“Strengthening our commUNITY,
one child at a time
Spring 2017
Edition
Vol. 5 #1 Action Network Family Resource Centers located in Gualala and Point Arena
Board of Directors
Tom Dorn, Co-Chair & CEO
Rev. Alyce Soden, Co-Chair
Mary Mobert, Secretary
Andrea Phillips, Treasurer
Linda Bradbrook, Director
Dusty Leisure, Director
Shirley Marks, Director
James Platt, Ph.D., Director
Bernadette Smith, Director
Action Network Staff
Janet Kukulinsky, M.S.
Executive Director
Frances Anderson
Assistant Director
Arlene Peterson
Programs Manager
Javier Chavez
Family Advocate
Amelia Cabrera
Early Childhood Educator
Maria Davila
Family Educator, Office Assistant
Kim Ghezzi
Family Educator/Life Coach
Karen Heftmann
Business Manager
Polly Hutcheson
Tutoring, Mentoring Manager
Sienna Lampi
Early Childhood Educator
Michael Mondragon
Child Supervision
James Platt Ph.D.
GRR Event Director
Laura Ramirez
Programs Assistant
Mary Sherman
Early Childhood Educator
iRead Program
Action Network is starting a great new
program in 2017—iRead.
Attention parents with children ages 0-5
years—please join Action Network in rolling
out the new and fun iRead program for
families to read together. The program is
sponsored by a grant from the Sonoma County
Community Foundation.
Parents sign up to be part of the program and
receive help and tips about reading to their
children, plus have access to the iRead
Lending Library in our family Resource Center
in Gualala. There are over 200 books available
to check out, and gift certificates to be given!
Build your child’s confidence and future
successes while enjoying free books and gift
certificates.
The first times to sign up were Action Network
on Thursday Feb 16 5:00-6:00pm or Friday Feb 17,
9:30-10:30 for the Kick-off “Cookies and Milk”
meetings to learn about the program and sign up—
its FREE! (and there will be
healthy snacks too!) Further
dates will be announced shortly
UPCOMING EVENTS
2017 Spring Events:
February 25th: Coastal Connections Winter
Program—Gualala Point Park 11am-1pm
March 2nd: First Thursday Frisbee at PAH
gym. Ultimate Frisbee for teens party.
April 2: Fundraising House Party in Sea Ranch
April 22nd: Day at the Park at Bower park
May 7th: Cinco de Mayo at Bower park
May 21st: Tour the Links Walk and Run,
including your mutts! at the Sea Ranch golf
course
For information
on how to sign
up, please call
Arlene at 8845415
The start of the new Lending
Library! More books being
added daily.
AAC YOUTH GROUP
Programs at Action
Network for 0-5
Looking for fun and interesting
activities for your child to do this
year? Don’t forget that Action
Network offers a full schedule of
programs to whet your child’s
curiosity appetite.
The Across Ages and Cultures Prevention Coalition Youth Group continues to meet
each Wednesday afternoon in Pt Arena from 3:30pm to 5pm in the Family Resource
Center on Main street during the school year.
Each year the AAC Youth Group participates in
the March 15th Nationwide ‘Kick Butts”
campaign. For 2017 the group decided to bring
some information to their peers about Vaping,
and the dangerous chemicals that are in them.
Teens have the perception that vaping is safe
which is just not true. Here is a picture of the
poster they designed and will have finished by
March 15th.
Gualala:
Learning through Play — Pre-K prep
—Wed. 10 -1pm. , Fri. 11-1 Drop off
Playgroup: Ages 0-5—Wed. 10am noon, Fri. 11am --1pm
Music Together: Fri 10-10:45am (preregistration required)
Mentoring and Tutoring: 3-5pm Wed
& Thurs 4-5pm (pre-reg. required)
Point Arena:
Playgroup — Tues. 11am-2pm; Fri. 23:30pm
Music Together: Tuesday 9:4510:30am (pre-registration required)
Horicon School:
Bright Beginnings: School Readiness
for 3—5 year olds, every Mon., Tues.
and Thurs., Aug. — June. ONGOING
new students registration! Call 8845413
Kashia:
Bright Beginnings Pre-K Program —
Tues. and Fri., 8:30am — noon.
