Ice skates and dancing with taco plates

This last weekend was a busy one for Youth Center members, parents and staff. On Friday, we continued where we stopped last year and went ice skating at Horton Plaza. Thanks to our wonderful volunteer Kimberley and to the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation for their donation of tickets for our Native youth! SDAIHYC teamed up with Indian Health Council's Club 7 from the Rincon Indian Reservation and youth from Southern Indian Health Council for this year's event. Each youth that participated was gifted a scarf, mittens and a beanie for the (moderately) cold weather. The day after, YC teens journeyed up to Pechanga to participate in their Christmas dance. Attendees were treated to a lovely taco dinner (hence this post's title) and some holiday and old school music prior to a modern mix. Some of our members also participated in a dance contest and won raffle prizes! Pictures from both events can be found here.

Inter Tribal Sports basketball practice starts!

SDAIHYC is now hosting the San Diego Urban Inter Tribal Sports teams, and the this week we've held our first official basketball practice! We have been playing basketball quite a bit in the last three months, but now it's for real; we have a court reserved most Mondays and Wednesdays (some Thursdays) through the month of January and for the rest of the ITS basketball season. If you haven't already signed up (ITS is for ages 5-18), let us know at the Youth Center! Following basketball season is volleyball, softball and both kinds of football (American and the rest of the world kind, or as we call it, "soccer"). We hope you can join us!

Painting awesomeness for UCSD

Our very own Daniella turned a blank canvas from UCSD's Native American Student Association into a work of art! She chose a variety of symbols to represent the sheer diversity of Native nations that attend our Youth Center, and left room for the youth members to place the names of their tribes and those of other youth members who weren't present in the borders, surrounding the painting with all of our identities. The painting will be on permanent display at the Student Affirmative Action Committee Lounge at UCSD, included in a mosaic of other paintings from other student of color organizations.

Oh Christmas tree...

The tree seems to be in a lot of our recent posts, huh? Here is a picture with the Elder Group (meets 11PM-1AM on Tuesday mornings) in front of the tree!

2011 World AIDS Day

20 youth members and staff participated in this year's World AIDS Day candlelight vigil, starting at the LGBT Community Center and culminating at the 20th Annual Tree of Life Ceremony at Hillcrest Village. Youth member Joseph made an Ojo de Dios during Cultural Arts class specifically to hang on the Tree of Life! After the mile walk on a nippy (well, at least in California) 55 degree night, attendees were treated to baked goods from Kona Coffee before local politicians and host Mama's Kitchen spoke about the theme of World AIDS Day 2011: "Getting to Zero." After the Tree was lit and candles flickered in memory of those who have lost their lives from this disease, the mood was shifted with a performance by the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus. Check out pictures of this and other December 2011 festivities here.

Welcome to the 2011 holiday season!

The winter holidays are upon us, and we kicked them off at the Youth Center on Monday with festive decorations all around (including our tree, with Western decorations, Ojos de Dios, member-made ornaments, angels, and apparently, a skating antelope...). Check out the monthly calendar, because December is jam-packed with a multitude of events!

Congratulations to the Native American Month honorees!

November is National Native American Heritage Month.  This year, the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission, in partnership with Councilmember Todd Gloria, the Council of American Indian Organizations of San Diego County, and Indian Human Resource Center honored six outstanding members of the Native American community in San Diego.  Among the honorees that were recognized last Friday were SDAIHC employees: our very own Youth & Family Services Coordinator Christopher Scott and nurse Ronnie Whitehorse!  After the honoring, the Health Center was treated to an Indian taco feast from the Razo family, hosted at the Youth Center.

Harvest time=pine cone turkey time!

With harvest comes harvest-related art projects. Meet Mother Theresa (right), the pine cone turkey created by our art instructor Cari Gloria.  Also, say hi to Gobbles (left), Fernando's one-eyed, lock-jawed, beauty-marked, rustled-feathered turkey.  He's still beautiful, though.  *GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!*

We're in a limo!

