January 2021 Newsletter and 2020 roundup

Years End – Homeless Action Sonoma, Inc.  (HAS)
It has been a crazy year complicated by COVID.  We have had some failures and some successes.
Successes:

1.  Elizabeth was living in back of her truck at The Haven.  She is now housed in Santa Rosa working at The Frame Factory, doing really a good job.  She is saving to buy a better vehicle.  Her truck is called Frankenstein because it has so many parts from other trucks!
   
2. Carson – A Rocky road.  Was living on streets, drugs and alcohol, PTSD veteran of Bosnia War.
   

Found him a cubby hole to call home, started working with our life coach and therapist.  Got clean.  Got IHSS certified and an IHSS night job.  Place to stay, an income, and helping.  Got his driver’s license back, got a car (legally registered and insured)  reconnected with his daughter, got a day job, paying back child support, saving money and looking for an apartment.

1.  Amber was living in back of an old truck.  Harry Boon found and gave her a camper van.  One of her clients allows her to park on her property.  Got her own business going.  “A Little a Bit of Everything.”  She is working with a therapist, doing well.  She employs homeless, knows all that is going on in the homeless community and helps everyone.  She is clean and sober.  She needs a small pick up truck for her business.  She now has a savings account and hopes to be able to afford the truck next year.  Her biggest problem is she always can find someone worse off than she is and gives them her hard earned money.  But, gotta love her heart.  Harley, had his near death experience and is fully recovered.  We raised almost the entire $3700. Vet bill.  Thank You!!
   
2. Cliff and Chance- a father, son duo who are the happiest people I know.  They spend their days bicycling together, that is until they have gotten good jobs.  They have a old truck they have inherited from Cliffs father, which they have finally got running.  The back registration is high and the truck needs a lot of work.  I have been helping them with paperwork and getting a driver’s license.  In the meantime they need a place to park the truck.  Any ideas?
   
3. Sam has been working in my yard doing amazing art from things he finds.  If I can get him to stop “remaking” the sculptures I will be looking for a location for an art exhibit.  Amazing talent.  Any ideas???
   
4. Bob has been working hard on the furniture refinishing.  He is presently recanning 5 chairs.  He needs a sales person for the furniture as my garage is full.  Ideas????
   
5. The free store in my garage is doing very well.  Lots of happy shopping.  The donations have been great.  Warm jackets, socks, scarfs (the neon purple was a big hit)
   

Failures

1.  Hired a gal to set up a website which she did, all good:  BUT I am suppose to be able to finish it and maintain it.  I can’t seem to figure out how.  Anyone have time on hands with skills??
   
2. Sam and Shayla got jobs and with COVID issues, last hired first laid off.  Sam has been promised a job with QuickHaven after the first.  Shayla would like a dog walking or cooking position.  She is quite good at both.  She is clean and sober.
   

 Biggest failure is we have tried our darndest to work with SOS, the city, and the county about winter shelter.  SOS has moved the vulnerable to Los Gillicos and other county shelters in Petaluma and Santa Rosa.  There are ten people that I know who are working homeless who can’t leave Sonoma.  We are talking with a number of churches and businessmen trying to find a location to either allow them shelter or, put up tents or tuff sheds.  Why can’t the veterans hall be used?  Everyone I ask just says no.  Being the new kid on the block I can’t get any whys.  It is a no brainer to me.  Get a space, social distance tents inside this space, hire some of the working homeless to do the cleaning.  Bend, Oregon gets it – why doesn’t Sonoma?  These are not criminals.  They are a family of sorts, who are for each other, share what they have, and need a hand up from the rest of us in Sonoma.  This is their home, we are in the same tribe.
Now for a day in the life.
Ted Nordquist and I work at the Redwood Empire Food Bank and we bring back food for a few people like Amber, who have a home but not a car.  One evening I brought the boxes to her camper van,  and she yells “come on in I’m cooking”.  Gary was there, a homeless man who lives in his truck, an IHSS worker whose client died.  I joined him on the bench and we all got talking, food is smelling great:  Heather and Daniel arrive, squeeze in and without missing a beat Amber makes plates of food for everyone.  It was the most lovely dinner I’ve had in a long time.  Even squished and balancing plates on our knees.  The feeling of family, food being valued, conversation was real and the food eaten with gratitude.  It is not the size of your home:  it’s the size of your heart!
What we have and what we need.
We now have a P.O. Box 482
We have an unfinished website you can look at  hassonoma.org
We have a bank account.
We have applied for insurance.

We need winter shelter – once we have insurance we can get hotel vouchers and hand them out.  It is an expensive way to go but better than letting people freeze to death.  (although Jim told me if you stuff your clothes with newspaper is insulates pretty well.)  You can’t rent a room without either a credit card or insurance, so giving out cash is nice but when it doesn’t go for a room don’t assume they are doing drugs instead.
We need someone to finish and maintain the website.
Need men’s coats, boots, shoes, socks.   Sweatshirts, toothbrushes, shampoo, and handwarmers.
We need more mentors – the be-friend program is working well.  We have matched four with four so far.
Need someones to sell the “Share Services” program.  Form is on web site.  Need to ask all professionals in town if they would take one client – pro bono – for a year.  EX.  A barber – one client for haircuts for a year.  Restaurant – one person gets a meal once a week for a year.  One doctor, dentist, lawyer, etc.  To provide unattainable services to the needy and to form relationships.
Need office space in town.  We have outgrown my house.
Need a truck for Ambers business that employs homeless.
Need someone to sell Bobs furniture.
Need someone who knows how to put pictures of Bobs furniture on the website.
And, Yes, we need money.
Need you all to have a very lovely and safe holidays.
Annie Falandes
HAS​