Task Force History and Achievements
A PERSONAL RECOLLECTION
By Georgia Berland (a founding Board Member)
It was late May of 1981, my third day as Director of the Sonoma County Human Services Commission - only one year old itself and charged with bringing the public and private sectors together to identify and solve local human service issues. Andrea Learned stopped by my new County office to be sure I knew about the growing problem of homelessness. Now a Vice President at Memorial Hospital, Andrea was then part of Sonoma County People for Economic Opportunity (SCPEO, now Community Action Partnership Sonoma). She described the plight of local families and individuals unable to find housing, some traveling up and down the length of Highway 101 from Eureka to the Golden Gate, looking endlessly for the magical combination of a job and an affordable home. Andrea spoke of children unable to stay in school long enough to progress to the next grade, and some who had never been to school.
Shortly thereafter, Brenda Adelman, now a water activist in West County, also came by to raise the issue of homelessness countywide. The late Jerry Casson, a Human Services Commissioner and widely respected senior advocate from Sonoma, joined the discussion, and we soon convened the first Emergency Housing Task Force. Reverend Wayne Johnson of the First Presbyterian Church of the Roses stepped forward along with ten or twelve others from various parts of the community, resulting in a cooperative planning process and the development and funding of the first emergency shelter in Sonoma County, a twelve-bed home in Santa Rosa run by then-SCPEO.
After a year's hiatus during which the Human Services Commission focused on addressing hunger issues and starting the coalition that eventually became the Redwood Empire Food Bank, the Emergency Housing Task Force regenerated. Wayne Johnson served as President for the Task Force's first eight years, helping to build a strong foundation. Presidents that followed, including Rabbi Michael Robinson, Elayne Kahn, and Gale Brownell, along with our numerous dedicated board members, committee chairs, and member/participants, have all added to that legacy.
The Task Force brings the whole community together to acknowledge and work on our housing crisis - a problem that affects us all. The Task Force has always been unique in that it is not just a coalition of service providers, but involves a cross section of the community in the work of ending homelessness. Business people, religious congregations, and private citizens operate hand in hand with non-profit and government service providers and homeless people themselves to pursue effective solutions.
The Task Force completed its non-profit incorporation process in 1989. It has since helped to launch a number of shelter, service, and prevention programs, advocated successfully for affordable housing and resources for assisting homeless people, educated our community, and provided small but crucial funding assistance to service programs through its Fund for the Homeless. Some highlights of our achievements are shown below.
The Task Force is funded entirely privately, through memberships, donations, and our annual fundraiser, "October in Paradise", plus an occasional project-related grant. We do not compete with our member agencies for funds that could be used for direct services. Instead, we try to enlarge the pool of resources available to end homelessness and assist those who are homeless.
We encourage all residents of Sonoma County to support the Task Force's work through membership, thus enlarging our constituency and advocacy strength, as well as providing financial support. Please see the Join Now and Invest In Ending Homelessness buttons on the navigation bar at left to become a member or donate to our work. We also welcome the involvement of the whole community through our monthly General Meetings to discuss topics of common interest, and through participation in our committees and projects. You are invited to offer your input and opinions as well for publication in our quarterly Reporter newsletter. Please feel free to contact the office at (707) 575-4494, or sctaskforce@aol.com for any further information.
HIGHLIGHTS OF TASK FORCE ACHIEVEMENTS
OUR MEANS
- Provide coordination and communication among those who are concerned about the provision of homeless shelter and services and affordable housing.
- Educate and advocate within the community and among policy makers on issues related to homelessness and affordable housing.
- Develop resources for programs addressing homelessness through the Fund for the Homeless and other sources.
SOME SUCCESSES:
- Helped leverage the first emergency shelter in Sonoma County (1982)
- Designed and accomplished the first demographic study of homeless people in Sonoma County in 1987, one of the first such studies in the country.
- Catalyzed the effort to establish the Family Support Center now operated by Catholic Charities, including two prior efforts from other agencies which each operated for one season.
- Helped establish the HCA homeless prevention fund.
- Held three major community conferences on homelessness and affordable housing in the late 1980's, garnering attention and involvement in solutions.
- Provided funds for direct services to homeless people through the Sonoma County Fund for the Homeless, which has supported many programs with crucial "gap" funding to maintain operations.
- Helped to secure other funding resources for the county, such as the State Emergency Housing Assistance Program (EHAP), Federal Emergency Shelter Grant Program (FESG), Season of Sharing (SOS), etc.
- Instigated and conducted preliminary field work for the 2001 Homeless Count in Sonoma County
- Instrumental in the rise of a year round inclusive planning process for Sonoma County's Continuum of Care Planning.
- Provided input to Housing Element revisions throughout Sonoma County.
- Worked to establish Shelter Solutions and participates actively in this group, which helped develop plans for Samuel Jones Hall and encouraged other new year round adult shelter and service programs.
- Conducts monthly community meetings to discuss in depth topics of common interest.
- Funds the VoiceMail Project (operated by the Baha'is of Rohnert Park in cooperation with APEX Voice Communications, Inc.) through the Fund for the Homeless. Provides private voicemail boxes to homeless people countywide to assist job and housing searches.
- Provides ongoing community education through a quarterly Newsletter, a web site, public speaking, educational forums and media outreach.
- Successfully advocated for affordable and special needs housing projects, housing finance mechanisms, and housing-friendly policy decisions.
PLEASE SEE TASK FORCE WORK IN PROGRESS SECTION FOR CURRENT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES.