ARTIST OF THE MONTH

LOLITA TRIPLETTE Where can we start with Miss Lolita! This lady is truly gifted, born with talent and endless creativity that we have all been so lucky to witness and be a part of to teach and learn from. Lolita has been a member of Artful Steps for years. She was also a huge part of another program Creative Growth that celebrated her one of a kind artistic style, humor, and charm for years. Lolita is one of those artists that have follow-

ings of patrons outside of Stepping Stones. People collect her art year after year, recognizing her special talent and unique perspec-tive on life that makes her work so different from others out there.

If you’ve never checked out Lolita’s work you are in for a treat. She takes the viewer to another world with characters she creates. She includes humor and charm in her narrative subject matters that are nuanced with layers of details and depth that often leaves the viewer willing to take a second even third look and always wanting to see more. Her themes include fantasy, escapism, playfulness, and at times frightful jovialness with a touch of darkness and satire. Lolita’s work is often reminiscent of children’s book illustrations and comic books. She is inspirational and a true individual with a vision all her own. And if all of this given talent wasn’t enough there is a person underneath that is kind, genuine, and gentle. We have all loved working with her and appreciate the super person she is.

SWISS CHARD PANCAKES Presented by Michael Angelo III

Angelo loves to be in the garden. Recently, he helped grow and harvest a bunch of Swiss Chard. He recalled a recipe that his mom used to make him as a kid. He thought it would be fun for the garden class to try out a recipe similar since there is so much growing! Ingredients:

2 cups of whole milk

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon course salt

Fresh ground black pepper

1 small onion, chopped

10 fresh chives, snipped

1 shallot, coarsely chopped

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

Leaves from 10 parsley sprigs

5 large or 10 small swiss chard leaves, centers removed, roughly chopped

1/2 cup grapeseed, peanut, vegetable or olive oil To serve: Plain, thick yogurt mixed with a little lemon zest, lemon juice and salt Directions: -Make the batter: Add everything but Swiss Chard and oil into the blender and whirl until it is smooth. Add chard leaves and pulse till they are chopped up. -Cook the pancakes: Heat a large skillet over medium heat and pour in a big spoonful of batter. Cook until browned un-derneath, then flip. -Transfer to a paper towel or keep warm in the oven. -Serve with lemony yogurt or another sauce of your choice.

You can always eat Swiss Chard uncooked, straight from the garden too! Just rinse off and enjoy the many benefits it offers: In 3 oz of Swiss Chard there is a ton of energy, 4g of carbs, 1 g of sugar, 2 g of fiber, 1 g of protein, vitamin A, B2, Niacin, B6, Vitamin C, E & K, Calcium, Iron, Mag-nesium, Potassium, Zinc and a ton of water!!!

Issue

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STEPPING STONES GROWTH CENTER’S COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

the STEP INTO

Stone

THE LUNCH CAFÉ

Presented by Wellness & Hire Steps

Wellness and Hire Steps team up to cook a lunch available for pur-

chase every Wednesday. From preparing food and serving it, to

washing dishes and being a cashier, it is a great learning experi-

ence, as each member learns a new role in order to run a successful

café. Each plate is $5 and a limited amount is available.

Menu:

April 5th— Belgium Waffle Breakfast OR Crepe Breakfast

April 12th— Creamy pasta with sausage OR

Bratwurst with Sauerkraut

April 19th— Grilled Ham & Cheese OR

Roastbeef sandwich

April 26th— Hotdogs OR Hamburgers

APRIL 2017

APRIL IS AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH April 2nd, 2017 is the 9th annual World Autism Awareness Day. It

is also known as Light It Up Blue because all around the world, fa-

mous monuments and landmarks will be lighting up blue in honor

of this special day. Just to name a few: Niagara Falls, the Empire

State building, St Andrew’s Cathedral, Qutub Minar, a City Hall in

Russia, and so on. But the celebration and recognition doesn’t

stop there. All month long is designated to Autism Awareness. At

Stepping Stones , we will do our part to spread awareness by edu-

cating our consumers and communities about Autism, how to

spread love and acceptance for all, and by wearing a blue or puzzle

-pieced ribbon. Although a small ges-

ture, a ribbon can lead to larger ac-

complishments. Like the intro to a

conversation where you may find

yourself educating someone who

didn’t know much about Autism.

Spread acceptance and awareness.

Be kind, be educated and be aware.

GO GREEN!

Earth day is April

22nd and 2017 marks

the 47th year that it

has been celebrated.

Since 1970 there has

been a huge move-

ment to gain a voice,

fight for stability, explore and fix environmental

issues and make the world a better place for us all

to enjoy. At Stepping Stones we are motivated to

make smart changes. We have become educated

on ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. From com-

posting to street clean ups, public transportation to

recycling projects, we are doing our part to “GO

GREEN” and be as environmentally friendly as we

can. Come celebrate the earth and all its beauty in

the Lunch Room, all month long, by participating in

projects from 1-2. More information to follow.