Thank you to our wonderful newest volunteer Malik King, who treated our youth members to an awesome limo ride from the YC to SDSU for the 35th anniversary of the American Indian Studies Program on Thursday and to the SDSU vs UNM football game on Saturday!  Pictures from the latter limo ride and the football game itself can be seen here.

Happy Halloween from SDAIHYC!

The staff here at the Youth Center wish you a happy belated Halloween, we hope you had a safe time trick o' treating, responsibly partying, or just chilling at home watching scary movies.  Or knitting, if that's what you do on Halloween...


Much love,
Christopher, Gabe, Daniel, Erica, Joe and Melisa.  Err...Gabe, Christopher, Erica, Daniel, Melisa and Joe!


PS>>This is our 100th blog post!  Just sayin'...

Haunted Trails and a Halloween tale (err, carol...)

On Thursday, October 27, SDAIHYC teamed up with staff and youth from Indian Health Council's Club 7 on the Rincon Indian Reservation for an evening of fright at Balboa Park's Haunted Trails. Nearly 50 youth, staff and parents braved the mile trek through the spooks and chills of the trail, which ended with Youth & Family Services Coordinator Christopher Scott being chased by a dude with a (fake) chainsaw. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures in the trail (although a picture of the formerly-mentioned moment would have been awesome). We do, however, have pictures of our dinner at Sanfilippo's beforehand, and the creeped-out faces of the participants afterwards! Check out pictures here. For some reason, only staff dressed up for the Haunted Trails (as evidenced by Melisa's nerd costume), but fear not! Come dressed up to the Youth Center on Halloween, when the staff members are dressing up as...each other!!! Also, for your viewing amusement, a little video our youth members made an hour before we closed on Friday:

Fridays are now TEEN DAY! (w00t)

Starting in November, Fridays are officially going to be "Teen Day," with programming focused on youth members ages 13+. So teens, come and join us on Fridays (we're only open one Friday in November, but you know, after that...)!  Let us know your suggestions!

"The Baldest Loser" ends

For those who didn't know, there was a little competition between Daniel and Gabe to see who would keep growing out their hair. First one to cut it lost. As you can see, Gabe was very happy when Daniel cut his hair.

We have a QR Code!

Thanks to Mr. Brian Hayes from Operation Samahan, we have a QR code! What us a QR code, you ask? Well, a Quick Response (QR) code is a fancy type of barcode originally used in the automotive industry, but now used in many businesses and fields! Our code will direct you to a page with a short description, Facebook link and link to our blog. OK, so you're already at our blog...but now you can share our info with others! If you have a smart phone (or other device with a QR Code Reader), simply enable the Barcode Scanner app, take a picture with your device's camera, and voilá! There you are...

SDAIHC at FilAmFest 2011

SDAIHC teamed up with fellow community clinic Operation Samahan and other community organizations at the 2011 Filipino American Arts & Culture Festival (FilAmFest).  Operation Samahan, a title sponsor for the FilAmFest and head of the Health & Wellness Area, spearheaded the program, the theme of which was "Healthy and Active Lifestyles."  In accordance with the theme, SDAIHC provided literature and giveaways on mental health, dental health, and diabetes prevention/maintenance.  The Youth Center also provided assistance in creating gift bags for attendees who filled out a health survey; the gift bags included goodies from all participating health organizations, including a frisbee and pamphlet from SDAIHYC!  The FilAmFest is among the largest one-day intergenerational programs in San Diego County, with nearly 15,000 people attending in 2010.

Thanks, Geoff!

These past few months, we have been blessed to have Mr. Geoff Godfrey (or "Coach," to one particular youth member) as our skateboard instructor.  earlier this month, Geoff left our organization to pursue other ventures in Los Angeles with Insomniac Events.  During his tenure at SDAIHYC, Geoff garnered quality skateboard decks, trucks and wheels at amazing prices, taught people (including myself) who couldn't even stand on a skateboard how to maneuver on the street and skate parks, stressed the importance of safety, and most importantly acted as a mentor and great example for all of our members here at SDAIHYC.  Geoff also did more than just teach the skateboarding class; he helped with outreach events, Culture Camp, beach outings, intergenerational dinners, and with parties where we needed a DJ.  We haven't seen the last of Geoff: he's supposed to join us for our Halloween outing at the end of October.  You're not leaving our family that easy, Geoff...Thanks again, Coach!