For more information or to sign up for
a program, call 707-884-5413, Mon.
through Fri., 9am-4pm, or visit
www.ActionNetwork.info.
Members of the AAC Youth Group attended
the inaugural Leadership Mendocino Youth
Advisory Council Meeting in Ukiah, January
23rd. Star, Nick and Blaine made the trip to
Ukiah, and participated in an exploratory
meeting designed to see what kind of Youth
Leadership program the young people in the
County would like to see planned. We were
very proud of our group members who spoke
and gave presentations to the whole
meeting.
The Youth Group’s “Drunken Goggles” exercise
continues to be a hit at events around the area.
We took the program to the Community
Wellness Fair on Feb 11th and were able to show
members of the public how just a few too many
drinks can affect your vision and balance. Our
local CHP officer was there, and was very
impressed with our set up and vowed to imitate
it for his next goggles presentations! See picture
of Office Kyle Adams trying our course!
First Thursday Frisbee— Newest Fun program
from the AAC Youth Group! All high school
students are invited to a fun evening at the
PAHS Gym, March 2nd, 4pm-7pm. There will be
live music by DJ Smerf, pizza, Ultimate Frisbee
demonstrations and games all evening. Free
event. More details to follow and posters will be
plastered around town soon!
Welcoming new
staff
Action Network is pleased to welcome some wonderful
new staff members this year!
Arlene Peterson, Programs Manager.
Arlene joined us in the new year and
will be managing of all the Action
Network programs. This is a new
position for us and Arlene is already
doing a marvelous job of learning the
existing programs, implementing the
new ones, and assisting Janet Kukulinsky with researching
grant opportunities and fundraising for the coming years.
Laura Ramirez, Programs &
Administrative Assistant. Laura rejoins the Action Network team after
an
absence of nearly 5 years. Laura is
assisting Mary Sherman with the
Horicon Bright Beginnings P-K
program, helping Kim Ghezzi with Playgroup and Learning
through Play, and, assisting Frances Anderson and Arlene
with work on programs.
Norma Orozco, Pathways to Opportunity & Immigration
Services Coordinator. Norma will be working with Janet
and Annan Patterson on the Pathways to Opportunity
Career program at the High School, and working with the
whole community on Immigration classes and
information.
Laura and Arlene can be reached at our main office
number 707-884-5413 during office hours, Monday
through Friday 10am-4pm and messages can always be
left for Norma.
Amazon Smile
A great way to support Action Network all year
If you cannot purchase something locally and use Amazon,
have you tried Amazon-Smile? This program donates a
percentage of all your purchases to the non-profit of your
choice. Action Network is registered with them to accept
donations. Here’s the link to the program:
https://smile.amazon.com/
Its free too!
Donate Now!
Give Local and support our community’s
children and families
There are numerous ways to support our local children
and families, and Action Network has been working
hard to make it even easier.
For credit card donations, please visit our website at
www.ActionNetwork.info and click on the “please
Donate Now” button. All major credit cards accepted,
and we have added PayPal as an option
www.ActionNetwork.info
Family Resource Centers
Gualala-Pt Arena
Checks can be mailed to Action Network at PO Box
1163, Gualala, CA 95445, or dropped off at our Family
Resource Center in Gualala in the Cypress Village
Center, above the Physical Gym.
Thank you from all the kids we serve!!!
Coastal
Connections
It’s more than just a summer
program!
Action Network is scheduling free, fun,
family-oriented, weekend events with local
guest speakers.
Please join us on Saturday, February 25, 2017,
at 11:00 a.m. at the Visitor Center in Gualala
Regional Park where Eric Wilder will be
speaking about Pomo Culture. At Noon, we will
take an educational hike through the park,
weather permitting.
This is a family-friendly walk and is fit for
people of all ages.
No pre-registration required. Call 884-5413
for more information.