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT SPRING “Spring is my favorite month! I like spring because I love the trees

coming out with pink and white leaves. It smells real good and is

sunny all the time. It is not hot like summer time and also not rain-

ing as much as winter. We can plant a lot of fruits and vegetables

in the garden now that it is springtime.” –Robin

“I love spring cleaning! I like helping my mom with cleaning the

house because I love fixing my bed, cleaning my bedroom, spraying

citrus spray and cleaning the kitchen. Spring cleaning is fun and a

good thing to do. I love my mom and dad and I love Jope! -Kai

“Baseball starts in the spring. March Madness ends and find out

who wins. There is Championship Golf, playoffs for Hockey and

NBA playoffs.” -Jamil

“I love the flowers and I love Easter!” -Ben

NANI’S GUIDE TO FASHION

“Stay trendy & new, Stay true & you!”

Blue represents Autism Aware-

ness Month! This celebrates people with unique and beauti-ful differences. So show off your love in many shades of blue, all

month long! Show off your style with a nice

big smile. It’s Spring time so show off your

green thumb and dress earthy! Upcycle old clothes—make

something borrowed something new. It’s Earth Day, so reduce,

reuse and recycle your clothing.

MOVIES by Josh

Movies Released in April: The Fast and the Furious 8. Movies I’m Excited for: IT (the scary mov-ie about a clown), A Ghost Story, Spider-man Homecoming, 47 Meters, Ferdi-nand, Justice League, Paris Can Wait, and Bladerunner Movie Reviews: Resident Evil: the Final Chapter was a good movie and people enjoyed it. PowerRangers did not get too many good reviews. Beauty and the Beast had amazing reviews! A lot of people liked it and it made a lot of mon-ey.

APRIL

Sonja 4/3

Jackie 4/5

Sally 4/7

Ken 4/8

Lolita 4/11

Demi 4/19

Brandy 4/19

Marie 4/21

Martin 4/26

SPORTS

Football: The Raiders are moving to Las Vegas in three years. Hockey: The Sharks had a long losing streak but are still going to be in the playoffs. They are in second place. Baseball: USA won the World Baseball Classic!!! They beat Japan in the semi finals then won 8-0 to Puerto Rico. This is the first time the USA has won. Basketball: Warriors are in first place! April 1st is the final four for March Madness for Men’s Basketball. Mon-day, April 3rd will be the game for the title. Wrestling: Hall of Fame is on Friday. Sunday, April 2nd is Wrestlemania 33.

RANJIT’S PICK-ME-UPS

“If life gets you down, Ranjit picks you up!”

No matter where you are, or where you go, the people in your life that you already know, will always be there for you. If you’re missing someone far and near, remember that they are deep in

your heart, so very near.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION APRIL FOOLS Here at Stepping Stones we all love to laugh and have a

fun time. We wanted to share some funny April Fools re-

lated pranks and jokes:

Jope says to count things the way The Count Dracula

does (from Sesame Street) which he says is very funny

and makes Kai laugh.

Randy says pretending there is someone behind the

person you are talking to is a good laugh.

Harry says farting is always funny; we suggest a whoo-

pee cushion. He also recommends Jelly Beans, snakes

and ice—you can be as creative as you’d like!

Scott, who is always playing jokes with his friends, rec-

ommends telling someone there is something on their

shirt, like a spider, then yelling “April Fools!”

Darrell’s idea is similar, telling someone there is some-

thing in their hair! He also says telling people you are

going on vacation, when you’re really not.

“Tell everyone that it is your birthday, because its not

really. Unless it is, then its not funny.” Stephanie.

Whatever you end up doing, make sure your pranks are

fun and SAFE. It is never okay to hurt anyone or joke

about something serious that could hurt someone’s feel-

ings. Keep it fun! Happy April first!

HIRE STEPS AT THE ZOO

Hire Steps volunteers at

the Oakland Zoo often.

Their most recent adven-

ture involved planting

seven new trees to help

with their upcoming

attraction. They panted

apple, pear and orange

trees. By 2018 they will

be growing strong and

complimenting the ex-

hibit called California

Trail. This will include an

innovative gondola lift that will carry you high above the

many new ani-

mals, all native to

California. Grizzly

bears, grey wolves

and mountain li-

ons are some of

the new animals

that will be roam-

ing below. Thank

you Hire Steps for

all your hard

work!

We have planted kale, lettuce, beets, cucumbers, basil, squash, melon and potatoes. We used or-ganic soil and put the seeds into old water bottles that we recycled to use for containers. I really like the springtime because everything grows and is really beautiful out.

-Robin

STEPPING STONES SOCIAL MEDIA Stay connected and updated

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Online shop for Artful Steps!

#INSTAGRAM

@artfulsteps

@stepstowardwellness

HIRE STEPS GRADUATION Five students have graduated from the Hire Steps Pro-

gram. This means that they have completed the entire

Hire Steps curriculum and are job ready.

Congratulations to: James Sims, David Jones, Crystal Tran,

Alexandra Hurlow, Kiearie Nelson.