February 2023 Newsletter

February is designated as Black History Month in the United States and Canada.   In recent years other countries like Ireland and the United Kingdom have also observed February as Black History Month.  February was chosen since both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were both born in February.  Penny Lane is proud to celebrate Black History Month.  We are also proud to feature Cathy Blair in our Black History Month Cultural Corner. Cathy shares with us her upbringing, family traditions and so much more.  Check it out this month!

Saturday night (1/21), as people gathered to celebrate the Lunar New Year, an armed gunman entered a dance hall in Monterey Park.  10 people were killed with another 10 wounded.  Without knowing the motive of this horrific act, we do know that it was perpetrated onto our AAPI community.  All over the world AAPI communities are gathering to celebrate, which is exactly what they did in Monterey Park.  As they danced and celebrated the coming of Spring, they were confronted with horror. Why? We discuss this shooting and the other horrors that happened this past month in California. Read how you can help put a stop to senseless mass shootings.

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Since 2017 the Penny Lane Transition Aged Youth Drop in Centers have participated in the Los Angeles County Homeless Youth Count.  Teams consist of team leads, volunteers, survey takers, and youth navigators that go into the field to canvas census tracts and survey homeless youth.  In addition, TAY Drop in Centers have served as access centers for homeless youth to complete walk in surveys as well. Check it out to see how you can get involved!

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In this month's Community Spotlight we feature Northrop Grumman. Penny Lane Antelope Valley Transition Age Youth (TAY) Drop-in Center was the recipient of a generous donation due to a drive conducted by Northrop Grumman of Antelope Valley. Northrop Grumman as well as Penny Lane Centers focuses on building meaningful partnerships that transform communities.  They organized a donation drive and dedicated their time and resources to collect essential items including food, clothing and hygiene items that directly benefited our transitional age youth (TAY) as they work toward independence. Check it out and you too will want to join in on their community involvement!

In our monthly Wellness Corner our Commerce Family Center Clinical Supervisor, Biridiana Baez, shares her thoughts on sleep.  It seems that people have mixed thoughts and feelings surrounding sleep. What is certain in that sleep occupies about one third of our total lifetime and is a very important biological function. Check out her tips to help improve your sleep health this month!

We are working hard to get those that need housing a place to live. With 4-5 projects currently in process, Abbey Road continues to lead the way for those who need it most. Check out the progress we have made on multiple projects this month!

We sure have a lot of fun stuff planned for this month at Penny Lane Centers. We celebrate the success of our SUD team member Carlos Villatoro, want you to join us for our CalWorks Job Search Workshop on February 22nd, and get prepared for this Friday's Erase Hate Assembly at Rosa Parks Learning Center. Check out what is happening at Penny Lane so you too can join our community!

In this month’s promotional employee spotlight, allow me to introduce to you Marie E. Rodriguez, Human Resources Benefits Administrator, working at our North Hollywood location. Marie started at Penny Lane in June of 2021 as a Human Resources Administrative Assistant. In the year and a half since she has started, her interest in all things Human Resources and her ambition and tenacity led her to be promoted to HR Benefits Administrator effective January 1, 2023. Check it out to learn more about Marie!

Check all the open positions at Penny Lane Centers this month!