There must be hundreds of martial arts schools in the area. But Nerissa Freeman’s vision of what a martial arts school could be distinguishes her recently opened Wasenshi Kan Martial & Healing Arts from the rest. Like other schools, known as dojos, Wasenshi Kan offers physical training in martial arts and a chance to advance in level, as denoted by different belt colors. The dojo’s nonprofit status, combined with the program’s healing component and service focus, make the school unique. Freeman opened Wasenshi Kan, meaning “School of the Peaceful Warrior,” in October 2012. Drawing largely from the Danzan-ryu jujitsu system, founded by Master Seishiro Henry S. Okazaki, Freeman teaches trad

In 2012, Sacramento's Habitat for Humanity built homes for six families in Sacramento County and 23 families in Nicaragua, providing a safe and decent place to call home for 24 children in Sacramento and 115 in Nicaragua. Volunteers and companies that help support the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity were honored at the 19th annual Hammy Awards Dinner. The two photos below show most of the individuals and companies honored: Left to right: John Brannen, Ken Cross (SHFH CEO), Keith Hummell (Ki Gifts and Custom Framing), Jerry Dennis (Homewood Lumber), Gordon Herscher, Norman Scheel (Norman Scheel Structural Engineering), Penny Workman and Mary Whitmore (United Surgical Partners), Da

On February 19th, non-profit agency, The Effort, will hold grand opening ceremonies at their new Rancho Cordova Community Health Center, (10423 Old Placerville Road), which houses a primary care medical clinic for all ages and state-of-the-art children’s dental clinic. The celebration also heralds the announcement of the change from their longstanding name, “The Effort” to the on-site unveiling of a new name and logo that better reflects the agency’s mission and the scope of services they provide. Elected Dignitaries slated to address grand opening attendees include Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Senator Darrell Steinberg, Assemblymembers Ken Cooley, Roger Dickinson, and Dr. Richard Pan. “

This past Tuesday, February 5th, Sacramento Habitat for Humanity Construction Site Supervisor Scott Higgins discovered that his site, 1017 Frienza Avenue, had been vandalized and over $2,800 in tools were missing. The tools were being kept in a locked storage container located on site behind a locked fence.  Suspects broke the lock which was concealed inside a metal chamber located on the exterior front of the storage container and removed the construction tools inside which included a Yellow 6000W Generator on wheels (valued $2,100), a skill saw, a cordless drill set, and various other miscellaneous building items totaling $2,800 in losses for Sacramento Habitat. Frienza Avenue is one o

Sacramento, CA)  Sacramento Habitat for Humanity’s newest homeowners, Chula Yang and Mai Kao Thao, will receive the keys to their new home this Saturday, February 16th, 2013 at 10:00 a.m thanks to a full home sponsorship by JPMorgan Chase. The Thao/Yang Family came to the United States from Thailand in November of 2004 in hopes for a better quality of life.  “In Thailand,” explains Mai Kao, “there is no way to better your life.  No way to get work.  We moved here to give our children a future.” Upon coming to the United States the Thao/Yang’s initially settled in Georgia with relatives.  Mai Kao recalls, “I felt we must have made a mistake.  In Georgia, we found ourselves in more poverty

Sacramento Habitat for Humanity joined the US Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2009 and has since built 16 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified homes.  With 8 Gold and 8 Platinum Habitat homes under his belt, Dan Wilson, the Director of Construction for Sacramento Habitat and the pioneer of SHFH’s green building efforts says, “It’s the first tie I have ever liked.” In 2010, SHFH led by Wilson was awarded “Achievement in Excellence” by the US Green Building Council for the LEED program.  In 2011 and once again  this year in 2012, SHFH finished as a top 3 finalist in the nation for the USGBC.   Wilson believes, “For a small time affiliate with a limited budget,

