Visit visitventuraca.com/contact/staff to learn more about the Visit Ventura team.

The Pacific Coast Business Times has once again honored Visit Ventura with their “Central Coast Best Place to Work” award.

This marks the fourth year in a row that Visit Ventura has been selected as a “Best Place to Work,” but, suffice to say, 2020 was not a conventional work year.

“It was a year of adjusting and readjusting, again and again,” said Marlyss Auster, Visit Ventura President & CEO. “There were some stressful times, but through it all our team maintained the same upbeat attitude they’ve always had. And we never lost sight of our overall mission to do the next right thing to help our community. Thank you, Pacific Coast Business Times, for kindly honoring us. And thank you, wonderful Ventura, for working alongside us to do that next right thing.”

Through creative thinking and various award-winning campaigns, Visit Ventura helps spearhead a tourism effort that generates close to $300 million in annual visitor spending and, equally important, creates roughly 2,600 jobs in Ventura. Perhaps less known, tourism’s dollars help bolster Ventura’s General Fund, which, among other things, helps fund the city’s fire and police forces, build the city’s roads, and finance the city’s schools. Now more than ever, tourism will play a critical role in the recovery of the economy — from the national front to local hometowns.

“We all know how hard the pandemic has been on Ventura’s economy,” said Auster. “And tourism will be the economic driver that not only sees Ventura to its feet, but sees Ventura thrive. Our amazing team will continue to work hard to see that happen.”

The “Best Place to Work” awards began in 2016. They represent feedback across an organizational structure and were quickly embraced by the community thus increasing their prestige. Workplace factors such as compensation, paid time off, community involvement, and overall corporate culture are considered.

Aurora Loss with scholarship winner Vanessa Apodaca.

Ventura College Foundation, which provides financial support to students and programs of Ventura College, received $184,105 from the estate of long-time Ventura College supporter Aurora Loss who passed away in April 2020 at age 102. Loss has a 20-year history of giving to Ventura College Foundation to fund scholarships for Ventura College nursing students. 

Loss’ donation is divided equally with $92,052 designated for the establishment of the Aurora Loss Scholarship Fund endowment and $92,052 to the college’s nursing department for the purchase of medical training equipment. The scholarships will be managed and awarded through the Ventura College Foundation. 

Loss grew up on a farm in a mining town in Montana. An independent and career-driven woman, she attended Billings Business College and soon was employed in the engineering industry and as a government administrator during WWII.

Her career included working at the Pentagon. While in Washington D.C., she became ill and was hospitalized. Doctors minimalized her symptoms but she received the support of a nurse who advocated for her. Loss believed the nurse helped save her life. She never forgot the nurse’s kindness. When Loss eventually relocated to California, she found an opportunity to reciprocate by supporting Ventura College’s nursing students with scholarships and program support.

Dr. Sandra Melton, director of the college’s School of Nursing & Allied Health, had the opportunity to have lunch with Loss on several occasions and to take her on a tour of the nursing school.

Currently, 151 students are enrolled in the Ventura College two-year nursing program. The program normally enrolls up to 200 students, but the pandemic temporarily limited the number of enrollments. The students use life-like manikins (also known as patient simulators) in the learning process. These manikins are computer controlled and simulate breathing, life-like sounds, heartbeats, pulse and other bodily functions. As a tribute to Loss’ generosity, one of the manikins is being named, “Auntie LaLa” in her memory. 

“The manikins allow students to use their critical thinking skills to perform patient assessments and administer patient interventions in a safe environment,” says Melton. 

Melton says her department currently uses three high fidelity adult, pediatric and birthing simulators and is considering adding a more advanced wireless child simulator with Loss’ donation. The department will also purchase additional medical equipment with the funds. “It’s important that students have access to practice with the same equipment that they will use in local hospitals,” she says. “We’re always updating our program with the latest technology.” 

The nursing program is one of the most expensive on campus. Students must purchase textbooks, uniforms and medical supplies such as stethoscopes, and pay for drug testing, CPR certification and licensing exams. “Scholarships help offset some of these costs,” says Anne Paul King, Ventura College Foundation executive director. 

The Ventura College nursing program enjoys a 100% hiring rate for those graduates seeking employment with the majority of graduating students accepting positions locally. “The generous donations from Aurora Loss will support the degree completion of our nursing students,” says Ventura College President Kim Hoffmans who is also a registered nurse. 

