Volunteer Profile: Curt Peters
Curt Peters, right, with his family and Development Director Jamieson Bunn, far left, at the 2019 COTS Big Thanks event, donating the proceeds of a thriving lemonade stand the boys put on to help our clients experiencing homelessnessEvery nonprofit needs a strong board. Its members should bring to the table a variety of skills, a willingness to work hard, and a collective wealth of experience.
But no matter how diverse the board, the common denominator must be passion for the mission and a drive to share it.
For Curt Peters, father of three boys between the ages of five and ten, the reason to serve—the passion to serve—is clear. “There are homeless children in a tough situation,” he says, “kids in our elementary school.”
“It’s so important for COTS to provide them with a foundation and a springboard. Knowing that they have a roof over the heads, just like my kids do, knowing that they have internet access and can keep up with their school…that feels good.”
At 35, Curt is the Director of Finance for Enphase Energy, a solar energy tech company with offices in Petaluma. In his spare time, he’s earning his MBA from UC Berkeley.
COTS CEO Chuck Fernandez is grateful for Curt’s business acumen and his social amenity. When Curt weighs in on an issue, “it is always with the highest amount of respect, courtesy and professionalism,” Chuck says.
Curt looks forward to the day when he and many others of his generation can contribute even more.
“People my age, we’re getting kids to school, we’re getting established, we’re busy,” he says. “I’m learning from the seasoned board members so that one day the torch can be passed.”
Right now, Curt is happy that his board assignments give him flexibility. Depending on the time he has available, he can make thank you calls, speak at a function or invite people to COTS events.
“It doesn’t matter how busy we are, we can step up,” he says. “Everything counts. If you can deliver a food box, if you can donate something. It all counts.”
Curt’s inspired to volunteer by his faith and good examples in his life like his wife Catherine, who volunteers “non-stop,” Curt says. Catherine has thrown on an apron to volunteer in COTS’ food programs and she also helps in her children’s classrooms.
A numbers guy, Curt wishes there was a way to reckon the benefit of COTS’ services to the entire community. “COTS impacts all of us in this incredible way,” he says. “Whether it’s less of a demand for hospital services, cleaner streets, kids doing better in school. There are all these things that we wouldn’t recognize unless they were gone.”
Thank you for your service, Curt!
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Volunteer Profile: Maskateers
Kaye Burfoot, a member of the Masketeers, posing with some of the masks she's made“Your life is worth my time.”
That’s the motto of mask-makers across the country. That’s the reason that in just two weeks, a band of volunteer seamsters has been able to supply over 1,000 homemade masks–enough for every COTS shelter resident and staff member as well as staff and clients of many more local organizations.
And they’re not stopping there. The April 17 order obliging the use of masks created an even bigger need.
“The Maskateers” began work on April 7, when retired SRJC administrator KC Greaney posted on Facebook asking for volunteers.
She was quickly answered by Kaye Burfoot, a Petaluma High grad, who quickly ran up two dozen colorful, many-layered masks.
KC, together with organizer Russ Powell, recruited over 20 more women to cut and sew in their homes. They share fabrics, patterns and materials. One-by-one, they drop their creations on KC’s front porch. She then launders and packages them for pick-up.
“Gazing around at our shelter clients, each one protected and cared for by this group of generous and talented local citizens has been one of my true joys during this turbulent time,” says COTS Director of Programs Jules Pelican. “We extend tremendous thanks to KC Greaney who has headed up this effort and to the entire group for their generosity of heart.” KC was just named “Hero of the Week” by Marin’s Partnership Resources Group.
Making a mask can take from 30 to 60 minutes, Kaye says. Masks for the children in our programs can take even longer. We estimate our seamsters have collectively contributed somewhere between 450 and 900 hours to the effort.
Who are they and why do they do this work?
At 19, Kaye is one of the youngest. She’s a novelist, 500-pages into a fantasy about an unjustly deposed king who travels his kingdom incognito, helping his subjects wherever he can. Kaye works for a wholesale florist. Like many, her hours have been cut, and she wanted to do something good with her extra time. She’s been active in the Sunrise movement, which combats climate change, so she knows the impact and importance of activism. “I wanted to find something I could do to help,”’ she says. “And I had all this extra fabric. Once I got through it all and I got connected, they sent me more fabric and supplies.”
Except for Russ, the group is completely female. And completely impressive! There are academics, scientists, artists and musicians, legal professionals, administrators, medical professionals, researchers, costumers and quilters.
