Support for All Members of the Foster Care and Adoption Constellation
Celia Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization based in greater Los Angeles.
Adopt Salon Constellation Support Group Founded 2009
Pre/Post Foster Care & Adoption Constellation Support Group – NOW ON ZOOM – ALL INVITED FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY
A monthly virtual open support group for all members of the Adoption Constellation: First-Birth Parents, Adoptees, Former Foster Youth, Foster Parents, Legal Guardians, Adoptive Parents and Kinship Families.
A place for the Adoption & Foster Care community to come together to share stories, thoughts, feelings, ideas, receive psycho-education, process grief/loss, learn about search and reunion, and build strong bonds/connections.
Facilitated by Adoption Psychotherapist in Training and Adult Adoptee
Cathy Koley, Supervised by Founder Jeanette Yoffe M.F.T.
In 2014, a study was conducted HERE on the efficacy of this group.
93% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that:
The support group increased their knowledge and provided a safe place for them to share stories, thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
87% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that:
The support group provided opportunities for them to process grief and loss.
The support group provided them with opportunities to build strong bonds and connections with others.
91% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that:
They are able to understand themselves better because of this group.
Participants reported:
1. I understand my adopted daughter much more since coming to this group.
2. I learned priceless information regarding the emotional well-being of the adoption and foster community.
3. I am better able to understand, relate, and talk to an adoptee and foster youth.
4. I have learned how to approach an upcoming reunion.
5. I am developing better relationships and intimacy with family.
7. I recommend this group to anyone in the experience of adoption and foster care!
Celia Center Arts Festival|National Adoption Month
Celia Center Arts Festival 2024: Celebrating Resilience and Creativity in Fostered and Adopted Voices LOS ANGELES, CA, September 30, 2024: The Celia Center is proud to present its fourth Celia Center Arts Festival (CCAF) – an empowering event that...
Vital Touch By Sarah Dalian
I am Sarah to most, Puma to some, and Dariya to my birth mother. I was born in Kostani, Kazakstan in 1997, and was given up at birth by my young and unsupported mother. Then subsequently placed into an orphanage, where I stayed for the first 4 years of my life.
Join us for National Adoption Month 2024 Celia Center Arts Festival
This festival showcases the powerful work of artists from diverse backgrounds, using various creative mediums to express their personal journeys of adoption and foster care. Titled “Adopting Resilience, Fostering the Spirit of Creativity: The Voices of the Fostered and Adopted,” CCAF will take place on Friday, November 15, and Saturday, November 16, at the Electric Lodge Cultural Arts Center (1416 Electric Avenue, Venice, CA, 90291).
Celia Center brings members of the adoption and foster care constellation together through adopt salon support groups, workshops, and events throughout the year.
The festival kicks off Friday November 15 at 7:00PM with the opening reception for CCAF’s visual art group exhibition, curated by artist and adoptee Leigh Chapman. This reception will bring you up close with Jeff Forney, the exhibit artist, visual artists, poets, performing artists, and a first sneak peek at the exhibit. The opening reception goes until 9PM, and the exhibit remains on view through November 16th until 10pm. Special performances from the Adoption Musical “For The Record” by Adoptees: Amy Barker D’Alessandro and Jeanette Yoffe. Poetry by by Adoptees: Amy Raasch and Viergela Horowitz and an extra special Fire Twirler performance by adoptee, Roslin Real. You don’t want to miss!
The 2024 exhibit presents Jeff Forney’s Photography project called “The Innocent People Project.” Jeff is an adoptee and prominent photographer in Los Angeles. His desire to create this project dervied from meeting Ray Liotta for a photo shoot, where they both discovered they were adopted and thus inspired Jeff to photograph adoptees across the country and share their stories.
The festival continues on Saturday, November 16 at 11:30AM with opening ceremonies featuring a welcome from Jeanette Yoffe, Founder, as well as storytelling with Raymond Mcdonald, Former Foster Youth and poetry reading by Viergela Horowitz, Poet and Adoptee.
Children’s programming includes children’s activities. Make your own Drum Workshop with Martin Espino, Indigenous Healer (ticket must be purchased), a book giveaway, Face Painting, Healing Arts Table for children in foster care and/or adoption and their families (ages 4 and up).
Festival programming includes an evening of music from singer songwriter, Jenni AKA “Cami” Alpert and film screening of “Somebody’s Daughter” at 8PM. Q&A moderated by Brian Stanton, Adoptee, with filmmaker Zara Phillipsand singer songwriter Richard Thomspson and Kristin Jones. “The Worth Inside Me Healing Arts Workshop,” an arts workshop led by Leigh Chapman at 4:30PM and matinee film screening of “Reckoning With the Primal Wound” at 4PM on Saturday, November 16. 6pm Healing Circle with Former Foster Youth, Briana Spencer.
Post-Adoption Transitional Support CEU for Psychotherapists, Social Workers and Parents
5 Hours of Continuing Education. This course was designed to help parents and professionals understand the general experiences children may exhibit in adoption-related challenges that identify losses, understand the importance of attachment, and explore common questions for adoptees.
Meet Jeanette Yoffe
Executive Director of the Celia Center, Inc.
Psychotherapist and Adult Foster Alum/Adoptee
Jeanette’s desire to become a child therapist with a special focus on adopted and foster care issues derived from her own experience of being adopted and moving through the foster care system in New York City, ethnically born to Argentinean and Irish parents. She is now blazing a trail as a resident in Los Angeles for 20 years with Celia Center and Yoffe Therapy, a group mental health center. Her personal experience has informed her education and provided insight into the unique stresses involved with these issues. Because of Jeanette’s life experience, she can more easily connect and relate to the children, teens, adults and their families she works with. She is an exceptional child-care worker who is dedicated to helping each of her clients reach their full potential through mental health therapy and make the difficult journey from despair towards resiliency and hope. https://www.jeanetteyoffe.com/
"As Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, and on behalf of its residents, I commend Celia Center . . . . I wish Celia Center continued success as [it supports] families through the tough but rewarding process of foster care and adoption."
Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles
Presented by Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti to Celia Center at the 2014 Facing Trauma with Truth Conference
Contact Celia Center
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