Sacramento-based nonprofit California Food Literacy Center is launching its inaugural Food Literacy Academy in February. The call for applications is now open and the deadline is Monday, Jan. 28, at noon. The Food Literacy Academy is an intensive 10-week training program that will prepare community volunteers to become certified Food Literacy Advocates, equipping them with the skills needed to teach food literacy in their community. “Right now, demand for food literacy classes outpaces the number of trained teachers,” said Amber Stott, founder of California Food Literacy Center. “We created the Food Literacy Academy to build an army of certified advocates to be critical players in our re

Three Sacramento nonprofits recently received grants from Umpqua Bank through its Joy of Giving campaign on Facebook. Mutual Housing California was awarded $5,000. Women’s Empowerment was granted $2,000 and Roseville Home Start $1,000. On November 20, Umpqua Bank asked people to post comments about local nonprofits on its Facebook page. The campaign ran through December 16. Nominated nonprofits had to be located within Umpqua Bank’s four-state territory—Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada. Mutual Housing staff posted the campaign to its Facebook page on November 27. Executive Director Rachel Iskow sent out an email asking people to respond. The bank selected 25 nonprofits to sha

On Saturday afternoon, Sacramento Kings joined with Nokia Siemens Networks and Verizon Wireless to give away 200 holiday dinners for local families at Sleep Train Arena. Twenty-five Mutual Housing California families were among the recipients of the traditional turkey dinners that serve six to eight people. Mutual Housing community organizers worked with property management staff to identify the families who would need dinners the most this holiday season. Families had to be on available the day of the event and have transportation. Latrise James, a resident at River Garden Estates Mutual Housing Community, and her family were grateful recipients. “It was a blessing having help in my ti

Because she had been given so much over the years, Crystal Irwin, a Mutual Housing California resident who had been homeless herself, knew she wanted to help another family this year. “I felt we had to give back for all the blessings we received,” said the event and fundraising coordinator for Mutual Housing at the Highland’s resident association,. Before choosing the Operation Santa program from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Irwin surveyed residents at the Highlands to see what kind of project they would like. “In talking to the residents, I found a lot of the families had been adopted for the holidays through various organizations,” said Irwin whose own family had help buying basics

Whole Foods Market in Folsom, in an effort to give back to the community, holds a 5% Community Giving Day. On Wednesday, Dec. 5 Sweet Dreams Foundation was the recipient of the event. Sweet Dreams is a non-profit organization that seeks to, as their mission states, “improve the quality of life for children who have been diagnosed with a life threatening disease through the creation of their dream bedroom." This year Sweet Dreams Foundation was able to raise money to create two rooms for two beautiful children. Each room takes time to complete and it begins by selecting a child who would benefit from a Sweet Dreams room creation. There is an application process that helps in the selecti

Kristina Rhoades, the 2005 Ms. Wheelchair California, recently drove to Sacramento in the MV-1, the world’s first specially designed van, factory-built from wheelchair users feedback. A spokesperson for the manufacturer, Rhoades demonstrated the features of the MV-1 at Shriners Hospital for Children and was interviewed by the media. After suffering a spinal cord injury as an infant, Rhoades was a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children from 1997 to 2004. She has used a wheelchair most of her life. Rhoades was joined by Richard Rosebush of Destinations Mobility, a division of Paratransit, Inc. Because of Paratransit’s national presence, its long history in the mobility industry and i

Mutual Housing California recently received a grant from the Sacramento Municipal Arts Commission (SMAC) for an arts program at their community in North Highlands. At the classes, participants such as Mutual Housing at the Highlands resident Crystal Irwin used specially designed techniques created by Sierra College Adjunct Professor of Art Patricia Wood. “The idea is to approach art in many different ways instead of just one academic way,” said Wood, who also is the Visual Arts Coordinator at Shore Center South. “When you bring as many different points of view to art as possible, students are not tied to one way of learning and you can get results quickly.” The approach creates an immed

