Newsletter Date: July 31, 2012 THE BUZZ Joke of the Issue # 2 Volume 4 Quarter: If you’re a smoker Advocacy in Action: By Mr. James Burney and visiting the Empire State I, James Burney, If you are tired of sitting at home and being building in New would like to in- bored and you want information about the York City be care- vite the people available classes that you may want to take, supported by Hope you can find that information by calling ful not to throw House Foundation your city’s recreation center. When you call, the wrong butt and other people in just ask the staff about the classes they of- off! the general com- fer. If you need help finding a recreation By: Lori Shapiro munity, who might center near you, visit http:// want to get out of www.justhamptonroads.com/RecCenters/ their houses and RecCenters.htm for a listing of recreational take different centers in the Hampton Roads area. kinds of fun and exciting classes, to read this article! I feel that recreational classes I recommend the Therapeutic Recreational Inside this Issue and activities are a great way to meet a lot Center located at 180 Evans Street in Nor- of different people and visit fun and excit- folk, Virginia for those who want a friendly Advocacy in Action 1 ing new places. Over the past few years, I and fun place to go. I have been there many Increase Independence 2 have been to different places by partici- times and they were very nice to me the first Salsa Dancing pating in classes at the Therapeutic Recre- time I went and each time I returned. They ational Center in Norfolk, Virginia. I have talked to me about all of the different clas- My Trip to Sea World 3 been to Busch Gardens, movie theaters, ses and outings and gave me a catalog with What I Like Best about Myself 4 restaurants and parties like the Hawaiian all of the classes I could take. They offer Relay 4 Life Luau and the Fall Festival. I have also tak- classes in the spring, summer and fall. en art classes like ceramics and exercise Worker Bees 5 classes like water aerobics. Participating So, if you are tired of being bored, this is Join a New Advocacy Group in these classes and outings is fun because your way to get out and do something fun Weight Loss Success Story 6 it gives you a chance to get out of the and exciting. Have the courage to try some- house and meet new friends and visit new This is What I Think 7 thing new in your life! places. You do not have to continue to sit Hart to Heart at home and be bored. Getting out and in- Thank you for your time in reading my arti- Why Peer Advocacy is 8 volved with different activities at the rec- cle. I would like to invite you to send me Important to Me reation center will make you want to get any questions or stories regarding advocacy What I Learned from SAFE 9 out more! or this article. Have you had a success that What it Means to Me to 10 would be good to share? Please feel free to Have a House I Can Call Home There will be people there, like staff, to contact me via email at jamesbur- Places to Eat 11 make you feel welcome in such a way that [email protected] , or through the Hope you will forget about being shy or nerv- Healthy Recipe of the Quarter House Foundation Administrative Office at ous. Do not worry about knowing how to 625-6161. Events 12 do something because there will be teach- The Buzz Cookoff ers there to show you how it is done. THE BUZZ Page 2 Increased Independence: By Jeremy Norman On May 23rd I moved from the Speedy Team of Hope House Foundation (HHF) in Chesa- peake to the Redgate Team of HHF in Norfolk. Since I moved, I have been even more in- dependent. For one thing, I am able to keep a cushion in my bank account after my bills are paid. I am always excited when my benefits hit because I can pay my bills on my own computer and after paying all of my bills I still get a little bit of spending money. But since I am not working right now, I don’t have as much spending money, so I have to leave a cushion in my account. I take half of what’s left over and use that as spending money and leave the other half in the bank with the cushion money, and it adds up! I’ll be even more independent when I purchase my own moped. I found another moped, a metal Honda, on the internet. It’s one of the best models of mopeds that anyone could have. They have lay-a-way for two to three years. They created a website to give you plenty of time to pay off your balance. Because of the econo- my the person I talked to at GS Motor Works said that they do this for people because a lot of people can’t afford transportation. Mopeds are low maintenance and get really good gas mileage. You can fill up a moped gas tank with only a dollar or two! To buy my moped I will let my cushion and spending money add up. I will also get money back on my taxes and will be getting a power bill deposit soon to use to pay the rest of the bike off by next Christmas! All I need is to save up is $107.90, which is 10% down. Before I get the moped, I want to get two kittens. Since my buddy Mew-two recently passed away, I really miss him and wish I could hold him and watch TV with him again! So I would like to adopt two kitties from the Norfolk SPCA. They will already be neutered or spayed. I’ve already picked out names, Simba and Nala from the Lion King. I also plan on saving up for a trip to the Bahamas and then a cruise to the Caribbean. Check this out: my old Wachovia account password was: Matthew McConaughey. And on my computer my screensaver was a pic- ture of half my face and half of his! Now, all of you can do this too! I pay my bills, save up for things that I want, get new pets, and save up for dream vacations! Salsa Dancing: By John Waff My name is John Waff and I have been taking salsa dancing classes once a week for the past few months. I attend classes through the Norfolk Therapeutic Recrea- tion Center. So far, I have learned many different styles of dancing – cha cha, salsa, merengue, and rumba. Rumba is my favorite! Sometimes our teacher goes over the moves with us step-by-step. Other times, we get to salsa dance through the center’s Xbox Kinect game. I like doing that because it shows me how many calories I burned. I enjoy teaching the moves that I learned in class to my friends. I also like picking up new moves from watching “Dancing with the Stars.” Going to salsa dancing class makes me happy. I look forward to it every week. I would recommend salsa dancing to everyone! It is a fun time, a great workout, and an awesome way to make new friends. Best of all, I can show off my salsa dancing skills on the dance floor. THE BUZZ Page : 3 My Trip to Sea World: By Jessie Smith I’ve always wanted to go to SeaWorld and in January I had the chance to go with my friend, Corey. We spent the weekend in Orlando, Florida and to get there we had to fly. This was my first time flying and I was really nervous about it. I had the window seat and looked out the window some. I was happy when we landed and felt better about flying on the trip back. I really liked the hotel; it was nice. I especially liked sleeping. It was too cold to swim but we did sit by the pool. The first day we went to SeaWorld. I love SeaWorld. There were a lot of things I liked - most of all eating! We did a lot while we were there, especially walking and shopping. We saw baby dolphins, polar bears, beluga whales and a walrus. We watched the walrus for a while and he even tried to kiss me! He was funny. We also saw a dog show and I loved it. There were a lot of cats in the dog show, they walked around and did tricks. The dogs barked and played – they did so much! For lunch I had chicken tenders and fries. We sat outside. There were ducks and they liked me. I fed them the french fries. After lunch I saw Ariel and even took a picture with her. She was nice. We looked for Ariel’s dad but he wasn’t there. I also saw the Sea Witch on a t-shirt and she looked mad. I got to feed the rays and seals. We stayed and watched the seals for a long time. The seals would yell and flap their flippers for more food and wouldn’t shut up until you fed them. I fed them tiny fish and the seals really liked them.