Studies indicate that the use of masks reduces the risks of virus transmission. “I want to give back to healthcare workers who risk their lives every day to care for us,” one seamster said. “More specifically, I want to give back to my community—and there aren’t very many opportunities to do that right now.”
Many of the volunteers have never met each in person, but they have a lively back-and-forth through email and social media and will no doubt enjoy wonderful get-togethers when the shelter in place order is lifted.
On behalf of COTS and all the other organizations receiving these volunteer-crafted masks: thank you, Masketeers!
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Volunteer Profile: Ben Leviloff
Many of our regular volunteers face higher risks should they contract COVID-19. We encourage them to stay home and return to volunteering only when things are safer.
In our food programs, especially, we’re feeling the volunteer labor shortage. That’s because new safety protocols mean more work. We serve meals to our residents in shifts, cleaning and sanitizing after each seating. We provide table service to keep people from congregating in lines. And for non-residents, we serve meals to-go.
To date, no one in COTS programs or on our staff has tested positive for COVID-19! We know that’s part luck, but it’s also down to our commitment to social distancing, impeccable hygiene, and clear rules and expectations.
All hail the COTS staff members who have risen to the challenge in a magnificent fashion. They are Chef Janin Harmon, Food Services Manager Max Knerler, Food Services Assistant Nichole Bankson, Outreach Specialist Jeff Schueller, and our CEO Chuck Fernandez, who serves lunch almost every day. Many, many thanks to the resident volunteers who have committed to providing meals and safe conditions for their peers.
And many, many thanks to the community volunteers—new and continuing—who have stepped up during the shelter-in-place order. Though we’re careful to follow all prescribed safety protocols, we know our volunteers, like our frontline staff, exhibit both compassion and bravery when they walk through our doors.
Ben Leviloff, 18, is a new volunteer. And a newcomer to Petaluma. He graduated high school early and is bound for college in the fall to study Math.
When the epidemic struck, he had just started his own math tutoring company, which he quickly moved online. “My two passions are math and teaching. So, doing this is a win-win.”
When the shelter-in-place order hit, he wanted to do something to help, but he knew almost nothing about his new town. He surfed around on his phone and found COTS. And are we ever happy he did.
He’s been helping in the kitchen every Monday for the last month. After suiting up with mask, gloves and apron, Ben spends the first part of his day sorting food. He refrigerates the perishables, stores the shelf-stables and composts the unsalvageable. Then, Food Services Manager Max Knerler will put him to work prepping food for the following day. One day, he’ll crack eggs for two hours. On another, he may chop peppers.
Then it’s time to get ready for dinner. Ben will help serve up meals: in to-go boxes for non-residents and on plates for residents. Come 5 p.m., residents start coming in the door in shifts of 12. Each sits at his or own table, appropriately distanced from all the others. Ben will deliver a meal, take a drink order and engage in a little friendly chat–more and more chat each week.
“I am not the life skills-type guy. I like a good book in the classroom. I’m shy until I get comfortable in my environment,” Ben says. “But after a few weeks, I’ve been building up confidence. We’re having more conversations. And they [the residents] have been building up confidence in me that I’ll come back.”
Diners are “incredibly well-mannered and nice,” Ben says. “I already knew it, but it just shows you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance.”
Like everybody these days, our resident are under a lot of stress. Ben saw someone break down in tears the last time he was in. “It struck me how much the situation is affecting people there. Hopefully, I’m helping a little. Hopefully, they can manage until this is over.”
“When I’ve gone through struggles, I’ve always had key people around me who have helped and guided me. I’ve come to appreciate them,” he says, “especially in recent years. They’ve taught me how important it is to pay it forward and to live a meaningful life. Doing things for others is what makes you happy.”
From his still-limited experience of COTS, he sees it as a place where people can regain security and find housing. And the food programs are essential to that: “Everybody should be well fed and taken care of while they’re in the process of finding stability. In fact, you can’t find stability without having the basics.”
He lives with his parents, who were initially concerned about his volunteering, fearing that Ben would encounter risks at COTS. But he explained our safety protocols and they now support his efforts.
Outside of his tutoring work and his volunteering, Ben is using shelter-in-place to work on his running, with a goal of completing a half marathon by the end of the summer. He’s also keeping in touch with friends.
His advice to people thinking about volunteering: “Get yourself out there.” You may or may not want to volunteer in a way that gets you out of your home, but “with every situation, there’s an opportunity.”
Thank you, Ben!