For more information about scholarships and other support services provided by the Ventura College Foundation, go to www.VenturaCollegeFoundation.org.

Kids & Families Together on the campus of Ventura Charter School

June 7, 2021, was the culmination of a year-long project by the 3rd grade classes at Ventura Charter School of Arts & Global Education (VCS). Teachers, Flow Hansmeier and Emily Noel worked with their students on a year-long “Peace Project”. During the first half of the year, students interviewed (via Zoom) various individuals from organizations within the community asking the question, “How do you bring peace into the world?”

As part of this project, the students interviewed Kids & Families Together (K&FT)’s Co-Founder Faith Friedlander, LMFT in October of last year. Faith, an adoptee herself, explained how K&FT helps children, many who are adopted or in foster care, along with their families, though counseling programs and support services and various resource events during the year.

As a way to wrap up the school year, the students wanted to find a way to give back and help others in the community so they selected one of the individuals/organizations they had interviewed during the year. The students chose to support K&FT’s annual school supply event hosted for Ventura County Foster/Resource, Kinship and Adoptive Families who are working in programs with K&FT.

During the month of May, the 3rd graders at VCS established a “School Supply Drive” and promoted the event throughout the entire K – 8 campus by making posters and talking with the other classes. On Monday June 7th, Carrie McAuliffe, Heart 2 Heart Program Manager, and Amy Huot, Outreach Manager, with K&FT paid a visit to the school’s campus, to thank them and celebrate their amazing success! Students helped to load all the school supplies that were collected into vehicles to be taken back to the K&FT offices in preparation for the annual August “School Supply Gift Away Event”. Their school supply drive was such a success that the amount of supplies collected filled up two entire cars! Kids & Families Together would like to sincerely thank the students, staff and families of Ventura Charter School for their wonderful and generous support. And we hope they all have a fun and fantastic summer!

Kids & Families Together (K&FT) is a nonprofit that has been serving foster/resource, adoptive, kinship, and birth families throughout Ventura County since 2000. K&FT works with children who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, loss, and multiple placements. K&FT also works with caregivers who need specialized education, support, and strategies to help raise safe, healthy, nurtured children that thrive.

“Modern dance is an investigation of movement from the inside out.”

On Saturday, July 10, and Tuesday, July 13, danah bella (it’s spelled this way), Director of the BFA Dance program at the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University will teach master classes for both dancers and dance teachers at NAMBA Performing Arts Space.

“Modern dance is an investigation of movement from the inside out,” states bella. “This class encourages efficient use of alignment and technique while exploring full bodied movement with an emphasis on strength, breath and dynamics.” danah was named one of Baltimore Sun’s 25 Women to Watch in 2018 and just recently received the Maryland Dance Education Association’s 2021 Higher Education Dance Educator of the Year Award.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this level of dance education to our local community,” said Cathy Butter, Dance Liaison at NAMBA Performing Arts Space.

In addition, on July 18 danah will teach a master class for local dance teachers utilizing Functional Awareness® (FA); an approach to embodied anatomy through reflective practice to enhance our understanding of movement function, facilitate ease in body action, and improve movement skills.  For more information about FA: https://functionalawareness.org/

Classes will be held at NAMBA Performing Arts Space, 47 S Oak St. in Historic Downtown Ventura. Cost for individual classes is $25. To sign up visit NambaArts.com or call (805) 648-9250.

danah bella, is the artistic director of d a n a h b e l l a DanceWorks, a modern dance company focused on reclaiming evocative movement as social practice. She is an award-winning choreographer who has performed & presented her work throughout the country and abroad. danah has taught workshops and has been artist in residence in festivals and universities throughout the United States.

NAMBA Performing Arts Space is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in historic Downtown Ventura with a mission to provide an intimate venue to inspire and develop interdisciplinary art projects with a creative emphasis on dance, music, theater, writing and audio-visual arts.

Jennifer Thompson cuddles with Michael, one of the cats available for affection and adoption, at Cassie’s Cats.

by Jill Forman

“I’m here to hang out with kitties!” says the excited visitor as she comes into Cassie’s Cats Lounge and Adoption Center. Four friendly felines stroll around, doze, and occasionally jump unexpectedly into waiting laps. Comfortable furniture, for both humans and cats, is spread out in the large, open room in Midtown.

