Important Announcement!

Via Services has scheduled maintenance on the email server during the period of December 22 to January 1. _______@viaservices.org email addresses will not be able to send or receive any email.

The Via Services office will also be closed during this time for the holiday break. If you need to get in touch with someone during these dates, please call 408-243-7861 and press 0 to leave a voicemail in the general mailbox. If you would like to purchase Early Bird tickets for the Via Ball during these dates, please call 408-243-7861 and press 239 to leave a voicemail for Beth Campanella or send an email to viaball18@gmail.com.

Thank you for your understanding and patience and from everyone at Via Services, we hope that you have a very happy holiday!

Via West Gives Back

Michelle Barr of Next Door, a San Jose organization promoting safety for women and children since 1971, accepts 150 gift stockings from Via West junior program staff member Allie Keefe. The stockings were decorated and stuffed with donations of hygiene items and candy collected by the children who attended the November 30-December 2 “All I Want for Christmas is a Snow Weekend at Via West” and adults who enjoyed the December 14-16 "Jingle Bell Rock" weekend at Via West. Michelle and her colleagues plan to place the stockings under their agency’s tree so families can take what they need for the holidays. She expressed appreciation for the kindness of our participants and their families.

Jingle Bell Rock Recap

The holiday season continued at Via West this past weekend with our adult participants and their Jingle Bell Rock! We kicked off the weekend with our opening campfire on Friday night, and then we spent Saturday morning hiking to gather pine cones for our holiday centerpieces, making menorahs, and using iPad apps to learn about the various December holidays.

Some local firefighters then stopped by to drop off our Christmas tree and to let us explore and pose for pictures with the fire truck.

We spent the rest of Saturday afternoon caroling, decorating cookies, making wreaths, making ornaments and dreidels, and decorating the tree. We also learned about the importance of giving back to the community by decorating and stuffing stockings to donate to Next Door's domestic violence shelter.

We finished up the weekend with an elegant holiday banquet, Jingle Bell Rock dance, and a meet and greet with Santa where everyone was able to receive their holiday presents!

To view more pictures from this weekend, please visit our Facebook page.

Upcoming Holiday Events

Below are some great events for you to participate in this holiday season:

College of Adaptive Arts Winter Choir Concert

December 8th from 2:00pm-4:00pm at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 81 North Second Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Angels on Stage "Be Our Guest" Pancake Breakfast

December 9th from 8:00am-10:00am at Applebee's Restaurant, 555 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose, CA 95129

Holiday Dinner and Dance
December 14th from 5:00pm-9:00pm at Grace Community Center, 484 San Fernando Street, San Jose, CA 95112

Special Needs Winter Ball
December 14th from 6:00pm-9:00pm at Church on the Hill, 500 Sands Drive, San Jose, CA 95125

College of Adaptive Arts Christmas in the Park Performance
December 17th from 8:00pm-9:00pm at Plaza de Cesar Chavez 101 West Santa Clara Street, San Jose, CA 95112

All I Want for Christmas Recap

Snow in California? You bet! With some help from the Rotary Club of Cupertino, the Via West Campus was transformed this past weekend into a glistening winter wonderland. We kicked off the weekend with some caroling at our opening campfire.

On Saturday, we spent time making ornaments, dreidels, menorahs, and various other holiday crafts to take home. We read Christmas stories, played music, and learned some new iPad apps.

 

After some down time in the lodges, we came outside to see that winter had arrived! We went sledding, made snowmen, had an epic snowball battle, and then we warmed up inside with cookies and hot chocolate.Everyone learned the importance of giving back to the community by decorating and stuffing stockings to donate to Next Door's domestic violence shelter.

We finished up the weekend with a festive dinner, Yule Ball, and a meet and greet with Santa where everyone was able to receive their holiday presents!

To see more pictures from this weekend, please visist our Facebook page.