Page 3 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2019

Brenda Adelman
Thank you for all the years that
you gave space in the Gazette for
the information articles by Brenda Adelman. It’s wonderful that she has received recognition for her work and hard-won expertise through extensive, unpaid research. However, you are
to be applauded and appreciated for creating the Gazette which has become such a font of information about our local communities and causes. I am so impressed these days with the diversity and quality of the writing. Bravo, Vesta. You have been the cause of building great communities in Sonoma County. Thank you for your tireless work to bring us all together.
HolLynn
Thank you for this excellent article by Carol Benfell re the outstanding, tireless advocate Brenda Adelman - advocate extraordinaire for the health of our water system - esp. the Russian River. Kudos to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for giving her this well-deserved award.
Veterans Village
options with hygiene, security, trash collection, case management and wraparound services, a far cry from the unsanctioned, unmanaged encampments of old. In addition, such villages can serve both as transitional housing as well as permanent supportive housing. According to Scott Wagner, who has spearheaded such proposals for Homeless Action!, tiny homes with insulation, windows, heat, lights, lofts, fold-down desks and lockable doors can be built for around $6,000 each. Central kitchens and bath houses service the community.
Marsha Vas Dupre, Ph.D.
Meaanwhile, people living on
the streets are still systematically subjected to police persecution and confiscation of their tents, sleeping bags, clothing and other possessions. Their human rights and civil rights are trampled on a daily basis. They have no legal place to sleep and
suffer grave physical and emotional consequences as a result. Our societal failure to ensure the well being of
this vulnerable population cannot be overstated.
I applaud the new veteran’s village in Santa Rosa (Home at Last, March 2019) that now houses 14 formerly homeless vets. It’s an important step in the right direction but the current situation begs clarification on a number of critical issues.
Many social scientists are pointing to an accelerating medical crisis among the homeless as a direct result of our shortcomings. In the United States, the average life expectancy
First, given the severity of the homeless emergency crisis here
in Sonoma County (3,000 people experiencing homelessness) the expenditure of $1.9 million to service 14 seems excessive and leaves the remaining 2,986 human beings out in the cold. The cost of $133,000 per unit compares favorably with costs for standard housing here but falls flat given that far less expensive options are available to us.
in the homeless population is 42-52 years compared with 78 years for
the general population. Because they are forced to live without basic hygienic needs and other life- sustaining health measures, serious infectious epidemics are breaking out among homeless people throughout California and elsewhere, including typhus, hepatitis A, MERSA,
According to detailed analysis and formal proposals submitted to the new County Continuum of Care entity (Home Sonoma) by Homeless Action! it is in fact possible to bring respite to around 600 people for two years for a mere $5 million. Such
a plan includes safe parking for
cars and rv’s as well as a variety
of sanctioned tiny home village
shigella, trench fever, pneumonia
and syphilis. Health providers say that because police constantly break up small encampments, people scatter, are hard to find and thus cannot be given appropriate medical help. Not surprisingly, emotional disabilities run rampant and for the same reasons and cannot be properly administered to. In comparison, a village context allows for centralized case management and quick response medical services for all residents.
Given the shortage of funding and housing stock, it’s obvious that we need to get the biggest bang for the
LETTERS cont’d on page 4
4/19 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3