By L. Jeanette Davis

On Thursday, December 3, the Sand Luis Obispo Unit held its annual holiday party. There was the Holiday Cookie Challenge with two winners—Sara Tindula and Michael Teubner. Dinner included baked potatoes with lots of toppings to choose from, salad and drinks.

Marta Nielsen, MSW, our guest speaker, shared with us her Family Ties program offered through Kinship Center, which provides a continuum of services that create and sustain permanent families for children who need them. They are committed to support services for relatives caring for family members’ children when birth parents are unable or unwilling to provide that care because of illness, drug addiction, imprisonment or death. Her program is to build up the capacity of kin caregivers to meet the health, financial, social, emotional and child rearing challenges they face in raising young children. Kinship Center is particularly noted for its in-depth education and support for parents and caregivers.

Kinship Center hosts support groups for parents and youth in locations throughout California. Support groups are facilitated by Kinship Center social workers, therapists, program managers and other professionals to meet the specific needs of client families in Kinship Center programs.

This party/presentation was a wonderful way to bring a close to 2015 and the SLO unit wishes each and every one of you a peaceful and safe holiday season.

The tragedy in San Bernardino reminds us how fragile and unpredictable life can be. Our hope is that as the new year comes in so will come a significant reduction of gun violence, whether within families, our schools, Planned Parenthood, where we work, or in the marketplace.