Sound Mental Health has several locations throughout King County offering a variety of services. Their Community Support Services program works with clients and their families to meet the challenges of living with a serious mental illness providing recovery-oriented support for:

Individuals and their families
Children's Community Support
Adult Community Support
Emerald House Clubhouse
Co-occurring disorders
Employment Services
Supportive Housing

More information about Sound Mental Health including how you or your congregation can help is available at www.smh.org.

Kindering Center (www.kindering.org or 425-747-4004) is a not-for-profit neurodevelopmental center that has been providing comprehensive services for children with special needs and their families since 1962. Each year nearly 3,000 infants and children receive crucial therapies, special education, and counseling. One in five children has special needs-needs most often caused by complex disability or medical condition, but which can sometimes be the unfortunate result of abuse or neglect.

How you can help? Kindering Center's services rely on the support of the community.

Wish List:

• Gym Mats
• CDs
• Camcorder
• CD Player
• Touch & Feel Textured Books
• Play-Doh
• Medium & Large Stickers
• Sensory Balls
• Musical Toys that light up, start & stop
• Car or Block Toys
• Farm and Farm Animal Sets
• Picture Books
• Bean Bags
• Spill Proof Containers
• Bubble Liquid
• Board Books
• Puzzle (for age 2 or under)
• Fisher Price "Little People"

Volunteer Opportunities:

• Administrative Support
  Volunteers are needed to support various departments in the following areas: mailings, data entry, filing, photocopying, classroom art projects, library maintenance, reception desk, etc.
• Classroom Assistant:
  Volunteers are needed to assist teachers in classrooms with activities and support services. Position only available during the school year (September-July). Times and days vary, Monday - Friday, 2 hour sessions.
• Committee:
  Volunteers who have a particular skill or expertise are encouraged to provide support in the following committees: Marketing,/PR, Technology, Development, Finance, and Programs.

For more information on volunteer opportunities, contact Kindering Center's volunteer coordinator at (425) 653-4294 or jennifer.schumacher@kindering.org.

General Volunteer Opportunities:
Great volunteer opportunities await you at EBC. We currently have the following openings. Sort incoming donations (sign up for available events below) Fulfill orders for children (sign up for available events below)

Volunteer Guidelines: Volunteers under age 14 must be accompanied by an adult who will work with them for the entire shift Children under age 7 may not volunteer at EBC for safety reasons If you would like to schedule a volunteer group, please contact Kim Foster at kimfoster@ihmail.com

Additional Help Wanted!
We have openings for the following specific volunteer roles. Please contact Kim Foster at kimfoster@ihmail.com if you are interested. Saturday Supervisors (training provided) Recall Researcher (work at home; easy job) Toy Assistant Formula Assistant Facilities Manager

Donations Needed:
Every day, more children are without food, diapers, and clothes as families in our communities are squeezed by job loss, the housing crisis, and shrinking state budgets. Your gifts are used wisely and efficiently to help children be safe and healthy and to thrive as families rebuild their lives. Go to http://www.babycorner.org/ for a complete list of needed items.

Donations are accepted during the following times only:
Monday evenings (7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.)
Thursday mornings (9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.)
More information about the program and how you can help is available at www.babycorner.org.

Crisis Clinic is a non-profit organization that offers and array of support services available to everyone in King County, Washington. Their telephone services provide immediate, confidential assistance for people in emotional distress and in need of help. Crisis Clinic is deemed by King County as one of the key agencies to contact in times of disaster and to assist in defusing major crises. It also serves as a key entry point into the County mental health system. All phone workers have immediate access to a computerized database of more than 5,200 health and human service providers in the region. Crisis Clinic helps callers navigate the complex and confusing world of the social service system, and provide advocacy and follow-up for callers who have difficulty accessing services on their own. Crisis Clinic volunteers staff two help lines: 24-hour Crisis Line: 866-4CRISIS (866-427-4747) or 206-461-3222 Tangible Needs: 211

Volunteer Opportunities:

24-hour Crisis Line Crisis Line
volunteer phone workers must be at least 21 years of age, agree to serve a 4.5 hour shift per week for at least one year, and be available for one on-call shift per month, and one holiday shift per calendar year. Training is scheduled five times per year and volunteers are needed year round. All training and phone shifts are located at our Seattle office.
Volunteer phone workers complete more than 55 hours of intensive training in subjects that include effective communication, diversity, grief and loss, violence and abuse, suicide, substance abuse, and understanding the mental health system. They learn effective listening and communication skills, and master crisis intervention techniques.
To request more information about being a 24-Hour Crisis Line volunteer, call 206-461-3210 extension 697 or e-mail volunteerservices@crisisclinic.org.

Teen Link
New youth volunteers begin as Outreach Workers and must be between 13 and 20 years of age. They raise awareness of Teen Link in their school and in community or they join our Youth Suicide Speakers Bureau to help educate their peers about youth suicide.

Teens interested in working on the Teen Link help line must complete an additional training in crisis intervention similar to the training received by volunteers on the 24-Hour Crisis Line, but it is specially focused on working with youth. Help line volunteers must be between 15 and 20 years of age. All training and shifts are located at our Seattle office.

