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The project saw much progress last week with demolition of the storage building, and the beginning of house demolition. Construction is on schedule!   The project to construct new supportive senior housing in Fort Bragg, CA kicked off beautifully on April 25th. The contractors mobilized to the site, permits were posted, and abatement activities were completed. The old farmhouse was the subject of the work last week; materials were safely hauled out before the week was up.
It was wonderful that our memorial tree, planted in honor of Raymond Hee (1942-1987) was in full bloom. We selected a Kwanzan Cherry tree because we feel that its striking and colorful beauty perfectly honors Raymond’s memory. What do you think? Stay tuned for ongoing project updates at www.parentsandfriends.org/blog or on FaceBook at @pfifortbraggca . Parents and Friends, Inc. has broken ground on a new senior residential care facility in Fort Bragg. Residents will move into the new site in 2023.
People now tend to outlive their family homes and caregivers, so a new residential care facility in Fort Bragg is the logical and necessary next step to creating supportive housing that allows individuals to age in place in their community. The new senior care home is scheduled to open in 2023 and is the result of an ongoing collaboration between Parents and Friends, Inc. and the City of Fort Bragg. The city received a Community Development Block Grant to construct a public-serving facility for low-income seniors requiring specialized care. Parents and Friends currently operates one specialized care home in Fort Bragg and will also operate the new facility when it is complete. “We began this project 12 years ago to fill a need for senior housing and to expand housing in general for our community. It is finally coming to fruition during a time when this need is greater than ever to benefit the health and welfare of our maturing community,” said Rick Moon, CEO of Parents and Friends, Inc. “Parents and Friends has a long and successful history of taking care of our vulnerable populations and this new facility will help even more people.” Adams Commercial General Contracting (www.acgcinc.com) is the prime construction contractor for the project, working with several local subcontractors to complete the work under the direction of K Boodjeh Architects (www.kboodjeh.com ). For more information, or to watch the construction progress online, visit www.parentsandfriends.org or follow Parents and Friends on social media @pfifortbraggca.
Since 1955, Parents and Friends, Inc. has been providing opportunities for people with developmental challenges and similar needs to participate fully in our community. For some individuals, this means safely accessing medical care; for others it means going to work, volunteering, learning new skills, shopping, banking, exercising, meal planning and preparation, staying safe in a power outage, or simply going out to connect with others in our coastal community.
This generation of developmentally disabled adults is the first to outlive their parent-caregivers. With this knowledge, we anticipate the needs of these individuals rather than reacting, by opening a licensed Residential Care Facility for the Elderly that provides safe, person-centered, around the clock care in a beautiful neighborhood home. The home is now at full capacity with 4 residents, and we are developing more homes to ensure that more folks can benefit from these unique supports that are not otherwise available in our area. We are grateful to our supportive and inclusive Mendocino Coast community, to our more than 170 local employees, and we are honored to support the needs of each person we serve to live a good life of their choosing. We invite you to take a look at the slideshow to view just some of the the ways we fulfill our mission. We couldn't do it without your support!  Buddy has been a valued employee of the Paul Bunyan Thrift Shop for many years, and, he was recently welcomed as a new member of the Parents & Friends safety committee. One of Buddy’s goals involves taking paid time off from his day job in order to dedicate time to his column, BUDDY ASKS, which appears in our monthly employee newsletter. Yesterday, as he was heading to his office work day, he found some money on the ground and turned it in. When we arrived at the office, we had an unexpected visit from Salvador Vera, Knights of Columbus Council # 8187, who made a generous donation to Parents and Friends, Inc. of the proceeds from their annual Tootsie Roll Drive. Buddy was on hand to accept! In addition to interviewing employees to learn more about them (over twenty, so far), today Buddy upped his game by beginning to type up the articles himself. Buddy is a natural, and everything he learned about typing came right back to him. It was a great day of progress. He even tried an Avocado Roll for the first time! Buddy didn’t leave until we had a date chosen for our next work date together. Buddy’s self-advocacy ensures that his needs and desires are known, which then allows him opportunities to make progress on his goals, leading to a more satisfying and self-directed life of his own design. Bravo, Buddy! Thanks to a grant from The Redwood Coast Regional Center, Parents and Friends is pleased to be able to offer a 2-day Person Centered Planning training course to our day program clients and support staff, which will provide the skills needed to gain insight into themselves, thereby enabling them to better support the individual needs of others. This grant will also allow PFI to certify two in-house trainers so that we can deliver this very important training all of our employees. Happy New Year!  As we as an organization continue to support and anticipate the needs of the individuals we serve, we are pleased to announce our most recent grant award, a $3 million dollar Community Development Block Grant which will support the lifecycle of our community members to age in place. We are thrilled and grateful for the support from the City of Fort Bragg!  Parents and Friends is pleased to provide employment services on the Mendocino coast through our employment program, The Job Connection. Individuals are referred either from the Redwood Coast Regional Center, or through the Department of Rehabilitation. Two of our day programs, Life on the Coast and The Community Connection, also have a work component as part of their offerings.
Being able to work together as a team to support individual goals is the master recipe for employment success. We invite you to read more in our current edition of the Progress newsletter. PFI is proud to be not only one of the largest employers on the Mendocino coast, but we are also appreciative of our diverse and talented staff of direct service providers, supervisors, and administrators. It is the individuals we serve who benefit most, of course, from the talents of our staff of over 160 well trained, CPR and Pro-Act certified employees. It is not just every once in a while that I witness something extra special going on, that is above and beyond what is expected and required. This week I happened to be over at The Community Connection day program, where a myriad of activities are going on at any given time. Each activity that occurs is based on goals and choices made on an individual basis. At the east end of the Chestnut Street building, where our learning kitchen is located, several folks were pitching in as meals were being prepared; groceries were brought in from a morning shopping spree, mindful of individual dietary needs and preferences; in the middle area, folks were washing hands and brushing their teeth; others were laundering their swim and shower towels that they used at CV Starr earlier in the day. In the entrance area, coats were hung and bags were stowed as people were coming and going on about their busy day. Some arrived and left on foot, and others with the assistance of a mobility aid such as a motorized wheelchair, cane, or walker; the MTA, Dial-A-Ride, a PFI wheelchair lift van, or an employee vehicle also take us where we want to be. At the west end of the building, one person had made a decision to take a moment to themselves in the quiet room to exercise good self-care. Program Manager Ann Jovich was at the end of the hall, in her office, meeting with a new hire in between conversations with staff and clients - as well as fielding the many phone calls she does each day. I saved the middle room for last, because it is a very rich and diverse environment! Lily was drawing, Mike was clapping with his friends, Sergio was singing, Hannah was doing her exercises, Kymberlee was being interviewed by Buddy for the employee newsletter, Antony was explaining to Dale what he did over the weekend, Jared was laughing and listening to some of his favorite music, and, I also heard a faint guitar track. It was a quiet song, very soulful and calm. It wasn’t coming from Jared's speaker. I turned around to see that it was Tim, playing his heart out on his acoustic guitar, as Priscilla looked on in delight. It was a special moment, shared in this photo. You may also view the brief video on our Facebook page. Thanks for sharing your gifts, Tim! 
As part of Parents and Friends’ safety plan, we have and maintain (3) Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) at our facilities: our administrative offices, 306 E. Redwood Avenue; The Paul Bunyan Thrift Store and Furniture Annex, 350 S. Main Street; and The Community Connection, 521 E. Chestnut Street. All of PFI’s staff members are trained to use these life saving devices, in addition to being CPR and first aid certified. PFI currently employs over 160 community members; that’s a lot of safe people on our coast!  |