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Chuck's Virtual Coffee - April 2020
As COTS’ CEO, each month I take a moment to consider what I want our community to know about our organization and our progress in serving Sonoma County’s homeless. I look forward to sharing these thoughts with you in this Virtual Cup of Coffee – my monthly communique about the business and mission moments of COTS (Committee On The Shelterless). In the Business portion, I will share the nuts and bolts of what we do to serve the homeless – our successes and our challenges. In the Mission Moment, I will share stories about our clients and our wonderful staff who make it all happen. I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to your feedback.
Please stay safe,
Chuck
Mitigating COVID-19
There is nothing more important in our community today than fighting the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our world safe. Since our March Virtual Coffee, much has changed at COTS to continue mitigation of the spread of COVID.
Because of social distancing requirements from the state, we’ve reduced the capacity of our shelter by 50% – from 112 people to 56. People sleeping in our dorm must be six feet apart. We made the reduction slowly over the last five weeks through attrition and by not admitting any new clients. In the dining room, only one shelter resident eats at a table and there are no more than 12 people eating in the dining room at one time. No one is allowed to eat unless they wash their hands at a portable hand washing station in the dining room. Residents are served their meal when they sit versus going through a food line. Once the resident has finished eating, their table and chair are sprayed with a disinfectant before the next person sits to eat. Non-shelter people coming for a meal are given a “to go” meal box from a back door and are not allowed in the dining room.
Case management with our residents continues but only from a six-foot distance or over the phone. We also continue to provide health care and now mental health counseling but only through telemedicine and teletherapy.
All residents and staff must wear face masks. No one is allowed on the shelter campus unless they have a mask. We’ve given out masks and our clients, for many reasons, often lose them. So we record who gets a mask as they are in limited supply.
We continue to follow our virus protection cleaning protocols by mopping floors, cleaning the bathrooms, and wiping flat surfaces and door handles multiple times per day. This is required on the first two floors where the work with clients happens and on the third floor that houses administrative staff.
We also worked with the Homeless Emergency Operations Center in Santa Rosa to place three port-a-potties with hand washing stations at high homeless areas in Petaluma. And thanks to state funding, we sent six residents to a motel in Santa Rosa that met the entry requirement of over age 65 and or with serious underlying medical conditions.
We also had a small group of residents and staff tested for the virus. Thankfully, all tested negative.
We have a long way to go before we can even think about relaxing. In the meantime, we will keep you updated as we continue to make improvements to keep everyone safe.
Gratitude Pay
Starting on April 12 and going through June 6, we are paying “Gratitude Pay” to those COTS staff who have direct day to day contact with those experiencing homelessness – at our Mary Isaak Shelter, our Kids First and Family Shelter, and our Housing Programs at Vida Nueva and our Santa Rosa Hub. Some call it Hazard Pay but we prefer Gratitude Pay to express just how grateful we are for people showing up and risking their health to serve a very vulnerable population.
This was made possible through three very generous donors with big hearts that truly care for our staff and those we serve. Thank you very much to those special donors who made this possible.
And thanks to those same three donors, we are also able to provide each staff at COTS (all forty-one of us) three one-hour phone sessions with Shadi Shamshavari, founder of Human Remedy in Petaluma. Shadi is a highly trained professional in organization and relationship systems coaching. Some of our staff have worked with Shadi to help them move through challenges they are facing. She creates a safe, warm, and trusting atmosphere and given the challenges we are all experiencing from COVID-related isolation, stresses, or working from home, having someone other than a peer to talk through things can be helpful.
There are many selfless and tireless front line and first responder people working to keep our community safe and healthy – medical, law enforcement and fire, those feeding the hungry, delivering our mail, keeping our stores stocked with essential supplies, and so many more. Our staff at COTS are also front line serving a very vulnerable population – the homeless. Thank you everyone and thank you COTS staff for showing up every day. We are grateful to you.
Until next month,
Chuck Fernandez
Volunteer Profile: Marie Schmittroth
“The lady’s here,” a little boy announces as he plops his big backpack down on a table and pulls out a handful of slightly crumpled worksheets.
The “lady” is Marie Schmittroth, and she’s at our Kids First Family Shelter for Homework Club. “Every Tuesday from 3 to 5,” Marie says, “I’m there. And every Tuesday is different.” Last week was heavy on adding and subtracting fractions. This week may bring California history, vocabulary words, spelling drills, times tables or an art project.
“They just need to hear ‘You can do it,’ most of the time” Marie says. “I can help them feel capable. And when you feel capable, then you want to do your homework.”
