Hey au pairs, the scavenger hunt is just 2 weeks away now, Saturday, August 21 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Here is the link to Reply to and say whether you are coming. 

       https://culturalcare.wufoo.com/forms/southern-california-scavenger-hunt/

Do you have a blue Cultural Care t-shirt?  If so, please wear on Saturday, August 21!  You will get points right away for wearing your shirt or another blue shirt (the blue of the Cultural Care heart).  We PREFER CCAP shirts so if you have extras to lend or give to other au pairs on your team, please do!   Remember, extra points right away for wearing your t-shirt.

Talk to your friends, form groups of 4 for a team and get back to me with the names!

And the prizes are great for this contest!  You WANT to WIN

We have our own Facebook page.  Use this page to invite any of your AuPair friends from other agencies.  The title of the event for you to search for is First Annual Au Pair Scavenger Hunt in Los Angeles.

This is your monthly meeting for August and therefore their attendance is required.

Get excited about this - it’s gonna be a blast!.  It’s your time to meet au pairs from all over so california and have some fun in one of the greatest places in so CA!

Great Times at the Baseball Meeting!

Next month join us for a great Scavenger Hunt - Saturday, August 21 - more later!

Join our EF Exchange students for this Month’s Au Pair meeting at the Dodger baseball game.  $8.00 per ticket.  You can ride the bus with us to the game so you don’t have to worry about transportation!

Thursday, July 22, 5:15 p.m.:  Bus departs from

Albertson’s Supermarket Parking Lot - Calabasas.  Location is on Agoura Road between Lost Hills and Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon.

 Reply to Emily at emily.davis@lcc.culturalcare.com and let me know how many tickets you need and whether you will ride the bus or not.

As part of Cultural Care Au Pair’s mission to break down barriers of culture and language through educational exchange, a group of local childcare coordinators and staff recently visited South Africa to see firsthand the difference the donations from the Cultural Care community have made through our charitable organization Kids First.

Since it’s inception in 2004, Kids First has supported many worldwide organizations that work with at-risk youth. From the daycare center in Brazil to the school library in New Orleans to an orphanage in Russia, Kids First has supported a wide range of global organizations. Our most recent work at an orphanage and daycare center in a poverty-stricken township outside Capetown, South Africa is another great example of the work we are doing worldwide.

Cultural Care staff and LCCs had an opportunity to visit several projects funded through CHOSA, an organization that Kids First supports. CHOSA provides support to programs that work with at-risk children and their families to provide nutrition, medication, clothing, food, shelter and an education.

During the service visit, those who participated had a chance to visit the Ubuhle Babantwana Care Center, which helps 150 children, some of whom are HIV positive. Donations received from au pairs, host families and Cultural Care LCCs and staff have provided funds for the building of a new structure for the infants and toddlers in the center. The group from Cultural Care Au Pair had an opportunity to see the new structure, meet the inspirational director and dedicated teachers and had some time to play with the children.

In addition, the group visited the Ilitha-Labantwana Place of Safety, the Philani Child Health and Nutrition Project, the Emasithandane Children’s Project and the Baphumulele Children’s Home. The Cultural Care team is now bringing their experience back to the U.S. to raise awareness, and additional funds for even more projects that Kids First supports.

“Our Kids First trip to Cape Town was truly amazing and inspiring,” says Local Childcare Coordinator Trudy Mar. “The work, effort, love and sacrifice the women heading up these projects give to all of the kids goes well beyond what most of us could imagine. If one little body sleeps better, eats better and smiles more, we’ve helped to change their future and make the world a better place. Every dollar we raise for Kids First definitely does make a difference.”

For information about how you can make a contribution to Kids First, or raise awareness for the programs it supports, visit http://www.culturalcare.com/aboutus/kidsfirst/ or contact your Local Childcare Coordinator.

Putting Kids First: helping at-risk children worldwide

As part of Cultural Care Au Pair’s mission to break down barriers of culture and language through educational exchange, a group of local childcare coordinators and staff recently visited South Africa to see firsthand the difference the donations from the Cultural Care community have made through our charitable organization Kids First.

Since it’s inception in 2004, Kids First has supported many worldwide organizations that work with at-risk youth. From the daycare center in Brazil to the school library in New Orleans to an orphanage in Russia, Kids First has supported a wide range of global organizations. Our most recent work at an orphanage and daycare center in a poverty-stricken township outside Capetown, South Africa is another great example of the work we are doing worldwide.

Cultural Care staff and LCCs had an opportunity to visit several projects funded through CHOSA, an organization that Kids First supports. CHOSA provides support to programs that work with at-risk children and their families to provide nutrition, medication, clothing, food, shelter and an education.

During the service visit, those who participated had a chance to visit the Ubuhle Babantwana Care Center, which helps 150 children, some of whom are HIV positive. Donations received from au pairs, host families and Cultural Care LCCs and staff have provided funds for the building of a new structure for the infants and toddlers in the center. The group from Cultural Care Au Pair had an opportunity to see the new structure, meet the inspirational director and dedicated teachers and had some time to play with the children.

In addition, the group visited the Ilitha-Labantwana Place of Safety, the Philani Child Health and Nutrition Project, the Emasithandane Children’s Project and the Baphumulele Children’s Home. The Cultural Care team is now bringing their experience back to the U.S. to raise awareness, and additional funds for even more projects that Kids First supports.

“Our Kids First trip to Cape Town was truly amazing and inspiring,” says Local Childcare Coordinator Trudy Mar. “The work, effort, love and sacrifice the women heading up these projects give to all of the kids goes well beyond what most of us could imagine. If one little body sleeps better, eats better and smiles more, we’ve helped to change their future and make the world a better place. Every dollar we raise for Kids First definitely does make a difference.”

