From the Top of the Hill

Greetings neighbors,

        As you may or may not know, the City of Santa Rosa has embarked on a project of transforming, changing and upgrading the City's Bus System. It is the "Re-imaging City Bus" project. One of those bus routes proposed,  will come up Chanate Road make a left on Parker Hill Rd. turn right on Sleepy Hollow, make another right on Bonita Vista, travel along the back of Hidden Valley Elementary School and finally make another right on Chanate Rd and continue down the hill to town.  

         The reasoning behind this route is to service the "Health and Wellness Center", which is located in the same area as the Bird Rescue. All the other County facilities have relocated in preparation of the Re-purposing of Chanate Hospital.  The "Health and Welfare Center will be relocating in 18 months.  But you will still have a bus route. Granted it will only travel once an hour,  but those of us who have, or have had children attend Hidden Valley Elementary school know how congested the back of Hidden Valley  can be both  in the mornings and at the end of the school day.  Let us not forget, both the School and the Park are used for multiple sports activities throughout the year.  Parking on Bonita Vista is somewhat dangerous now, especially around the turn in front of the park. 

          I am sure the County Supervisors are happy because they will have a bus route in place to service the Re-purposing Chanate project,(which will have 20% Affordable Housing) or is it Low Income housing. Will this housing be affordable to buy or to rent ? Will the land be sold or will the housing be attached to a 100 yr. lease ? Will the buildings be apartments? How many units ? Traffic is terrible on Chanate now and Hidden Valley Elementary schools are both impacted.   So far,  what we  have heard from the supervisors is that they would like some sort of a "Homeless Youth Facility ", commercial property, a park, trails, and affordable housing.( Multi-Use) and current market priced housing.  Would you buy a $800,000 home next to a apartment building?  

         The purpose of this email is to keep you informed of the developments taking place in our neighborhood. the Transit Department will take this "Re-imagining City Bus" project to the city council within the next few weeks.  For the most part, the changes made to the bus system are definitely an improvement, except this particular route which make sense at all, except maybe to fulfill the needs of the County in Re-purposing Chanate .  

 The way I see it, we have two choices at this point:

          The first being; do nothing and let our elected officials do whatever they want, In which case we will be sorry 10 years down the road.

           The latter;  be proactive regarding these two projects and email the Santa Rosa City Council and express your feelings about this bus route. (They do read their emails)  An alternative would be to have the route  turn around in the Chanate Hospital area and not down Sleepy Hollow. 

      An alternative as far as the "Affordable Housing part" of the Chanate project would be to locate it off West College Ave, just west of Stony Point Rd.  ( the old Water District Building, property owned by the County). It is on an established  bus route close to the Westside Transit Center , and The  Finley Recreation Center. For this issue an email to our County Supervisors would be prudent.

       In conclusion, in all fairness, we really don't know at this point what is going to happen with the Chanate project. We do know that only a portion of the land is build able. I think we can all agree that further urbanizing this area is not in the best interests of it's residents. 

Thank you for your consideration

Don't Sell Chanate Short

Don’t Sell Chanate Short

Housing and homeless advocates have been dismayed by the County’s plan to dispose of its 100+ acre site on Chanate Road in Santa Rosa to the highest bidder. That means we’d likely see dozens more million dollar homes plus a few token units affordable to low or moderate income families. We’d like to see the site developed with housing that’ll address some of the area’s critical housing needs - for government workers, teachers, and others of modest income; for lower income families; for persons with serious mental health problems and for persons transitioning out of being homeless.  

The County issued a request for proposals (‘RFP’) last month for the site. Applications must be submitted by interested developers by April 7th. A 'pre-application' meeting and tour of the Chanate site that was advertised for 11 am on March 2 was switched to 9 am by County officials without notice to many of the interested participants. What’s up with that?

There are many perfectly usable buildings on the Chanate site. Most, like the Norton Mental Health crisis center and the well-designed shelter for women and children, are currently in use. County officials claim the two former hospital buildings are not earthquake safe, and want them demolished, But earthquake standards for emergency hospitals are much stricter than for residential uses. Rehabbing older buildings is normally vastly less expensive than tearing them down and starting from scratch.  Repeated requests to inspect the hospital buildings with our own expert inspector have been rejected by County officials who claim that the two buildings are too unsafe to even enter. What’s the problem with letting an independent expert evaluate whether and how this can be done?

- County Supervisors talk about the urgent need for workforce and affordable housing, "Housing First" is official County policy for reducing the huge numbers of homeless persons in and around Santa Rosa. Supervisor Shirlee Zane published an Op Ed here recently citing the dire shortage of  County emergency mental health services, but these services are being provided at Chanate and have been provided there for decades.  Why close these urgently needed facilities down and sell off the land to the highest bidder?