“That was fast,” she tells a fifth-grader who’s just completed a long word problem. “And that’s right. You figured out that they just threw those extra numbers in to keep things interesting.”
“You’ve got that decimal in the right place,” she tells another. “Now, how much money does that make?”
“Good, good, good.” That’s the constant refrain from Marie, and it’s the refrain that keeps kids focused on their work, confident that they can do it.
Marie’s been a fixture of our children’s program for years, providing tutoring and childcare. Her first day with us was “overwhelmingly toddlers,” she says. “It was the most stunning thing to see little kids who are so alive and open and coming into who they are. I fell in love with toddler care.”
A highlight for her from her time at COTS is her relationship with a little 8-year-old boy we’ll call “Benjamin.” Benjamin is non-verbal and highly sensitive. For his mom to attend a class, we needed a one-on-one companion for him—someone who could take him out of the childcare room if things got too raucous or overwhelming. Marie and Benjamin spent two-and-a-half hours every Monday night just wandering around the San Antonio High School campus, with Benjamin pulling Marie by the hand and stopping every now and then to examine something: a section of chain link fence, a soda can, a leaf, a plastic toy. He frequently waited for Marie’s reaction before moving on or taking another look at something.
“To slow down and be able to quietly connect with him was lovely,” Marie says. She stays in touch with Benjamin and his mom, who have been in their own rental housing for years.
Marie also treasures the relationships she’s made with other kids—especially the kids who challenge her or are hard to reach. “As a person who had a childhood with a lot of upheaval, I don’t come to this thinking that the kids are going to be all light and sunshine and laughter,” Marie says. “I like building relationships and trust.”
“It’s important for everybody to know they’re worth somebody’s time and that they’re valued. It’s a gift to me that I can help someone know they have worth and value.”
Thank you, Marie!
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Volunteer Profile: Marge Popp
Marge Popp, left, with fellow volunteer, Edgar Marroquin, right. To read Edgar's story, click here.
Marge Popp is our longest-serving volunteer at Mary’s Table. But she’s been feeding her community even longer than COTS has been around.
When she was a little girl growing up during the Depression, she and her mother used to feed homeless people who came to their door. “We called them ‘hobos’ back then,” she says. “They used to pencil in little marks on your doorsill so that other hobos would know which houses were good.”
“Ours had some kind of sign on it, and it must have been good. We had a lot of them coming by.” The family didn’t have much to share, but Marge’s mother always managed to give something.
“Come to think of it, my mother is probably the person who made me think about volunteering,” Marge says.
During World War Two, Marge and her friends volunteered with the USO at a hall on Liberty Street. They would dance, play cards, share snacks and chat with servicemen from around the country. “They kept the juke box pretty up to date. We had a lot of fun—but no hanky panky,” Marge says. Many of her girlfriends met their husbands through their time with the USO, and that brought people from around the country to live in Petaluma. But Marge married Don Popp. He served in World War Two, but he was a Petaluma boy, someone she’d known her entire life. They married after the war and built a house in 1950.
After high school, Marge worked at Western Dairy (now the Burdell Building). “It was a different time back then,” Marge says. “If you didn’t have money, you got a job right after high school. And you were happy to have it. There were the rich people. We called them ‘The 400.’ And then there was everybody else.” At the dairy, Marge was “an office girl.”
“They didn’t call us secretaries or anything like that. We were all just office girls.” To start, she worked 48 hours a week and brought home the magnificent sum of $17 every Friday. She retired in 1982 when the business sold.
Immediately, she began to volunteer at Mary’s Table’s precursor, The Petaluma Kitchen on Payran Street. That opened in 1982 to serve the households who’d been displaced because of flooding. After the floods, the St. Vincent de Paul Society kept the kitchen open. They served lunch to anyone who needed a meal, and Marge stuck with them. In 2002, COTS took over operations and Marge stuck with us. All told, she’s spent more than 30,000 hours in service to feeding the poor through the kitchen.
Before the virus hit, Marge was working three shifts a week. She and her teams of volunteers are close. “They’re all interesting and fun-loving and willing to work,” Marge says. “We have a good time.” After months and years together, they’re close. They’ve shared joys and sorrows, including the 2016 death of Marge’s beloved Don. Thye’ve admired photos of one another’s children and grandchildren and helped one another through hard times. When someone on the team is recovering from illness or injury, Marge is there with meals and phone calls.
Marge’s kitchen career is now longer than her professional one. Diners love her booming greetings, her encouragement and her smiles. Petaluma named her volunteer of the year in 2014. To us, she’s Volunteer of the Century.
