This Week on the Central Coast
Unchained helps both people and dogs, Carol Hatton Breast Care Center got a bigger location, Boukra Collective helps aspiring poets and essayists get published, and PG Charles Dickens Club turns 30
“Unchained” Mutually Benefits People and Dogs
“Unchained” is a local nonprofit that operates in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Santa Clara Counties. The organization pairs “at-risk” people with dogs from local shelters. Both, person and dog, come from troubled backgrounds, often dealing with addiction or abuse at home. The program boasts 400 graduates since being founded in 2011.
“I was looking at the kids in our community that are suffering in so many different ways,” Wolf says. “If we can teach kindness to animals, there is enough evidence to show that that kindness can transfer to humans,” says Melissa Wolf, founder of “Unchained”. She spent thirty years in social services. When she started to feel bored with social work, she decided to become a certified humane education specialist, which pairs animal welfare with human rights. As part of her training program, Wolf worked with Child Protective Services.
“Unchained” has 4 stated goals:
Give a new future to a person and dog.
Allow people to right their wrongs.
Allow people to master a skill.
Improve both, the person and the dogs
The organization’s website has information on volunteering, adopting dogs, and donating. There are also many feel-good stories to read through!
Carol Hatton Breast Care Center aims to make screening more convenient
The Carol Hatton Breast Care Center, operated by CHOMP, was opened in April in Ryan Ranch. The center will allow more women to be screened conveniently and efficiently with state-of-the-art technology.
“The advanced technology is impressive: traditional mammography, 3D mammography, which combines multiple images into highly detailed images for preventive screening, 3D mammography for visits prompted by a breast concern such as a lump or pain, automated breast ultrasound, which is used in addition to mammography to improve images when breast tissue is dense, handheld ultrasound for diagnostic and interventional exams and procedures, including needle-guided biopsies, and bone-density scanning machines to determine the risk for osteoporosis.”
Everything about the center was designed to help achieve their goals. The location is centrally located in the county to make it more convenient for everyone. The large size allows more patients to be seen with less waiting time. Even the interior is decorated and built to make the center feel more spa-like, relaxing, and safe. The move to a new location was needed as the center outgrew its old location on Cass Street.
Boukra Collective is helping aspiring writers get published.
The people behind Boukra Collective all share one goal: helping highlight local poets and essayists in our local communities. “The tourist industry absorbs almost everything and the art is very scarcely made for the sake of the locals,” says a poet for Boukra.
Currently, there are sixteen members of Boukra Collective, including editors, translators, and, of course, writers. All the members are affiliated with Old Capital Books in some way. Stephanie Spoto, a co-owner, also works as a CSUMB professor teaching literature, feminist theory, and writing. The works that Boukra publishes are meant to share “interesting radical ideas” and “cool poetry”. All published works are meant to be pocket-sized, have a limited printing of only 100 copies, and cost $5 each.
You can read some of the poetry and pre-order essays on the Boukra Press website
Pacific Grove Charles Dickens Social Group Celebrates its thirtieth anniversary.
The PG Charles Dickens Social Group is one of fifty-nine active groups in the world. There are thirty paying members in the group. The official Dickens Fellowship is headquartered in London and is 119 years old.
Our local group was founded by Beth Penney, who is a composition instructor at MPC. She started the group in 1991 after attending the annual Dickens Universe Conference at UCSC. She also shares her birthday, February 7, with Charles Dickens. In addition to leading the group through discussions, Penney also writes the monthly newsletter “The Mutual Friend”, and plans any celebrations, such as the Victorian-themed 30th anniversary party at her home, where attendees were encouraged to dress in 19th-century attire.
Each year, the group votes on one of Dickens’ works, then discusses the work chapter-by-chapter each month. The group takes a break in February to celebrate Dickens’ birthday at a pub and also in December for the Christmas party. This year, the group read A Tale of Two Cities.
Every year the group votes on local charities they wish to support. The donation made is a portion of their treasury along with any extra contributions from members. This year, the group is donating to Gathering for Women, One Starfish Safe Parking, and Food Bank for Monterey County.
