To learn more about our REACH Beyond Capital Campaign, please take a look at our case study. REACH Beyond Case Statement
Yes I want to donate to the Capital Campaign
Look At Our Building Project
Author: DavidH
Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church
Las Trampas is so appreciative of the Lafayette Orinda Presbyterian Church and the wonderful volunteer work they do for so many Contra Costa nonprofits. This is the third year in a row that they have chosen to help us with volunteer work. A large group worked on campus to help organize the Development Department’s storage areas, while others headed to Maureen House to clean out the garage and start the process of creating a game room! LOPC has been helping Las Trampas in so many ways over the years and we are so grateful for everything they do!
The Warriors Fan
Leslie is a huge Warriors fan, which he demonstrates almost daily. He can draw from a closet full of the team’s logo clothing. In cold weather, it’s the blue and gold knit cap, in summer a t-shirt, among other items. Of course as an avid sports fan, he must alternate with his 49er jacket and hat!
Les joined Las Trampas in 2013. He’s part of a team that manages the Recycle, Reuse, Repeat program that collects used and unused toiletries from local hotels, cleans and refills the bottles, and delivers them to homeless shelters and Children’s Hospital Family Resource Center. Les greets everyone who comes to our campus with a warm smile and welcome.
Patty’s Story
Patty came to Las Trampas in 1975 and has been a source of sunshine ever since. Patty is always smiling. “I hear birds!” exclaimed Patty, as she tested her long-awaited hearing aids. Patty is very social, loves connecting with people, chatting and sharing stories. Now she can do this again! The ability to return significantly to the hearing world is what puts that smile on her lips today.
Latest News!
Thank You for Joining Us!
Thanks to the 340 people who attended the annual What’s in our Hat? event this year including the National Charity League and the Clipped Wings and their friends who helped us make the day a success.We could not hold this event without the long tradition of their dedicated support. Stay tuned for more details about the annual Walk n Roll on September 24th!
Angel Campaign 2015
As 2015 comes to a close, we want to take a moment to say Thanks to YOU, our donors, volunteers, business partners, board members, and the Las Trampas families.
We are grateful every day for your belief in, and support of, the challenging work we do. Your encouragement in words and generosity sustain not only our operations, but our ongoing commitment to expanding opportunities for every individual with developmental disabilities, regardless of the challenges they may face.
We hope you will continue to be part of our vision. Together, we can make a difference for everyone.
Thank you… again!
UPS Delivers!
Twelve UPS workers did not need a drone to deliver a fantastic paint job in one of our classrooms.
Instead, as part of their community service outreach, they swooped in wearing their brown UPS shirts to grab drop cloths, blue tape, paint brushes, and rollers and transform a dingy room into a warm and inviting space. No space was out of reach for these smiling worker bees.
Las Trampas has become quite the hotspot for community service projects and we could not be more grateful. Given the constraints of our budget and 2001 state funding levels, beautification projects are only possible with wonderful volunteers from companies like UPS.
Giving Tuesday
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December 1st was national Giving Tuesday, during which nonprofits speak with one voice to express their immense gratitude for all the ways volunteers, community partners and donors support us.
It’s a time at Las Trampas when we share one story of how your generosity gives voice, literally, to individuals like Danny and so many others. Challenged with cerebral palsy, Danny still loves kicking the soccer ball, jiving to music and sharing his broad smile with everyone. He may not speak words but his always beaming face speaks volumes.
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Soon, thanks to assistive technology recently acquired with your donor dollars, he may be able to do both. Innovative icon software loaded onto a laptop will enable Danny to “speak” for the first time by selecting icons and phrases, then the laptop gives audible voice to his thoughts. Imagine what this means to someone as gregarious and people- loving as Danny. Yes, for the first time, Danny will be able to participate in a shared conversation!
This is just one story but Danny’s life “speaks” for many others. At Las Trampas, where 80% of our folks are non or minimally verbal, expanding our assistive technology capacity will empower others to find their own voices. Your year-end gift will enable more than just one of our folks to “speak their minds.” We all know words matter. No more so than for those previously kept silent.
Please make a year-end gift so Danny and his Las Trampas colleagues can audibly raise their voices to express their heartfelt thanks for a gift that will change their lives.
Thank you!
VISTAS Lafayette Quarterly Newsletter
Non-Profit Profile: Las Trampas
Steve Falk, City Manager
VISTAS City-wide Quarterly Newsletter
You may never have seen it but discretely hidden behind several lovely Moraga Boulevard homes, on 3.5 quiet acres, lies one of Lafayette’s greatest treasures: Las Trampas, Inc. If, as it has been said, our society will be judged by how we treat the least among us, Las Trampas is our exemplar, our light, our polestar, because the sole purpose for this amazing organization is to help those who need the most help.
What began in 1958 as a school for children with profound disabilities has evolved into a complex and busy nonprofit that provides everything from job training skills to independent and semi-independent living. The organization manages licensed group homes, supported living services and vocational and developmental services, and currently serves ninety -seven adults.
“Our philosophy is to integrate people into the community as much as possible,” says Development Director Kathy Merchant. While some clients live with caregivers, other live independently in one of our residences. They come here during the day for activities, and we support them in their everyday life.”
Las Trampas folks give back to their community. Among other efforts, they help make blankets for Children’s Hospital, keep local parks clean and green, and collect unused sundries from local hotels which they clean, repackage and deliver to Contra Costa homeless shelters.
Community integration has, indeed, been critical to Las Trampas’ sustainability, and several generations of Lafayette residents have stepped forward to support the organization. There’s another opportunity to do so this year, and it will be pure fun, all for a great cause. You can support Las Trampas by attending the 8th Annual What’s in Our Hat? fundraiser at the Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa on Sunday, April 27, 3:00-6:30 PM. Tickets are $100, and available at (925) 284-1462 or www.lastrampas.org.
Your dollars will fund this vital Lafayette resource that enables individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities to expand their horizons and lead full, active lives in the community. They are our neighbors, our friends, maybe our own family members.
Wells Fargo
A fantastic team of Wells Fargo volunteers swooped into Stinson House, one of our 5 residential homes, on September 17th to create a whole new look for the interior. Grabbing brushes and rollers, they painted the public rooms a stunning combination of cocoa brown and taupe. Instant facelift!
Our group homes provide round-the-clock services and support to individuals with significant developmental disabilities. Many of these individuals no longer have family nearby who might provide fulltime care, so beautification projects like this help sustain a true sense of home. When the six residents and their staff returned to Stinson after attending our Day Program on the main campus in Lafayette, they were so excited to see the transformation. Next they hope another team will give a fresh coat of paint to the bedrooms!