SDAIHYC visits with Club 7 at Rincon

Despite issues with traffic and getting moderately lost, members, staff and parents from SDAIHYC travelled to the Rincon Indian Reservation to join Club 7--a group provided by Indian Health Council for foster youth living off the reservation--in their programming.  After watching videos made by Rincon youth, the programs' participants combined for a night of games (such as the one Patricia and Daniella are playing), food (Indian tacos!), fun and fellowship.  The urban Youth Center kids greatly enjoyed their time at Club 7, and hopefully (without the traffic issues) we'll make our way up again!

New school year means school supplies!

Congratulations to our active members who earned new school supplies for the coming school year!  Keep up your academics, and remember: if you need help on your homework, school work, or anything education-related as the year progresses, don't be shy and ask for help!

Daniella's post to her 3rd favorite person...EVER!

Dear Head Tribal Member of Molded Nation,

I would like to inform you that you were the highlight of my summer... I don't know how many times I walked into the youth center with a sad look on my face but somehow you always knew how to make me laugh and smile no matter what. Also I wanted to say thanx for literally making my summer the best, your high energy is what made me want to walk into work everyday. Your always fun to hang around with and from when I first started talking to you on facebook every now and then, I really didn't expect you to be this amazing all around cool, hilarious, and weird person. I'm absolutely so glad I got a chance to know you and I wish you all the best at Stanford and your future whatever it may be. Anyways sorry for all the mushy stuff just had to get it out there because I fully appreciated being by your side and helping out the youth center this summer and the fact that I couldn't frown around you. Anyways, I really going to miss you Chandler and the way you would always be making me laugh my butt off and your silly, crazy self ;D. LOL by the way, the only reason I was picking on you so much was because I only wanted to be around you since you were my favorite person, shh don't tell anyone else haha...

Much Love, <3

Daniella Head Tribal Member of JaBooty Nation ;) <3

Back to school hours start this week!

Alas, the summer hath come to an end...at least for the Youth Center.  This week, we return to our school year hours of 3-8PM.  With the new school year starting back up, please remember one of our top rules: homework MUST be done before participating in the activities!  We started this week (err, well, today...) with a nice 4 mile Walk y Talk(y) through Little Italy, Harborside and Seaport Village!  Check out pictures of the walk here.

Back to School Beach Party 2011

The 2011 Back to School Beach Party was hosted on August 20 by the Soaring Eagles Dance Troop in collaboration with SDAIHYC and Tribal TANF.  Attendees enjoyed grilled burgers and dogs along with tons of fresh watermelon during a seasonly mild day at Imperial Beach.  Check out pictures here of the food, skateboarding, volleyball, and water fun from the party!

Intergenerational Dinner at the Park

The monthly Intergenerational Dinner on Tuesday, August 23rd was quite the event! We were so blessed to have amazing Filipino food that consisted of pancit, chicken adobo, banana lumpia and so many more scrumptious dishes! Not to exclude the delicious beans and chicken grilled by the Razos and all the potluck items from community members! Thank you to everyone who brought a dish or donation.  Check out pictures from the dinner here.

The dinner was in collaboration with Soaring Eagles, and we enjoyed dancing, drumming, songs and stories to close out the summer season as an entire extended family.  Thank you to our guests from Club 7 and Indian Health Council for coming all the way down from Rincon!

Museum Days!

Museum Tuesdays are back! The summer has blessed us with unbelievable weather and we can't help but take advantage of it and of course, the lovely Balboa Park we have just right up the street from the Center. Every Tuesday staff and youth members walk to Balboa Park and visit specific free museums. Museums vary every month and every week. Museum Tuesdays are from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Hope to see you there for a full hour of learning, learning, fun, exploring and of course....more learning!!

