12 Days of Giving 2021

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| DECEMBER 2021

12 DAYS OF GIVING

note from the president/contents

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Over the past month and my limited time as the President of Napa Valley Publishing I am only now starting to understand the true spirit of Napa County. After recovering from an earthquake that literally shook it to its core.

Not one but two recent wildfires, and now as we slog our way through the COVID-19 Pandemic the spirit of Napa has been nothing short of remarkably resilient. Resiliency comes from neighbors helping one another. It is found in the helping hands of strangers and from those who know the true spirit of being grateful. Those who look at their lives and

There is no true way to quantify how many lives have benefited from the pure generosity and giving spirit of our non-profits and we hope you have enjoyed following our coverage of how our local community has been and continues to uplift those around us every day. businesses and understand that you only truly know the true meaning of life when you take time to give of yourself to help others in need.

We have all benefited from the generosity of our neighbors, a helping hand from a stranger, and have felt the overwhelming feeling of gratitude as we understand that we are not alone in our struggles.

Nowhere has our resiliency and gratitude been more prevalent than in our thriving non-profit community. There is no true way to quantify how many lives have benefited from the pure generosity and giving spirit of our non-profits and we hope you have enjoyed following our coverage of how our local community has been and continues to uplift those around us every day. It has been a privilege to share their stories with you. Along the way, we hope that we have inspired you to be even more proud of our local community and get involved if you can. I would personally like to thank our sponsor Napa Valley Vintners and the Napa Valley Community Foundation who didn’t hesitate to jump in and lend a hand.

Thank you to all those who lead with gratitude and lend a hand to help those who are in need, we all benefit from your generosity.

Jay Scott President and Director of Sales & Marketing Napa Valley Publishing

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Parks foundation gets things done Sharing fresh and perishable foods Healing through culture

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The path to citizenship Running on girl power People helping horses, horses helping people Support for families with children of all needs Keeping a roof over your head

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Preserving the past — for the future Canine Guardians are friends in need Connecting kids and animals Serving seniors during pandemic

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12 DAYS OF GIVING

DECEMBER 2021 |

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AMERICAN CANYON PARKS FOUNDATION

Parks foundation gets things done BARRY EBERLING

American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation

beberling@napanews.com

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merican Canyon resident Nanette Sauceda on a recent morning worked out on the outdoor fitness center in American Canyon near the parking area for the popular Wetlands Edge trails.

This is basically an outdoor gym. The 10 pieces of equipment allow for 30 different exercises that strengthen everything from pecs to lats. Exercise buffs can stay fit and exercise newcomers can make just about every muscle in their body sore.

“It’s so easy to use, “ Sauceda said. “I think it’s such a positive addition to the neighborhood.”

The outdoor fitness center is just one more way the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation has made a mark on the city. The nonprofit raised $50,000 for the equipment that got installed about a year ago.

“It’s turned out to be an incredible asset for the community,” Executive Director Janelle Sellick said on a recent day as she stood near the equipment.

So has the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation, Mayor Leon Garcia said. He talked about the group’s projects and how they get people outside for healthier living.

“A very energetic group,” he said.

Since its founding in 2015, the foundation has helped bring picnic tables to Kimberly Park and trail improvements to Newell Open Space Preserve. It’s held an outdoor science program for children and created a StoryWalk display at Shenandoah Park. And that’s just a sampling.

Now the foundation has set its biggest goal yet — turn the city’s public works yard along the wetlands into a regional Wetlands Ecology Center. It has a $120,000 start toward what could be a million-dollar project, once the city relocates the maintenance yard.

“The ecology center will be a home for environmental education, nature art, outdoor science and perhaps even support local research related to climate change or sea-level rise,” Sellick said.

The planned location is within walking distance to three schools, the Boys & Girls Club, and hundreds of local residents, she said. It is also along the Napa River Bay Trail.

“It’s just really well-situated to be a regional asset for the whole, entire area,” Sellick said.

Making a mark on a city with these types of projects takes money. The foundation is a fundraising force.

In 2016, it launched its annual An Evening at the Ruins event in the old cement factory ruins, with the goal of raising $50,000. The most recent event this year raised more than $300,000.

Amid its long lists of donors, the foundation on its website lists Napa Valley Vintners, Napa Valley Community Foundation, and Pacific, Gas and Electric as sponsors.

Sometimes, a particular project will attract a donor. The Napa chapter of the Sierra Club likes the ecology center idea so much that it gave a $10,000 grant for the project and committed to an additional $50,000.

The American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation wants volunteers to do such things as lead hikes and plan events. It also welcomes donors. Go to https:// www.acparks.org for more information.

