Caminar Connections: November 2024

Tens of Thousands of Lives Transformed

Reflecting on Caminar's 60th anniversary of service, which we are celebrating this year this year, we remain ever-grateful for you - our community of support - who helps make our work possible.

Because of your support, tens of thousands of people are living lives with purpose, connected to family, thriving at work, and experiencing joy. Thank you!

Staff Spotlight: Caminar's Housing Heroes

We are pleased to share that Sayoko Yoshimura, Program Director of Caminar's Hawthorne House, and Kendra Ceccato, Assistant Director at Hawthorne House, were recently recognized for their outstanding work at the 17th Annual San Mateo County Housing Heroes Awards.

The 2024 Housing Hereos Awards honored community partners and colleagues who demonstrated exceptional leadership in providing and/or maintaining housing for San Mateo County residents with co-occurring issues.Sayoko and Kendra received awards for Excellence in Residential Services. Congratulations, Sayoko and Kendra! Caminar and our clients are fortunate to have you on our team!

Program Spotlight: Caminar Jobs Plus

The IPS Employment Center Supervisor Newsletter recently highlighted Caminar's Jobs Plus Program with the following article. Enjoy!

Yazmin Robledo is the IPS Supervisor at Caminar, a mental health, substance use and recovery services agency serving six northern California counties. Caminar’s Jobs Plus Vocational Program incorporated IPS in 2019 and is located in Solano County. “IPS sold itself to me,” says Yazmin, who’s been with Caminar for nearly nine years, and IPS Supervisor for the past three. Her team of five IPS specialists serves nine treatment teams, supporting both adults and youth. Since adding IPS to their Jobs Plus Vocational Program, they’ve exceeded their annual goal of 50% employment for clients…this past year the employment rate was 56%!

Yazmin says that success is partly attributable to her constant contact with her specialists. They share job leads and collectively problem-solve around challenging client situations. Yazmin also provides job development field mentoring to her specialists and uses a strengths-based approach during supervision. “Each specialist has their own strengths…everyone brings something special to the team.” She is intentional about promoting satisfaction among the staff, reminding them to take a mental health day as needed, facilitating team outings at the end of each fiscal year, and by being transparent and open to learning herself.

Another reason for their success is strong and supportive leadership. The Jobs Plus Executive Director and Solano County Behavioral Health, Chief Deputy Director collaborated to bring IPS to the agency. “Having someone who believes in the model and passes down that knowledge” is something Yazmin points to as a key. Now Yazmin is working to expand IPS agency-wide, through sharing success stories of working people, highlighting her program data and talking with peers during quarterly meetings.

When asked what tips she would share with other IPS supervisors, Yazmin focused on the development of a strong Steering Committee. “Identify attendees including workforce development boards, Chambers of Commerce, Vocational Rehabilitation and other local non-profits that serve people who may be benefit from IPS.” She also had another piece of advice: “Trust the process of IPS. Realize that everything in the fidelity scale is there for a reason…think about making actual change for people’s lives.”

Caminar In The News

Diablo Gazette's November 2024 edition article, "Concord Awards $5 Million To Organizations For Homeless Plan" reported that Concord's City Council approved the allocation of $5 million to six local organizations, including Caminar, for the implementation of its Homeless Strategic Plan.

Haute Living San Francisco recently featured In Celebration with Caminar, our 60th anniversary celebration in October.

Liberté Press highlighted Lisa Ling's remarks and our 60th anniversary celebration at In Celebration with Caminar.

‍FY2022-2023 Impact Report‍

We recently published our Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Impact Report. and invite you to review it if you haven't already. Thank you for your ongoing support of Caminar, our clients, and our mission!

‍Recent Educational and Thought Leadership Resources