PCDA was pleased to receive a generous donation from the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, which will be used to purchase toys and support our in-home and community programs.  THANK YOU!

PCDA is excited to announce that we have added a physical therapist to our intervention team!  Yuki Kubo, DPT, will start at PCDA on May 4^th.  

Yuki graduated with her doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Southern California.  She previously worked at an outpatient early intervention clinic in Santa Clarita followed by seeing clients as an in-home therapist locally in the Pasadena area.  Yuki joins us with a solid foundation of neuromuscular facilitation and motor learning approaches to therapy and is looking forward to further mentorship and support with sensory integration theory and DIR approaches to development.  

Yuki will begin seeing clients via medical insurance funding but will also be collaborating with our feeding, assistive technology, TBI, and F3 teams.   If you are looking to purse physical therapy services, have questions about funding for services or would like to create a contract with PCDA for physical therapy please call Julie at (626) 793-7350 ext 225.

Teen Club encourages teens to think about their future as an adult and identify their vocational interests. Each month the teens plan a "vocational" weekend where they may tour a place of business, request a job application at the mall, or discuss job qualifications with community workers.

Some of our teens have taken the next step and applied for a job! On April 20^th, Celeste participated in her first job interview with the city of Monrovia. She applied for a program that would introduce and train her in administrative duties. Although she was nervous, she was proud to have completed the interview and excited about the possibility of joining the agency!

Drew is another teen who is looking to gain experience the world of work. He recently applied for a swim counselor's position with his current swim club and we are thrilled to report that he has been offered a counselor in training position! 

Katelyn, is exploring her interest in becoming more involved in her community. She initiated participating in PCDA's volunteer program. She interviewed for a volunteer position and is excited to see what's to come. 

Brandon is proving himself to be a young entrepreneur. He developed an idea to raise money by establishing a snack stand at his high school. After requesting and receiving permission to open his snack stand, he launched his idea during the lunch time, and to his surprise, his schoolmate's response was favorable. Due to the overwhelming demand, he was able to raise a large profit, which he then donated to the Red Cross. He requested that the money go directly to the earthquake relief fund for Japan. We are delighted that our teens our taking the initiative ... Way to go teens! 

Last month, Mariko Yamazaki (occupational therapist) returned to Ghana for the third time to supervise a two-week occupational therapy fieldwork for 36 USC students.  

The fieldwork took place at Mephibosheth Training Centre (MTC), a residential school for children with disabilities.  Mariko was part of a teaching team that provided guest lectures to the University of Education at Winneba's special education department.  She also did work for her OTD project, which included collaborating with Ghanaian community-based rehabilitation workers stationed in the home villages of the older students at MTC.  The focus of the project was to build a foundation for support as the older students prepared to leave the school and transition back to village life, with regards to social inclusion, environmental access, and vocational skills.  

It was exciting to be a part of a collaborative, culturally meaningful, sustainable project and to bring PCDA's family-centered approach to Ghana, where the village community often serves as the child's family.