Page 35 - Sonoma County Gazette August 2019

Is There Still a Home for Me in Healdsburg?
August is always a great summer month.
Windsor typically has warm clear days with cool evenings. It’s a great time for laying low before the rush of school and back to work life begins again.
The Summer Nights on the Green concert series happens every Thursday night until September 5th. In the month of August, the performers include Tommy Castro, Wonder Bread 5, The Bell Brothers, Orquesta Son de Cana and The Dylan Black Project. The final concert of the season will be The Beatles Flashback on September 5th.
Looking for a way to reduce the stress of finding parking for the concerts? Consider riding your bike or taking the free Windsor Hopper Shuttle. The Town of Windsor provides a safe and secure area to store your bike during the concerts and there is no cost for the shuttle.
If you recall from past What’s Up in Windsor articles, we mentioned how Windsor was putting up the challenge to concert goers to help reduce trash and one-time use plastic cups at the Thursday night concerts. I’m proud to say that folks have really stepped up to support the Waste Less Windsor program by bringing their own cups or purchasing the $5 stainless steel cups and utilizing the recycling and composting bins. This has been such a successful program that The City of Santa Rosa and Sonoma Valley are inquiring about how they can have similar programs.
One of our hidden gems is our Windsor Regional Library. You will find it located right by the Windsor Town Green. One of the things that makes this library so lovely is the Branch Manager, Aleta Dimas. She is very progressive in her thinking and provides various programs held during the month. There are daily programs for all ages, and it is a safe place to explore and grow.
In July, this branch opened a new Teen Center, thanks to a $10,000 grant. They had a ribbon cutting officiated by Vice Mayor and the Council’s Library Commissioner, Deb Fudge, and Councilwoman Esther Lemus.
Here are a few topics for August:
Become Your Family’s Historian: Genealogy Class
Learning how to do family research, solve “brick walls or road blocks”, and write for future generations about your family history. Classes are open to beginners and advanced students. For more information and to sign up, call the SRJC Older Adults Program at (707) 527-4533. Mondays, starting 08/19 @ 10:15am
Tween Graphic Novel Bookclub (Ages 9 to 13)
Do you love graphic novels? Once a month we will discuss a different
graphic novel. Pick up your free copy ahead of time at the library Information desk. Wednesday 08/07/19 @ 3pm
Magical Moonshine Theater: Puppet Show (Ages 2 to
6) Magical Moonshine Theater presents ‘Little Elephant Has a Ball’ a story
of Little Elephant who discovers the importance of playing together and appreciating each other. This funny and tender show includes live music on the ukulele and audience participation. Thursday 08/15/19 @ 10:15am
Normally we do not give as much detail for monthly activities, however, our library is very cool, and we thought it deserved more details. Did you know they have a “read to dog” program on Mondays? What a great way for young readers to learn to read out loud and build confidence in their reading skills.
For a full listing of events, please visit www.sonomalibrary.org/windsor or visit the Windsor Regional Library.
All we can say is that Windsor is rocking with unique programs. Okay, ready for one last gem? On the first and third Sundays, at 9 am, through September, The Town of Windsor is offering FREE yoga on the Green. What a great idea!
That’s all for now. If you have any questions or have things you would like added to the September issue of What’s Up in Windsor, please email lorene@mac.com—Lorene and Gayle
8/19 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 35
By Mary Frances Ruffatto
Where did you lie down to sleep last night? I am guessing it was not in a tent
with a broken zipper along the banks of the Russian River, or on a bench in
the square, behind a cardboard box on the railroad tracks, or wherever you are when you fall asleep from walking all day. If you are unsheltered or marginally sheltered in Healdsburg, these are a few of the options available to you. There is no emergency shelter, no safe or sanctioned encampment, no option that provides safety, security, or a sense of belonging to those of us who have lost our affordable housing, whatever the reason.
Let me introduce myself.
I am a vibrant, active and passionate woman who will be 62 years old in September. This is supposed to be the time for me to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor, the achievements of my two incredible children, and the good life that surrounds us in this beautiful community.
Instead, I am fighting for my life after becoming ill on a trip to Chicago and being unlawfully evicted from my rental during a recommended evacuation during the devastating fires of October 2017.
I am what is now called a complex fire survivor. Prior to becoming unsheltered, I lived in a beautiful rented room and considered my landlady my friend.
This all changed overnight.
When I returned home from Chicago 3 days later than scheduled, because I was too ill to travel, she questioned my mental stability and forbade me to be
at the house unless she was there and unless I agreed to have my mental and emotional capacity professionally evaluated. I had paid her 3 month’s rent in advance and was critically ill. I just wanted to lie down in my own bed, in my own room, in my own home. Instead, I ended up packing whatever I could take when she angrily demanded I leave at 6 a.m. because I had asked a male friend to drive home with me so that I did not fall asleep at the wheel, and I had not cleared his overnight visit with her. In my pajamas, shaking with anger, frustration and illness, I packed as much as I could as fast as possible, while she was on the phone threatening to call the police on me. For what, I am still not completely clear, but that moment created a nearly two year, and still ongoing, circle of homelessness, illness, assaults, victimization, and despair.
I spent a good part of one of those years in hospitals and in a convalescent hospital, after I was diagnosed with a rare condition, Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis (CVST). Basically, an MRI showed a very large blood clot was blocking the oxygen flowing out of my brain through my left internal jugular. I walked into a hospital in early December and after a week, was transported to a rehabilitation facility for 6 weeks so that I could learn how to walk, care for myself and use my hands and legs again. It has been a struggle, but I am happy to report that on most days I can walk, albeit like a toddler. Unfortunately,
after multiple assessments, intakes, shelters, floods, emergency room visits and countless hours relying on the kindness and generosity of churches, organizations, and kind strangers, there is still no place for me to live in the town I have called home for over 10 years.
I am actively working with a committee that meets regularly with Stephen Sotomayer, who was hired by the City of Healdsburg, to help resolve this lack of affordable housing crisis. In addition, I put my heart and soul into any project that helps make life a little easier and more ”normal” for our outside community. We have great support services through Shared Ministries, the Food Pantry and our outreach workers, Rick and Jim, from Reach for Home, and all the volunteers and programs that come together to meet our daily physical, spiritual and emotional needs.
However, we still need homes. There is a well-known saying, “Home is where the heart is.” Well like Dorothy, in “The Wizard of Oz,” my heart is fairly breaking, because there does not seem to be a home for me in Healdsburg.