Sovereignty and sack races

The Tribal Sovereignty Institute's Native Youth Symposium, held today at the Pala Indian Reservation by the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association, combined education about sovereignty with physical fitness. After an inspirational talk from Elena Hood, American Indian teens from around San Diego County--incuding 12 SDAIHYC members--learned about tribal sovereignty in both historical and contemporary contexts from Devon Lee Lomayesva and Angela Medrano of California Indian Legal Services, getting a mini history lesson on the nation-to-nation relationship between the US federal government and tribes, and the inherent rights tribes and members of federally recognized tribes should be guaranteed. After a sandwich lunch and physical fitness activities provided by Inter Tribal Sports (including sack races, such as the one Jacqueline and Joseph are competing in above!), Pala Chairman Robert Smith shared with attendees how the Pala Band of Mission Indians exercises it's sovereignty and explained the tribe's relationship with other governmental entities. The symposium ended with a scavenger hunt, combining critical thinking with synthesis of the knowledge participants learned today. Congratulations to Team 4 for winning first place! While Team 4 was void of SDAIHYC members, attendees from Rincon, Pala and San Pasqual braved sprinklers and ran from clue to clue, claiming the top spot in the hunt! Team 5, led by Summer Intern Chandler Hood, came in a close second.  Pictures from the event here!

Beach Party 2011 less than 2 weeks away!

Youth Counselors Joe and Gabe are aching to get in the water.  They're so anxious to boogie board, they're attempting to catch a wave on the Youth Center furniture.  Lucky for them, the Soaring Eagles Dance Troop, in collaboration with SDAIHYC, is holding the "Back to School Beach Party!" on Saturday, August 20 in Imperial Beach from 11AM-6PM.  The party will be centered at Pier Plaza (the same place Powwow by the Sea takes place).  Please bring potluck items to share, as well as your own chairs!  Hot dogs and burgers (meat and veggie) will be provided.  Hope to see you there!

"Thriller," Native Style

America's Best Dance Crew ain't got nothin' on us.

Youth Making a Difference

Recently I was approached by two of our very own youth members and let's just say that this act of kindness is definitely one for the books. Not only was it because of the act itself, but it was of what they said after showing me this adorable picture!...

Rebekah and Michelle proudly shared the photos of their new kitten and were very excited to share their experience adopting from an animal shelter. They mentioned multiple times, "If you ever want a pet, you should go to the animal shelter, there are so many dogs and cats there that need homes." This is definitely great advice if or when you or your family ever consider welcoming a pet into your home. Just remember though...bringing any kind of pet into your home requires ALOT of care, time, love and the upmost dedication. Not only is it a great amount of work to care for an animal, it's much like taking care of a child....adopting from shelters saves innocent, precious lives. A majority of the animals in shelters are either abandoned or abused or simply just given up because the family no longer wants to care for them. It's a sad reality but it truly was heartfelt when Rebekah and Michelle shared this experience with us here at the Youth Center and most importantly made a difference in this little fellas life who now has a second chance at life. Thank you girls!

Community Night August 2011

It's already the beginning of the month and Community Night will be here in no time! Community Night will be on Thursday, August, 25, 2011 at the Normal Heights Community Center on 4649 Hawley Blvd. San Diego, CA 92116.

The lovely Perse Hooper will present on Creating Successful Families based on the Franklin Covey Book 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families.

Dinner will be provided but potluck items are always welcome :) Games and children's activities will also be provided. This is a San Diego American Indian Health Center sponsored event in partnership with the awesome Southern California Tribal Chairman's Association- Tribal TANF, Indian Human Resources, S.D. Unified School District Indian Education Program, Council of American Indian Organizations of San Diego County.

Please come out and join us for a fun night full off community interaction and plenty of information on creating successful families! Hope to see you all there!

For any further information please contact Christopher Scott at (619) 234-2158 ext111

Summer gung fu

SDAIHYC's infamous Gung Fu classes are now held on Fridays before Fitness Fun! They have also moved to Balboa Park, weather permitting of course! Daniel Domaguin has resigned as Gung Fu instructor and has passed his duties onto fellow friend/ martial artist, Ciani Palencia. Be sure to join us for Gung Fu on Fridays at Balboa Park and enjoy the weather that sunny San Diego allows us to have every day!