Diana Morales, who coordinates COTS volunteer program, says our Marge is solidly on the side of our clients. “Every morning that she comes in, she asks, ‘How many clients got housing?’ That is what she’s interested in.”
Marge has lots of stories about volunteering, but we only have room for one.
Shortly before the shelter in place order, Marge and her fellow volunteers were at a restaurant together. One of the busboys leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “He said, ‘You were so nice to me when I was at COTS. Thank you.’ I hardly remembered him, but that was so nice to see him doing well for himself,” Marge says.
Her advice: “Stop and think of what you’ve got. Then think about people who don’t have what you do. Ask yourself what you’d be doing if you were in that position. You’d be asking for help. So let’s give it.”
Our advice: volunteer so that you can hear some of Marge’s stories!
Thank you, Marge!
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Volunteer Profile: Nick Harris
Kicking around a soccer ball. Flying paper airplanes and whirligigs. Refereeing races. Batting balloons. Bowling down paper cups. Laughing at jokes and riddles. Listening. Asking questions. Watching. Paying attention.
That’s the volunteer work Nick Harris does with the kids at our Kids First Family Shelter.
He comes once a week after school lets out. COTS calls his sessions “Structured Play,” and Nick says the structure all comes from the kids.
“That’s what I’m learning,” he says. “You might come in with an agenda, but kids want to do what they want to do. And this is their time. I don’t want it to feel like another classroom.” So, Nick doesn’t mind if the game or project he brought never makes it out of the box. He’s happy doing what the kids want.
Most of all, they want attention, Nick says. “Really, it’s hard not to get emotional about it sometimes when you see how little they’re asking for. They’re in this very difficult period of their lives. If I can just for a moment be something stable and positive in their lives, that’s great.”
“He’s like a big bear,” Case Manager Wendy Lindberg says. “He comes in here with this infectious smile and this ‘Let’s get this party started’ attitude. He learns everybody’s name and makes them feel great.”
“The last time he was here [before the Shelter in Place order], there were only a few kids around,” Wendy says. “And it was so nice to see them getting one-on-one time. They didn’t want him to leave when it was over.”
Nick is the General Manager of Petaluma Coffee and Tea. He discovered he wanted to help COTS last year, while participating in the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership program. The group learned about local nonprofits. “I decided that COTS was the best place I could give back to my community.”
“What I really like about COTS is that it’s a place where people can feel normal and valued,” Nick says. “That’s the first step in getting back on your feet. What I think is the biggest issue is the degrading of people who are homeless, thinking of them as ‘less than.’ That is scary and terrible in my mind.”
Nick and his wife Ashley (who’s on the board of Petaluma Bounty) are keeping Petaluma Coffee and Tea open in this crazy time. And he’s eager to get back to COTS when he’s allowed. In the meantime, he’s working on his cars, his record collection and his art work. He was a sculpture major at SSU and works in everything from styrofoam to bronze.
His advice to people thinking about volunteering: “Think about what interests you. But be flexible, too. If you give without caveats you might be able to provide what someone else needs to get them through.”
Thank you, Nick!
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Volunteer Profile: Russ Mabardy
Russ Mabardy has given us almost three years of wonderful cooking and wonderful good cheer.
But that’s a drop in the bucket of all he’s done to help people move on from homelessness.
Foot care is a huge need among homeless people. They’re often walking long distances in wet socks or ill-fitting shoes. Or no shoes at all. And when Russ was practicing and teaching podiatry, he’d take students to a shelter in Richmond to offer free care. “You see a lot of infections, simple problems that can get much worse if left untreated. My students had a great experience and a lot of people got the care they needed. It was a win/win experience,” Russ says.
While volunteering at the Richmond Shelter, Russ met a resident who had recently lost her job. Her employer hadn’t been able to provide accommodations for her disability.
Russ hired her to work in his front office. “She was a great asset. She worked with me for two years,” he says. “When you saw her, you would have never guessed what her journey had been. It shows what’s possible with a little support.”
He lived in Marin and he got involved there, too, cooking for a shelter program.
After retiring and moving to Petaluma, Russ joined the kitchen team at Mary’s Table. It was after the 2017 fires and he was searching for a way to make a difference.
“I get more out of it than I give,” he says. “I enjoy the cooking and the creative process in the kitchen. We put out some amazing meals.”
And what chef doesn’t like compliments from diners?
“Most of them are really grateful and they’ll say, ‘Who made this?’ or ‘I really liked that.’ That means a lot. I get a lot of rewards.” To date, Russ’ pulled pork has garnered the best reviews.
