Page 42 - Sonoma County Gazette December 2017

The Holidays are upon us: How did the time fly by us so quickly? I suppose it is time to bring out the Xmas décor as Thanksgiving doesn’t leave much décor except pretty pumpkins adorning my diningroom table. Speaking of Christmas... how many of you are going to be running around purchasing gifts this year?
The Lower River Homeless Task Force committee was asked to decide how to best utilize $750,000 of the $1m allocated by the County for fiscal year 2017-2018, to try and help solve the Lower River homeless problem. $250,000 of the original $1m was allocated to West County Community Services before the Task Force convened, for rapid re-housing. Here’s a detailed review summary by the County regarding the Lower River Homeless Task Force selection committee decisions made on October 30th, which were approved by the entire Task Force on November 16th. The Board of Supervisors will review the panel’s decisions on December 5th at the BOS meeting, which is open to the public for comment. If approved by the BOS, funding will occur in January.
What saddens me every year are the throngs of people lined up overnight in their tents in front of big box stores scrambling to be the first in line. It’s time to get back to the real meaning of the holiday. I can understand if you have small children...a few gifts for them is the norm. Please look at the Gazette’s Small Shops guide this issue for ideas of gifts that are EXPERIENCES. Some you share, which is fun for the giver as well as the receiver.
The Guerneville Community Alliance (working under the Russian River Alliance non-profit) proposal for a $50,000 workforce grant to assist local service and hospitality workers with emergency rent, rental deposits, utilities, and food, to try and help prevent our workers from becoming our future homeless was approved. It should be noted that the Patrick McCaffrey Foundation proposal includes hiring an outreach worker to transport homeless people from the streets to legal shelter, detox, or mental health services, as an alternative to leaving them on the streets, being taken to jail, or emergency rooms if they don’t really need that. The concept is based on the Sober
How about adopting a family that lost their homes in the Tubbs fire? You can make a meal for them, or contribute warm clothes and blankets for people who have no place to call HOME. There are plenty of volunteer oportunities to offer the most valuable gift you can give...your time. I believe getting family and friends together over the dinner table sharing a holiday meal is the best way to ring in the holiday season. Life is precious. Sharing it is the best gift.
Happy Holidays everyone. Blessings to you and your families. Stay safe.
Rio Nido Lodge: As some of you know, our historic lodge is undergoing some positive changes. First off, it is under a new management team. There are three Innkeepers. Elena Chronis – Breakfast Maven and Innkeeper, Martine Widmann – Innkeeper and Manager and Jenn Beasley, Live-in Innkeeper. We also have a wonderful cleaning staff. We have hosted several families this past month from the fires and enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people. We hosted our first event of the holiday season with a Winetasting from the exclusive Landmark Wines. We had a stellar turnout of fabulous folks from Rio Nido, Guerneville, Forestville and Sebastopol. I’d say about 70 people for our very first event. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. We will be hosting other soirees open to the public all year. We are in the final stages of opening up our Coffee shop. We look forward to serving you. Our Holiday décor goes up the day after Thanksgiving with a beautiful tree. Come on by and check it out. Visit us at: rionidolodge.com.
The Tide has changed: Has anyone noticed all the changes in Rio Nido? Times have changed and change is good. Hanging out at the RN Dog Park most of us locals discussed all the wonderful things happening in our neighborhood. First off a lot of people have moved away. In their place we have new neighbors. And when you see a lot of children and young families moving in, you know that the tide has turned for the better. Some people complain about the influx of Vacation rentals, but the ones I have seen in our neighborhood haven’t bothered us at all. Most have been very respectful... it’s all about good Landlords not Slumlords, there IS a big difference.
Rio Nido Community Garden: Taking my Rotty out for
an afternoon stroll the other day I saw a group of Garden Elves in our Community Garden. It’s such a delight to see them all. The Community garden was an absolute gorgeous sight this past Spring and Summer. If I had a green thumb I would be happy to join, but alas I’m not good with plants. Looking forward to Spring to see all the beauty our Garden Elves bestow on this magical little enclave.
Circle model that’s been very effective in Petaluma, reducing their homeless population and emergency responder calls for service about 60% in a three year period. We’re very pleased to see this finally happening, after advocating for it for a long time. Thank you selection committee, you did a great job!
Evaluation: General Points in the wake of the fire, the panel viewed funding decisions through the lens of which proposals had the greatest opportunity to bolster the housing supply. The panel’s decision not to fund certain proposals or to provide less than what was asked was not based on lack of merit of the application, but rather the recognition that housing needs to be prioritized and other projects might be better able to acquire their sought funding elsewhere or at a later time.
Patrick McCaffrey Foundation - $300,000 The Patrick McCaffrey proposal stood out as nuanced and best adhered to the principles of Housing First. The Tiny House plan provides a direct strategy for creating housing for homeless. Furthermore, the transportation component would reduce the strain on ambulance and other emergency services, which is a critical concern. The pilot of this model has been successful in Petaluma. The proposal is not receiving the full amount requested because the panel felt that the half-time Community Sheriff component was a redundancy given the recent addition of a new Deputy assigned to the Lower Russian River.
Russian River Alliance - $50,000 This proposal takes a different approach by looking at homeless prevention and promoting housing security for hospitality workers. The Panel appreciated the nuanced preventative approach and decided to award the full funding request.
Russian Riverkeeper/Clean River Alliance - $100,000 The Panelists agreed that expanding the work of the Clean River Alliance to promote clean camping and mitigate the effects of existing encampments is a critical service and warranted support. The funding request was cut, however, for two primary reasons:
Pet of the Month: Sweet, loving and playful Cassie was found wandering Willow and Canyon 3 Road three years ago. The neighbors tried to find her owner but the phone number on her chip no longer worked. However, it
1. The panel felt that the budgeted allotment for salary was too high.
2. The panel wanted to prioritize projects which provided direct housing
was just a fork in the road for the
beautiful cat. Ann Thomas, who
welcomes hungry cats and dogs
took her in. Since then Cassie has
been a loyal and constant companion and a gracious co-hostess to all her new furry friends. A happy ending for sure.
Social Advocates for Youth - $58,076.52 The panel agreed that SAY could produce significant outcomes with the relatively small amount of money requested.
West County Community Services - $221,045 The panel’s decision to reduce the amount asked for by WCCS was based on two primary reasons: 1. $250,000 has already been committed to Rapid Rehousing for Fiscal Year 17/18. 2. The proposal seeks to site and locate housing in a very tight market with limited viable sites.
If you would like to learn more about the Lower River Area Community Alliances, become involved as a volunteer, or if you have some community concerns or solutions you would like to share, you can “like” our Guerneville Community Alliance and/or Russian River Alliance FB pages. You can also contact Mark Emmett at 707-529-0534 (Guerneville) or Chuck Ramsey at 707-239-1639 (Monte Rio).
42 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/17