10. COTS is honored to help in fire recovery
Like most Petaluma-based businesses, COTS jumped in where we could when the 2017 fires blazed to our north. We collected goods, and we helped our sister agencies with support staff when their own staff members couldn’t make it into work.
And, like most Petaluma-based businesses and organizations, we wished we could do more.
Thanks to our generous community, our wish has been granted, and, since July, we’ve been able to play a major role in ensuring that everyone—regardless of income—has an opportunity to recover and rebound from the fires.
The Laure Reichek Housing Hub in Santa Rosa is providing a variety of permanent rental opportunities to those made homeless in the fires or their immediate wake. We’ve opened our permanent shared housing program—Integrity Housing—to those impacted by the fires, and we’ve been able to expand our Rapid Re-Housing program, which provides services and monthly rental assistance until those who are housed can retain their housing on their own.
We have funding to help 572 people over three years. In our first five months, we housed 105 people!
The Housing Hub is named for our co-founder Laure Reichek. Funding comes from the Tipping Point Community Emergency Relief Fund; the North Bay Fire Relief Fund (a partnership of the Press Democrat, State Senator Mike McGuire and the Redwood Credit Union); the County of Sonoma, and many individuals, community groups and businesses.
If you know someone who needs help to rebound from homelessness, please direct him or her to the Laure Reichek Housing Hub.
