Meet Jessica, an Adult Development Instructor for our Adult Day Program (ADP) and sister of our participant, Joshua! Jessica joined our team in April 2023 and has been working in our art room ever since, supporting participants to master their art skills and explore new creative interests. Jessica thinks that the design elements of Las Trampas’ new campus are incredibly beneficial for participants, allowing them to have ownership over and flexibility with what works well for them. She loves when participants’ personalities come out in different ways, especially for those who don’t communicate verbally. Thank you for all you do for our community, Jessica!

Meet Emma, a participant in our Adult Day Program since 2017. Emma has the most contagious laugh and loves to sing along to music while painting in our art room. If you play the song “Always On My Mind” by Elvis Presley, she will surely know all the words! Thank you for bringing such a warm presence into our community, Emma!

Meet Sekander, a participant in Las Trampas’ Adult Day Program for 8 years! Sekander’s favorite thing to do with Las Trampas’ outings class is bowling on Fridays and ordering a burger at the bowling alley. He also enjoys walking along the trail with staff member, Shereen, and getting pushed on the swings at Civic Park by Brandon. A fun fact about him is that he loves listening to the song “Yellow Submarine” by the Beatles. Whenever you see Sekander on campus, he will definitely put a smile on your face!

We want to introduce our participant with a “Hollywood smile”, Tevin! Tevin has been taking the BART to Las Trampas’ Adult Day Program every day for eight years. He is very excited to have learned more about cooking with the help of Las Trampas staff. With the skills he has gained, he can now bake his favorite chocolate chip cookies on his own at home, and he even helped cook a Thanksgiving meal for his family! Outside of Las Trampas, Tevin is a part of the PCT Theater Company, where he was previously in a production of Dreamgirls, and he is currently auditioning for the production of Young Frankenstein. We are so lucky to have Tevin and his smile as a part of our program!

Meet Ariel, a participant in Las Trampas’ Adult Day Program and Supported Living Services for 16 years! Ariel has built a lot of great friendships and memories during her time at Las Trampas. Some of her favorite moments include spending time in the new garden on campus, and going on Saturday picnics with Randy.

Ariel wanted to thank some very special staff, including Betty who helps her conquer her life skills, Shereen who helps her make healthy food choices, and Brandon who is helping her learn how to begin her new paid janitorial job in our building this week.

Thank you for being such an active member of our community, Ariel!

When Melissa gets on the bus to go to Las Trampas’ Day Program, she feels “joyful.” It’s a long ride from her group home in Concord, but “it’s worth it.”

As many of us enjoy loosened COVID restrictions, reopenings, and parties, our participants are equally grateful to go back to the new normal, and I am continually inspired by the resilience they have shown.

My friend Melissa, who is on the autism spectrum, has shown great resilience throughout her life. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was only five years old, and in 2017 her father died suddenly of a heart attack. Melissa’s aunt, Erin, brought her home to live with her in the Bay Area. She and Melissa are extremely close, but taking her in very unexpectedly and juggling a full-time job put Erin in a situation in which she urgently needed support. Erin feels so lucky that just a few weeks after Melissa joined Las Trampas’ waitlist, they received a call that there was an opening.

Melissa recalls that she started Las Trampas’ Adult Day Program on, “December 18^th, 2017, a week before Christmas.” Erin was so happy that Melissa had a place to go and feel supported every day, while Erin worked and Melissa was grieving the death of her father. Going to Las Trampas, being with other people and in the community, learning skills like taking the bus, and continuing her development gave meaning to her days. Melissa’s resilience shone through.

Melissa had to be resilient again when COVID hit. She missed the self-esteem and pride she got from being given directions, following those directions, and earning spending money through Las Trampas’ janitorial program. Melissa also missed her Las Trampas friends and community, and asked every day when she could go back in person, 5 days a week.

Melissa was thrilled when Las Trampas brought all our participants back fulltime in October 2022. Through our new DISCOVER program, Melissa was able to select two classes to participate in “outings class” (Community Connections) and “work class” (Learning to Work). She’s so happy to get out more by “going to parks and the library” and “getting the place clean and earning money.” Melissa also loves to read cookbooks and food magazines, so she adores the new teaching kitchen, which will help her develop the cooking skills to support her to live independently one day.

As Erin states, “Las Trampas is not a babysitting program, it’s about supporting Melissa to reach her highest potential. Erin loves that the community outings let participants see parts of the world they might not be able to otherwise. “They’re also good for the community, she says, “they need to see that there are people who maybe don’t look like them, but have a lot of value to the community.

It is your support for Las Trampas that creates opportunities for our participants to reach their highest potential. You can support our friends and neighbors with disabilities by making -and doubling!- your gift today. In loving memory of Terry Haws, every gift received will be matched, up to $35,000.

Melissa wants people to know that Las Trampas is, “a good day program,” and that we need funding to, “take more outings, and buy more cleaning supplies, like Windex.” In addition to Windex, we need your help to bring on more participants, like Melissa, and restore our properties after the destructive winter storms.

We were so lucky to be able to accept Melissa into our program at such a crucial time in her life, but we now have a waitlist of 50 participants for our Adult Day Program. While our new facility provides the space we need for additional participants, we, like most direct-service nonprofits, are facing profound staffing challenges. We need additional resources for staff recruitment and retention, so we can bring more participants off our significant waitlist.

In addition to challenges with staffing, winter storms have caused significant damage to Las Trampas’ properties. The Las Trampas creek defines the sides of two of our properties. This past winter, the storms caused landslides that took out five linear feet of land and a fence at our Moraga Boulevard property, and collapsed a retention wall built to protect our main campus. These damages are costly and must be repaired.

Las Trampas has the expertise, facilities, and abiding commitment to meet this moment. However, community support is the key to making it possible for us to continue to provide the gold-standard services and safe facilities our participants deserve.

Will you make a gift to Las Trampas that is significant to you today? Your contribution will be doubled in loving memory of our founding father, Terry Haws, and will be put to good use immediately!

As always, thank you for your support,

Daniel Hogue

Executive Director