SPRING 2011EDGEWOOD.ORG

In 2011, Edgewood celebrates 160 years of transforming lives and restoring hope. Reaching this significant milestone is a testament to our enduring legacy of helping to build better lives and brighter futures for at-risk children and families in our community. As the new CEO of Edgewood, I look forward to contributing to our continued success as we embark on the next 160 years.

An organization does not thrive for more than a century and a half without shifting with the times. The Edgewood Garden Learning Center provides a perfect example of how we continue to adapt to new societal trends and community needs. The expanded garden project reinforces the current “green” movement by creating a space for our children and families to grow seasonal produce in a sustainable setting. We take the green trend further by emphasizing the therapeutic benefits of working in the soil, the tangible rewards of hard work and nurturing, and the lifelong investment in healthy eating.

On the topic of healthy living, my family and I had the opportunity to participate in our first Emerald Across the Bay 12K. Edgewood has been the beneficiary of the race since its inception 28 years ago. Thank you to the thousands of runners, volunteers, and personal fundraising participants who made this year’s event a success!

Warm regards,

Matt Madaus, CEO

CEO LETTER

Mavis Martin was excited to enter her fifties. She had a job she enjoyed as a business systems analyst and she finally had her Livermore house to herself after successfully raising three daughters on her own. Her youngest daughter Tonya suffered from severe schizophrenia.

Tonya became the victim of sexual assault; an attack that left her not only traumatized, but pregnant. Tonya had a boy she named Jamal, but it was apparent to Ms. Martin that Tonya, who struggled to manage her mental health, wasn’t properly caring for her child. One day after babysitting a visibly disturbed Jamal, Ms. Martin refused to let Tonya take him home. Ms. Martin and Jamal lived with the constant fear that Tonya would force her mother to return her grandson to an unsafe home. Jamal had trouble sleeping through the night because of intense nightmares caused by this fear. Also, like many kinship caregivers, Ms. Martin was isolated and didn’t know who to trust in her community.

Then one day a social worker who attended the same church as the Martins passed along a phone number that changed

everything, 1-800-KIN-0037. This toll-free number connected Ms. Martin with the California Kinship Navigator program. Navigators are available 10 hours a day, seven days a week and are all current or previous kinship caregivers with a world of knowledge and experience. Navigators provide referral and information services to callers of the warm line and assist with finding services that the family requests.

Ms. Martin’s Navigator connected her with financial aid for which she wasn’t aware she qualified and found a subsidized daycare to enroll Jamal in. Finally surrounded by children his own age, Jamal flourished. He especially took to arts and crafts. The Martins’ Kinship Navigator also advocated on Tonya’s behalf. With the Navigator’s help, Tonya was able to treat her schizophrenia and reconnect with her son and mother.

Kinship Navigator is a formula that works. In the words of Ms. Martin, “with other programs it always felt like there was something missing, but with Edgewood this gap was filled in. Our family became whole again.”

This year, Edgewood plans to break ground on an exciting community outdoor wellness project. We will build out the Sally Gotcher Children’s Garden and transform it into the Edgewood Garden Learning Center – a safe, positive, sustainable green space, where our community can come together to learn about growing and preparing healthy, organic food, connect with and learn about the natural world, and participate in cultural celebrations that showcase the value of food across generations, all within a therapeutic setting.

The Sally Gotcher Children’s Garden, originally established fifteen years ago, will remain at the heart of the Edgewood Garden Learning Center. Our goal is to honor and preserve the integrity of the current garden while providing many more experiences that link to the classroom with a focus on nutrition, health, and exercise, as well as integrating with the more formal arts, science, literacy, and math curriculum. The garden will provide a safe and beautiful environment free from the violence and instability many of children, youth, and families experience in their neighborhoods.

Every program that Edgewood offers regardless of location and focus will have access to the Edgewood Garden Learning Center. From the children who live on the San Francisco campus, to those attending the Non-Public School, to the youth and caregivers in our San Francisco and San Mateo County kinship programs, everyone is invited to use the Garden.

Among the most exciting developments in the Garden’s creation are the significant partnerships that have evolved. The design was created pro-bono by Zachary Davis of SWA Group. SWA is most notably recognized for the Living Roof at the California Academy of Sciences. Ground will break this spring with Jensen Corporation and Webcor Builders providing contractor expertise and oversight. Small Brown Landscape and Gonzales Architects are providing project management and general support for landscaping and structural elements. All of these partners are donating their expertise pro-bono or at-cost.

The construction project will culminate in a day of volunteerism on April 30 with Rebuilding Together San Francisco bringing together a talented team of contractors and experts. Edgewood is extremely fortunate to have this partnership to match and leverage the dollars raised against the in-kind donations and service hours provided for free by Rebuilding Together San Francisco.

A schematic of the Edgewood Garden Learning Center by SWA’s Zachary Davis. The community garden located at Edgewood’s San Francisco Campus will be accessible to all Edgewood families in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.

Forum on Family: Family Resilience

Matt Madaus, CEO with keynote speaker William Madsen

On Friday, March 11, 2011 Edgewood hosted Forum on Family: Family Resilience. This full-day conference featured keynote speaker William Madsen, Ph.D. Break-out sessions examined the resilience of families confronted with domestic violence, learning disabilities, chronic illness, advocating for children in the school environment, creating a map to guide conversations for families in crisis, and LGBTQ family dynamics. The day was a powerful learning collaborative for service providers, educators, health professionals, policy makers, parents, and caregivers.

Haiti in the Classroom