Christmas 2018

Every year Parents by Choice hosts a Christmas Open House for our foster families to enjoy. The evening was filled with decorating cookies, coloring, writing letters to Santa, taking silly photos and so much more! Even Santa made an appearance!

Thanks to the help of our multiple sponsors, we were able to give multiple gifts to over 110 kids and stockings filled with goodies. Thank you Sierra Conservation Center, CA Department of Fish & Wildlife, Stockton PMZ Real Estate, Toys for Tots, Planet Beach Spa, Linda White & Friends, Busy Mamas of the 209, LifeSong Church, Kathleen Solari, Anne McClintock, Lisa Gomez, Sara Dowdy, Tim Ulmer, Stockton Kings, Pacific Law Academy's Key Club, The Clifton’s, Soma Fitness Studios, Ralph and Joanne Gresham, Manteca PD K-9 Unit, and Tina Valenzuela-Ramirez.

Parents by Choice & Safe Harbor Family Services Merge!

Stockton, CA- Representatives from Parents by Choiceand Safe Harbor Family Serviceshave announced that the boards of the two organizations have voted to merge, which will result in a combined organization under the Parents by Choice name.

Safe Harbor Family Serviceshas been a leading foster care organization in Stanislaus Countysince 2006 with hundreds of children served from their office in Modesto, CA.Stockton-based Parents by Choicewas also founded in 2006 and has become well known in San Joaquin County for their array of services for children and families in crisis, including foster care and adoption. 

The merger has been discussed since 2017 and will unite these two organizations with similar missions.  In short, both Safe Harbor Family Servicesand Parents by Choicerecognize that they can do more together than alone.

“We’ve been discussing the potential merger since September 2017, and the feedback at both organizations has been positive and encouraging.  The board and staff of both organizations have enjoyed learning about each other’s accomplishments, programs, and history. The more we heard, the clearer it became that together we have a real opportunity to provide even greater support to children and families.” Tim Crawford,Board Chair of Safe Harbor Family Services.

“Teams from both organizations have been meeting frequently to sort through critical questions and decisions and have worked hard to listen and problem-solve throughout this entire process.  We all realize that the world of California foster care is changing with the recent passage of AB403 and we’re excited to take this step to meet new challenges.” Linda Vasquez, Board Chair ofParents by Choice.

Tony Yadon, the founder and Executive Director of Parents by Choice, will lead the merged organization.  Tony said, “I’d like to add a personal thank you and congratulations to Bill Meenk who retired at the end of 2018 after 12 years as the Executive Director of Safe Harbor Family Services. Bill has led Safe Harbor with vision, wisdom, and heart. It’s my privilege to carry on a part of his legacy into the future.”

The new organization will offer an array of programs from child abuse prevention to foster care, adoption and mental health, and will feature locations in both Modesto and Stockton. The combined organization will have a staff of approximately 40 people. For more information, please visit www.SafeharborFamilyServices.orgor www.ParentsByChoice.net

Easter Baskets

Every year Parents by Choice creates Easter Baskets for their families. 

The baskets are filled with treats for all of the children in their home.

Creating the perfect Easter Basket for a family:

Easter Basket - The Dollar Tree has cute Easter Baskets

Easter Grass - Found at the Dollar Tree

Egg Dye Kit - Walmart $5.12

Easter Character Bubbles - Dollar Tree pack of 4

Easter Pencils - Dollar Tree pack of 12

Easter Erasers - Dollar Tree pack of 12

Side Walk Chalk - Dollar Tree pack of 20

And of course candy/snacks

$20-$30 basket for a family depending on your Egg Dye kit and Candy.

Teens in the home include:

Water Bottle - Dollar Tree

Sunglasses - Dollar Tree

Earbuds - Dollar Tree

Thank you!

A huge thank you to the Quail Lakes Young Adult Ministry, Planet Beach Spa, Sierra Conservation Camp, Family Resource Center, BNI Stockton Founders, Stockton Community Council, Toys for Tots, Linda White & Friends, Danielle Zarevich, Ann McClintock, Eunice Oh, and many others for donating toys. We were able to provide about 100 gifts for children in foster care and about 100 gifts for families that have gone through our Positive Parenting Program.

Thank you to the Lodi Girl Scout Trip and Girl Scout Troop 1856 for hosting our Stocking Stuffer Drive. We were able to fill about 100 stockings for children in foster care.

Thank you to Sara Dowdy and her family for baking about 100 sugar cookies and making frosting for the children to decorate cookies and enjoy eating them.

Thank you to the Stagg Key Club for donating their time to help us during the party. They helped the smaller children decorate the cookies and much more.

There are so many people and organizations to thank this year, Thank you to every single person and organization that helped Parents by Choice provide around 200 gifts, 100 stockings, and 2 wonderful evenings for families to enjoy. We could not have done any of it without you.

Thank You!

A huge thank you to everyone who attended our Inaugural Gala! We hope that you enjoyed the delicious food, the heartfelt stories, and the amazing raffle prizes. 

It was amazing to see a packed room, and feel supported by the community. We are looking forward to our next Gala to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We hope to see you there! 

New Positive Parenting Classes Starting Soon!

When it comes to raising kids and teenagers, everyone has an opinion. So how do you know what works? The Triple P - Positive Parenting Program takes the guesswork out of parenting. It is one of the few parenting programs in the world with evidence to show it works for most families.

Triple P gives parents simple tips to help manage the big and small problems of family life. Problems like toddler tantrums.  Self-esteem issues. Bedtime battles. Disobedience. Aggression. Triple P can help you deal with them all - and more!

The Positive Parenting Program has helped hundreds of parents in San Joaquin County since 2012, and thousands of parents around the world over the past 30 years. In this program, small groups of 6-10 parents will meet each week for six weeks.  Free childcare is always provided, and parents will receive a workbook at no cost.  

Groups Starting Soon

In addition to our regular schedule of Positive Parenting groups, we have a Spanish group starting on Tuesday, 8/11and a Teen group starting on Tuesday, 8/18.  Click to register or for more information. We would love to have you join us!

Foster Parent Training

Foster parents are required to have a set number of training hours and topics each year. Once a month, Parents by Choice provides training, childcare, and dinner to help our parents fulfill that requirement. 

Our staff and volunteers provide lots of fun games and activities for the children to enjoy, while the parents are in training. There's a rock wall, video games, play dough, card games, board games, bingo, basketball, and much more! During the holiday, we provide costume contests for the kids to participate in as well as having the Fire Department come out and show off their trucks. 
The kids have a blast and can't wait until our next meeting. 

Recently, we started providing Teen Trainings to help the teenagers learn important life skills and scholarships/grants that are available for them. We hope to be able to enhance this into taking the teenagers on college tours and other fun activities. 

Our foster parents enjoy learning and revisiting topics like positive discipline, trauma informed care, gender diversity, and much more! 

To learn more about how you can volunteer, visit www.parentsbychoice.net/volunteer_form