Actor Matt Lillard, in partnership with Five Acres, Engaging the Senses and Say Word, will present his 2nd 5JammaSlamma poetry event featuring performances by Five Acres’ foster youth on April 21, 2018 at Werkartz in LA.

[Altadena, California] April 2, 2018 – Actor and child welfare advocate Matt Lillard (Twin Peaks, Good Girls, Scooby Doo) will present his second annual 5JammaSlamma spoken word event on April 21, 2018 at Werkartz in Los Angeles. In partnership with Five Acres, Engaging the Senses Foundation and Say Word, the night will celebrate a months-long artistic workshop with live performances from several foster youth in residence at Five Acres.

Launched as a pilot program at Five Acres in 2017, 5JammaSlamma manifested as Lillard’s vision to introduce the power of poetry to children living in foster care. That week-long program connected Five Acres’ foster youth with renowned recording artists, beatboxers and slam poets. This year, the program has expanded to six months, including a final workshop and performance co-led by Hawaii’s first official Poet Laureate, Kealoha.

“What started off as Engaging the Senses’ offer to pay for our 5JammaSlamma party has now turned into a year-round commitment to fund the teaching of poetry to the kids living on campus at Five Acres,” said Lillard. “It’s a brilliant gift that will continue to harvest beauty from the darkness, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

This year’s 5JammaSlamma event is invite-only and is a “friendraiser” event for Five Acres, asking for advocacy for foster youth rather than funds from its attendees.

“In many ways, children living in foster care suffer from lack of visibility in our community. They’re growing up without permanent families or access to the kind of life skills and enriching experiences that a typical child may have,” said Chanel Boutakidis, Five Acres CEO. “5JammaSlamma not only provides this kind of experience but gives our community a chance to tell others about their situation and get involved as supporters.”

In addition to Kealoha, poets Sekou Andrews, Steve Connell, Kat Magill, beatboxer Joshua Silverstein and musician/vocalist Cary Brothers will join 5JammaSlamma to perform alongside the young poets. To learn more about the event, please contact Five Acres at events@5acres.org.

Five Acres’ new fundraising campaign will help fund critical programs for foster youth and install 200 inscribed tiles to create the “McCreight Foundation Pathway to Permanency Wall” at their Altadena campus.

Ryan Dietz, past Five Acres board chair and founding member of the Five Acres Permanency Tile Campaign.

[Los Angeles, California] March 28, 2018 – Five Acres has launched a fundraising campaign as part of a four-year strategic plan to connect Los Angeles’ 20,000 foster youth with permanent families by the year 2020. Entitled “Pathway to Permanency,” the campaign will help fund Five Acres’ permanency efforts and will be represented with 200 inscribed wall tiles installed at the nonprofit’s main campus in Altadena.

The tile campaign comes at a time when the foster care crisis in Los Angeles is reaching its tipping point, with more children entering the foster system than there are families to take them in.

“I am delighted to support the permanency tile campaign as a founding member because creating safe, loving and permanent homes for children continues to be Five Acres’ priority,” said Ryan Dietz, former Five Acres board chair. “There is an overwhelming need for foster families in Los Angeles County and these donations are vital to helping Five Acres achieve their ‘20,000 by 2020’ goal. I encourage others to join me as a supporter of the tile campaign to show their commitment to the children of our community and to be a champion for permanent families.”

To inspire others to participate, The McCreight Foundation has gifted $100,000 towards the tile campaign as a matching incentive. The installation will be named the “McCreight Foundation Pathway to Permanency Wall” in recognition of their generous donation.

Five Acres has set an initial goal of securing 130 tiles by July 21, 2018 to celebrate their 130^th year of service. The remaining 70 tiles are slated to be installed with the culmination of their current strategic plan in 2020. To learn more about how to support the campaign, contact Katie McDonald at kmcdonald@5acres.org | 626-773-3750 or visit 5acres.org/permanency-tile-campaign.

[Los Angeles, California] January 31, 2018 – Five Acres 5^th Annual Clinical Conference will take place at the courtyard Marriott in Monrovia, CA on March 15^th 2018 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Led by chair Dr. Rachel McClements, Chief Clinical Officer for Five Acres, the clinical conference is intended for mental health providers who work with children in a variety of settings.

This year’s conference focuses on working with trauma from a multicultural perspective and provides a variety of speakers. Sessions include: Immigration and Trauma; Merging Trauma-Focused CBT with Play Therapy; Working with Children, Teens and Families in Foster Care and Adoption; The Relationship Between Parental-Out Migration to the United States and Mental Health and Somatization of Left-Behind Children in Mexico; Community Resiliency; and How the Brain is Affected by Traumatic Experiences.

The cost of the conference is $70, with a discounted rate of $30 for students. Up to six Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) are available for PSY, MFT and LCSW attendees. To register, please visit Five Acres’ website at 5acres.org/clinical-conference-2018. For questions on this event, please contact Samantha Shank at sshank@5acres.org.

About Five Acres
Five Acres is a child and family service agency ensuring every child has a safe, healthy and permanent family solution through advocacy, prevention and evidence-based services. Established as an orphanage in 1888, today Five Acres offers programs spanning a full continuum of care including community-based counseling and support services, intensive residential care, a therapeutic school for special needs students and foster care and adoption services. Currently, Five Acres serves approximately 8,700 children and their families across five counties. Visit 5acres.org for more information.