YMCA Activate America

FIRST 5 was recently chosen as a YMCA Activate America Award recipient! This award is in recognition of our pro-active efforts in leading the Early Childhood Obesity Collaborative, an initiative launched by FIRST 5 Santa Clara County. The collaborative is committed to developing strategies and policies that promote healthy and nutritious lifestyles for families with young children.

Launched in 2004, YMCA Activate America is an ambitious public health initiative that seeks to make healthy living a reality for millions of Americans by directly helping individuals and families live healthier lives, and by helping YMCAs lead their communities and the nation to reduce barriers and increase support for healthy living.

2007 PACT Leadership Luncheon

PACT’s 2007 Leadership Luncheon was held on Wednesday, November 14th, at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose. Last year we honored Mary Ellen and Michael Fox, Sr., as our Leadership in Action Honorees, and Fr. Paul Locatelli, President of Santa Clara University, as our Community Builder Honoree-both of whom have made incredible contributions to our community. PACT's first ever Lifetime Achievement Award honoree was Dr. Jose Carrasco, PACT Founding Organizer & Builder of PICO Grassroots Organizations Nationally.

This unique event brings together more than 500 corporate leaders, politicians, and grassroots community leaders to celebrate outstanding members of the community who have demonstrated civic leadership for the well-being of Silicon Valley.

African American Community Service Agency

Certificate of Appreciation for contribution to the San Jose Juneteenth in the Park.

The African American Community Service Agency has been working with the community to hold it's annual Juneteenth Festival for over 25 years. The proceeds from the festival are used to help fund our programs and services for youth, seniors and the general public. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

Award from the Food Bank

Second Harvest's Holiday Food Drive coordinates the efforts of 492 area companies and organizations representing 25,000 employees, plus numerous public donation sites, with a collaborative goal of collecting over 1 million meals. It was first initiated in 1990 and is our largest community hunger relief effort of the year. Participants include schools, businesses, and community organizations.

Food collected for Second Harvest during the Holiday Food Drive goes to help feed 43,000 people per month during the winter months and throughout the year. The Holiday Food Drive starts in October and ends in December.

Letter of Thanks from the Office of Assemblymember Jim Beall, Jr.

Thanking FIRST 5 for attending the 1st Annual Community Health Fair on April 5, 2008. At the fair, 300 community members were served and over 100 children signed up for health insurance. Important resources were available at no costs to families including informative workshops, sign-ups for children’s health insurance, and health and dental screenings.

Unity in Diversity Achievement Award

Jolene Smith received this award. Local residents and organizations receive the Unity in Diversity Achievement Awards from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The Unity in Diversity awards are presented to individuals and organizations in Santa Clara County who excel in building the bridges of trust between diverse communities.

Irwin Cantor Innovative Program Award

FIRST 5 was presented the following: “The decision of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, the prestigious international interdisciplinary organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through the resolution of family conflict, to recognize the FCS/Family Court collaboration with FIRST 5 with this award is validation of the highest order that all of you are setting the international standard for Family Court/community collaborations serving to connect families with services aimed at addressing serious underlying problems which are jeopardizing the healthy development of their children. This award functions to spread the word statewide, nationally, and internationally, that yours is the model that other courts should strive to emulate to the extent their resources permit. And to that extent, your work will be touching the lives not only of your clients, but also of children and families far beyond the limits of Santa Clara County.

It is particularly gratifying to note that the initial program evaluation reported that children and families of color as well as families suffering from financial difficulty particularly benefited from program services which also dramatically reduced the probability of re-filing activity, the need for future restraining orders, emergency screenings, custody evaluations and assessments. There is also every reason to believe that in providing early problem identification and intervention, your work is serving to prevent the entry of some significant number of at-risk children into the Juvenile Dependency and Delinquency systems and, as adults, into the criminal justice system. All of the Family Court Services staff, the Bench Officers referring families for FIRST 5 services, the support staff, Court Administration, and FIRST 5 are truly deserving of the highest admiration and appreciation for your vision, commitment and hard work aimed at providing this highest level of constructive and meaningful justice and service to families and children.”