Skating 2 Days a Week!

The SDAIHYC Skateboarding Instructor, Geoff Godfrey, recently added a second day of Skateboarding Group to our summer schedule. Groups are now held on Tuesdays from 4:00-5:30 pm for Beginner Skateboarders AND on Thursdays from 4:30-6:00 p.m. for Advanced Skateboarders. Skating locations include the local Washington Skate Park a few miles from the Youth Center and beautiful Balboa Park.

Recently, youth members have began venturing out to the Ocean Beach Skate Park where they perfect the basics as well as learning more advanced skills. Before stepping foot onto a skateboard, youth members engage in a 2 hour “build your own skateboard” class and learn what the different parts of a skateboard are, as well as the origin and safety of skateboarding. If interested in attending and being a part of Skateboard Group please call (619) 531-1938.

Culture Camp 2011: "Water Fun in the Sun!"

Water is of utmost importance to every culture in the world, and for SDAIHC's 8th Annual Culture Camp, "Water Fun in the Sun!", 31 Native American youth, along with parent chaperones and staff, learned about water's role in the history and present-day lives of local tribes. Despite some unexpected adversity, this year's Culture Camp was a cascade of cheer!

Each day, we traveled to different parts of the County to experience three very different bodies of water. On day 1, we trekked up the North County mountains to the San Luis Rey River on the La Jolla Indian Reservation and were greeted with a presentation from Bill Nelson, John Parada and John Beresford from the Environmental Protection Office of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians. Before some inner tubing, we learned about preventing pollution in the fresh water system, how the cleanliness of the river's water can be checked by the presence of insects known as benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs), and about different poisonous plants we should avoid. View the video of day 1 on YouTube here.

On day 2, East County heat was subdued by the fresh, still waters of the El Capitan Reservoir, where we learned how to operate motorboats and rowboats to a cove on the edge of the reservoir. After a few hours of boating, wading, and a pizza lunch from Vinny's Brooklyn Pizza, we drove to the Barona Cultural Center, where Director Cheryl Hinton informed us about the forcible removal of the Barona and Viejas people from the original Capitan Grande Reservation in 1931, part of which was flooded to create the El Capitan Reservoir.

Day 3 brought us to Mission Beach, where members, staff and parents enjoyed a warm day of body boarding, skateboarding, water balloon battles, and barbecued kebabs. The Youth Center hand drum, made by Steve Garcia during Culture Camp 2010, was decorated with paint thumbprints of Culture Camp participants under the supervision of Vickie Gambala, Director of Soaring Eagles Families. Ms. Gambala and Richard Orvedal then guided the youth in gathering the materials to create medicine pouches.

Check out pictures from each day of Culture Camp 2011 on our Photobucket here (click on the sub-albums on the right-hand navigation bar).

YC marches with Nations of the 4 Directions in San Diego LGBT Pride 2011!

Health Center staff, Youth Center members, families and friends joined Karen Vigneault and the Nations of the 4 Directions in the 2011 San Diego LGBT Pride Parade!  Youth Center members handed out frisbees to parade onlookers, while staff and volunteers passed out prophylactics and personal lubricant for prevention outreach to the community.  Check out pictures of the event from within the parade's perspective here.

Happy 2nd birthday Youth Center!

We're a toddler now! To celebrate our birthday, we started with a day at the park, followed by a pork/beef taco AND the now-annual-tradition of spam with potatoes. We wouldv'e had homemade ice cream, but someone forgot to get ice...we'll do that tomorrow. Instead of ice cream, we had a sweet (literally) mocha-coconut roll, which was savored during a session of Friday Night Live, in which members played "The staring game." Here's to many, many more years for SDAIHYC!

Lumpia and twins

No reason for this post. Well, except to show yall the result of Youth Counselor/Administrative Assistant Erica Charley's first time making lumpia EVER, and syke you out with one of our sets of twins here at SDAIHYC watching Sponge Bob before Fitness Fun at the park...can you tell who is who?