St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center Receives Grant from CECO.

CECO Logo

 

 

 

St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center Receives Grant from CECO.

Margaret Fraenzl Mosaic

Margaret Fraenz

During the Annual CECO Awards Breakfast at the Spring Valley Community Center in March of this year, St. Madeleine Sophie’sCenter was presented with a check in the amount of $365.

This donation will support Sophie’s Gallery Art Program for 300 adult students with developmental disabilities who benefit from the program every week.  Sophie’s Gallery Art Program is designed to help our students gain self-sufficiency and inner fulfillment through meaningful work and self-expression.

Specifically, these funds were used to purchase safety supplies and paint for mosaic projects in our many shows and events. This includes our Wings & Snow show, where our artists are working on mosaic birdhouses that will be featured in our holiday show at our El Cajon and Kensington galleries in December 2014. A total of 45 mosaic birdhouses will be on display and for sale at both locations (Sophie’s Gallery in Downtown El Cajon and Sophie’s Kensington Gallery on Adams Avenue in San Diego).

Dorothy Bicknell Mosaic

Dorothy Bicknell

The San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization (CECO) has been the charitable arm of the County of San Diego and San Diego Superior Court since 1956 and strives to ‘lend a hand’ to the community by way of grants to local non-profit programs and assistance to employees and retirees in crisis.

Thank you CECO! We are deeply grateful to CECO for their caring generosity and ongoing support of St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center and the individuals with developmental disabilities that we serve.

To learn more about CECO visit their website at http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/ceco/.

 

 

SMSC Receives $10,000 Grant from Bank of America to Support Work Activity Program

Bank of America
Chris Hinman, SMSC Board Trustee; Jon Frandell, Bank Bank of Americaof America Merrill Lynch V.P. – Associate Resident Director; Susan Couch, Bank of America SVP – Business Banking; Debra Emerson, SMSC CEO; Clifford Cho, Bank of America Merrill Lynch SVP – Market Executive; Toni Petruzzo, SMSC Board Trustee; Sharon Esche-Irving, SMSC Board President.

 

On July 9, St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center was the gracious recipient of a $10,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The grant will be used to fund the work activity programs – one of the innovative programs at SMSC that provides adult students with developmental disabilities with an education, practical life skills and vocational training.

“This grant will help us to continue to find employment opportunities in the community for our students,” said Debra Emerson, CEO of St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center. “Bank of America has been a wonderful partner.”

St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center’s Work Activity Program targets the individual employment goals of over 50 adults, of the 400+ total individuals enrolled at the Center. The program is designed to help mitigate notoriously high unemployment levels experienced by people with developmental disabilities. With the additional coaching this program provides, the selected students are supported for a 12 to 18-month period at the end of which, they are able to move on to individual job placements in the community. The programs at St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center are continuously made possible by the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations like Bank of America.

“Employment generates income and personal pride. That is why Bank of America supports local workforce development programs, as a way for unemployed and underemployed people to get the educational and vocational tools they need to obtain and sustain a job.  Our support of St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center is truly unique in that it provides invaluable resources to help prepare and place those most challenged to employ – our community’s disabled adult residents who are capable of working and earning their own incomes,” said Rick Bregman, San Diego market president, Bank of America.

St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center is deeply grateful for the caring generosity and ongoing support of Bank of America. On behalf of the students and staff at the Center – THANK YOU Bank of America!

Call to Artists – Bountiful Art 2014

2014 Bountiful ArtworkSt. Madeleine Sophie’s Center and the Autism Research Institute invite you to submit your artwork to the 2014 Bountiful Art show.

Juried by Christine Knoke from the Mingei International Museum.

The show opens on Friday October 4, 2014, at the Kensington Gallery, 4186 Adams Avenue in San Diego.

To submit artwork download the detailed directions and the application below.

ENTRY DEADLINE SEPTEMBER 19

2014-Bountiful Art Directions

2014 Bountiful-Application

Vertigo © Mark Smith