- County officials claim they want to sell the land to help fund construction of new County office buildings down the hill in the county administration complex.  No doubt, it'd be more convenient to get registered for food stamps and MediCal all in one location without traveling to two or three different county offices.  But is that 'convenience' more important than addressing the housing crisis and urgent mental health needs which this site has and could continue to do? If not at the Chanate site with land and buildings already zoned and used for these purposes, then where - and when? 

- Thousands of public employees working in the County’s administration complex, and  at the Santa Rosa Junior College campus a few blocks away can't find or afford housing in Santa Rosa. Many live far from work sites. They drive long distances to work because there's so few places to rent or buy that are affordable to regular county employees and regular SRJC staff. Why not build workforce housing at Chanate, with preferences given to households with a member working for a local public agency? Their 'convenience' should count for something. And count the tons of toxic GHG pollutants avoided if housing were available close enough to County employment and the SRJC to allow employees to walk or bike to work. 

This wonderful 100+ acre property shouldn’t be sold off to the highest bidder for high end development. County elected officials need to walk their talk and come up with a plan to re-use this land, which has been devoted to meeting urgent public health and housing needs for a century. Save the family homeless shelter, save the mental health Wellness Center and Norton crisis beds. And find a way to keep the Bird Rescue Center on the property. Injured birds need a home too. 

Home Ownership for the Homeless

By Scott Wagner

One excellent solution for providing homes for the homeless in Sonoma County may be to have them buy their own homes. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Well, it's not! A preliminary look at the numbers and the deal structure shows that it might well pencil out, given the county's need to start attacking homelessness aggressively. A proposal is being looked at and picked apart that takes advantage of 3 unusual aspects of opportunity locally in 2016:

1) The county has land that can be made available for homes. Building on county land would save lots of money, not just by eliminating having to buy land, but also because of the potential to waive many of the very high development fees through county involvement. Also, development of a relatively large number of modest homes might be possible for the truly low- or no-income as a standalone development, without having to come in as the traditional 20% low-income 'bribe' for a developer who only builds 'low-income' housing (actually middle-income housing) so they can build very high-priced homes.

2) We can build modest-sized homes of about 150 square feet per person that take advantage of modern design to be comfortable, provide all the normal home amenities, provide a large storage area (an often-overlooked necessity), and allow potential expansion. These homes can be formed into attractive, cohesive communities. Using the mid-tier cost estimate of $200/square foot, a home could be built for about $30,000. If we estimate $20,000 each for electricity/water/sewer expense, and $10,000 for renegotiated fees, total cost would be $60,000 per person, which is much lower than the estimated cost of $160,000 for studio rental apartments, the only other current proposal for building housing.

3)  This is an incredible interest-rate climate. The average landlord is making a very good return on their mortgage investment, because rents are so high and interest rates are very low. This climate is a disaster for getting the homeless into rentals- but if the homeless ARE the homeowners, the problem gets turned on its head, into a great opportunity! Interest rates are so low that a $60,000 home, including all homeownership and utility expenses, nothing down, and a 15-year mortgage, would be about $400/month. If the county is willing to guarantee a significant amount of the mortgage, similar to the structure of a VA or Fannie Mae loan, some banks will likely finance the mortgages. The price and payments are so low that very modest subsidies, much lower than Section 8 housing subsidies, could make the home free or nearly free. Consider the power of a $10,000 subsidy upfront, and $150/mo. in help with the mortgage: that would reduce monthly costs in this scenario to less than 200/month per person! Homeless people could well have a home of their own in Sonoma County, which they couldn't have even dreamed of, and enjoy the dignity, safety, consistency, and mental and physical health advantages of having a permanent home, thereby saving the government the costs associated with chronic homelessness. At the end of 15 years, such a home could be free and clear, providing people with a solution when they're elderly. 

There are many details to iron out, and we're still consulting experts, but we wanted you to be able to think about this before floating it to politicians. Please make any comments, suggestions or critiques to Scott Wagner, jscottwagner@hotmail.com. 

Onward and forward, lovers of social justice

Hello all, 

On Friday I came down with what appears to be a pretty vicious flu - high fever w/ chills, joint pain, headaches of every variety... - it's still going strong, but even worse is that Asa woke up with the same symptoms this morning. It doesn't look like I'll be a high functioning participant, if I'm able to attend at all. I wouldn't miss this event for anything, but serious illness. 

