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.

Toys for Children with Special Needs

The Friendship Circle Blog put together a list a while back of 10 online toy stores that sell toys that are specifically aimed at children with special needs. Check it out:

2011/01/31 By Tzvi

If your child has special needs it may not be so simple to purchase an appropriate toy. You generally can’t walk into a Walmart, Target, Toys ‘R’ Us or your local dollar store and pick out the item your child wants or needs. Thankfully we live in 2011 (what did people do 20 years ago? ) and we can hop online and start browsing the web for appropriate toys.

To get you started here are some stores that sell toys geared towards children with special needs.

1. Ability Station

http://abilitystation.com
Ability station provides special toys for  many different special needs and skillsets. All toys are therapist approved for a child’s growth, development and fun.

2. Amazon

http://amazon.comAmazon sells anything and everything you could possibly think of (ex: Sigmund Freud action figure or UFO Detector). Tucked away in a corner of Amazon are 464 special needs multi sensory toys.

3. Different Roads to Learning

http://difflearn.com
Founded in 1995 by the mother of a child diagnosed with Autism, Different Roads to Learning carries over 500 products carefully selected to support the Autism Community. You’ll find everything from basic flashcards, books and timers to advanced social skills tools to support you at every step.

4. eSpecial Needs

http://especialneeds.comFrom oversized building blocks and bungee jumpers to snapwall playsets and sand and water activity tables, eSpecial Needs offers a variety of appealing active play toys for children with special needs, including autism.

5. Fun and Function

http://funandfunction.comFun and Function designs sensory toys and therapy equipment for individuals with special needs to help children learn adaptive responses for what they may lack or crave.  Looking for a gift for a child with special needs? Fun and Function has some recommendations.

6. Gummy Lump

http://gummylump.comGummy Lump offers toys that make sweet memories:  play food, wooden toys, pretend play & educational toys for toddlers & preschoolers! Featuring Melissa & Doug and other award winning toys.

7. Lakeshore Learning

http://lakeshorelearning.comLakeshore is dedicated to creating innovative educational materials that spark young imaginations, instill a sense of wonder and foster a lifelong love of learning. Although not specifically targeted towards children with special needs, a number of their products can be very useful for children with special needs.

8. Playability Toys

http://www.playabilitytoys.comPlayAbility Toys designs and develops toys for children with special needs. Toys are geared towards children on the Autism Spectrum, individuals who are blind & visually Impaired, cognitive challenges, hearing impaired, physical challenges, speech delay and more.

9. Special Needs Toys

http://specialneedstoys.com
Special Needs Toys offers a wide range of special needs toys, from mobile Multi-Sensory, to Swings, Trampolines and otherSensory Integration kits, Switches, rewards and small Sensory toys.

10. Toys  ’R’ Us

http://toysrus.comToys ‘R’ Us has a complete  ”Differently-Abled” Kids section. Categories include: Auditory, Creativity, Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Language, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Tactile, Thinking and Visual

Nassreen Zarea to Receive Hope Services Award

Exciting news from the mom of Nassreen Zarea, one of our Via West participants and counselors-in-training:

"I am proud to announce that Nassreen was nominated to receive the Larry Schott award and was chosen by the family to be this year’s recipient. Larry Schott Humanitarian Award is in memory of Larry Schott, a longtime HOPE trustee and a true advocate for HOPE’s clients, he believed in doing good work for people and this award was created by his family to honor others who choose to volunteer their time.

According to the director of HOPE services, this is a huge honor as HOPE serves more than 2800 individuals each day and only one person is chosen annually for this award! She will be honored at an awards luncheon in December. The Schott family will be represented by approximately 25 family members and all of the SVDN staff and clients will be there to celebrate Nassreen’s accomplishments.

We are very proud of Nassreen and thank you all for your part in supporting her in every area of her life!"

Congratulations Nassreen!