He’s enjoyed learning on the job, broadening his repertoire. “I cook everything from soup to nuts,” Russ says, “but I learn new things all the time in the kitchen.” From former chef Derrick Ng, he learned to be liberal with spices. Our current chef Janin Harmon taught him the finer points of a perfectly cubed mire poix.
And clients who volunteer in the kitchen teach him things all the time. “For me, it’s a critical piece [that clients are volunteering]” Russ says. “It shows they feel invested in the process.”
“I’ve seen some guys come through who are real chefs and cooks. It’s a pleasure to work alongside them.”
COTS liaison with volunteers is Diana Morales. She loves that Russ is “interested in COTS as an organization, not just the part he plays. He’s very friendly with the other volunteers and he’s great with the clients,” she says.
“When he’s serving, he is so kind,” says Diana. “He remembers the clients, he remembers what they talked about and he shows an interest in who they are. That’s so important.”
Outside of COTS, Russ dotes on his children and grandchildren–all of whom amaze him with their smarts, their talents and their energy. He cooks, of course, and he gardens. He’s also active in a spiritual community, a drumming circle and a hiking group.
His advice for people considering volunteering: “They should do it. They’ll gain gratitude, they’ll gain compassion. You get a sense that we’re all in this together.”
Not a cook? Not to worry. “COTS is a big organization,” Russ says. There’s something there for everyone.”
Thank you, Russ!
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Volunteer Profile: Molly Isaak
Molly Isaak, right, with COTS co-founder Laure Reichek, at Mary's Table
“I remember hearing my mom say she would think about homeless people when she was in her bed and it was raining. She would be thinking how lucky she was and how unfortunate they were. And how she needed to do something. I remember her saying that.”
Molly Isaak volunteers to honor her mom Mary Isaak’s memory. Along with Laure Reichek and a band of volunteers, Mary formed COTS in 1988 and began offering food, shelter and services to a suddenly burgeoning homeless population.
A busy nurse, Molly volunteers in our kitchen every Sunday. Covid-19 hasn’t stopped her. She’s still coming in, wearing a mask and demonstrating to everyone the best practices for safety.
While she’s chopping fruits and vegetables, she has conversations with her mom. “I say things like, ‘Mom, I’m here. Let me know what you want me to do.’ I tell her, ‘I want to give comfort to the residents. I hope they will feel good about themselves. I want them to feel valuable and cared for.’ It’s my way of communing with my mother.”
And, just as her mother did, Molly finds volunteering is “a great way to make yourself feel better.”
Diana Morales, who manages COTS’ volunteers, says Molly “inherited her mother’s idea that we’re all in this together. I consider her a courageous person because she doesn’t do this on a surface level. She gets to know our residents. She engages with them. She keeps track of them from the time they first arrive to the time they leave.”
Molly says she loves the moments of connection that come from casual conversations with residents. And that includes connecting about sorrow. Recently, for example, a resident told her she’d been wondering about Molly’s custom license plate. Molly told her the plate is a memorial to Phoebe, the 25-year-old daughter Molly lost in 2003. “That was a beautiful moment,” Molly says. “She was very empathetic. I’m always happy when the residents talk to me.”
When not at work or at COTS, Molly is making jewelry or communing with nature. She lives in American Canyon and has a backyard full of flowers, vegetables and fruit trees. She feeds the birds and the squirrels. “Right now, I’m a little mad at the raccoons because they broke a piece of pottery that I love. I’ll glue it together and get over it.”
Her advice to people thinking about volunteering? “Try it. Volunteering at COTS gives joy!
Show your support by donating today!
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COTS April Newsletter: Coping with Covid-19, and some much-needed good news
COTS: Coping with COVID-19
This week, COTS published an overview of our efforts to meet the challenges of the current moment to serve our clients in shelter, in our housing programs, and through supportive services. We hope this helps our community understand some of the challenges those experiencing homelessness face and some of the strategies our staff are using to keep our community safe and healthy.
“While the full impact of COVID-19 is yet unknown, we do expect it to have an exponential effect on the homeless community. In Sonoma County, 68% of homeless survey respondents reported having one or more health condition, making them particularly susceptible to illness, infection and death than housed populations. Increasing the urgency, a potential economic fallout could drastically increase the local homeless count and create an even higher demand for shelter and services. As that demand increases, so does the need for stronger sanitation, adaptable facilities, and additional staffing.”
