Highlights
Thank you to all involved for taking the time to make Christmas a memorable experience for KYJO kids. A special thank you to each of our 2021 Angel Tree sponsors for hosting an angel tree. KYJO staff are overwhelmed with gratitude towards the Central Valley community for their generosity, especially during the challenging year that was 2021. KYJO is looking forward to continuing these community partnerships for holiday seasons to come.
Year End Recap 2021
Greetings KYJO Community, thank you for your involvement in 2021. Because of your support, we have navigated obstacles and seized opportunities in 2021 to better serve those who need it most.
While every individual faces unique challenges, we stand together strong and #Fearless to support our community’s youth.
Residential Spotlight
I had the privilege of working with Maurion while in placement at KYJO and was able to see the growth he had while here. Maurion never let the sets back of life or situations in placement deter him from his goals. Maurion has amazing insight on life and is able to see past present-day, planning for the future. In my last conversation with Maurion he talked about what is important to him and what his plan for the future is. He was able to talk about goals that were not superficial, he would analyze his goals and outweigh the pros and cons. One thing I admire most about Maurion is his transparency and open-mindedness. Maurion was always willing to hear what others had to say and would ponder on what was being said. I am so proud of him for being accepted into AB-12 housing and wish him all the best!
– Katie Counts, HOS
2021 Placement Outcomes
KYJO Foster Family agency had the placement of 70 children in 2021. Out of 70 children placed in KYJO FFA homes, 41% discharged from KYJO FFA for positive outcomes such as reunification, adoption, transitional housing. 48% of KYJO youth continued to receive stable services from KYJO resource family homes heading into 2022. This shows that KYJO has an 89% successful placement rate for children placed in KYJO homes during 2021.
KYJO ended 2021 with 24 approved resource family home. A number of these resource family homes have been certified with our agency for over two years.
Click the button below to read the full 2021 KYJO Performance Analysis.
Resource Parent Feedback
• Social worker & support group
• Communication
• Sincere any form of assistance due to their availability anytime 24 hours a day with commonsense that those work. KYJO truly appreciate parents advice and experience to heart. Being able to communicate with each other and not fake it. Do not throw you under the bus, as we parents say, if there is a disagreement.
• Help with Christmas for the kids
• Foster Family Support Group
Staff Highlights
New Hires
Marina Brownlee
Logan Martin
Makayla Cadiz
Staff Anniversaries
December
1 Year
Angelica Rodriguez
Cameron Ferraro
November
| 4 Years Luis Santiago |
1 Year Rachel Ocampo Kimberlee Cobarruvias |
Kevin’s Huddle
Hello,
In 2021 we learned why becoming a team was vital to overcoming challenges. Many learned “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish!” There is a quote by Henry Ford, “Coming together is the beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” This is how we managed to overcome the nuances of 2021. Adapting to change was imperative for us to take the necessary steps needed to accomplish any goals set forth.
This is why I want to thank the entire KYJO family for showing resiliency while facing one of the most challenging years in recent times. Even with the challenges faced we still managed to celebrate some victories. To name a few: Intensive service foster care (ISFC) division for our FFA department has started to grow, our foster parents developed a support group, incorporated Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in our Mental Health program, officially obtained our mental health certification, revamped the residential stage curriculum, Angel Tree gift drive blessed so many underserved youth that had never experienced what it was like to celebrate Christmas. More importantly, we learned the importance of what working as a team can do.
Let’s face it, we all have had to learn how to think differently, be open-minded and adapt to change, and learn how to live and do business in a pandemic world. It’s understandable not everyone likes change and when you’re forced to change faster than you would prefer, there will be some barriers, mistakes made, and failures to expect. Regardless of those adversities, having a sense of gratitude for those lessons learned helped us to another year to create opportunities.
Back at the beginning of 2019, I stated that partnerships & relationships are key to achieving larger-than-life dreams. After two years have passed, that still holds true to this day! The pandemic made things difficult for some to support how they may have in the past, but their hearts and blessings were still with us in spirit. Even though we didn’t see each other as much in person, we still found a way to make a difference. We are in this together!
As a team, we will find success in 2022. Big shout out and appreciation to the dedicated KYJO staff, foster parents & youth, board members, community partners, donors, and supporters. Thank you all for having patience and being open to change. You all are the epidemy of #FEARLESS!
Kevin Jordan
Executive Director
Donations
Our doors are always open to donations for our Residential Group Homes and foster youth. We are in need of:
- Athletic shoes, hiking boots and river sandals (variety of men’s and women’s sizes)
- New pillowcases and bath towels
- New or gently-used sweatpants
- Paper products (toilet paper, tissues, and paper towels)
- Kitchen supplies (aluminum foil, zip lock bags in sandwich and one-gallon size)
- Cleaning supplies (no-ammonia all-purpose cleaners, laundry detergent, dishwasher soap)
- New, unopened packages of athletic socks – crew or low cut – and boys’ and girls’ underwear
- Personal hygiene items for boys and girls (deodorant, hair supplies, bar soap, toothpaste/toothbrushes, body lotion, etc.)
- Gift cards to grocery and retail stores (Target, Wal-Mart,), restaurants/coffee shops
- Movie, bowling, skiing or swimming passes or tickets to sporting events, concerts or plays
- Arts and crafts items (yarn, beads, art paint, construction paper, poster board)
- Board games, puzzles and playing cards
Amazon Smile
KYJO Enterprises, Inc. is now a featured organization of the Amazon Smile Foundation. Amazon Smile is a charitable extension of Amazon that allows consumers to donate a portion of their purchases to the organization of their choice. Most products that are featured on Amazon are eligible for Amazon Smile with 0.05% of profits being donated. Please visit https://smile.amazon.com to learn more about the program and to sign up to have your Amazon purchases benefit KYJO.