BARRY EBERLING, REGISTER

Janelle Sellick, executive director of the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation, stands in an outdoor fitness center the nonprofit helped establish.

COURTESY OF AMERICAN CANYON COMMUNITY PARKS FOUNDATION

“We believe this project is important for the entire Bay Area,” said Christina Benz of the group.

Sellick is more than the executive director for the foundation. She is an American Canyon resident who was a driving force behind the foundation’s founding.

CITY OF AMERICAN CANYON It all began in 2015. Sellick Thirty different exercises was a member of the city’s can be done on the fitness Parks and Community Ser- machines installed by the vices Commission, presi- city of American Canyon dent of the Ahi Swim Team, near a city park. a member of the Mom’s Club of American Canyon, a marathon runner and an author of memory enhancement books, among other endeavors.

In other words, she was a force to be reckoned with. Sellick, city parks commissioner Matt Plate and others wanted to do more for American Canyon park programs and the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation was born.

“A lot of cities have these types of nonprofits to support government services,” Sellick said at the time. “It’s really common these days because the needs far outweigh the funding.

Barry Christian of American Canyon has helped lead hikes for the foundation. He’s come to events with his pedicab to bring children and those who have trouble walking to outdoor destinations. A long-time outdoors advocate, he decided the foundation is worth helping out with some volunteer work.

A proposed Eco-Center could be located at the site of American Canyon’s corporation yard along the wetlands. It would be a nature/environmental/community center.

COURTESY OF AMERICAN CANYON COMMUNITY PARKS FOUNDATION

The American Canyon Community Parks Foundation wants to raise money to build the Eco-Center along American Canyon’s wetlands as a regional draw.

“It’s really a great organization to have,” he said. “They support parks, trails, and open space and getting kids out for programs.”

The Foundation’s first project in 2015 was contributing $7,000 for a drinking fountain at Wetlands Edge. That’s the humble beginning that has grown to the vision for that $1 million ecology center.

“They get things done in a very positive way,” Garcia said.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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12 DAYS OF GIVING

FEEDING IT FORWARD

Sharing fresh and perishable foods

HOWARD YUNE

hyune@napanews.com

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hen Napa County food pantries and charities distribute produce, dairy products and hot foods along with canned and boxed staples, a local nonprofit is often the link that connects donors to the people they seek to help.

Since its creation in 2018, Feeding It Forward has carved out a niche unique in Napa Valley food relief. Volunteers with the nonprofit collect fresh and perishable foods from local groceries and warehouses and deliver them to various other non-profits to distribute to food-insecure families, while also ensuring that surpluses of catered food — meals produced for the thousands of spectators frequenting BottleRock, the Fortinet Championship golf tournament and other wine-country attractions — wind up at family tables instead of the landfill.

“I feel like food is very basic; other things you can go a few days without, but you can only last for so long,” Feeding It Forward’s founding chair David Busby said in a recent interview. “To me, that’s the most rewarding thing, the distribution and what it does for those who are in need.”

Feeding It Forward’s special focus is meant to help families secure the kinds of healthier foods that are most difficult to afford on limited incomes while freeing up resources for non-profits to provide nonfood services to their clients.

At the heart of the non-profit’s mission are volunteer drivers who convey food donations from about 40 sources — among them farmers’ markets, groceries, bakeries, schools, and even recently closed restaurants. According to Feeding It Forward’s leaders, demand for the group’s food deliveries has steadily mounted since its founding, growing from 2,000 pounds in 2018 to 16,000 pounds in 2019, 75,000 pounds in 2020, and 150,000 pounds this year through the end of September — at a current rate of about 3,000 pounds per week.

“The quality of food in the Napa Valley is amazing, and to be able to save it from going to waste, and supply it to those who can’t otherwise afford it, is a win for everybody,” said Anya Elidi-Stubbs, Feeding It Forward’s program manager. “… We’re a place where calls come in when people can’t transport food, or someone doesn’t

Feeding It Forward To learn more, call 707-927-3213 or email info@fifnv.org.

Mailing address: P.O. Box 6244, Napa, CA 94581-1244 Donation, volunteering and other information: fifnv.org.

A weekly food distribution outside McPherson Elementary School on the final PHOTOS BY HOWARD YUNE, REGISTER‌ Tuesday before Thanksgiving, supported by the non-profit Feeding It Forward, David Busby, co-founder of Feeding It Forward, inspected boxes of fresh vegetables inside included the donation of 40 holiday turkeys the cold-storage container where the non-profit stores donated perishable foods at Napa’s in addition to the standard packages of CrossWalk Community Church. produce, fresh milk and other perishable foods.

