve. We certainly could not have done this without their outstanding efforts.

Again, we want to express how grateful we are to work with such a dedicated staffing team at Lifehouse. We send our thoughts to everyone for a return to a feeling of safety for each of you and your family.

Thank you to our Lifehouse Team,

Nancy Dow Moody, President & CEO