“March Madness,” which encapsulates the championship tournament for College Basketball, excited many sports fans last month.  We were reminded of how important teamwork is to achieving success on the court and winning games.  Championship teams not only have gifted and talented individual players, but all the players on the team recognize that one person alone will not win games or get the team to the top level.  When the entire team is focused on the same goal or desired result, and not just their own individual performance, each person will work hard to use their skills and abilities to make the team better.

At Solutions for Change we understand teamwork and seek to practice it when it comes to the much more significant contest of solving family homelessness.  This is much more important than a game since the lives of families and the future for kids lies in the balance.  Genuine teamwork must be value-based and it will flourish around the practices of servant leadership.  The following principles of teamwork will help all of us as an organization and as a community achieve success in our common goal of solving family homelessness.

Communicate constructively and positively:  Teams need people who speak up and express their thoughts clearly, directly and honestly.  Talk straight!  Communicate with respect for others and for the work of the team.

Listen actively:  Teams need members who can absorb, understand, and consider ideas and points of view from other people without debating and arguing every point, yet can also receive criticism without reacting defensively.  For communication and problem solving to be effective, team members need the discipline to listen first and speak second so that meaningful dialogue results.

Demonstrate reliability: Teams need to be able to count on teammates to work hard, meet commitments and follow through on assignments.  Consistency is the key.

Share openly and willingly:  Team members are willing to share information, knowledge, and experience. They take the initiative to keep other team members informed.

Work at problem-solving:  Teams need members who are problem-solvers, not problem-dwellers, problem-blamers, or problem-avoiders.  Good team players are willing to deal with all kinds of problems in a solutions-oriented manner.

Exhibits flexibility:  Teams often deal with changing conditions, and often create changes themselves. Remember we are Solutions for Change!  Good team players roll with the punches; they adapt to ever-changing situations. They don’t complain or get stressed out because something new is being tried or some new direction is being set.  Strong team players are firm in their thoughts yet open to what others have to offer.

Playing on basketball teams that share the ball, efficiently run the plays, adapt to the pressure defense, encourage and inspire fellow teammates, is the most fun and usually the most successful.  The same is true when it comes to working together around a social and moral imperative to solve family homelessness.  We believe that the principles and practices of Servant Leadership, joined with the values and mission of Solutions for Change, provide a framework for a team that can defeat the impacts of homelessness.  Together, as a team, we can win this battle for our kids and communities.

What does it take to make a House a Home?

It starts with love and family, but it doesn’t end there. There are many items needed to turn the shell of a house into a home for Solutions University graduates.

Soon we will be opening up Vista Terrace Apartments. There are 47 opportunities to make a difference in the lives of families that have been through so much—and have finally accomplished their dream of being re-housed with their families.

We need you – your family, your church, your business— to transform Vista Terrace Apartments for these families who have worked so hard. This move marks their success at solving their family’s homelessness. For many, this will be the first home they have had in years—or perhaps, the first home that they have ever shared as a family.

Join us today by adopting an apartment – either with a monetary donation or by donating items from the list.  You could also host a drive in your neighborhood or at your church for “Kitchen Essentials” or “Bathroom Basics”!

Bundle Options:

$50 — “Get Ready” Basket for the Bath (shower curtain, towels, rug, bath mat, trashcan, toothbrush holder, soap dish, etc.)

$75 — Kid’s Sweet Dreams (sheets, blankets, pillows, lamp, etc.)

$75 — Kitchen Essentials (dishes, glasses, silverware_

$100 — Parent’s Bedroom Bundle

$100 — Cooking Basics (pots, pans, bake ware, kitchen tool set, etc.)

$500 — Parent’s Double Bed, Mattress, Dresser

$500 — Kids Bunk Beds, Mattresses & Dresser

$2000 – Outfits an entire 2-bedroom apartment

$2500 – Outfits an entire 3-bedroom apartment

Please consider donating items from this list:

KITCHEN

Dishes • Bake ware • Silverware/knives • Pots and Pans • Trash can • Towels & dishcloths • Storage containers • Cutting Board • Glassware • Toaster • Can Opener • Utensils

BEDROOMS

Linens • Blankets

FURNITURE

Small Dining room set with four chairs • TV Stand • Sofa • Dressers (chest type) • Coffee table & End table • TV • Beds

BATHROOM

Towels & washcloths • Rugs • Bathmat • Toothbrush holder & soap dish • Trash can

OTHER

Lamps • Laundry Basket • Broom/Dust pan • Vacuum • Cleaning supplies/sponges • Hangers • Paper goods • Placemats

For more information or to get involved:

Contact Kryssa Cooper at 760.941.6545 ext. 319 or email kcooper@solutionsforchange.org Items may be delivered to Solutions at 722 W. California Avenue, Vista or for large donations, please call for pick-up.

