April 19, 2007

It’s show time for Almaden Valley homes

April 29 Spring Home Tour benefits Almaden Valley Counseling Service

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Mark your calendar for Sunday, April 29. That’s the day four of Almaden Valley’s finest homes will swing open their doors for tours.

A fabulous home at the AVCS Spring Home Tour is the residence on Glenview (above) with beautiful finishing touches and an outdoor kitchen. The domicile on Chateau (below) features brand-new, old-world construction by the Almaden Golf Course. Photos by Blu Skye Media

Not only will visitors be charmed by the showcase homes, entertainment, refreshments, wine tasting, raffles and boutiques will be featured at several of the locations. And while guests are enjoying themselves, they’ll also be benefiting the 27-year-old Almaden Valley Counseling Service [AVCS].

“We’re really excited this year,” said AVCS co-chair Christine Perry. “We have some spectacular homes, live music, appetizers, great boutique items and raffles for a fabulous $1,000 flatware service. It will be a lot of fun and our best tour yet and it all benefits AVCS.”

The AVCS is the beneficiary of several other creative fund-raising events—the Almaden Times Classic 10K and 2-mile race, the bi-annual Snow Ball Fashion Show and Breakfast with Santa—that are necessary to keep the nonprofit corporation’s doors open. Perry serves on the auxiliary where she and other members commit to participating in two of the events each fund-raising year. The Sereno Group, founded by Perry, is also a platinum sponsor, contributing $5,000 to AVCS.

“We hope to set a record this year for the most tickets sold to the Spring Home Tour,” said AVCS fund-raising chair Rocki Kramer, who retired in 2005 after serving as the AVCS executive director for 16 years. “It’s a constant battle to fund-raise. This year the tour will really be spectacular.”

Kramer knows of what she speaks. She was there 27 years ago when AVCS opened its doors. She remained through the years and has witnessed the many changes and growth of the agency.

AVCS history
Two teen suicides in Almaden Valley in 1980 sparked concern for the lack of counseling resources for youth in the community. Members of the Almaden Valley Joint Venture Churches, with funding from the Almaden Valley Women’s Club, founded the Almaden Valley Youth Counseling Service. Through the years it enhanced the scope of services to include therapy for all ages, including families and couples. The geographic service area also expanded beyond the initial 95120 zip code and added counseling in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, French and Vietnamese. In 2000, the name was changed to AVCS.

The ranch-style home on Graystone (above) features a 1,400 square-foot great room as well as sitting on a one-acre lot. “Many people on previous Spring Home Tours requested that we have a tract home (below) and this one is fabulous and totally remodeled,” said AVCS co-chair Christine Perry. Photos by Blu Skye Media

The AVCS counselor-on-campus program started in 1984, placing therapists at schools to provide students with counseling, crisis intervention, outreach and referral services, and now serves 19 area schools. In 1984, the auxiliary was formed as the primary fund-raising division, producing events such as the Snow Ball, the Almaden Times Classic Walk/Run and Santa’s Breakfast. In the early 1990s, parenting classes were added with a goal of developing parenting skills and child development. In 2003, anger management and conflict resolution workshops were included for adolescents dealing with anger.

Changes
January 2007 saw the addition of AVCS executive director Karen Sumi, who previously interned at the nonprofit. Matt Osment left the position in December by “mutual agreement.”

“I am so thrilled that Karen is the executive director,” said Kramer. “She’s fabulous. I knew I wanted her when she became licensed. She was an intern at AVCS and now she’s the executive director. She lives in Almaden and knows the community. She’s perfect.”

Sumi has served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, worked as a New York trial attorney and a private practice at a San Francisco law firm, but “that wasn’t where my heart was.” She returned to school at Santa Clara University [SCU] where she received her M.A. in counseling psychology and became a California-licensed marriage and family therapist. At SCU she met Kramer and served her internship at AVCS while also working as a group leader at the Department of Alcohol and Drugs Discovery Project and volunteering at Suicide and Crisis Services. She had a private practice as a marriage and family therapist before accepting the position at AVCS.

Sumi is excited about the positive parenting classes starting in April as well as classes for divorced parents, teen anger management and social skills workshops, besides the in-office counseling available. The Geriatric Advisory Program has been dropped because “there wasn’t the interest we’d hoped for,” but the agency will refer clients to a specialized gerontologist.

“I care about AVCS,” said Sumi, who lives in Almaden with husband Andrew Meade and their two teenagers. “It provides a wonderful service to the clients as well as a wonderful training agency. Rocki set it up and I want to increase our visibility and let the public know we’re here to help.”

AVCS is a busy place, providing counseling service to 559 individuals in 2006. Left: AVCS office manager Julie Anderson and executive director Karen Sumi. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

The original AVCS location was a church basement, but in 1985 the organization moved to its current location on Crown Boulevard, adding space as it grew. AVCS maintained the ability to provide services to the community by adopting an affordable sliding fee schedule, and fees are kept reasonable due to the efforts of dedicated auxiliary volunteers, grants, business and individual sponsorships and community donations. Counselors with master’s degrees pursuing their licenses as marriage and family therapists and clinical social workers provide the therapy services.

“AVCS is a great place,” said intern Vickie Swanson, who juggles school with work plus her internship. “We have our own clients here that we counsel with a supervisor’s knowledge. I like that it really prepares us to have a private practice.”

The Spring Home Tour is a bi-annual event, and this year promises to be the best yet. And it is truly a community event with Bloomsters providing creative floral designs, Starbucks and Charlie Cheesecakes serving tempting treats, Unwined Shop offering wine tasting, plus live music including a classical pianist, raffles, a spring boutique featuring unique handmade items, and of course, the fabulous homes.

Tickets are $35 per person if purchased before Monday, April 23. Call (408) 997-0200 or use the ticket order form. A limited number of tickets will be available at AVCS on the day of the event at $50 per person. For more information on AVCS, call (408) 997-0200 or visit www.avcounseling.org.