The Top 10 Moments of 2018: Spirits that won’t quit
5. Spirits that won’t quit
“I thought this place would be depressing,” volunteer Ginny Schropp told us after working several shifts at the kitchen at the Mary Isaak Center. “But I leave everyday marveling at how hopeful and cheerful the people who live here are.”
Ginny’s right. In the face of the worst housing crisis in Sonoma County history, our residents live in hope, creating beauty and community.
Our grounds host a whimsical garden of flowers, plants, and found objects, designed and maintained by residents. Client art work is everywhere at our Mary Isaak Center and our Kids First Family Shelter. It ranges from tiny arrangements of rocks and leaves to children’s finger-painting to sophisticated works in pastels and oils.
Residents look out for one another, saving meals for friends who work late, playing music for one another, listening to one another’s troubles, lightening each other’s burdens with stories, encouragement and jokes.
They also dive into the toughest cleaning jobs with gusto. Debbie Preader says staying busy helps her keep her spirits up.
Our Human Resources Chief Cat Higgins says, “Gardening, music playing, flowers on the mantle; these are things I experience at my own home. So, when I see these same things at COTS, I feel a sense of calm. Like things are right, people are working as a ‘family’ to bring the simple joys of life into focus.”
The Top 10 Moments of 2018: Volunteers keep our doors open
6. Volunteers keep our doors open
Volunteers started COTS 30 years ago. Today, they provide almost half of our total labor—cooking, cleaning, gardening, repairing, teaching, playing music.
At any hour of the day—on any day—volunteers are working for COTS. They might be making meals in our kitchen, they might be patching a quilt together, repairing a bicycle cable, planning a car wash, writing a speech, organizing art supplies—you name it.
We could not do our work without you!
The Top 10 Moments of 2018: 30 years of community
7. 30 years of community
“Thank you for being there,” someone wrote on a donation check this month.
May we turn that “thank you” right around?
Thank you, COTS community. As we close our 30th year, we thank you for being there.
When homelessness burgeoned across the state, our community took a stand against human suffering. In 1988, grassroots volunteers galvanized huge swathes of people to cook, clean, shelter, encourage and mentor those who were enduring homelessness.
Congregants spread mats on church floors; business owners collected coins at their registers; scouts gathered blankets and diapers and clothes; service groups cooked meals; retired folks babysat so that parents could go to work. There’s hardly a business, a congregation, a community group or a neighborhood block that hasn’t pitched in over the years.
You willed this place into being and have stayed committed to the cause, donating thousands upon thousands of dollars and volunteer hours year after year. In our three decades, we’ve sheltered and housed thousands of people. Together, we’ve created opportunities for people and made our community a better place for everyone.
You are the sustaining heroes who make our work possible. We hope we’ll end homelessness in this country long before another 30 years pass. We know you’ll be with us on the journey however long it takes.
Thank you for being there.
The Top 10 Moments of 2018: COTS helps people stay housed
8. COTS helps people stay housed
“Find housing. Keep housing.”
That’s our motto, and that’s what we help people do. Because almost nothing is more disruptive to the life of a child or an adult than to lose a home.
Maybe you think of us primarily as a shelter. And we do provide emergency shelter to about 130 people.
But did you know that we provide the client-specific support necessary to keep to over 400 people in permanent housing? And we project that number will grow to over 500 in the next six months.
We tailor support to meet individual needs. One person might need intensive services and a permanently subsidized rent. Someone else might just need a few month’s rental assistance to become entirely self-sufficient.
A recent tally of our Rapid Re-Housing program stats showed that over 80 percent of our program participants did not access Sonoma County homeless services again.
Thank you for helping to provide the stability and opportunity that only permanent housing provides.
The Top 10 Moments of 2018: When people are housed, we all benefit
9. When people are housed, we all benefit
Rebekah Sammet was living in our Integrity Housing program when she agreed to speak at the Grand Opening of the Laure Reichek Housing Hub in July. She talked about how having permanent housing changed her life and the life of her two-year-old daughter.
“I’ve lived in our house with my daughter Rosabella for almost a year. We live in a large house with several roommates. I grew up in Santa Rosa and much of my extended family lives here. When I was a child, there was a lot of turmoil in my family life. We were homeless several times.
“I’m grateful that Rosabella, who is two, won’t have memories of homelessness. We had to evacuate for several weeks during the fires, and I noticed that the upheaval made her anxious and nervous.