If a few of you could fill in for me that would be great. I was planning on manning a HA! table with Adrienne and attending the march at Community Baptist Church right before going over to Chanate on Monday.  And on Tuesday I was going to be the greeter from 9am - 1pm, as well as speak on the perils of raising children without a home.

The way things look right now there is almost no chance I'll be leaving our bed tomorrow, and a slim chance I'll be giving the talk that is so very important to me. But you all have sat patiently by my side for weeks now, and you know the arguments I would speak if I could. Not necessarily in this order:

• hundreds of distressed people, most of which are children, sharing 6 bathrooms that get cleaned once a day, on a good day, is life in a shelter and a recipe for spreading disease. especially when napkins at dinner are available only 50% of the time. and knives to cut our food with are available none of the time. (i'm pretty sure prisoners don't have access to knives with thier meal either. the irony is lost on no one.) what that means is everyone is forced to eat their steaks, pork chops, poultry and whatever other carcasses make an appearance on our plates with our hands. There is no sink available for hand washing in the dining room, which leaves the few bathrooms - which no one wants to enter unless it's an emergency - the only place to wash up before or after dinner. at catholic charities all families start off in a group room (think concentration camp) where it can take weeks to months before you will be provided your own room. during this time sleep deprivation is the norm because of the natural chaos that ensues when you pile a bunch a distressed adults and children on top of each other. i could go on, but most importantly let us not be afraid to tell the truth about systems of oppression even when they claim to be here for our own good. shelter hopping for years on end is the norm in Sonoma county with each one only offering a 2,3, or 6 month stay. these looming exit deadlines are a constant source of stress for most families, that combined with the fact that there is no affordable housing, and upon entering a shelter you will be chronically ill (dubbed kennel cough by all experiencing it at CC), and while existing in a shelter you are wading through so many arbitrary rules, and To Do's it makes your head spin. And one wonders why you are forced to wade through classes every week like yoga, Zumba, nutrition, or jogging - none of which have anything to do with getting housing. There is an alarmingly high percentage of people on disability living primarily out of shelters in this area because landlord and low-income populations do not go hand in hand in Sonoma county. This contributes to the full occupancy and long waiting lists of shelters which leaves people seeking help for emergency reasons plain out of luck. Shelters are not the solution to chronic homelessness!

• For a detailed response to surviving 2 months in Santa Rosa's Safe Parking Lot follow this link... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X9cpDAsrQSNKrZvEfg114sUKFai7BLCdO9a240eOJJw/edit?usp=docslist_api How many of us have to die on the street before we take action!

• Section 8 housing is a 5 - 7 year wait in the Bay Area. And even longer if you count the time that it takes to sign up. Getting on the list is a mystery since in certain areas sign up stays closed for bizarrely long periods of unpredictable time. Immediately upon finding out that you've finally recieved your section 8 voucher your relief is turned to panic, at least in Sonoma County, as you discover there are no landlords willing to rent to section 8 applicants and your voucher expiration date looms steady on the horizon. In fact landlords are evicting section 8 tenants at an alarming rate in the name of profit - why not double the rent and have less government over site while attracting tech overflow from SF? Housing is a human right! 

• Burbank housing saves a unit or two every 6 months for families that are stuck at Catholic Charities, but that is clearly a lottery and takes over a year for your name to be drawn. If you are one of the lucky few whose name is drawn Burbank then choses the "best" candidate from that seasons lottery drawings. Humans are not commodities! 

• ACEs or Adverse Childhood Experiences is the term coined by the CDC which points to the long-term physical and mental health outcomes of children that had to endure abuse, abandonment, neglect, incarcerated parent, drug or alcohol addiction in the home, divorce, and the surprise factor - extreme poverty. I can't think of a marker for extreme poverty more appropriate than shelter hopping and car camping for years on end. The affects were things like chronic depression, anxiety, ADD, diabetes, heart disease, substance abuse, or suicide... to name a few. I find it unconscionable that we set our children up for failure and poor health because our society would rather look the other way than admit we have a problem. Housing is healthcare! 

• For the many who will bring up the subject of addiction on Tuesday: do you know that there is a stronger link between childhood trauma and addiction than there is between obesity and diabetes? Two-thirds of addicts report being abused as children. That means that the war on drugs and the corresponding "get clean before you get housing" attitude espoused by most homeless shelters and advocacy groups is a war on traumatized people that just need help. Housing first!

Onward and forward, lovers of social justice, I hope to see you there.

~River

P.S. In case you were doubting that what you do as a group really matters: less than 24 hours after questioning catholic charities representatives about the lack of heat in 25% of the rooms, which they explained for over a month was due to hard to find parts on old machinery, the heat was on and hasn't been off a day since. That is no coincidence. We all thank you! 