– From COTS: Coping with COVID-19
COTS staff have displayed a remarkable courage and resilience through these necessary changes, and we are grateful to everyone in the community who has stepped up to make our work lighter: by donating food, funds, and necessary items, by making masks, by volunteering, and in so many incredible ways. We will continue to keep our community informed as we respond to the situation on the ground.
Report on the Sonoma County COVID-19 Homeless Team from Chuck Fernandez
People experiencing homelessness already have compromised physical, mental, and emotional systems. Living on the streets or in encampments with poor hygiene and dietary habits only make matters worse. For those coming into a shelter environment and living in a congregate environment, practicing “social distancing” is difficult.
So what is Sonoma County doing to address the homeless situation during these challenging times? LOTS. They set-up an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and a COVID-19 Homeless Team (Team) staffed with public health, medical, and City and County professional staff to direct homeless services and keep people safe. The EOC conducts twice weekly calls with all homeless providers in the County. We have several COTS staff on those calls.
The Team’s focus is on three areas:
- Mitigation Strategies, which emphasizes physical distancing and cleanliness. All shelters must comply with the six-foot rule. For COTS, our bed capacity will be reduced from 112 beds to around 56 beds to accommodate this change. The County is also working on placing 39 port-o-potties and hand washing stations throughout the County, including three in Petaluma.The Team is also working on getting supplies to homeless providers – hand sanitizers, masks and gloves, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as soon as possible. Food insecurity for the 2,000+ unsheltered is also important, so a separate Food Team is addressing that issue.
- Overflow, which means finding a new spot for people displaced from the shelter because of physical distancing. Those over age 65 will be placed in a hotel/motel room. This process has already started in Santa Rosa.
- Quarantine, whereby the EOC is securing sites for people who need to be in isolation. There will likely be several sites across Sonoma County.
Things are changing rapidly and the EOC and Homeless Team are moving as fast as is humanly possible. They are taking this responsibility VERY seriously. By the time you get this newsletter, things will have already changed. We will do our very best to keep you updated through email, on our website at cots.org, and via social media. Thank you for your partnership as we rally around our neighbors experiencing homelessness at this uncertain time!
Good News
These days the news can be overwhelming – but at COTS, we’ve been overwhelmed in a different way: overwhelmed by the kindness, resourcefulness and courage of this community!
First, thank you to everyone who has made a financial donation to COTS. Keeping people safe means all sorts of extra costs for COTS. We are so grateful to those of you who anticipated our need. We share the messages of support that you include with your donations and they lift our spirits. Many, many thanks.
Here’s more good news:
Our staff and a crew of volunteers are keeping our shelters and housing programs running—and running well. Patience, professionalism, good sense, good humor and bravery are the characteristics that describe our staff. Many of our regular volunteers had to step aside to protect their health or the health of a family member. We are grateful to a group of new volunteers from the community and from among our clients. Thank you!
Just as the masks that St. John’s Episcopal Church donated were running out, an old-timey sewing circle has formed to make masks for staff and clients. Many thanks to KC Greaney for organizing this effort. To donate materials and/or sew some masks, please contact Eileen Morris at [email protected]. Many, many thanks to St. Johns for being the advance guard of our safety efforts.
We have artisanal hand sanitizer thanks to Canna Craft and the City of Petaluma’s water quality laboratory.
And just as our gloves were running out, Petaluma Valley Hospital came through with several boxes. That was followed by donations of gloves from Petaluma Police and Fire departments.
Thanks to the City of Petaluma for the donation of a long passenger van. Having it means we can now transport clients to medical appointment with safe distancing. This is a game changer!
Shadi Shamsavari of Human Remedy surprised our staff with a Persian feast. And there’s more on the way. Thank you!
Girl Scout Troop 10103 had to halt their cookie sales, so they donated over 100 boxes of delicious cookies to our kitchen. Never fear, Scouts. We are prepared! And grateful.
Our stalwarts are sticking with us. Ken O’Donnell and Family from McNear’s Saloon and Dining House continue to bring meals to the Mary Isaak Center. And we simply couldn’t survive without Lace House Linen right now. We are going through so many towels to keep our kitchen and dining room clean and virus-free. Lace House Linen supplies us with regular deliveries of clean kitchen linens free of charge. Trader Joe’s is, as ever, the mainstay of our food program. Thank you to all of them.
Acre Coffee has provided delicious food for our kitchen, making sure no one goes hungry at the Mary Isaak Center.
Students in our Kids First Family Shelter have a better chance to keep up with their schoolwork thanks to a gift of Kindle Fires from West America Bank.