Lace up, Sacramento – we’re only weeks away from turkey, stuffing, and the 19th annual Run to Feed the Hungry. This 5k and 10k walk/run is not only a local Thanksgiving tradition, but it also benefits Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, an organization integral to the service of Sacramento’s less fortunate – particularly during the holiday season. So break out those sneakers and on Nov. 22 join roughly 30,000 of your closest friends, relatives and acquaintances at the starting line on 6000 J Street. Until then we’ll be rallying past and present runners to sit down and share their stories with The Sacramento Press, to tell us their personal reasons for racing. There is still plenty o

Lace up, Sacramento – we’re only weeks away from turkey, stuffing, and the 19th annual Run to Feed the Hungry. This 5k and 10k walk/run is not only a local Thanksgiving tradition, but it also benefits Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, an organization integral to the service of Sacramento’s less fortunate – particularly during the holiday season. So break out those sneakers and on Nov. 22 join roughly 30,000 of your closest friends, relatives and acquaintances at the starting line on 6000 J Street. Until then we’ll be rallying past and present runners to sit down and share their stories with The Sacramento Press, to tell us their personal reasons for racing. There is still plenty o

“Fundamentals of Fundraising for Arts Organizations” will be held Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, in two different sessions. The first focuses on people new to fundraising, and runs 9-10:45 a.m. The second focuses on more in-depth tools for established organizations, and runs 11 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Both sessions will be held at United Way, 10389 Old Placerville Road, Sacramento, CA. Allison Cagley, a 25-year veteran in the nonprofit sector, will lead each session in helping arts organizations learn various methods and sources for fund development. The sessions will help arts organizations begin to create a stable funding base so that they are not dependent on only a few types of support. Members of l

Angela Rosas started Chicas Latinas de Sacramento about three years ago to promote the positive aspects of Latino culture and give Latina women a place to go to feel a sense of family and togetherness. Now at 150 members, Rosas, 28, said it’s grown beyond what she anticipated, and she’s in the process of filing paperwork for making the group a nonprofit organization – which she hopes to send in November. “Getting nonprofit status is the last big step,” she said. “Then we can start fundraising and really make a difference.” Rosas is a third-generation Sacramentan, and though she is Latina, she wasn’t brought up to identify that way. Her parents didn’t speak Spanish to her, and they empha

“They’re coming to get you. Do you know what for?” Met on the street, we were led through an iron gate, down a steep set of stairs and through a crumbling basement. We ended up seated at the bottom of the pool, proof that that none among us was a witch; witches, as is well known, will summon the forces of evil to cause them to float. On this particular occasion, however, it remained inconclusive, given the absence of water in the pool. Also missing were empty seats, as the sell-out crowd assembled to see this already intriguing subterranean finale of KOLT Run Creations’ first season, Vinegar Tom. At first glance, Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom is a play about Salem witches, but scratch

Destinations Mobility recently began sponsoring other nonprofits’ events, including the local Walk to Defeat ASL this past Saturday. The new division of Paratransit, Inc. also signed on to the upcoming Santa Rosa Disability Tech Expo. With 1,500 participants, the Greater Sacramento Chapter of the ALS Association’s walk raised $198,000. “We are pleased to support these organizations and their causes,” said Richard Rosebush, Destinations Mobility Division Manager. “And we proud to be able to start sponsoring other nonprofits in their fundraising efforts.” Destinations Mobility sells mobility equipment and specially equipped vehicles for people with disabilities and seniors. They also have

Cool Ham Luke …the hippest ham to hit the scene will be diggin’ donations in 150 businesses in the Sacramento, Folsom, Roseville, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Gold River and Elk Grove areas in hopes of makin’ bacon for the Albie Aware Breast Cancer Foundation. (Disclaimer: The previous paragraph brought to you by Writers Gone Wild) Albie Aware’s Stuff the Pig campaign will take place throughout October; Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Only a week old, the campaign has created great enthusiasm with participating businesses. Nancy, at Mamma Susanna’s Ristorante Italiano, is a breast cancer survivor who has a dinner special to support Albie Aware during October and she wanted a piggy bank to