Upfront
Community A roundup of community news
edited by Sue Dremann
NONPROFIT NOTEBOOK
TEEN SUBSTANCE-ABUSE WORKSHOPS ... Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS), a nonprofit that provides free and affordable mental health services and preventive education to teens and families, is offering new workshops: Esther’s Pledge Substance Abuse Prevention Workshops and the Substance Abuse Information Line (SAIL). The new services are free. SAIL, a confidential information line, will go live on May 1, and will provide resources, referrals and information for teens, parents or community members. The information line, 650-384-3094, will operate Monday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. It will be staffed by local professional treatment counselors and supervised by a drugand-alcohol-treatment expert. The prevention workshops will take place May 3 and 17. The one-session workshops will be offered monthly and followed by regular meeting times for two different age groups: young adults (ages 15-21) and parents of young adults; and parents of youth (ages 10-14). Workshops cover substance-abuse warning signs, drug-use information, how to talk to kids and steps for getting help. Reservations: 650-424-0852, ext. 200, or info@acs-teens.org. CAREGIVER WORKSHOPS ... A series of practical caregiver workshops for residents who are caring for frail, elderly loved ones are being given by Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center, 270 Escuela Ave., Mountain View. Professionals will teach skills on how to improve the caregivers’ quality of life and the lives of those for whom they give care. Free, onsite care of the elderly person will be available during the workshop; 48-hour advance notice is required. “How to cope with a loved one’s dementia or Alzheimer’s” will be discussed May 23 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.; “How to help a family member who has Parkinson’s” will take place June 27 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Information: 650-289-5499. N
Veronica Weber
A RARE SIGHT ... Pandemonium Aviaries, a Palo Alto-area nonprofit that provides care and conservation breeding of more than 40 non-native bird species in 54 aviaries, will open its doors to the public for the first time in its 16-year history on Saturday, May 5. Pandemonium Aviaries, featured in an April 13 cover story in the Palo Alto Weekly, will offer guided tours for a suggested, tax-deductible donation of $50 per child, $75 per adult or $200 per family. The nonprofit aviary began with the 1996 rescue of a wounded dove at the side of a road. Now it shelters rare birds such as the Victoria-crowned pigeon, blue-crowned pigeon and Bartlett’s bleeding heart. Reservations: www. PandemoniumAviaries.org/event. Location information will be provided upon receipt of a donation. N
Alana Schwartz takes Andretti, a yellow Labrador retriever she’s been training for Guide Dogs for the Blind, everywhere with her, including to Nordstrom’s to exchange some shoes.
ANIMALS
An act of devotion Training guide dogs for the blind is a life-long passion for Alana Schwartz by Sue Dremann ver since she was 8 years old, is 8 weeks old, she said. And at the Alana Schwartz has trained end of all that work and bonding, guide dogs for blind and visu- she has to give the dog back. ally impaired persons. A senior at But Schwartz said even as a child Palo Alto High School, Schwartz, she understood there was a greater 18, is training her ninth dog, a yel- purpose to her efforts. low Labrador retriever named An“Hopefully, he will help someone dretti. get their eyes back. You have to look “I loved dogs as a young kid,” she at it positively,” she said. said. All of the dogs she’s trained have Schwartz got into Guide Dogs been yellow Labs, she said. Poised for the Blind dog training because and self-assured, Schwartz said the of her aunt, Robin Levy, a Jordan dogs have taught her much. Middle School teacher. When Levy “I learned a sense of responsibil“dragged” Schwartz to a meeting, ity. Even from a little age, it gave me she met other young people who confidence. You know people are were raising the dogs. And she was watching, so you try to make things hooked, she said. go smoothly,” she said. Her first dog, Logger, went everyOutside Coupa Café, Andretti, a where with her. large male with soft brown eyes and “He came to school, and we flew a relaxed demeanor, lay stretched on a plane and went to Disneyland out at Schwartz’s feet. A man at the with him,” she recalled. next table edged around the sprawlLogger didn’t make it as a guide ing dog, but the yellow Lab didn’t dog — not all have the requisite budge. temperament — but Schwartz was Schwartz reached down and able to adopt him back, she said. scratched behind his ears. She’s had Andretti for 10 months. “I think he might be the best one Training means 14 to 16 months of we have raised. The one we had commitment, starting when the pup before was very energetic. He just
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wanted to start a party everywhere. We’ve had some wild ones,” she said. On average, 50 percent make it as guide dogs, she said. Three of Schwartz’s dogs have graduated to blind owners, she said. The dogs must go far beyond training for an average canine, she said. They learn not to pick up food on the ground and not to chase balls or sticks — a serious hazard when a blind person is at the other end of the leash. Schwartz shares Andretti’s training and care with her aunt. She takes the dog everywhere so he will not be anxious or feel threatened by any situation. Andretti accompanies her to Paly, to elementary schools, on field trips and to the California Avenue Farmers Market. The latter provides plenty of commotion and noisy children, she said. As they learn more skills, the dogs learn to process their surroundings. “It’s almost like they have a human brain,” she said. Two Sundays each month, Schwartz meets with other volunteer dog trainers. “I definitely looked up to older kids when I was young. It’s fun now to help the younger kids,” she said. Schwartz described herself as a “people person.” Besides attending school, she works part time at the downtown yogurt shop Fraiche and also babysits. She has applied for a summer in-
ternship through the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in San Rafael. And when she leaves for the University of Oregon in the fall, she’ll be situated near the Guide Dogs’ second campus. She wants to continue training dogs, she said. Schwartz isn’t sure what she wants to study, but veterinary medicine and business are two interests. When it comes time to give up Andretti, Schwartz will take him to the San Rafael campus, where he will be trained to wear a harness and stop at curbs. At his graduation, she will get to meet the blind person with whom he will reside. That moment is when the parting is palpable. “Now his main attention is with the blind person. It’s cool to watch what our training has contributed. It really does change their lives,” she said. “I feel fortunate to do something a little selfless — maybe it’s a little selfish because I love the dogs.” Schwartz has kept in touch with some of the dogs. Their owners post photos on Facebook, she said. “I can’t believe it’s already been 10 years. It makes me feel so old. It’s definitely a community-outreach sort of thing. Everyone asks about it. I definitely think it’s very important to be involved in the community. People get to know you,” she said. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.
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