1. family and parenting
2. children

Dear Friend,
Mission
Child Advocates provides
stability and hope to abused
and neglected children by
being a powerful voice in
their lives
Vision
Every child has a positive
view of the future and the
opportunity to become a
productive, healthy adult
Approach
Strength Based, Child
Centered, Asset Building
Impact
The Power of a Consistent,
Caring Adult
Board of Directors
Lenny Alugas
Michael Byrd
Shirley Cantu
Joe Cousins
David Enemark
Kevin Gardner
Mala Jairam
Raul Mujica
Jane Oglesby
Michael O’Leary
James Otieno
Sridhar Ramanathan
Moe Rubenzahl
Linda Schiefelbein
Howard Slayen
Walt Thinfen
Lorena Torres
Alberto Valdez
Jose Vargas
Kathryn Williams
This year we celebrate the powerful voice of our Advocates in supporting
foster children and their families.
Grandparents Lily and Phil, mother Cynthia and children Larissa, Eric, Liliana,
Julie and Analina are together, their case dismissed. This happy outcome is
the result of their hard work and tremendous love for one another. Another
key ingredient in their successful reunion was the support of devoted
Advocates: Holly, Ashok, Angel and Jessica. This story is just one example
of the positive impact of Child Advocates of Silicon Valley on our community.
When baby Analina tested positive for controlled substances at birth, she
and her four siblings were removed from their mother’s care. Grandparents
Phil and Lily moved to San Jose to care for all five children. Initially, the
grandparents were resistant to Advocates: “I did not see how volunteers
could help” stated Phil. Gradually, his perspective changed. “Now, I cannot
say enough good about the Advocates. The time and attention of these
volunteers, it comes from the heart.” After two and a half years of work and
support, mother Cynthia was able to regain custody of her children. The
family is now happy, healthy and together. “You are like angels. Our
gratitude is boundless.”
Since our inception in 1986, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley has served
over 15,000 children and supported over 10,000 volunteer Advocates. We
continue our emphasis on innovative programming and collaboration with
partners to continuously improve the Santa Clara County foster care system.
Our focus on academic success, a critical factor in creating a future of
possibilities and breaking the cycle of abuse, continues to result in positive
outcomes for our children and their families.
As previewed in last year’s report, the agency embarked and is making
progress on an ambitious plan to achieve our five year goal: Provide an
Advocate for every foster child in Santa Clara County.
Your continued support is critical to the success of our agency. Thank you
for your commitment to providing a highly trained, consistent, caring adult
for our most vulnerable children.
With sincere appreciation,
James Otieno
Chair, Board of Directors
Karen Scussel
Executive Director
Thank you to our donors who make hope a reality for abused and neglected children
$50,000+
Coit Family Foundation
Eric Schumacher
Skip Lightfoot
Brad Werner
County of Santa Clara
Social Services Agency
Steve Gomo
Mary Beth Long and
David Grunbaum
Ann and The Hon. Ron Whyte Helene and Peter Koenig
Eunice Jackson
Michelle Swenson and
Stan Drobac
Judicial Council of California
Junior League of Palo Alto
-Mid Peninsula, Inc.
The Chambers Family
Foundation
Sleep Train Foster Kids
Los Altos Rotary
Endowment Fund
$20,000 - $49,999
NXP Semiconductors
AVT Productions
Omidyar Network
Liz and Michael Byrd
Vilma Kennedy Pallette
Hurlbut-Johnson
Charitable Trusts
Palo Alto University
Superior Court of
Santa Clara County
Katey Kennedy
Manssa and Eric La Brecque
Betty Lo
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale
and Dorr LLP
Local Independent Charities
Chef Nancy Wokas
U.S Bank
Russ Leavitt
Connie and Bob Lurie
Chef Angelo Womack
Leslie Whitney and
Joe Cousins
Chef Tim Luym
Kathryn and Michael Woods
Lettermen's Athletic and
Social Club
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich &
Rosati Foundation
Jorge Martinez
Carolyn and Max Lettween
Steve and Ann McCray
Jane Woodward and
Kurt Ohms
Mary and Michael McCusker
Lori and David Wright
Aly Makishima
$500 - $999
Mass Mutual Financial Group
PK Agarwal
Michael Merrill Design Studio
Jill Alvidrez
Jo Anne and Nick Moore
John Andrews
Jo and Barry Ariko
Morgan Hill Community
Foundation
The Hon. Jacqueline Arroyo
Scott Mosher
Judy and Dean Bartee
Melanee Murphree and
Gary Robertson
$1,000 - $2,499
Apple Matching Gifts Program Phyllis and Wade Meyercord
Palo Hills Foundation
Gladys Monroy and
Applied Materials, Inc.