Praise from a Sonoma County Homeless Person

By Cynthia Stebbins

I attended the event held by Homeless Action! On January 19^th, 2016.  There were a couple of ‘Homeless Speak-up’ sessions whereby homeless folks in SC had their voice heard.  Due to time constraints I was not able to speak my piece…or better said….peace.   This is what I wanted to say…..

I commend and praise Sonoma County for services rendered me through this first-time journey of my life.  Has it been easy?  No!  Has it been fun? No!  And I, through persistence, perseverance, pro-activity and positive thinking (I call that my 4-P’s) I discovered the existence and abundance of homeless services in this county.  Folks, I had to in many cases dig.  And they were to be found! 

Services for food (hot meals included), shelter, transportation, clothing, showers, health care, group support, employment-seeking support, spiritual guidance and communication services – the list can go on and yes, the federal government and state government stepped up to the plate for some of this support.  I am amazed and I am still homeless but not hopeless. 

I strongly agree the ‘Housing Crisis’ in this county is of epic proportions and requires immediate action.  This is the first time in 30 years I have been faced with paying rent for a roof over my head (I was a homeowner prior homelessness).  I am saddened and aghast and vow to do what I can to make changes in this arena.  I can honestly say I would not trade this ‘homeless experience’ for anything.  Under the circumstances I am still blessed.  

I WILL climb out of this and make a difference in the process. 

I am currently involved in the Homeless Action! Group and (here is a plug) looking for employment…

I have a degree in Computer Engineering and worked in that arena for 20 years in software and IT services.   I have eight years experience in real estate and have worked as an administrative assistant.  

Thank-You!

Cynthia Stebbins
cstebbins54@gmail.com

Touched by an Angel, from Homeless Action!

By Mike Mugridge

The clouds were gray and angry overhead, just waiting for the chance to turn the light mist into pouring rain.  He was driving home that Saturday, thinking about all the things that had gone wrong that day, that week, that year. Dear God, he prayed, let something go right in my life, just once. At least one thing had gone right. He had the $100.00 he had saved out of the budget for the week, and that was enough for the new game he wanted to buy.  Game Stop had opened a new store near Wal-Mart and he could swing by on the way home and pick it up.

He pulled into the parking lot and parked across from the store where he’d bought his cell phone. Opening the car door, he stepped out of the car as the mist turned into a light rain. It would probably open up soon, but he would be home by then warm and comfortable in front of his TV. With his game, and a nice cold beer.

He crossed the lot and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the store. He barely glanced at the young girl standing under the eaves blocking his path. He was annoyed as he stepped off the sidewalk to get around her and her child. Didn't she know she was blocking the sidewalk with that stroller she was pushing?  She glanced briefly his direction then looked back down.

He reached the front of the store but the door was locked, and the store empty. The sign read "Grand Opening" in one week. Great, just great! Now he'd have to wait a whole week to get his game. His day was ruined. He turned to go back to his car, once again stepping off the sidewalk to get around the young girl. This time casting an annoyed glance in her direction. She met his look briefly then looked down once again.

He hadn't gone three steps when the impact of her face struck his heart. He couldn't remember ever seeing such a look of despair and hopelessness on the face of another person, let alone a girl so young. He turned back to look at her once again, only then realizing she was many months pregnant. How had he ever missed that? The stroller was full of clothes and other belongings, and a small boy clung closely to his mothers side.

He stepped back onto the sidewalk beside her and, in as gentle a voice as he could manage, said. "Miss, are you all right?" She looked up into his face, the despair and hopelessness momentarily gone and replaced by a look of hope. Then back again.  Looking down at her son, she straightened her shoulders and looked him squarely in the eye.

"No, I'm not," she replied quietly. "I have nowhere to go.  The hotel put us out this morning when I couldn't pay anymore. The rest of my things are in the room, and I have to pick them up this afternoon. I have a place at the shelter, but not until next week. I've been praying, but I just don't know what I'm going to do." Looking down at her son again, she continued. "I wouldn't ask for me, you understand, but Michael is cold and hungry. If we could buy some food, Wal-Mart will let us sit in the cafeteria. It's going to rain soon, and my son doesn't have a coat. I have enough to ride the bus and keep warm, but not for food too. Can you please help?" Her frightened voice struck him deep in his soul.

What's you name, he asked. My name is Gabriel she replied and placing her hand on the child's shoulder she continued, "This is Michael." The boy looked up and gave him a smile of pure innocence, untouched by the cold around him.  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the $100.00 he had saved for his game, and put it gently in her hand. "Take this money Gabriel", and buy something hot to eat for you and your son."  Then ride the bus back to the hotel to collect your things. I have friends at the shelter, and I'll make sure you get in. Don't worry.

