Page 10 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2017

Feed Seniors to WIN a Tiny House
Outside the Council on Aging’s o ce is a newly completed tiny house that COA hopes to transform into thousands of Meals on Wheels for home-bound seniors by selling ra e tickets to win the 191-square-foot tiny house and using the proceeds from the ra e to help fund COA’s Meals on Wheels program. And that’s where altruistic tiny house
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Toolbox for Ending Homelessness Plan.2 Of the thousand or more people who find themselves without a home in the county in any given year, the majority of them will find housing on their own, either here or they may move to Oregon, or other more affordable states. The people left homeless on the street and in shelters are the ones who have fallen through the social support cracks, and have not been able to get back on track by themselves. It is this population of people that the county and its public and private non-profits agency are working so hard to support.
enthusiasts can help out.
Tiny living has become a cross-
WHO are these Homeless People?
country craze that has spawned TV shows, given birth to hundreds of blogs, and created all manner of products suitable for tiny spaces.
They are not people who choose to live on the street or in their cars.
But while we hope you’ll indulge your tiny living fantasies by buying multiple tickets, we also hope you’ll think of your ticket purchase as a generous donation to a very worthy cause: feeding seniors who can no longer cook for themselves or drive to a store to purchase food.
No one in their right mind chooses to live on the street, which is why so many are NOT in their right minds. The majority of homeless in America today are suffering from untreated mental health issues, or something called “dual diagnosis,” which means they are both dealing with untreated mental health issues, and self-medicating with drugs or alcohol.
Without a steady source of
nutritional meals, these seniors become more vulnerable to health conditions that will further limit their mobility and independence. With meal support, they have a better chance of continuing to live successfully in their own homes.
The second-highest
population of people on
the streets are Veterans,
many of whom are also not
exactly in their right minds
either, having suffered both
the mental and physical
ravages of war. Disabled
individuals who cannot hold
jobs because their disability
makes them unemployable,
make up a huge part of the
homeless population. And
seniors who are simply too
old to work, have insufficient
savings and benefits to cover
basic living costs, no families
to care for them, and who have become disenfranchised from society. Seniors are our nation’s largest growing population of homeless people today. 3
For every $10,000 in revenue realized from sale of raf e tickets,
we can provide 2,500 meals for food-insecure seniors. So invest in the potential to create your own scaled-down, cost- and eco-conscious future in
a tiny house, while investing in the future health and well-being of seniors.We invite you to come by the COA o ce at 30 Kawana Springs Road in Santa Rosa, Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, or Friday, from 9:30 am to 3 pm, to tour the tiny house. For more information on ticket purchase, go to councilonaging.com/tiny-house
Fighting Food Insecurity
We also have many young people who don’t have support systems in place, are without families, who have no job or low-paying jobs, and many of whom are aged-out foster care children unprepared for independent living. And the smallest, but most heartbreaking of the homeless subgroups are families who are most often immigrants or single mothers.4
By Dmitra Smith
Can one meal provide empowerment? The Sonoma County Junior
Commission believes it can, and they are committed to fighting to end poverty and food insecurity in our own county. The Junior Commission, made up of Sonoma County high school students, is hosting its third year of the Fight to End Food Insecurity Project. The Poverty and Food Insecurity Committee have held two events this year. The next 24-Hour Fights will be on April 22. So far the committee has raised enough funds to provide over 6,000 meals to aid low-income families in need of healthy and sustainable food sources.
The most important thing to understand is that anyone who is homeless, but is a healthy and functioning adult, is most likely working, or in school, or between jobs, and not making enough money to pay for, or able to find, affordable housing - or – one of the very few who may have a past criminal history which often makes them unemployable for the rest of their life.
24-Hour Fight to End Food Insecurity
Reality vs. Assumptions
During the 24-Hour Fight to End Food Insecurity, participants refrain from eating for 24 hours. They pledge a minimum of one dollar for every hour and donate it to the Junior Commission on Human Rights, which presents the funds to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. The committee has also volunteered at the Redwood Gospel Mission, held fundraising dinners and presented to local Rotary Clubs for support. Each dollar donated will provide two meals to families that struggle to put food on the table.
If anyone tries to tell you that the adults on the street are there by choice because they are lazy, or like living without a roof over their head, they are very wrong. Facts and reality prove that the population of homeless people who live in shelters, on the street, under bridges, and in camps, need help and community support, not ridicule and criticism. Until we begin to understand their needs, we will not be able to give them the help they need to find and maintain housing, no matter how many new homes we develop in the County.
Participants in the 24-Hour fundraiser have written to the Commission about the impact of their experiences. Catherine Liang, Chair of the Junior Commission says, “It really puts it into perspective even just abstaining from eating for a single day. I think it serves as an excellent reminder to us all to be grateful for such a basic right, and to remind us that we still have a lot of work to do.” Participants who cannot abstain from eating on their doctor’s medical advice are encouraged to donate in spirit. For more info and to sign up, visit www.socofoodinsecurityfight.org
We also have a 10-year shortage of affordable, “workforce” housing for
the working “middle class”, and an out-of-control rental rate rise, due to this shortage.5 Of the number of homes needed in our County, over 80% are needed for these working middle-class people making over $62,000 a year, which is the county’s average income. They are our teachers, our healthcare providers, our fire and police officers, and the people who build and maintain our homes and businesses.
For more information about the Junior Commission, visit the CHR website at: www.sonomacountychr.org/ or follow us on Facebook.
Nationally, 11 million people already spend half (50%) of their income on housing, and most everyone else spends over 30% of their income on housing.6 If we don’t create affordable housing for our middle-class citizens, we
won’t have a working class to maintain our community, infrastructure and businesses that support our economy.
Dmitra Smith is the Program Manager at the Commission on Human Rights. Contact her at (707) 565-2693 email: chr@sonomacounty.org
Building is only a Part of the Solution
The Junior Commission on Human Rights is a project of the Commission on
Sonoma County is at risk of being negatively impacted by lack of affordable housing. We must be cautious that we don’t become victims of Urban Sprawl like east and south Bay Area communities that suffer from lack of vision
and practical design. Building more housing improves lives because it offers
Human Rights, an appointed advisory board to the County Board of Supervisors. The Junior Commission is intended to provide high school aged youth with the opportunity to participate in advocacy, take an active role in County government, provide education about human rights issues that impact their lives and empower youth to make a positive impact on their communities.
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