C O M M U N I T Y
TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY
Raising mental health awareness By Renee Batti Almanac News Editor
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isa Pamphilon of Menlo Park is a mental health advocate, human rights activist, and mother. It is her goal today, she says, to help create a better understanding of conditions that affect the mental health of our families, friends, and community at large so that those in need of support and services can get the help they need. To that end, in 2012 she founded Turning Point, a mental health advocacy group, and the Mental Health Awareness Project. And on Saturday, May 11, that project’s inaugural event will take place in Menlo Park, with Chip Huggins, CEO of Caminar for Mental Health, delivering the keynote speech and participating in a panel discussion. Sponsored by Turning Point, with co-sponsorship by the Menlo Park Library, the event is set from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Menlo Park City Council Chambers at 701 Laurel St. in the Civic Center. The theme is “Being
an Advocate and an Ally,” and the discussion and informat ion on offer “will provide people with tools and Lisa Pamphilon informat ion they need to assist and advocate for friends and family members suffering with mental health conditions,” Ms. Pamphilon said in a press release. The event is free. There will be more than 20 resource tables staffed by representatives from area mental health and mental health-related organizations, said Ms. Pamphilon, who is chairing the event. Co-chair is Roberta Roth, outreach librarian of the Menlo Park Library. Mr. Huggins is well-known on the Peninsula for his work in leadership roles with organizations including the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, the Peninsula Community Foundation, and the Easter Seals Society. The head of Caminar for Mental Health, a nonprofit that provides support services for people with mental health and other disabilities, Mr. Huggins will address the stigmatization and societal shift in perspective of mental health conditions. Others scheduled to partici-
pate in a panel discussion after the keynote speech are: Dr. Gary Tsai, resident psychiatrist for the San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services; and Mary Cortani, an Army veteran who founded the nonprofit Operation Freedom Paws to match dogs with veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorders and other disabilities. There will be a question-andanswer session after the panel discussion. Live music and a poetry reading are part of the agenda, and there will be a display of 1,000 origami paper cranes. The display, called “Origami Skye,” is a project launched by Turning Point and the Mental Health Awareness Project with Lisa Otsuka and her psychology students at Menlo-Atherton High School, Ms. Pamphilon said. “Origami Skye symbolizes a long and healthy life,” Ms. Pamphilon said in the press release. “Rather than stigmatize those with mental health conditions we can prolong their life and well-being in a positive way. The cranes are a symbol of hope.” Go to lisapamphilon.com for more information about the event, Turning Point, and the Mental Health Awareness Project. A
Riley’s Place in Woodside plans benefit By Kate Daly
Special to the Almanac
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ay and June are turning out to be big months for Riley’s Place, a nonprofit that provides children in need with opportunities to interact with animals at its Woodside location, local hospitals, homeless shelters and events. On May 11 the organization will celebrate its fourth anniversary with a benefit dinner and concert, and will launch a capital campaign to help cover expansion plans. That same month the Woodside Town Council is scheduled to meet and present a proclamation naming June 1 as Riley’s Place Day in Woodside. That day the Woodside Fire Protection District will be staging a “Fill the Helmet” fundraiser for Riley’s Place at the intersection of Woodside and Canada roads. “We are currently serving about 1,300 children per year, and our programs have flourished beyond our wildest dreams,” said Riley’s Place cofounder and executive director Wendy Mattes. “We are now running two program visits per
day, with many more requests, and will need more room to add more animals in order to serve more children.” For now, three miniature horses, two Nigerian goats, four chickens, three rabbits, two guinea pigs and two cats reside at Riley’s Place, which is located in the back of the National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy at 880 Runnymede Road in Woodside.
The program gives children in need an opportunity to interact with animals.
NCEFT offers therapy on horseback for many of the disabled children who visit Riley’s each week. Trained therapy dogs visit from time to time, and some 4-H sheep make guest appearances when the animals make regular road trips to Ronald McDonald House, for example, to connect with chil-
dren who are too fragile to travel to Woodside. Riley’s Place is named after Riley Church, a teenager who took riding lessons from Ms. Mattes until succumbing to a brain tumor. Toward the end, when friends brought a horse right into Riley’s home for a visit, the experience brought such comfort it inspired the program. A new addition to the program is adult participation. The Alzheimer’s Social Club came out to Riley’s Place recently, and is planning to return on a monthly basis. “They loved the animals, and the animals loved them,” Ms. Mattes said. Another new addition is Riley’s partnership with Webb Ranch in Portola Valley. Together they are offering free therapeutic horseback riding lessons at the ranch “with the goal of improving confidence, self-esteem, balance, coordination, communication skills, and having fun,” Ms. Mattes said. One of the boys she met at Ronald McDonald House rides at Webb when he can. Stephen
NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING ON SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT This is to notify you that an application for a Site Development Permit, File X9H-649, has been submitted for review by the Planning Commission of the Town of Portola Valley. This proposal requests Planning Commission approval of approximately 2,101 cubic yards of earthwork in association with new residential construction. The property is owned by Ed & Julie Divita located at 117 Pinon Drive and is identified as APN: 077-060-270. Planning Commission public hearing has been scheduled to review this application on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers, Historic School House, Portola Valley, CA. Public Hearings provide the general public and interested parties an opportunity to provide testimony on these items. If you challenge a proposed action(s) in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at a Public Hearing(s) described above, or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the Public Hearing(s). Information pertaining to the proposal may be viewed at Town Hall Building & Planning Department, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. All interested persons are invited to appear before the Planning Commission to be heard at the time and place herein above mentioned. Dated:
April 26, 2013 Carol Borck Assistant Planner
TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL REGARDING AN AMENDMENT TO CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT X7D-30 FOR THE WOODSIDE PRIORY SCHOOL AND ADOPTION OF THE INITIAL STUDY/ MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the Town Council of the Town of Portola Valley will hold a public hearing regarding an Amendment to Conditional Use Permit X7D-30 consisting of a parcel merger and expansion of athletic facilities with new track and artificial turf infill at 302 Portola Road and the adoption of the Initial Study/Mitigation Negative Declaration, specifically regarding only whether the proposed use of artificial turf will be in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the General Plan. Materials related to this matter are available for viewing on the Town website at www.portolavalley.net/prioryfield, and a copy is available between 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.; 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. at Portola Valley Town Hall, 765 Portola Road, Portola Valley, California. Comments may be submitted in writing prior to the Town Council meeting or presented at the meeting. All interested persons are invited to appear before the Town Council at the time and place herein above mentioned. Public Hearings provide the general public and interested parties an opportunity to provide testimony on these items. If you challenge a proposed action(s) in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at a Public Hearing(s) described above, or in written correspondence delivered to the Town Council at, or prior to, the Public Hearing(s). Sharon Hanlon Portola Valley Town Clerk Dated: April 25, 2013
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