The mission of Solutions for Change is to serve homeless families and communities through real and lasting change by providing access to permanent solutions.  Our goal is to “serve to solve” through a partnership with the community, and with each of the families who come to us seeking permanent solutions.  Last year Solutions for Change made the decision to adopt “Servant Leadership” as the model for our management and employee training. It closely aligns with the core values of our organization and enhances the type of leadership and service we have been striving to give the North County community for the past 13 years.

Servant Leadership is best described as the desire and practice to inspire and equip those we influence.  The tenants and principles of Servant Leadership have been practiced for thousands of years by many great leaders, including kings, presidents, and religious leaders.  The great servant leader Jesus Christ said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant; and whoever wants to be first must be servant of all.”  At Solutions for Change we believe that servanthood is the means to true greatness and success in every area of life.

In recent years corporations like Southwest Airlines, Popeye’s Restaurants, Starbucks and Datron World Communications in Vista, have adopted Servant Leadership as the model for training their management and employees.  They believe, as do we, that the best way to inspire and equip their people to be leaders within their organization is through service.   Servant Leadership focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong.  The servant leader puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly and as effectively as possible.

This attitude of “serving for the sake of others” is what drives the mission and model of Solutions for Change.  Our purpose at Solutions is to have a positive and lasting impact on others and we believe that the principles and practices of Servant Leadership will enhance our impact by making us better leaders, teachers, counselors, family members and community partners.

Jim Rohn, author and business entrepreneur said this about leadership:

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”

It’s these kinds of Servant Leadership qualities and personal characteristics that we want to help instill in all of the people who work at Solutions for Change, as well as in all of the families, volunteers, and community members we touch, and who partner with us in the imperative to solve family homelessness.

If a better society is to be built, one that is more just and more loving, one that provides greater creative opportunity for its people, then the most open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and the very performance as servant of existing major institutions by new regenerative forces operating within them. – Robert Greenleaf, The Institution as Servant

One of the core concepts of the leadership framework knows as servant leadership is “others before self,” the idea and ideal of placing the needs of co-workers, employees, family and friends before one’s own needs. At a personal rather than organizational level, love is the ultimate expression of this, the gift of making someone else the highest priority.

Solutions for Change is strongly committed to the principles of servant leadership, and we endeavor in every way to incorporate it into our day-to-day practices at both the organizational and personal level. Our executive team, our managers and our staff have all taken training on the principles and practice of servant leadership, and this training opportunity is now being extended to Solutions residents.

As Robert Greenleaf observed, if we are to create a better society it will be by raising the capacity to serve, and that is part of our goal at Solutions for Change and one of the reasons for introducing our entire team and our residents to servant leadership training.

Numerous studies of family homelessness point to the same conclusion—a homeless family isn’t just a family that lacks housing. Those who are homeless have become unmoored from their relations to individuals and communities that are a necessary foundation for success at overcoming their impairments and sustaining themselves in jobs and housing. Our engagement strategy builds on the desire of most people to be part of a community, and we leverage peer and community support to encourage and foster the behavioral changes and emotional investment needed to create success and further engagement.

A Solutions coach helps a family create a highly individualized plan of action, and then guides them to access and use of the resources to support and sustain each goal. One goal at a time, the family becomes empowered and capable, and with each success engagement increases, creating a positive feedback loop of success.

Before long, the served become the servant leaders as families transition from total reliance on their Solutions coach to re-entry into being part of a community of which they are an integral part and where they are both a consumer and a provider of resources to others. Many families in our programs become leaders in our community, and create opportunities, programs, and plans for the next cycle of residents.

It’s the ultimate expression of servant leadership—and love.

Last year was a year of remarkable progress and development for Solutions and the community. Because of your support, we put in place the tools that will now be used in 2013 to multiply our effectiveness at permanently solving homelessness for families.

Among our achievements last year were:

A real estate development “blitz” demonstrating our dedication to solve family homelessness for more families while doing so better and faster than we ever have:
     • Purchased, refurbished and opened Primrose Park Apartments – creating a new home for 22 once-homeless families.
     • Raised a record level of funds to develop Vista Terrace Apartments. After extensive rehab these apartments will be home to 48 more families mid-2013.
     • Acquired a new 7,500 square foot education, training and youth development center that will allow us to serve and equip more families and children.
     • Purchased a farm! Solutions Farms is the largest commercial aquaponics farm in San Diego and our boldest social enterprise venture ever.
     • Obtained approval and funds to develop our first affordable housing solution in Oceanside.
     • Engaged as the managing partner on Parkview Apartments in San Marcos. Building 84 new apartments for more families.