It is a place to hang out, relax, de-stress, with the aid of cats. Cuddling with a pet has been shown to have all sorts of beneficial effects on physical and mental health; a “kitty fix.”

“It’s a dream come true” for Jennifer Thompson, who founded Cassie’s Cats and opened the Lounge last month. She first saw a similar setting in Santa Barbara, and went in “…because I love cats.” With the help of her family, volunteers and community members she has been able to fundraise and get through the process of becoming a 501(c)3, renting the space, and equipping it. She has also kept an active social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.

On entering the storefront, there is a front area, with gifts for people and animals for sale: t-shirts, tote bags, car toys, pouches, earrings, quilted kitchen items, masks and lots more. The majority of the sewn items were made by Jennifer and her mother. (Free to come in and shop.)

The cats are all rescues and are available for adoption, but there is no pressure to do so. In fact, pressure of any kind is the opposite of what the Lounge is for. They come from many rescue organizations who are delighted to have another avenue to give cats a good home.

Volunteers will be essential to keeping the Lounge staffed. There is a volunteer orientation on June 19. Anyone interested can contact Thompson at the email or phone that will be at the end of this article

To hang out and cuddle with a cat, the prices are $8 for 30 minutes, and $14 for a full hour. Reservations are encouraged, though walk-ins will be welcome if there are fewer than three folks enjoying the kitties at the time. Days will be Thursday-Sunday, 11-5.

To visit, donate, volunteer or any questions:
Cassie’s Cats, 1744 E. Main St. (805) 232-4228
[email protected] www.cassiescatsandkittens.org

Everyone at CAPS Media congratulates every 2021 high school graduate in Ventura! After a year of COVID lock down and isolation, the students, families and friends recently shared a week of joyous graduation celebrations. CAPS Media crews recorded and live-streamed the commencement ceremonies for all six Ventura high schools: Buena, Ventura, Foothill, El Camino, Pacific and VACE (Ventura Adult and Continuing Education).

The Buena High celebration was on Wednesday, June 9 at their Bulldog stadium; the Ventura High ceremony was on Thursday, June 10 at the school’s Cougar stadium, and the final all-day extravaganza covered ceremonies for Foothill, El Camino, Pacific and VACE grads, held back-to-back at the Ventura College stadium on Friday, June 11. All of the commencement celebrations were held with enthusiastic friends and family members in the stands cheering on the graduates.

In addition to airing the events live on CAPS Channel 15, CAPS crews also set up and directed the live-stream distributions of every celebration to the VUSD, enabling all of the graduation ceremonies to be seen live worldwide and locally on the VUSD YouTube channel.

At the same time, CAPS crews are producing a series of video messages by Ventura City Council members and Ventura City Staff members as part of this year’s State of the City update. The brief videos allow each representative and staff member to introduce themselves to the public, express their thoughts on the past year, and share their personal goals and visions for the future as the community emerges from the pandemic.

The messages will be included in Mayor Sofia Rubalcava’s State of the City report hosted by the Ventura Chamber of Commerce on June 24. Themed “A Time Like No Other,” the program will feature an update by Mayor Rubalcava, plus a special presentation from Dr. Roger Rice, Superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District, and a question and answer session with Mayor Rubalcava conducted by Stephanie Caldwell, president and CEO of the Ventura Chamber. The Mayor’s State of the City event will be begin at 1pm on Thursday, June 24 and will be live-streamed on the chamber website.

During the shutdown, the CAPS Media Center continues to broadcast and stream television programming on Channel 6 and Channel 15 and online. In addition, CAPS radio, KPPQ 104.1FM continues to broadcast and stream a vast variety of engaging original and syndicated radio programs. CAPS Member/Producers can submit television and radio programming via the online portal at capsmedia.org for broadcast and streaming on CAPS public access television Channel 6, and on CAPS Radio KPPQ 104.1FM. KPPQ DJs and hosts can access the radio studio in the CAPS Media Center by appointment. Please coordinate with KPPQ director, Elizabeth Rodeno.

Every member of the CAPS Media team wants to thank the public for going above and beyond during the COVID-19 emergency by staying safe and distant, getting vaccinated, wearing masks, and helping others. Thanks to the effort by the community, Ventura is slowly emerging from the pandemic restrictions. Despite the increasingly good news the CAPS Media Center will continue remain closed to CAPS Members and the public until further notice. CAPS Media is taking a very cautious approach to continue to protect our staff.