Palmabella's Passions

At first I was stumped with this theme. Then I realized I had an example of a triangle that I looked at every day for 8 years: the YMCA logo.

I know you're all thinking I was an aerobics instructor, right? LOL
The mental health agency, where I was director was under the umbrella of the YMCA of San Francisco. Project FOCYS was a youth service bureau that served the counseling needs of kids and their families. We had 20 clinical staff and interns. We provided counseling in many elementary, middle and high schools, and family therapy at the clinic. Children and adolescents were referred by police, juvenile probation officers, and school counselors and principals. We had a very successful group program for parents, children and teens in three languages, as well as services for gay, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning youth. We started a violence prevention program after the traumatic events at Columbine High School, that was proactive and very successful. I served as School Services Coordinator, Family Group Program Coordinator, and eventually as Director of the agency.

I began there as an intern therapist, and ended up training and supervising interns. I am very proud of the work I did at the YMCA. It is NOT just a health club/gym. Besides the sports and camp programs, the YMCA works to build healthy families and strong values. The organization stresses character development by demonstrating "Character Counts" which focuses on six pillars of Character: Respect, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Caring, Fairness and Citizenship. Check out YOUR local community YMCA. "We build strong kids, strong families, strong communities."