Leo M. Shortino Family
Carrie and Greg Penner
Larry Marks
Chef Peter Armellino
Foundation
Christy and Jeff Richardson
Morgan Stanley Foundation
Arvind Bhargava
Moms Against Poverty
Carol Robinson-Fahmi and
Gordon Mueller
Chef Adam Bortolussi
Myra Reinhard Family
Tarek Fahmi
Ruth and David Norman
Foundation
Silicon Valley Product Group Kim Brady
Loretta and Ken Nussbacher
Quest Foundation
Chef Philippe Breneman
Stella B. Gross
Oakland A's
SanDisk Community Sharing Charitable Trust
Linda Brennan
Old World Spirits Distillery
Program
The David and Lucile Packard Dana and Larry Burns
Ann and Bud Oliver
Walters and Wolf Companies Foundation
Bynum Family Foundation
Opus One Winery
David Tran
$10,000 - $19,999
Sharon Bynum
Bhawna Patkar
Viking River Cruises
Teri and Lenny Alugas
C.M. Capital Foundation
Kathy and Steve Polzin
Western Digital Foundation
ASA Computers, Inc.
Sandy Cademartori
Denise and Michael Pope
Judy and J. David Williams
Shelley and Steve Brown
Denise Ching
Jan and Michael Praisner
Shirley and Richard Cantu
$2,500 - $4,999
Comerica Bank-California
QTS
Cisco Systems Foundation
Gaylene and Rick Austin
Sue Cristallo
Jeff Reisdorf
Gordon and Betty Moore
Avnet Inc.
Debbie and Chris Crouse
Foundation
Patricia and John Richardson
Lorraine and Vincent Baxter
Tim Dauber
Kwok Wah Lau and
Robert Half International
Bold Data Technology Inc.
Kathy and Carl Davidson
Jon Goulden
Denise and Tom Robinson
Barbara and Kevin Brooks
Robert Doering
In-N-Out Burger Foundation
Win Roney
California Healthcare
Barrie and Tod duBois
Kathy Jacobson and
Lori Ronning
Foundation
Chris Hyrne
Joan and Alan Earhart
Moe Rubenzahl
Capital Group Private
Kappa Alpha Theta,
The Hon. Leonard Edwards
Client Services
Jim Rubnitz
Stanford Chapter
Farrington Historical
eBay Foundation
Greg Ryan
Lockheed Martin Employees'
Foundation
Margie Edwards
Foundation
Chef Chris Schloss
Janie and Chuck Adams
Foothills Congregational
Los Altos Town Crier
Jackie Schmidt-Posner and
Elaine and Michael Fiorillo
Church
Holiday Fund
Barry Posner
Tami and Robin Freeze
Forbes Mills Steakhouse
Marjorie Mancuso
S.H. Cowell Foundation
Chef Jarad Gallagher
Kevin Gardner
Jennifer and Scott Miller
San Jose Earthquakes
Kathleen Hanson and
Brenda Hammond
Jane Oglesby and
San Jose Sharks
Steve Geisheker
Cameron Esfahani
Paul Hammond
Laura Seitel and Loy Martin
Scott Giambastiani
Maren and James Otieno
Alyson Illich
Sharks Foundation
Michele Goins
Project Linus
Mala Jairam and
Elizabeth Shen
Rick Guevara
Baskaran Iyer
Linda and Les Schiefelbein
Jennifer and Michael Shum
Tim Hanlock
Karen Scussel and Curt Riffle Claire and Larry Jinks
Nedra and Jim Shunk
Claire Hayes
Holly and Karl Knapp
Sue and Howard Slayen
Elizabeth and Roger Sippl
Bev Helland
Edith Kuhlmann and
Lisa and Matthew Sonsini
Sarah and Matt Slayen
Kirk Bowman
Hewlett Packard
The Avant! Foundation
Dan Spiegelman
Leiro Electric
Flora and Steven Hoffman
The Mercury News
Rebecca Staudenmaier
RJ Ligtenberg and
Independent Charities of
The William and Flora Hewlett
Mr. Chris Ligtenberg
Brandy and Brad Stroh
America
Foundation
Lockheed Martin
Summa Peto Foundation
Marlena Jacobs
Thrive Foundation for Youth
Communications
Teris
Junior League of San Jose
Donald Van Nortwick
Markkula Foundation
Thomas Fallon Photography
Chef Eric King
Westminster Promotions
Maxim Integrated Products
Whitney and Jane Thornton
Brian Korek
Wolff Family Private
Elizabeth Morgan
Toyota of Sunnyvale
Chef
Brad
Kraten
Foundation
Tashia and John Morgridge
Krista Van Laan
Robin and Daniel
Akiko Yamazaki and
Morrison & Foerster
Kostenbauder
Jerry Yang
Cheryl Vicary
Foundation
Chef Jen Kwapinski
$5,000 - $9,999
Melanie Vinson
National CASA Association
Debbie Lee and Ken Jackson Judy and Chuck Waggoner
Anonymous (2)
Jeff Richards
Jessica Liao and Walt Thinfen Andrew Welch
Lisa and Barry Cheskin
Gina Saldanha and
Sridhar Ramanathan
Office: Sobrato Center for Nonprofits, 509 Valley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035 / Tel 408.416.0400
www.BeMyAdvocate.org • [email protected] • Tax ID No. 77-0250773
The compilers have carefully reviewed our donor names for the 2013 fiscal year (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013).
