Page 43 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2018

Want to Help Prevent Homelessness?
In my lifetime, I have watched a larger and larger divide between rich and poor. I’ve watched the middle class evaporating, and the homeless population exploding. It’s a national problem that feels like there is nothing anyone can do to stop it from continuing to get worse.
Nobody seems to be able to nd a solution.
At the beginning of this year, the Lower River Homeless Task Force approved a $50k reimbursement grant for the Russian River Alliance to help struggling local workers with emergency rent/deposits to prevent them from becoming homeless. The funding is only guaranteed as one-time funding,
to be used as a start-up fund for a program we hope to make self-su cient through private fundraising. We issued our rst emergency rent check to two local workers who would have otherwise been facing immediate eviction on January 23rd. In less than two months, we have issued emergency rent checks to four local working households, comprised of seven adults and three children that may have otherwise ended up out on the streets. This one-time assistance allows these working families to continue working and contributing, rather than potentially becoming homeless and a burden on our system. The cost of homelessness prevention is so much less than the cost of trying to deal with homelessness after the fact, both nancially and morally. The people applying are not the type of people that have a sense of entitlement. In fact, we’ve found that they are very reluctant to apply, and are swallowing their pride because they have no other option when they do. I wish I could share the look I’ve
seen on these folks faces with you, when you hand them a rent check and they realize their stress is gone, and they and their children aren’t going to end up out on the street next week. It’s really amazing.
So, how can you help prevent homelessness?
We need your help to make this program work. We’ve already had a great deal of support from several individuals and local businesses we’ve partnered with to make this program a success, but are working on spreading the word throughout the community to get more people involved.
The Lower River area is certainly no exception. In fact, as a seasonal resort area, the problem seems to be magni ed by the fact that we have a lot of lower wage service and hospitality industry workers, as well as a large portion of our housing stock being bought up by out-of- town vacation rental owners. Wages have not kept up with the rapidly increasing cost of housing, and then the winter comes. It’s simple math really, you can’t a ord the local prevailing rent when you take home $500-$1,000 a month in the winter. Couch sur ng, shared housing, and walking to work is commonplace for our local workers, and very little assistance is available for them because they aren’t in most cases visibly living out on the street, getting in trouble or clogging up the E.R., or considered “poor enough” because they work. I’ve watched our working friends and neighbors struggle to nd a ordable housing when things happen like the owner of their rental sells or raises the rent to cash in, their substandard rental oods, or they have a falling out with a roommate. I’ve encountered folks in homeless encampments, who were previously employed and housed, but gave up struggling to pay their increasing rent. We need to stop this trend, and start focusing more resources and energy on homelessness prevention if we hope for a better future in my opinion.
1. If you are or you know a struggling local worker who may need emergency rent to avoid homelessness within the communities of Rio Nido, Guerneville, or Monte Rio, let them know about our program. We can be reached through our website at russianriveralliance.org, our Facebook pages, the Gazette, or
Think global and act local, right? Rather than sit around and complain, I decided to try and do something about it. Maybe we can’t x the world, but maybe collectively we can do better at taking care of our own working class in our small remote community. Maybe such an e ort can catch on with other communities? I hope so.
2. We’ve made it possible for almost anyone to be able to a ord to be able to donate to this program through small monthly automatic recurring donations using a debit or credit card. This donation option will be the most helpful option for our program to remain self-su cient, without constant fundraising for one-time donations. As little as $10 a month can be donated using the recurring donation button and the hard copy form available on our website. It can be e-mailed or mailed to us, or you can contact us to pick-up the form. It is our hope that this option will make it possible to have a much larger pool of donors, including the local workers themselves who can support their own emergency fund.
3. One-time donations can be made using the one-time donation button on our website at russianriveralliance.org, or by mailing a paper check through the mail made payable to the Russian River Alliance – Workforce Fund, 15999 River Rd. #A, Guerneville, Ca. 95446, or to P.O. Box 904, Monte Rio, Ca. 95462.
the contact numbers listed below. Some income and other guidelines apply, however we want to help if we can.
MONTE RIO cont’d from page 42
On our clean energy front, Monte Rio Rec & Park is looking for quotes on installing an EV charger at the Community Center. Aside from an electrician, we also need a paving quote to make the parking space level for new ADA requirements. The District is also considering putting up solar panels at Creekside Park.
We have some residents also looking at solar and high e ciency mini-split ductfree heat pump systems. This is an area I have experience in. Clean energy is the future and there are good rebates and tax incentives out there, but the road to get there hasn’t been smooth. Due to unscrupulous contractors, and their partnering nance companies, there have been issues with predatory lending targeting seniors and other vulnerable populations. This has now led to new consumer protection laws regulating the PACE (property assessed clean energy) nance companies in CA. In my opinion, while the new regulations certainly help, they do not go far enough to protect consumers. I have seen customers paying more for solar (on their property tax bills) than they were paying for electricity before solar. I have seen customers paying for both as the contractors skipped town, didn’t complete the work, didn’t get nal signed
o building permits so the utility would not connect them to the grid, but the nance company paid the contractors in full anyway. If you are considering obtaining solar or heatpumps, I would recommend contacting SCEIP (Sonoma County Energy Independence Program) rst. They can connect you with contractors and they make sure the work is done properly and building permits are signed o before the contractors are paid. If you get a telemarketing call
or see an ad on-line about Free Solar in CA or free government program, run. Also, as usual, get several quotes and check out the contractors on-line before moving forward. There are good ethical contractors and nance companies out there and moving to clean energy is a smart move. Just don’t become a victim to those that aren’t. Please share your experiences with me (chram@aol.com) and on Nextdoor, so as a community we can help each other move forward. sonomacountyenergy.org.
Vacation Wonderland, we just keep getting better!
4. Join us at our once a month Workforce Wednesday events at Timberline Restaurant, 16440 4th Street in Guerneville. On the rst Wednesday of each month at 6 pm, Timberline makes a fantastic family style meal for a $15 suggested donation, or just come in and donate if you would like to order o the menu or have cocktails. To quote Robin Johnson, the owner of the 5 & 10, “this is not your normal fundraiser food”. There will be various entertainment and special guests from time to time. We really want our local workers to join us for a nice meal and night o work, and enjoy the show of support from
the community. Mark your calendar as a reminder, or “like” our Guerneville Community Alliance Facebook page and we will try and remind you!
5. “Pizza Mondays” at Smart Pizza formerly known as Andorno’s Pizza, 16205 1st St in Guerneville. Enjoy Andorno’s Pizza on any Monday after 6 pm, and Andorno’s will be donating 10% of their sales to the Workforce Fund.
6. Bill’s Taxi has donated to the fund and is working on a social media promotion in which they will donate $5 per ride to the Workforce Fund. Stay tuned for further details.
7. Do you have a local business that would like to donate, host an event, or partner with the Workforce Fund? Please contact Jeni er Wertz at the number below.
Let’s start taking care of our essential local workers and prevent future
homelessness in the Lower River area. Us Helping Us! #guernevilleworkers
If you would like to learn morer, or if you have some community concerns or solutions, visit our website at www.russianriveralliance.org or contact Mark Emmett at 707-529-0534 or Jeniffer Wertz at 707-483-7038 (Guerneville) or Chuck Ramsey at 707-239-1639 (Monte Rio).
4/18 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 43