Grace is a social worker for the County of Sonoma, and has worked at the Catholic Charities Samuel L. Jones Hall Shelter. She serves on the Board of Directors of The Living Room, and has a long history in the field of social services, providing direct services to a diverse population. Grace was born and raised in Santa Rosa, CA.  She serves as Secretary of the Task Force Board.

Georgia Berland, a Task Force founder who consults as the part-time Executive Officer of the Task Force as well as serving on the Board, is an international consultant in community development. She was formerly Executive Director of the Sonoma County Human Services Commission (13 years) and the Association for Humanistic Psychology (7 years), and taught Community Psychology at Sonoma State University (8 years). She teaches her own "Cooperative Action" approach to positive community change, and serves on the Board of the California Community Economic Development Association, and the Executive Committee of Senator John Vasconcellos' Politics of Trust Project.

Originally from the east coast, since 1984 I chose this area to live the rest of my life, the way I intended it to be. Drawing upon my life's rich experiences and a professional advertising career I selected to work in real estate as an agent and investor while here. Happily married and living in Santa Rosa, I have a son and grandson that live in our community as well. My interests are broad and include (but are not limited to) living a healthy life, enjoying my family and people, traveling around, reading books of insight, climbing a mountain here or there and driving my car. My personal philosophy is that I believe this area is a special place to be, not because of the natural beauty but because we are an eclectic group of individuals that gives this community a balanced perspective on life's importance with the will to act on it.

I have been a member of the Task Force for the Homeless Board of Directors since October 2010.  I go to all the General Meetings, and am on the committee for the Homeless Court project.  In addition to that, I work twenty hours a week at the Blood Bank of the Redwoods.  I am also a student at Santa Rosa Junior College. I am President of the Redwood Empire Chapter for the Blind, an advocacy group to enhance the lives of the blind and visually impaired. As for recreational activities, I take a drumming class at the Earle Baum Center for the Blind. I am certainly very proud to be on the Task Force Board of Directors.

I graduated from SRJC with an AA and Sonoma State with a BA from the Hutchins School. While in school I interned at a Congressional Office and the National Women’s History Project. Both jobs helped me to better understand how local, state and federal issues directly impacted minority groups.  During school I helped coordinate the first and second Labor and Social Action Summer School at Sonoma State  I also spent a semester working at the local SEIU getting a direct look how unions work.  After graduation I went back to SRJC working on the New Horizon Grant supporting disadvantaged students through the educational process. Once the grant was complete I returned to Sonoma State and worked on The Hilton Grant doing early development trainings for children with severe disabilities around the country. Once I completed work on this grant I worked two jobs - one working with individuals on welfare and as Social Service Coordinator for five affordable housing sites in Sonoma County. I later became the Director of Social Services; coordinating program development, mediations and helping individuals maneuver through the complex process needed to continue living at the affordable housing sites. I worked with families, seniors and the apartment management coordinating services from county, state and federal programs. I look forward to using these skills to benefit the Task Force for the Homeless