“Seeing that, and coming up on our one-year anniversary in our house—I’ve been thinking…thinking about what stable housing does for a child and for an adult. I can see that for Rosabella having a home makes her secure. She’s fearless about going to preschool. She’s not clingy because she knows I’ll be there, and her house will be there at the end of the day. When we drive around town, she calls out the names of our relatives who live nearby. When we’re near Snoopy’s Skating Rink, that’s “Grandma Irene.” Bennet Valley is “A.J.” She’s at home here.
“For me, I notice that without the weight of homelessness, I can actually start thinking about my future.
“Since moving in, I’ve been promoted at my job at an auto parts store, and I’m able to really take stock of my talents and skills and think about what I want to do. I’m very good at helping people, and whatever my future holds I want it to include that. I know one other thing for sure: once Rosabella is in school, the future involves more school for me.
“Having a place to live has also allowed me space to pursue my passions and creativity. For one thing, I’m working on making a butterfly garden—something I’ve wanted to do for years.
“It means a lot for me to be able to stay here in Santa Rosa. Just like Rosabella, I feel rooted here. I’m glad that—through this office—others will get the same opportunity to stay. “
Since speaking at the Housing Hub’s Grand Opening, Rebekah has moved to a shared rental with family members. She just finished her first semester at the junior college, where she earned straight As! She is also serving on the Leadership Council of Home Sonoma County, the task force that is making decisions about how to allocate resources for the homeless throughout the county. “I am excited to put my focus onto the issue of homeless crisis in Sonoma County and help create whatever we can!” she says.
Thanks to your support, our entire county will benefit from Rebekah’s experience, energy and curiosity. Thank you!
The Top 10 Moments of 2018: COTS is honored to help in fire recovery
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.
COTS December News
Dear Friends,
Happy Holidays!
Thank you for all your support.
It’s a busy time of year, and we hope you’ll take some time for yourself to read some news from COTS. This is what your support makes possible. This is truly a season of light.
105 people are home for the holidays.
Thanks to this hugely generous community, we were able to open the Laure Reichek Housing Hub in mid-July to house people impacted by the Sonoma County fires of 2017.
Our goal is to house and stabilize at least 572 people over three years. We’re off to a good start: in our first five months, 105 people found permanent homes through the Hub.
Thank you, community!
COTS Holiday Free Store
Together, we worked a holiday miracle—housing 105 people since July out of our Santa Rosa office alone and more from our shelters in Petaluma! Thank you for making our work possible.
Now, we need another miracle.
We have over 200 households who are counting on us for holiday presents. 200!
People are donating like gangbusters to our Holiday Free Store, but—so far—we are not on track to serve all of our families.
If you’d like to help create another miracle, please donate gifts or gift cards to our Holiday Free Store at 223 North McDowell Blvd. in Petaluma. It’s in the Kmart shopping center, in the same pod as Starbucks. The Free Store is open for donations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., until December 19th, on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
If those times don’t work for you, please drop off your new, unwrapped gifts at an Exchange Bank branch in Petaluma. Be sure to let the folks at the bank know that your gift is for the Free Store. The Exchange Bank is also doing a giving tree and the employees there don’t want to mix up gifts.
Volunteer Spotlight: Zarbia Perez
Zarbia Perez’s school, St. Vincent de Paul High School, requires that students volunteer in their community. Zarbia completed her required 30 hours long ago, but she’s a constant presence at COTS. Right now, the senior is a mainstay at our Holiday Free Store, decorating, sorting, organizing and arranging. She loves meeting donors. “It’s amazing to see their generosity,” she says. “They are regular people and they come in and give so much! It’s almost like they are superheroes that are willing to donate so much for others.”
The preparation is fun, but Zarbia is most looking forward to helping COTS clients shop for their families.
“I think at my age, it’s easy to live in a bubble. I’m really fortunate. I have a great family and plans for a great future. Doing something like this helps me stay aware that not everyone is so lucky. It helps me put myself in other people’s shoes. I can get an understanding of what they’re going through.” Bottom line, Zarbia says: “It feels good to help.”
How good? Well, she’s recruited friends and family to the work as well. “It’s a great way for all of us to get in the holiday spirit,” she says.
Client Profile: Housed and on a path to health
If you consulted the actuarial tables, Ricardo should be dead.
He was born into a family where no one looked out for him except to do him terrible, terrible harm. He started smoking weed at age seven and drinking at age eight. No one intervened—not at home, not in the neighborhood, not in school. “I was always trying to be accepted, always hoping to be loved,” he says, “and I never was.”
