In reflection, the year 2011 brought us many successes. Your contribution sustained programs that moved us towards our mission. We served166 families on a continual basis over the year with over 250 children involved in early education, literacy, and academic preparedness. Three hundred parents engaged in their children’s education and development, and 40 youth leaders committed to community and service. Also, we celebrated 54 parents becoming new American citizens! In other aspects, we are developing new partnerships with other services providers and building stronger relationships with existing partners.

Here’s a quick look at what’s happening at Stone Soup:

Programs

• ELA (Early Learning Academy) is back in session with children involved in many exciting learning opportunities. Parent involvement in the classroom has increased. Staff has integrated Hmong language development into daily lessons. Fundraising for the June field trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium is in full swing with special sponsorship request letters sent to multiple partners. KYNO radio made a special announcement on our behalf.

• Play Group is in full swing with over 40 children ages 0-4 and parents attending twice a week. We still have a long waiting list and receive weekly calls from interested parents.

• Strong Families program has kicked off a new cohort of Hmong parents enrolled in ESL and Citizenship classes. The majority of students are high-school graduates with enough English language skills needed to grasp daily lessons on government, history, and civics. In six weeks, students will complete the class and be on their way to becoming naturalized American citizens. We are coordinating monthly workshops on subjects related to education and equipping parents with the resources and knowledge to help their children succeed in school.

• Parent Leadership Group members are busily organizing their first forum to educate and distribute information about the importance of state standardized testing and the impact on student placements. The forum is free for all Hmong parents.

Partnerships/Collaborative Projects

• Fresno Unified School District’s Parent University staff will be working closely with staff to continue providing trainings to parents on the educational system.

• SEARAC (Southeast Asia Resource Action Center) has an ongoing grant to promote and conduct community outreach on the affordable care act implementation. We are also a partner in the statewide coalition on ensuring proper implementation of the common core state standards.

• Staff is involved in the building of the Youth Engagement Team, a collaborative of youth-serving organizations, supported by the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities 10-year initiative to invest in place-based change in Fresno. Hmong youth are represented and involved in monthly leadership meetings.

• We have collaborated with three other local agencies serving Southeast Asian communities to engage in strategic advocacy efforts on economic opportunities tied to the new high-speed rail job creation.

• We are partners in the advocacy collaborative and attend quarterly meetings with DHSS and family strengthening organizations. Meetings serve the purpose to keep partners informed of policy changes that impact local families.

• We are serving on the CSU Fresno Bilingual/Dual language consortium composed of educators, community organizations, parents, and advocates whose charge is to ensure the education programs/teacher credentialing are held to the highest accreditations standards and that teaching programs reflect the language and cultural diversity of the Valley’s diverse populations.

Community

Hmong Culture & Preservation Group board members and volunteers will collaborate with Stone Soup once again to coordinate and run the Hmong Culture & Literacy Academy program this summer.

Upcoming events/activities

• February 13th Office closed (FUSD schedule)

• February 17th – Nutrition Wheels Team workshop for ELA children and parents

• February 18th- Parent Leadership Forum: Preparing Parents and Students for the Star Testing, Stone Soup

• February 20th- Holiday, Office closed

• February 24th – ELA Read and Feed event;

• February 25th- Strong Families workshop: Higher Education Part 2

Best wishes for a great 2012!

Signed in March 2010 by President Obama, the health care act focuses on the areas of quality healthcare, patient protection, access and affordability. These are important starting points to ensuring that communities throughout the nation will receive better holistic healthcare services.

Quality Care:

The implementation of policies and programs will focus on ensuring families and individuals receive quality care. This includes federal investment into community health centers, workforce expansion to areas in need and greater coverage of preventative care services.

Patient Protection:

From elimination of rescissions to enforcing fair coverage, federal regulations are being created and implemented to protect consumers.

Access and Affordability:

Medicaid’s qualifications are being expanded to include 33% more families, including those 64 years and younger. Those making a gross income greater than 133% will receive subsidies and tax credits to help make affording health insurance possible.  These are a few of the many steps being taken to allow access to affordable health care for everyone.

Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan:

You can enroll your loved ones now! Single individuals and individuals with dependents who’ve been denied health insurance, been without health insurance for the past 6 months and have a pre-existing condition can now enroll for the federally funded insurance plan. You can check it out at www.healthcare.gov or www.mrmib.ca.gov.

