VENTURA, CA (June 26, 2011) Dr. Priscilla L. Partridge de Garcia, Resident Artist & Clinical Psychologist with Spa by Diane Loring, Inc. has created a beautiful new, magical watercolor painting of one of her favorite charities, Casa Pacifica!
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Dr. Priscilla L. Partridge de Garcia, Resident Artist at Spa by Diane Loring, Inc. and Past President of Casa Pacifica has created a beautiful new, magical watercolor of Casa Pacifica.
Diane asked Dr. Partridge de Garcia to elaborate on how this came about and she said, “Dr. Steve Elson, CEO called me up to commission a painting of the barn at Casa Pacifica for Felice Ginsberg, the retiring CFO and I agreed;
“I painted the barn and some of the surrounding buildings in water color; Having the sun come from the left to symbolize hope and then slowly the sky changing to a darker color to symbolize the challenges of the children at Casa Pacifica; I painted our Casa Pacifica dog, Archie and three children in the middle in a whimsical way with a big wooden wagon filled with presents and hope for the future….”
Dr. Partridge de Garcia, talks about Casa Pacifica, “ I was on the board for about fifteen years and I was president in about 2001; I am dedicated to this charity because before, Casa Pacifica children were taken from their home to court and then straight to a foster home; with the help of Judge Joe Hadden, who wanted this to be different, Casa Pacifica was formed, a private and public corporation; Now a child goes to Casa Pacifica for about six months and during that time, he/she is allowed to see other family members, stay with his/her siblings and get all his/her health and psychological needs evaluated and met; We then try to place percentage back with relatives, a grandma , aunt, etc., if possible before entering the foster care system;
Casa Pacifica is also the touch stone of the industry and people from all over the nation come to see how we do it; and finally the board is so wonderful, my first board meeting at 7:30 am, when it was raining so hard and so cold outside and every member was there on time and ready to work for the kids; when we had trials and challenges, we would take out a full page ad supporting Casa Pacifica, because we believed in the mission, a crisis center and a shelter.
The shelter, this is where our older kids stay when they have no place else to go or no placement, a modern type of orphanage and the Casa Pacifica Angels, a volunteer group and the Amigos, give them birthday parties, proms, Halloween treats and run Cloud Nine, a store where they can go to turn in their good behavior script for donated items.
“The painting of Casa Pacifica will be presented to Felice Ginsberg, CFO at her retirement party. I am presently on the advisory board after returning from a ten year period in Tennessee where my husband was superintendent of schools for Nashville and I continue to raise money through, the Pierpont Racquet Club Ladies Holiday luncheon where I speak in the fall; and a Camarillo Rotary golf tournament in the summer…I also support the United Way Women’s Leadership , who give money to the aging out foster children, where now my heart really is; before this time; foster children were just given a suitcase and wished good luck and good bye. Now we at Casa Pacifica and the community try to shepherd them into their future until the age of 24, what a blessing. Can you imagine your children being on their own at 18 with no family support or resources? These children did nothing wrong, but to be hurt and abused by a family member. We as a community and Casa Pacifica need to be there to raise them and help them be the best that they can be. When I ran the torch in 1996, I dedicated my run to my grandchildren and the children of Ventura County.”