Approaching the milestone: “200 families out of homelessness and into homes” in our commitment through the Finding Our Way Home initiative:
     • Record level of investments of time, energy and funding with leaders from around North County including major investments by champions CEO Mark King and his team at TaylorMade Golf; CEO Art Barter and his family at Datron; The Issa Family with Darrell, Kathy and William, CEO Jim Minarik and his team at Directed Electronics Charitable Foundation; CEO Chris Lischewski and the BumbleBee Foods company, and the amazing women of Soroptomist International of Vista. We will be bragging about many more in our upcoming annual report!
     • Celebrated an Evening to Remember…with Rudy Giuliani with 700 people and gained national visibility in our efforts to re-engineer how we address family homelessness.
     • Building a team of “rock star” employees who are striving to be the best of the best at solving family homelessness.

Each of these successes provided us with an additional tool to be used in solving family homelessness. We’re are now poised to increase our impact in 2013, and we could use your help.

Each person who participates, in whatever way, moves us toward success. Whether you donate money, volunteer to help at Solutions Farms, or on campus, or at our Intake and Access Center you are increasing our impact. Whether you involve your business, your friends, your family, or your colleagues, you are raising your voice and joining a groundswell of community support that is solving family homelessness.

We’re winning. Call us today and ask how you can be on our team.

Today and tomorrow (12/17 & 12/18) are the final two days to drop off a unwrapped new toy at our toy drive sponsor locations. Pick-up will be on Wednesday. Thank you to all the following organizations and also those private community groups and families toy drive boxes and angel trees this year.             

Bonsall: Pacific West Bank
Carlsbad: Active 8, Chelsea Investment Corporation, Ernest Packaging, Holy Cross Church, Michael Enhrenfeld Company, Outsource Manufacturing, Transworld Media, Yoga Bound, and Relm Wine Bar.
Encinitas: Walgreen’s–1320 Encinitas Blvd. location.
Escondido: Infusion Church
Oceanside: Aaron’s Furniture Rental–4171 Oceanside Blvd. location, Chase Bank–4147 Oceanside Blvd. location, Mission Montessori School, Mission Oriental Market, Manhattan’s
Giant Pizza, North County Self Defense, and St. Thomas More Church.

San Marcos: Check Center–902#A W. San Marcos Blvd., and Lloyd’s Pest Control

Vista: Active Mobility, Check Center–836 North Santa Fe Dr., Cintas, Datron World Communications, Dura Paint Co., Edward Jones, Farmer’s Insurance–230 Civic Center Dr. and 344 Main St. locations, Geib Lumber, Java Hut, Jazzercise, L.A. Fitness, Lamppost Pizza, Lita’s Fish Market, Little Cakes, Melrose Storage, North Coast Church, Pacific West Bank–1690 South Melrose Dr., Passion for Hair, Physicians’ Data Trust, Starbucks–1661 South Melrose Dr., Rancho Buena Vista High School, Tri-City Tire and Automotive, Union Bank of California–825 Civic Center Dr., Vista Café, Vista Library, Walgreen’s–802 S. Santa Fe. Ave., Wells Fargo Bank–1150 East Vista Way, and World Gym.

San Diego: Collwood Terrace, Immaculate Conception Church, and Bank of America–1455 Frazee Rd.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering during the holiday season!

Here are the dates and times we need YOUR help!

12/13 - The day the children shop for their parents – we need 4 volunteers from the hours of 4:30-8:30 PM

12/19 - Set-up for the parent shopping day – we need 10 volunteers from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM and 9 volunteers from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

12/20 – Set-up for the parent shopping day – we need 5 volunteers from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM, 3 volunteers from 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM, 5 volunteers from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM, and 5 volunteers from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

12/21 - The day the parents shop for their children – we need 11 volunteers from 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM and 1 from 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM

If you can fill any of these time slots,

please contact Robyn at rGilden@solutionsforchange.org

or call her at 760.941.6545 ext. 318

Can you grow hope in a greenhouse? We’re doing it today at Solutions Farms.

Doing well while doing social good is social entrepreneurship, and it’s the principle and plan behind Solutions Farms, which is growing right now at a two-acre site in Vista that has more than 25,000 square feet of existing greenhouse structures. These structures and the site itself are being continually refurbished and put into production through the generous support of individual volunteers, companies, and foundations.