By 2014, all individuals will be required to have health insurance. Until then, communities must be educated and aware of the changes already taking place and be active participants in the changes that are going to take place. Becoming a part of these changes is necessary to making sure that our families and community members’ needs are addressed in all policies and programs of the health care act. Stone Soup will be creating future opportunities for families to be educated and active in ensuring their healthy future so stay tuned!

For more information, contact alice@stonesoupfresno.org

Health Insurance Exchange

SEARAC Health Facts

California Department of Health

Medi-Cal information

Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plane

Besides the challenge to stay cool in the triple digit heat, summer also brings the challenge of keeping children busy, entertained, and engaged. This summer, in response to many Hmong families’ requests, Stone Soup in partnership with the Hmong Culture Preservation Group (HCPG) brought back the popular Hmong Culture and Literacy program. First established by Hmong college students attending Fresno State, the program addresses the problems of Hmong youth dropping out of school and becoming pressured to join gangs. The program brings together Hmong teachers, cultural experts, college students, parents and community members to serve as positive role models, sharing their gifts and talents to teach at-risk Hmong youth to value the Hmong and the American culture. 

For six weeks, over one hundred Hmong children in pre-kindergarten through high school studied the Hmong language and culture under the careful direction of Hmong teachers and cultural experts. It was not until fifty-three years ago that a written language was constructed for the Hmong who possess a rich oral tradition.  If you are a native Hmong speaker, you can become literate in 30 days.  Research shows that if you are literate in your native language it facilitates the acquisition of a second language.  In this case, Hmong children becoming literate in the Hmong language will have a far greater chance of becoming proficient in English language literacy.

Building on the Hmong value for family and community, the program focused on strengthening relationships. In addition to literacy classes, children participated in cultural enrichment classes such as drama, traditional dance, music, arts and crafts, and etiquette.  Fridays presented mini-talent performances that highlighted children’s newfound literacy skills and talents. Following the show, outdoor activities encouraged families to enjoy learning together. Together, they played traditional Hmong games such as jacks, top spin, Chinese jump rope and many others. In addition, parents met as a group every week to exchange ideas for advancing their children’s academic achievement. Most inspiring of all, Hmong youth came away from the program proud of their history and heritage.

The Hmong Culture Preservation Group consists of teachers, researchers, and community members passionate and committed to a shared vision:  Hmong people have healthy identities built around their rich and vibrant culture, which serves as a foundation for being respectful, responsible, productive and caring citizens.

Thank you to the following supporters who made this program possible:  Fresno Unified School District Parent University, The California Endowment, Wells Fargo Foundation, The Kathleen Founder’s Fund, and First 5 Fresno County. A big thank you to all our parents, volunteers, and teachers who gave their time, passion, and talent.

Textbook used in teaching Hmong literacy entitled:  Cag Txuj Ntawv Hmoob text and workbook published by 3hmoobpublishing.

For many Hmong refugees, citizenship creates opportunities to advance the integration of their families into the fabric of American life. Seven years ago, Fresno received an influx of 2,000 Hmong refugees from Thailand. New to America, many Hmong refugee families faced significant challenges in finding their places in a different world. But for these new citizens, the hard work has truly paid off.

Despite challenges learning English, Hmong adult students in Stone Soup’s ESL/Civics Education class have quickly caught on to American civics and history, learning their rights and responsibilities as American citizens. Families make daily trips from throughout Fresno County to attend the citizenship class on the Stone Soup campus. Parents completed at least 45 hours of in-class instruction studying 100 American history and civics questions and participated in mock interviews in preparation for the face-to-face interview with immigration officers. With dedication and hard work, Hmong refugee parents are leading the way for their families.

Upon five years after arrival, refugees have lawful permanent residency status and become eligible for naturalization. The naturalization process can take anywhere from three months to years. Once parents obtain naturalization, their children (born outside the U.S.) can become naturalized citizens through an additional application process.

The journey for new refugees becoming new Americans calls for communitywide support. We have been most fortunate to develop a strong relationship with the North Fresno Rotary Club. Rotary members have volunteered to conduct mock citizenship exams and to offer sponsorships providing students the support and motivation to excel. We are extremely grateful for their support.

We will begin our sixth group of parents in the upcoming months and look forward to sharing more with all of you.

Whether you are a participant who wants to know what’s coming up next or a community member who might like to invest or volunteer in our success, these pages will help you keep pace with our programs. Be sure to check out our calendar. And don’t forget to bookmark our blog for all the latest features and announcements.

Thank you for visiting, and we hope to have a conversation with you soon.