If you find an error, please accept our apologies and contact the Development Office so that we may correct our records.
Design donated by Westminster Promotions. Photography donated by Now & Forever Studios.
Patricia Bennett
Penny Blake
Dana Brody-Brown
Janet Brownstone and
Andrew Verhalen
Jeff Lea
Christina Madden
Myca Cellars
Holly Myers and Kirk Neely
Katherine Nicoletti
Elizabeth and Paul Nyberg
Elaine and Richard Burgess
Suong Nguyen and Paul Baty
Angela Carter
Randy and Stacey O'Hara
Jeff Cashen
Cindy and Michael O'Leary
Mary and Anthony Cefalu
Jeannie and Jim Ottinger
Norma and Stuart Claassen
Cheryl Petermann
Donald Clark
Murray Rubenzahl
Karen and The Hon. L.
Michael Clark
San Jose Saber Cats
Jennifer and Andrew Clarke
John Sellers
Christopher Cobey
Sereno Group Real Estate
G Coleman
Service by Medalion
Margo and Ray Combs
Linda and Skip Shaw
Melissa and James Courtney
Jeff Snyder
Tom Dao
D'Ann Darling
South Bay Regional Public
Safety Training Consortium
Susan and Harry Dennis
Alan Spiegelman
Mary Ellen Eberhard and
Steve Scussel
Staley Family Foundation
EMC Corporation
Tania Scotti
Stanford Red Barn
Leadership Program
Lisa Ewing and Mark Turgeon Stanford Women's Basketball
Julie and Mitch Stermer
Thomas Feasby
Connie and Harvey Fox
Lynda and Stephen Fox
Kerry Francis and
John Jimerson
Linda and Bill Giannini
Granite Financial
Vickie Grove and David Fair
Angela Guajardo
Anne and Lawrence Hambly
Linda and Ron Hammerness
Bill Hannemann
Nancy Hom
Vicci and Bill Hult
IBM Employee Charitable
Contribution
Intel Volunteer Grant Program
Intero Real Estate
Connie and Eric Jorgensen
Deborah and Richard Justice
ANNUAL REPORT 2013
Elaine Sulzberger and
David Oppenheimer
The Basin
The Institute for the Study of
Human Knowledge
Darlene Thorne
Lorena Torres
Shari VanLoo
Tammy Ventura
Vince Solutions
Renee and Anthony
Voltaggio
Cindy and Jim Walling
Vickie and Carl Warden
Jumiana and Jan-Yu Weng
Tina White
Kathy and Bruce Williams
Mark Wilson
Andrew Woolard
A Powerful Voice
Providing Hope, Promoting Stability
A Family Restored:
“Our gratitude is boundless”
When Phil received the call from the social worker about a Court
Appointed Special Advocate for his granddaughter Larissa, he was
skeptical. How could a perfect stranger help his family?
Advocate Holly worked with 14-year-old Larissa to help her better
understand her feelings and envision a positive future for herself.
She brought Larissa’s teachers, grandparents and mother together
to develop a plan that would allow her to make up her missed
high school credits. Now, Larissa is on track to graduate early, in
December. She begins classes at community college in January.
When Phil saw Larissa’s progress, he requested an Advocate for his
grandson, Eric. Eric’s Advocate Ashok played sports with him, taught
him healthy eating habits, and became a positive male role model.
When the family was contacted about an Advocate for three-year-old
Liliana, they did not think the shy girl would engage with a stranger.
Surprisingly, Liliana immediately bonded with her Advocate Angel,
enjoying trips to the park and the library. Soon, two-year-old Julie
wanted an Advocate. Her Advocate Jessica supported Julie with
her speech therapy.
595
Children Served
Age of Children Served
0-5
6-14
15+
20%
40%
40%
Our 462 Advocates contributed
50,000 hours of direct support
At first the children’s mother, Cynthia, was uncomfortable with the
thought of her children spending time with strangers. But, she saw
how excitedly her little daughters talked about their Advocates, how
Eric’s self-confidence increased and how her relationship with
Larissa improved. “Advocates are great. You open doors, provide
resources and create a positive effect on the entire family.”
I do not know where I
would be, where we
would be, if Holly and
the other Advocates
had not become part
of our lives.
8%
African American
Asian
4%
8%
Bi-racial
Caucasian
Other
15%
63%
Latino
2%
Your Support Makes
a Difference
July 1, 2012 - June 30, 2013
Despite our affiliation with the courts, government
$1,470,646
funding provides just 18% of our annual budget.
Since public funding allocations are always uncertain,
$1,437,917
Expenses
Our Advocate youth
who complete their
high school education
Ethnicity of Children
Statement of Activities
Income
91%
– Larissa, age 17
we count on the continued support of our generous
donors, foundations and corporations to be the
Net Income
$32,729
Compared to just 30% for preschool age
foster children in Santa Clara County.
Our 3-5 year old children
enrolled in preschool
71%
backbone of our successful program. We allocate
over 82% of our budget to services that directly
support the advocacy needs of foster children in
Silicon Valley.
www.BeMyAdvocate.org