november 2022 newsletter

November 2022 Homeless Action Sonoma Newsletter

General Update: It has been quite the ride these last few weeks.  Getting on property and seeing daily changes in the infrastructure.  Drive by and have a look.  We are building walls and fences, putting in bioswales, and leveling the property so it doesn’t drain into the neighbor’s yards in the rain.
We hope to pour concrete this week, which is the big part of the job.  If the weather cooperates there is a chance we will have an amazing Christmas Party.  The tenants will need help assembling furniture, and moving in.  I will let you know when that is and we can make it a community event.  We have hired Hector Gutierrez, former Project Manager for Horizon Shine Village in Sebastopol.  He has been busy interviewing clients for the village and establishing a protocol.  We are so fortunate to get him on board.

Winter Shelter:    With the rain and cold here many people are exposed to the elements without shelter.  There is no shelter in the Sonoma City Area at this time.  Last year there were hotel rooms for the worst of the weather days, but there is no funding for hotel rooms this year.  We are working with SOS to coordinate  those who are willing to be housed in Santa Rosa or Petaluma.  For many, lack of shelter  means trips to the ER to treat them for exposure.  We urgently need winter shelter, at least until I can get the houses on property and up and running.  I have asked everyone I can think of if we can use an empty building, open up the Haven again, use the Community Center, use the Veterans Building, open the churches: and there are many reasons but the bottom line is always no.  My contractor says that we could put up our dining tent on the property and make it a warming station.  Of course now it needs to be approved by Permit Sonoma and they said no.
My heart is gladdened by those of you who have decided to take action.  One of my board members is now running a F&B.  (floor and breakfast) and another has offered up his guest room.  Jeannette picked up the man lying on the sidewalk and tried to get him shelter, another person has offered her pool house and yet another has offered her spare room.  A communal space of course would be ideal to serve all, but if we can’t find a communal space we have to use what is offered.  Now I can hear the naysayers “Isn’t that dangerous and irresponsible?”  All I can say to that is, I have been taking into my house for the last two years fellow human beings in need, and have never had a problem.   If you can provide temporary shelter this winter please contact me.

What we need:

1.  Volunteers.  We now have a volunteer coordinator who is trying to organize tasks and fit them to the talents of our volunteer force.  For those of you who have volunteered and feel underutilized, standby.  I think that Jim McFadden will do a wonderful job for us and I welcome him to our team. We have a second volunteer team member that we desperately needed and that is Osias Encarnacion who is taking on Social Media for us.  To volunteer contact Valli Vieira.  [email protected] or telephone me 707 304-0502.
2. Informational Parties:  What is an informational?  It is you inviting your neighbors over for tea or wine and inviting me, or one of my board members, to talk to them about what we are doing for about 10 minutes.  This is an excellent way to spread the word and to start to break down the misconceptions about the homeless.  It is a way to open people's hearts to the idea of actually solving the homeless problem together. I have done a few and they are really fun and enlightening.  Contact Valli Vieira to coordinate dates at [email protected].  Or call me 707 304-0502.
3. Painting Small Homes: We will be painting the small homes in the colors of the Springs in the next few weeks.  If you are interested in helping with painting contact Ted Nordquist at 707 235-3986 or email him at [email protected]
4. Winter Supplies: The Democrats club is doing their annual drive to provide socks, underwear, hats, gloves, hand warmers, condoms, and tampons for the homeless.  Last year they brought in enough to keep my clients for almost the entire year.  So grateful.  You can drop off donations at these locations:  406 Rosalie Dr., 741 4th Street East, 360 Dahlia Dr. in Creekside Village.    Friday November 25th – Friday December 16th.  Thank you Democrats Club. 
5. Thanksgiving Services:  Building community has always been the number one need to make ending homelessness a reality.  The Trinity Episcopal Church,  275 East Spain Street, is having a community thanksgiving service.  It is an annual interfaith event that I would love to see the entire community attend.  We have a lovely, kind, community and to put our voices together in song, blessings, and messages of thanks will be a real community builder.  You can attend in person or by zoom.  The zoom link will be on the website https://www. sonomavalleyinterfaithma.com 
6. Funding:  We always need funding.  We have gotten a loan to cover the cost of getting on property and have been working like crazy to get grants from the County and State.  Gavin Newson has given notice to the homeless activists that he is suspending funding for homelessness projects until he sees a better way, as the success rate is not impressive at all.  If you can write to Gavin Newson and any other politicians you may know and explain to them what HAS is doing, it could go a long way to furthering our cause. You can find our mission statement on our website hassonoma.org.  We are working with BJ Bischoff and the County to apply for Homekey Funding in order to build the permanent structure that we dream of having.  We need to persuade Gavin Newson to release this money so that we can get the job done.
   
   Our outreach people have been doing fabulous work bringing people in and signing them up for services.  That is the good news.  We are now working with over 80 clients.  We are estimating that once on property, (and we offer full services to all homeless, not just the ones we are housing) our budget will be around $900K/year.  So yes, we need recurring funding.  If you could commit to a monthly amount, a yearly amount, or a one time donation we would be very happy to send you a tee shirt for each donation.  You can then be properly attired when you come to one of our events.  Just include your shirt size with your donation.  You can donate online at hassonoma.org.
7. Thanksgiving Dinner:  We will be having a Thanksgiving dinner Sunday Nov  27  which is the Sunday after Thanksgiving Day.  If you can help with that meal please contact Valli Vieira at [email protected] or call Ted Nordquist at 707 235-3986.  You are welcome any Sunday at 5 PM to come to La Luz and have dinner with us, make dinner for us, bring food for us to make for dinner, wash the dinner dishes, take us out to dinner,  or give a donation for a dinner.  We serve between 20-45 people each Sunday and would like to see it grow.  All we ask is that you sit and have dinner with everyone else.  We are slowly building one community.

Special recognition:  I want to give special recognition  to Jeanette Scharich.  This woman was driving through the Springs and sees a man lying on the sidewalk.  She stops to see if he was alive, dead, sick or what.  He was laying there on the cold cement because he had nowhere to go and was tired.  She offered to take him to The Haven, thinking it was still a homeless shelter.  Doors were locked so she brought him to the police station.  They told her he had to go to Petaluma or Santa Rosa for shelter or she could just let him go in the park.  She was surprised that was the truth so she called me and volunteered on the spot!  I am looking forward to working with her. Thank you Jeanette, if everyone had your heart and understanding the world would be much improved!

​Second thanks goes out to Jessica Mansfield and her family.  She works for me as an outreach worker and is training to be a full on caseworker.  She is taking classes and still tending to the homeless community.  She does wellness checks, takes clothing and supplies to people in need, and her family also takes in people who need a place to stop and get warm.  Jessica is the one who gets the phone calls saying someone needs a ride here, needs a meal, needs a coat, ran out of gas, and it is never during easy hours.  Her and her mother Yvonne are making dinner this Sunday so stop by and have dinner and say hello to Jessica and Yvonne. 

A shout out to all the volunteers, supporters, city council, and the not yet friends of HAS!
Happy Holidays!
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I am more positive than ever, that together, we can end homelessness in the Sonoma city area.
Annie Falandes
Homeless Action Sonoma, Inc.
hassonoma.org
[email protected]
707 304-0502