For many years, his life took a predictable route—addiction, jail, broken relationships.
But, mysteriously, something clicked for Ricardo last year at age 39. “It was when I couldn’t see my kids,” he says. “I said, ‘Let me do treatment one more time.’”
Thanks to rental assistance from COTS’ Rapid Re-Housing program, Ricardo is now living in a Sober Living home, where he’s recently been promoted to assistant manager. He’s enrolled in classes at the junior college to become a union electrician, and he’s taking care of his physical health—getting a necessary surgery so he’ll be able to work when his studies are completed.
But the most important thing he’s been doing is taking care of his mental and spiritual wellbeing. He’s working with a therapist to examine his past trauma and to chart the kind of future he wants for himself and his family. He’ll be interviewing with the electrician’s union this month and he’s looking forward to a long visit with his kids over the holidays.
Thank you, supporters, for giving us the means to help Ricardo in his extraordinary and courageous journey.
Another Miracle: Miracle Mule
Henry Thoreau said, “When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest.”
No one needs the power of music more than people enduring homelessness: to fear no danger, to feel connected—if only for an hour—is a great gift.
We are so grateful to the nonprofit Bread and Roses and to its seemingly endless supply of volunteer musicians. Every month, free of charge, they bring us a new, wonderful band or soloist.
On Wednesday, the “swampy-tonk” band Miracle Mule wowed us with a Louisiana-tinged program. They were tight and funny and they made people feel GREAT!
Thanks to all our friends at Bread and Roses.
Looking for a hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind gift?
Visit Petaluma Crafterino on Sunday, December 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Petaluma Veterans Memorial Building, 1094 Petaluma Boulevard South. The event features 70 artisans and craftspeople and—for the 10th year in a row—the event benefits COTS!
From all of us here at COTS, thank you for all you do, and we wish you a happy holiday season!
Holiday Free Store Volunteer Orientation
It's time for the COTS Holiday Free Store!
It’s that time again! COTS is hosting its annual Holiday Free Store, where our clients can come shop for their families from a selection of new, donated items in a beautiful donated store front in Petaluma. If you’re looking for a way to get involved and give back this holiday season, this is a great way to do so!
We are looking for volunteers to help us stock, decorate, and run the free store. If you’re interested in helping out, join us for an informational meeting on
WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 14TH, 2018
6:00pm coffee and tea meet & greet,
6:30pm orientation
In the dining room at the Mary Isaak Center
900 Hopper St in Petaluma
There will be shift sign-ups and more information about how to get involved, including information about donating, and our new gift-giving system. Please fill out the form below to let us know you’re coming, and we hope to see you there!
Ricardo
If you consulted the actuarial tables, Ricardo should be dead.
He was born into a family where no one looked out for him except to do him terrible harm. He started smoking weed at age seven and drinking at age eight. No one intervened—not at home, not in the neighborhood, not in school. “I was always trying to be accepted, always hoping to be loved,” he says, “and I never was.”
For many years, his life took the predictable route—addiction, jail, broken relationships.
But, mysteriously, something clicked for Ricardo last year at age 39. “It was when I couldn’t see my kids,” he says. “I said, ‘Let me do treatment one more time.’”
Thanks to rental assistance from COTS’ Rapid Re-Housing program, Ricardo is now living in a Sober Living home, where he’s recently been promoted to assistant manager. He’s enrolled in classes at the junior college to become a union electrician, and he’s taking care of his physical health—getting a necessary surgery so he’ll be able to work when his studies are completed.
But the most important thing he’s been doing is taking care of his mental and spiritual wellbeing. He’s working with a therapist to examine his past trauma and to chart the kind of future he wants for himself and his family. He’s also taking all the steps required to be able to see his kids unsupervised.
Thank you, supporters, for giving us the means to help Ricardo in his extraordinary and courageous journey.
Help Prepare a Holiday Meal at COTS
Interested in getting involved this holiday season? COTS is preparing two special meals this year, and we could use your help! We will be serving a full lunch Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. If you are interested in coming by to help out, please fill out the form below.
Space is limited, so reach out as soon as possible to secure your spot.
If you have questions about volunteering, contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Erik Shutvet, at (707) 765-6530 x136 or [email protected].
Thanksgiving Day Lunch Shift: Thursday, November 22nd, 8am-1pm
Christmas Day Lunch Shift: Tuesday, December 25th, 8am-1pm