Adult volunteers are needed to supervise the help line volunteers on their shifts or can join our Youth Suicide Speakers Bureau. A personal interview determines suitability.

Bridge Disability Ministries is a non-profit ecumenical, Christian-based organization located in Bellevue, Washington, serving persons in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. Because Bridge Disability Ministries honors the God-given dignity and giftedness of persons with disabilities, they "build relationships to alleviate isolation and enrich our churches and communities." In their service to persons with physical and/or developmental disabilities, Bridge Ministries seeks to build a bridge between people with disabilities and churches, social and government agencies, and society at large. They serve persons by:

• Providing spiritual care and support
• Helping persons develop their own support communities
• Acting as legal guardians for individuals who have developmental disabilities with little or no family contact and little or no funds
• Providing recycled, refurbished mobility equipment to persons in need
• Serving churches and community groups in their efforts to involve and build relationships with persons with disabilities
• Hosting educational and community events to promote awareness and support for persons with disabilities, their families and care givers.
• And much more

Needs: Christmas Parties: Bridge holds family parties for those they are guardians for, one in the South End of Seattle and one in the North End. They give gifts that are tailored to the individual, their likes and their needs. They gather caregivers, job coaches, program managers, staff, and friends to celebrate Christmas together. They need cookies for this! They could use a few volunteers, too, as well as someone to play Christmas Carols at these parties. Bridge also throws a huge Christmas party for the Greater Seattle Area disability community. This year it will be held at St. John Vianney Chruch in Kirkland on December 5th from noon until 2:30 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact middyq@bridgemin.org. Bridge is also asking:

• For churches to be truly open and inviting to folks with disabilities of all kinds.
• For people to be in relationship with folks with disabilities.
• For financial gifts to continue to sustain and grow these activities and their ministry.

For more information, please visit www.bridgemin.org or call them at 425-885-1006.

Acres of Diamonds is a transitional Christian home established to serve single homeless women and their children by providing them with structure and nurture as they work to become productive members of their community. Located in Duvall, Washington, Acres of Diamonds (Acres) seeks to positively impact the quality of life for the women who are "diamonds in our own backyard." Holiday Wish List Acres of Diamonds has 13 women residents, many with children. If you'd like, you can contact Acres of Diamonds for individual children's wishes. Ideas to help the women and their budgets include:

• Women's items such as hair products, deodorant, razors, body wash, bubble bath, socks, lotion, nail polish, hair color, etc.
• Household consumables such as TP, cleaning products, trash bags, dish soap, detergent, light bulbs, napkins, etc.
• Meat or produce (fresh or frozen) for 18 people
• Spices and baking ingredients
• Bibles (contemporary versions)
• Gift Certificates: Target, Safeway, etc.
• Devotions for Women or Families

For the Household:

• Stereo
• Praise CDs
• Coffee Maker
• Plastic Styrofoam Bowls
• Playroom Shelving for Toys
• Toddler Learning Toys
• Adopt a Room with Bed Linens, etc.
• Bicycle Rack

Please arrange for delivery with Renee or Jackie at (425) 788-9999. And for more information about Acres of Diamonds please contact them at (425) 788-9999 or at www.acresofdiamonds.org.

EISCC members may share announcements pertaining to their congregations/agencies. If you wish these announcements to appear in the minutes, please provide them well in advance of any event that you are publicizing and to help ensure accuracy please provide them in writing to the recording secretary. Among the announcements at the November 10, 2009 meeting were:

INTERFAITH THANKSGIVING COMMUNITY WORSHIP SERVICE: Long-time EISCC member Joy Pocasangre updated members on the work of the nonprofit Ninos Estudiando El Salvador or Children Studying El Salvador the program run by Joy and her husband Richard that helps provide for the education and enrichment of children living in Salvadoran orphanages. More information is available at www.neses.org.

YWCA EASTSIDE ANGELINE WOMEN'S CENTER The holidays are approaching, and the women in the YWCA Eastside Angeline Women's Center and Sophia Way want to celebrate! You can help them by donating items for their Christmas stockings. We need 20 each of the following: sox, gloves, hats, scarves, gift cards for phones and groceries, lotion, stamps, movie tickets, manicure sets. If your congregation can provide any of these items please contact JoAnne Way at waytandj@comcast.net. Happy holidays!

LAKE HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL The Family Connections Center at Bellevue's Lake Hills Elementary School is in need of warm coats for needy families. If you or your congregation can help, please contact Carmen Casillas, Human Services Coordinator at (425)456-5331 or casillasc@bsd405.org.

NAMI - EASTSIDE: is holding a special forum on the topic Mental Health and Spirituality, on December 15, 2009 7:00-9:00 pm, at Evergreen Hospital, Suite Tan 100 (downstairs), 12303 NE 130th Lane in Kirkland. The forum will feature Dr. Craig Rennebohm, keynote speaker at the NAMI WA State Conference earlier this year, and author of the renowned book Souls in the Hands of a Tender God. All NAMI forums are free and open to all. For more information call NAMI at 425-885-6264 or visit www.nami-eastside.org.