And we are grateful for the productive, practical and creative discussions we’ve had with Petaluma Valley Hospital, the Petaluma Health Care District, and Petaluma Police and Fire to plan ahead for when someone in our programs tests positive.
The best news of all? People are still finding housing!
Celebrate Volunteers!
Our Volunteer Appreciation event had to be cancelled, so we’re showing our appreciation online. Through the end of April we’ll be featuring stories of the people who bring our programs to life, like Peggy Iacopi, pictured above, who has been volunteering for COTS for over 15 years!
And to sweeten the deal, Redwood Credit Union has once again issued their second annual COTS challenge grant to our community – meaning all donations received before April 30 will be matched up to $15,000!
We hope these stories will be a ray of sun in uncertain times, and inspire you to give back too – so that COTS programs can continue to serve those experiencing homelessness in our community. Help us meet the match today at cots.org and by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
Please visit our website at cots.org/volunteer-appreciation to read all about our many volunteers. It may be online, but our appreciation is anything but virtual.
Are you a volunteer who is willing to share your story with our community? Contact Eileen Morris at [email protected].
Outreach
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these? –King Lear
Some 400 years after Lear’s writing, we must still ask this question.
We don’t know how many people are camping in Petaluma during this season of pandemic. On a typical day, Outreach Specialist Jeff Schueller comes into contact with 40 or so. They’re camped by waterways and roadsides. They’re tucked under the freeway or bridges or behind buildings.
Jeff will tell you that they have very little to defend themselves against the virus. And much in their circumstances to make them indifferent to its effects.
Right now, COTS can’t offer these outreach clients a bed in a shelter. For the safety of our residents, we’ve had to decrease the number of people in our Mary Isaak Center dorm.
Jeff brings a big backpack out with him. It’s full of sandwiches, cookies, and fruit. The big pack also holds hand sanitizer, toiletries, socks, gloves, underwear. And his cards. “Everytime I see someone, even if I saw them the day before, I give them another card,” he says. “I want them to know who to call if they start feeling sick. And when this is over, I want them to know who to call if they want to make a change.”
“I stand ten feet away, but right now with everything closed, they are very happy to see me,” Jeff says. “I put the lunches and supplies down on the ground and we talk for a while. My hope is that we’re going to build strong relationships during this time.”
“They don’t have the news on all the time. Which might make them a little calmer than the rest of us. I’ll come out and they’ll ask, ‘What’s going on with that virus?’ I’m telling them what everyone says: stay six feet apart, keep your hands clean.” But they have no running water. Many public bathrooms and restaurant bathrooms are closed. COTS has had to reduce day-use services to protect our residents.
“Without a doubt, it’s not safe out there,” Jeff says. “Many of them are in desperate need of mental health care. And that can make it hard to make good decisions. There’s so much trauma.”
And, as of this writing, there’s so much uncertainty. What will federal and state governments provide to protect public health? To protect Jeff’s clients, and, by extension, the entire community?
“I am sharing all that I know with them,” Jeff says. “They understand that I’m standing so far away because I have a family to protect.”
No matter where we’re sheltering, we’re all going down rabbit holes, Jeff says, looking for anything to occupy us. “The other day I went out to one camp and they were all listening as one guy read from this big, big book. I was too far away to see what it was. So I asked them what they were doing, and they said, ‘He’s just reading words to us from the dictionary.'”
Jeff made a note to bring a few books with him the next time.
Jeff’s colleague Randy Clay covers Penngrove, Cotati and Rohnert Park. He also liaises with hospitals, long-term care centers and treatment facilities. The hope is to get people exited from care into safe situations.
We are so grateful to our community for supporting this work and for ensuring that COTS staff have the resources to reach out to the most vulnerable among us. If you’d like to support Jeff and Randy’s work, please donate here. We are also grateful for donations of socks, underwear and hand sanitizer.
Take-out is a hit
Take-out is a booming industry all over town, including at the Mary Isaak Center.
Meals are free to all comers at Mary’s Table. To promote social distancing, only our residents are dining in-house. Everyone else gets a to-go box. And what a to-go box it is. Pictured is Chef Janin Harmon’s Rosemary Chicken Breast with sautéed onions, bell peppers and squash. Those are accompanied by grilled asparagus, green salad and fresh Mandarin oranges.
Many thanks to the businesses which have donated to-go boxes, including Fishman’s Supply and The Shuckery in Petaluma!
Reminder: it’s not too late to vote for Chef Janin in the “Best Chef” category of the Petaluma People’s Choice awards. You can vote online by clicking here.