For information about how you can make a contribution to Kids First, or raise awareness for the programs it supports, visit http://www.culturalcare.com/aboutus/kidsfirst/ or contact me, Your Local Childcare Coordinator, Emily Davis.

Please meet at my home in Westlake Village for a pool safety meeting and a chance to visit with our 4 new au pairs and each other too!  (If you need my address, please email me.)

6 p.m. Sunday, June 6 - looking forward to seeing you all!  Bring your bathing suit and swim if you like!

Please join local au pairs from 12 International countries for a fun kid friendly event!
When: SUNDAY, MAY 2, 2:30 to 4:30
Where: Berniece Bennet Park, Westlake Village, CA

All are welcome so please join us!
This free event is presented by Cultural Care Au Pair, the leading provider of au pair childcare in the U.S. Please contact emily.davis@lcc.culturalcare.com for more information.

Woodlake Bowl
23130 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364

It’s $1 mania night so we can bowl for $5.00 plus $1 per game and $1 for shoes.  Most au pairs like to bowl 2 games so that would be $8.00 total - a great deal!
 
Please arrive at 6:45 so you can get your shoes, your bowling ball, etc.  Be prepared to have a great time with your au pair friends!  Doesn’t matter if you  bowl well or not.

Bring your Au Pair friends, even if they aren’t in our group!  (Just let me know so I can make sure we have enough space!)

Country Western Line Dancing with lots of other Au Pairs from 3 or 4 au pair groups!  Meet at Borderline on Sunday, February 28 at 6 p.m. - Au pairs really have a great time at this annual event!  You can bring your friends from other au pair agencies too.  We will have a prize drawing for those of you who bring au pair guests!
Borderline Bar & Grill
99 Rolling Oaks Drive
Thousand Oaks, CA
Wear some cowboy boots or other low heeled shoes so you can have some fun learning line dances and visiting with your au pair friends!
$10 admission, includes unlimited sodas, dance lessons.  There is also a menu if you’d like to purchase food.

The results from the 2009 Host Family Survey are in … and the consensus is that our host families are overwhelmingly happy! To share a few of the stats:

- 96% of host families are satisfied with the quality of childcare that their au pair provides
- 95% are satisfied with the support provided by their Local Childcare Coordinator
- 97% are pleased with the choice they made to use the services of Cultural Care Au Pair
- 96% would recommend the services of Cultural Care Au Pair to other families

Thank you to our current host families for participating and for helping us to further improve our program! Host family feedback gathered through our customer satisfaction survey has contributed to several changes at Cultural Care Au Pair including an improved host family and au pair matching process, increased new and repeat host family discounts, new payment plan options, and better online and phone support for host families. In addition, host families are able to provide direct feedback to senior management at face to face meetings held throughout the country, and they may participate in an online forum (www.community.culturalcare.com) created just for program participants.

We’re thrilled with these results, which are certified by independent survey company Discovery Surveys, Inc. In fact, our participation rate (52% of active host families this time around) and the results themselves have improved each of the four times we have administered the surveys (spring and fall of 2008 and spring and fall of 2009). For more detailed survey information, visit our website.

Au Pairs like Thi Lan are Available for Your Family Right Now!

Cultural Care Au Pair offers 3 Ways to Match

Cultural Care Au Pair host families now have the ability to review even more applications and au pair profiles with our new 3 Ways to Match, a program feature that let’s host families select the style of matching that best suits their needs. Host families can now search through multiple candidates on their own timeframe, set an appointment for a consultative matching session or work one-on-one with a placement manager who carefully selects possible matches. Best of all, our 3 Ways to Match allows you to enjoy the benefits of all three matching styles to help you find the right au pair for your family.

To get started
Whether you’re a new family to Cultural Care Au Pair or have already hosted an au pair, our 3 Ways to Match makes it easy for you to begin reviewing au pair candidates right away. Simply fill out your new or repeat application. Once it’s processed, you can log into your account and begin matching. Here’s how it works:

Personalized, exclusive matching
Enjoy the benefits of our trademark one-on-one matching. Your placement manager will select carefully screened applications for you to review based on your family’s unique needs. Each au pair is exclusively reserved for your family’s review, which means no two families are contacting the same reserved au pair candidate at the same time.

Consultative matching
Review our pool of au pair candidates in real time by setting up a consultative matching appointment by phone with your placement manager. This highly effective method allows you to carve out time with your placement manager to review available candidates who are not being reviewed by other families. At the end of the appointment, you have the opportunity to have up to three candidates maximum reserved for your family exclusively.

Search & Select
An enhancement to our current profile review system, this new feature offers families the ability to build a list of au pair profiles available for review. Families can narrow the search field and request, for example, a driver, a second year au pair or someone available now. If you find a candidate of interest to you, you may add the au pair to your list and notify your placement manager of your interest by clicking the Notify Placement Manager button. Your placement manager will review your suggested matches and place up to three of those matches into your host family account for further review of their full application.

Sample & Save - try our 3 “Ways to Match” risk free
Now for a limited time only, host families who apply to Cultural Care Au Pair will have the opportunity to try our 3 Ways to Match FREE. New families who submit an application from January 14th to January 19th, 2010 and take an au pair into their home by October 22, 2010 will have the $75 application fee waived, in addition to our $275 au pair selection fee waived. In addition, families applying will also receive a $500 discount off the program fee - a total savings of $850!

There’s never been a better time to begin your search for an au pair. For more information about our 3 Ways to Match or our limited-time-only $850 discount, contact me - Emily Davis - for more information!