50th Anniversary Memories
We invite alumni and current parents, employees, funders, volunteers to send us your favorite memories of We Care Services for Children. Send your information to blangsdale@wecarebmcc.org. You could be published on the website allowing everyone to read and share you personal thoughts.
Our son, David attended We Care from 1973 through 1977. We have a feeling of deep gratitude for the contribution the staff at We Care made to David's life. He started when he was about 18 months old and one of his "problems" was a stubborn refusal to eat anything with lumps in it. We had to puree everything he ate. We owe a great debt to Ramona who worked with David every lunch time, doing the hard things that we as parents could not bring ourselves to do, forcing him to chew lumps while tears ran down his cheeks. David is now a 37 year old adult who is less fussy about his food than most of his siblings. His only three eating "problems" now are that he won't eat hard bread or pizza crusts, he picks red cabbage bits from salads, and he is too good an eater. In addition, we were very impressed with the policy at We Care to have each child move from room to room under his own power if at all possible. Our David didn't walk until he was almost 3 years old, but he still was required to get to the next room by himself by crawling there. Another trait that he learned at We Care was to put things away after he was finished using them and to this day, he keeps his things (and many of ours) picked up and put away. One of our nick names for him is "Mr. Neat". Thank you We Care staff members for all you did for David.
Jon and Doris Fitt, Alumni
We Care is fifty years old this year. Our youngest child is also 50 year old this year. Fifty years ago, when Barbara Milliff was starting We Care, she contacted the Catholic Charities Auxiliary for help in transporting the children served by the center. At the time, the children were of all ages and disabilities. I was a member of the Auxiliary and a personal friend of Barbara's through our Kappa Delta Sorority Alumni group so I immediately volunteered to be a driver for two children who lived in the Lafayette area. As my daughter Carolyn was a newborn, I elected to take her with me in her car bed - not like anything you see today. One child was 12 years old with Cerebral Palsy. He rode in the back seat with the baby and it was the high point of his day that he got to see and "talk" with the baby. The other child was about five years old and I remember that he could not talk or move very easily. He sat in front with me. I transported these two children for almost a year and from that point on I continued to help Barbara and We Care for 50 years.
Marilyn Empey, Volunteer
We Care and the Clayton Valley Sunrise Rotary Club go way back …. from installing a very large piece of playground equipment, to cleaning the gutters on the buildings, to completely refurbishing a classroom with the help of a Rotary Matching Grant, to sponsoring golf tournaments together, to creating a Paul Harris Fellowship for Barbara Langsdale in recognition of her untiring efforts for children in our community. Our club realizes the tremendous work We Care does for the children and families in our community.
Clayton Valley Sunrise Rotarians
Such great news to hear that We Care has been around for 50 years. Until we received Alex's diagnosis, we had never heard of We Care. And even though Alex is too old to attend there (already 7 ½), I remember the first time we came by to see the place. It was wonderful to find a place where we belonged, and to see that we're not alone.
AFSP parent
Even if we don't always attend the events, the comfort we have from knowing We Care is here will last a lifetime. Anytime I talk to a parent with a new diagnosis I always refer them to We Care. Here's to 50 more years!
AFSP parent
At our first day out at the movie's my husband & I for the first time felt we fit in! No one was passing judgment! We had tried many times to take our son to the movies but it was never a successful transition. Thanks to the private movie times We Care has provided, our son was able to slowly adjust to the BIG screen, all the many noises that come with a movie theater, and the darkness of such a large room. He can now enjoy a movie at any given moment! It may not sound like much but for our family it was a milestone! Thank you We Care!
AFSP Parent
The Walnut Creek Kiwanis Club and We Care have both worked for the betterment of children for decades. From supplying Xmas gifts, food baskets and Santa Claus to the children’s families, to cooking for the annual “Family Day Picnic”, the WC members have been involved. We coordinated the “Bikes for Tykes” for the children in the 90’s with the Contra Costa Fire Department. We have been involved with numerous projects to improve the campus. We Care has been a major recipient of our annual donations for many years. Children are “priority one” with Kiwanis just as they are with the stellar We Care staff!
The Walnut Creek Kiwanis Club
My name is Claudia Bass (Dalton when I was at We Care) and I worked there as an aide during the year of 1974 and 1975 and also during the summer of 1976. I had graduated from college with a degree in Child Development from U.C. Davis. At that time I did not have a job and finding one was not going well in my field. My mother's hairdresser suggested that I volunteer at We Care so during the summer of 1974 I did. I loved it and was offered a job for the following year. I was there when Barbara Milliff was the director. Through the year I learned so much about working with special needs children but most of what I learned was that I so very much enjoyed working in this field and this was my niche. I then realized I wanted to go back to school and obtain a teaching credential in special education which Barbara encouraged me to do.
In 1977 I received my Special Education Teaching Credential. I started working for the Contra Costa County Office of Education and have been with them for 32 years. Currently, I teach the Transition Program located at DVC. Throughout my various teaching assignments with the County, I have come into contact with some of my students I worked with at We Care.
I have many fond memories of We Care. The fondest is that I was able to discover what I wanted to do and I feel I have the most rewarding career. For this I have to thank We Care Services for Children.
Claudia Bass
In the early 1970’s the Golden Gate Nomads, a Bay Area chapter of the National Campers and Hikers Association, NCHA, traveled throughout northern California as a recreational and social family group. http://www.fcrv.org/history.php
Once a month a family would plan a campout and potluck at a popular location and let the group know in a monthly newsletter. Campers, trailers and tents would show up Friday afternoon and evening to enjoy the surroundings and facilities that were available. Saturday evening was a chapter meeting and potluck with plans being made for the following month followed by a good fellowship campfire. News came to us that the town of Port Chicago was being bought up by the US Navy and closed to civilians. This was designed to increase the “buffer zone” in case of a repeat disastrous explosion that occurred in 1944 when munitions ships blew up at the port. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq80-1.htm We learned that several buildings were being moved from the town to Kirker Pass Road and the We Care Center. We also found that trees were available for planting but no one was available to plant them. Soon the word spread to our group and we volunteered to move our outing to Kirker Pass and get the job done. More than 15 families showed up with shovels and gloves. First thing Saturday morning we started planting and by early afternoon we had completed the work with new saplings ready to start a new life at We Care along with the many children that are served there.
Our camping days are far behind us as our children are grown and many of the members are no longer with us. However as I still drive over Kirker Pass often I look back at We Care now and remember the good times we had doing a good turn for our friends and neighbors. It is a fond memory.
Chuck & Diane Graham
We Care Services for Children
2191 Kirker Pass Road
Concord, CA 94521
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Phone: 925-671-0777
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