The girl and her son smiled with joy as they looked at the money in her hand. She looked straight at him and said serenely "God bless you sir." It felt almost like a blessing. He felt a peace descend on him he hadn't felt in years. He felt better than he had in quite a while. He really had no problems, all things considered. Chuckling to himself, he imagined the look on her face when she returned to the hotel to find her bill paid for the week.  The people at COTS would take care of her and her son.

So she had been praying, had she? Well God sure answered her prayer in an unusual way. He was one funny looking angel.  Stopping for a moment, he thought maybe he ought to offer her a ride back to the hotel after all. Turning back her found her and her son still standing in the rain smiling at him.  As he watched, they suddenly changed shape before his eyes. Growing and beaming light in all directions. For a moment there stood two majestic figures of light untouched by the rain. One with a horn, the other with a sword.

As he watched, they turned their gazes skyward, singing praise, they opened their wings and vanished on a beam of light.  He stood stunned for a moment, the pouring rain now cascading off his hat and shoulders, not believing what he had seen.  Feeling better than he could remember. He realized that God had answered a prayer that day. His prayer. He had been sent a messenger to show him the true meaning of life.

He had been touched by an angel.

Friends. There are a lot of people in need of help these days. But you can't talk to a young mother, about the love of God, and expect her to hear you over the cries of her cold hungry children. Feed her children, and help her make them warm and safe, and she will listen to you all day long.

Homeless/Housing Teach-In and Solidarity Sleep-Out

Greetings!

I very excited about next Monday and Tuesday's Homeless/Housing Teach-in and Solidarity Campout up on County Farm Road.  Homeless Action! members are working very hard to provide a productive and useful event which should result in dialogue and progress in the difficult work of advancing solutions to our community's homeless/affordable housing problems.  I strongly encourage all of my friends to join us, either on Monday night for our MLK Solidarity Sleep-out, or Tuesday's Daylong Teach-In.

Here's the press release.

Media Contacts
Adrienne Lauby Adrienne@sonic.net  (707-795-2890 hm ofc 707-332-1894 cell)

Eric Straatsma straats@gmail.com (707-547-7414)

River King asariverking@gmail.com (510-325-8646)

Homeless Action! Presents ”Housing is a Human Right”

MLK Solidarity Sleep-Out & Teach In

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Housing Is A Human Right: An MLK Solidarity Sleep-Out and Teach-In,” will be held indoors in the Rotunda building off Chanate Road in Santa Rosa, on Monday, January 18th starting at 4 p.m. and on Tuesday, January 19th from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  The sleep in will provide a taste of what it means to be homeless while the Teach In will address Sonoma County’s homeless emergency and the housing crisis.

With over 3,000 homeless people in Sonoma County, with Santa Rosa showing the strongest year-to-year growth in rents in California and with current plans to demolish large and habitable county buildings, it is time for the community to consult with each other and find solutions.  

The Teach-In will address the homeless emergency, the housing crisis, and the future of the county-owned buildings and land along Chanate Rd.  Speakers include low income housing expert John Lowery, River King, a currently homeless mom working on building a tiny house community in Santa Rosa, Caitlin Childs, from Social Advocates for Youth (SAY) and many, many more.

The event begins on Monday, January 18th (MLK Day), with a table at the Community Baptist Church, Martin Luther King “Day On NOT a Day Off” event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m..  The church is located at 1620 Sonoma Ave, Santa Rosa.

The Teach-In will provide an opportunity to learn about current programs, services and ideas for solutions.  In half-hour sessions in three locations, speakers from the homeless and faith communities, service providers and caring individuals will join participants to talk about homeless children, teens, families, veterans, tenants and seniors.  Topics include the decriminalization of homelessness, the homeless bill of rights, rent stabilization, eviction regulations, tools for preserving and expanding low income housing, and the future of the county property along Chanate Road.

“Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t just work one day of the year; he worked every day.  We’re happy to extend his holiday to explore what Sonoma County is doing, and can do, to solve its problem of providing housing to all its residents,”  Jackie Brittain, a founding member of Homeless Action! said.

“I support this effort because homelessness is not a crime, it’s a condition,” Mike Mugridge, a broker for Burbank Rentals explained.  “It’s a condition that we have allowed to perpetuate.  And, we’ve allowed our politicians to ignore it because they don’t think we care.”  

According to Sheila Baker, a formerly homeless person and organizer of the event, “This will be a great opportunity for everyone to spend the day in some quality time together, in a place where many in our county were born and were cared for, to talk and share and plan for our future.”

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