Solutions Farms is a fully integrated aquaponics (soilless) farm. It is also a social enterprise venture that combines job training, general education, and entrepreneurship, for the benefit of Solutions’ families and the community. The fish and produce raised will be sold locally to markets, restaurants, and at farmers markets. The revenue will help sustain Solutions for Change. Because Solutions Farms is a full-fledged business venture, it requires all the skills and knowledge of any business—and it thus combines learning and earning.

But it’s a farm that is growing more than just produce and revenue. Solutions Farms is staffed by Solutions residents who are finding their own solutions while helping others do the same. For many of our residents, this is the first time in their lives that they’ve been in a position to give instead of having to take. It is a proud, important, and emotional moment when they realize what they have achieved because of Solutions Farms.

Aquaponics is an inherently green and sustainable technology that is extremely water efficient because virtually all of the water is continuously recirculated. Unlike conventional farming, there is no nutrient-dense fertilizer runoff to cause pollution of lakes, streams, and underground aquifers. And because crops are raised in a controlled environment, they are pest-free and not subject to the kinds of contamination that have resulted in major recalls of produce.

See for Yourself!

You are invited to see aquaponics and social entrepreneurship in action by joining us any Thursday morning (except for national holidays), when we offer public tours at 9, 9:30, 10 and 10:30 a.m. No reservations are required. Solutions Farms is located at 948 La Rueda Dr., Vista. For groups of 10 or more, please call (760) 505-8601 to schedule a tour.

Solutions Farms—the farm of the future.

Soroptimist International of Vista Presents

Solutions for Change with $245,000 Gift

Gift from estate of the late Mayme Barnes

 VISTA, CALIF. The Vista chapter of Soroptimist International presented local nonprofit Solutions for Change with a check for $245,850 on Friday (10/26) at a luncheon event at the Solutions for Change campus in Vista.

The gift represents the proceeds of a bequest from the late Mayme Barnes, who was the Vista Soroptimist chapter’s founding president. Solutions for Change was chosen as the recipient of the bequest in a competitive process involving many of North County’s leading nonprofits.

“We are extremely pleased and honored to have been selected by Soroptimist International of Vista to receive the proceeds of the Mayme Barnes bequest,” said Solutions president and CEO Chris Megison. “Together, we will do what Mayme Barnes and Soroptimist International are dedicated to doing—helping women and girls, who are by far the majority of those seeking the assistance of Solutions for Change.”

The check was presented to Megison by Runa Gunnars, the current Soroptimist International of Vista Foundation president.

Barnes, who died in 2007, was a teacher who had a longstanding commitment to the Vista community. “Her bequest is forging a strong link between two of the community’s most visible and active nonprofit organizations that seek to improve the lives of women and girls,” said Solutions’ Megison.

Last year, Soroptimist International of Vista awarded a Solutions for Change resident a scholarship that enabled her to continue her education. Solutions will, through its Solutions in the Community program, be supporting a wide range of Soroptimist events including their human trafficking walk.

Solutions for Change has worked since 1999 to solve family homelessness in North County. In that time, the organization has saved taxpayers more than $30 million by helping more than 600 homeless families permanently solve their homelessness. The organization’s Solutions University program gives families access to the skills, knowledge, and resources they need to become and stay self-sufficient.

“A solution to family homelessness in North County is within our reach,” said Megison. “This generous memorial gift will bring that goal closer to fruition and will change the course of hundreds of lives in the coming years.”

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For more information on North County Solutions for Change, visit the program’s website at www.solutionsforchange.org or call 760-9416545.

Remarkable. Inspiring. Exciting. An Evening to Remember… with Rudy Giuliani was all of that and much, much more.

It raised spirits, commitment, and $1.7 million that will be used by Solutions for Change to create more, better, and faster solutions for North County’s homeless families.

This year’s event, held at the La Costa Resort & Spa, brought together more than 700 people in an unprecedented display of community commitment and caring. Each person in attendance represented hope and help for our families, and each person contributed in many ways to all that will be done at Solutions for Change in the coming year.

Former New York City Mayor (1993-2001) Rudy Giuliani was an inspired and inspiring keynote speaker. Many of the core concepts he spoke of are as true for Solutions for Change as they were for New York City when Giuliani was mayor. Accountability, self-reliance, willingness to work—these are the foundations for success.

 “’An Evening to Remember. . .with Rudy Giuliani’ was a landmark event,” said Solutions President & CEO Chris Megison. “The response of the community said that they want family homelessness solved, and that Solutions for Change is the way they’re going to get it done.

“We are very grateful to our lead sponsors, TaylorMade Golf and the Issa Family Foundation, our Champion of Change sponsors, and all the individuals, businesses and others who provided support through their attendance, donation of auction items, or in other ways,” said Megison.