Napa as the non-profit’s cold and frohave the right logistics to receive food.”

From its beginnings, Feeding It Forward zen storage locker. Perishables collected has specialized in capturing surpluses of through weekly pickups from various would be thrown away to be saved for conthe catered and prepared meals dished out donors are stored in the container before sumption. The law places businesses into by the thousands for the valley’s largest being distributed through about 50 orga- two groups — a first-tier including wholeevents — a food source for which Busby nizations, according to Elidi-Stubbs. salers, distributors, and large supermarsays the non-profit is the county’s only Since launching Feeding It Forward, kets that must start distributing surpluses regular distributor, and a resource tradi- Busby has promoted the program as an ef- beginning Jan. 1, 2022; and a second-tier fort to fight not only hunger and waste but including restaurants, hotels and school tionally difficult to avoid wasting.

“It’s amazing the amounts of food that environmental stress as well — including districts for which the requirements take these events generate,” he said, describing methane gas from landfills, which CalRe- effect at the start of 2024. the thousands of pounds of food cooked cycle estimates accounts for 20% of the Even with such state requirements still in for the concessions at BottleRock and the state’s total emissions of greenhouse gas. the future, Busby declared Feeding It ForFortinet Championship. Food surpluses Busby and Elidi-Stubbs say programs ward’s food-saving efforts to be moving distributed after BottleRock totaled about such as Feeding It Forward also will provide more quickly than he once hoped.

11,000 pounds, according to Busby, who restaurants and other local food providers a “We’re many years ahead of where I said the program handles only foods that direct way to comply with California laws dreamed we’d be when I started this,” he have not entered the serving lines at an requiring food producers to set aside sur- said. “There’s enough food waste out there pluses for food recovery organizations. event. that we don’t have to elbow out somebody The hub of Feeding It Forward’s operSenate Bill 1383, which passed in 2016 that was already doing it.” ations is a 40-foot-long converted cargo and requires a three-quarter cutback in orcontainer, which has been installed at ganic waste disposal by 2025, also calls for You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 CrossWalk Community Church in west at least 20% of edible food that otherwise or hyune@napanews.com

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12 DAYS OF GIVING DECEMBER 2021 | 5

PUERTAS ABIERTAS

Healing through culture SAM JONES

Puertas Abiertas

sjones@napanews.com

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s one of the only local family resource centers run by a Latina, Puertas Abiertas Executive Director Blanca Huijon is working to advocate for her community in every facet of life.

ESL workshops, assistance with job applications, DACA info sessions, and tax return help are just a few of the services that the organization offers, although staff see themselves less as herders of paperwork and more in the line of nurturing.

“We aren’t here to judge people,” said Huijon. ”We are here to help them and to help them move on with their lives.”

Puertas Abiertas was first established as a nonprofit in 2005, and since then has provided a variety of health, social service, and education services to Napa County residents.

In 2021 alone, the small but mighty team at Puertas was able to provide more than 3,600 community members with necessary services like food assistance, legal navigation, and targeted relief from natural disasters and COVID-19. Clients also may stop in with something as simple as wanting to learn how to navigate their iPhone.

“It can be something crucial and essential for them, so we are glad to help and provide them with reliable resources and to actually follow-up with them and not just give them the information,” said Huijon.

Programming at Puertas has been complicated by COVID-19 restrictions, but Huijon and her staff were able to help clients adapt to meeting over Zoom or in their outdoor courtyard. Typically, though, folks can simply stop in with any questions or concerns.

“We try to provide a compassionate and warm welcome to the families, and that is why they come back often, even if they went through their big struggle,” said Puertas’ Development Administrator, Esmeralda Gil. “They will still come back for something simple … Or they will just call to say hi and check on how we are doing.”

Puertas offers a slew of workshops for those in the community, covering topics like financial literacy, computer skills, college readiness, senior support, civic engagement, and self-care focused on empowerment and accessible information sharing.

“The workshops are definitely crucial to Puertas because it is part of our mission to help make our community more self-efficient and to empower them,” said Alejandra Quintana, case mentor for Puertas. “So with these workshops, educational workshops on labor law or whatever it is, we really try to give the community an opportunity to learn and to provide them the tools to succeed.”

The topics for these workshops vary year to year, and are entirely based on what their clients ask for.

“We follow the needs that are being presented by our community to us, so if we see a trend of people coming for something a lot, we will think about how we can provide the tools and give them what they need to get through it,” said Gil.

To learn about volunteer opportunities, visit puertasabiertasnapa.org

SAM JONES, REGISTER‌

Puertas Abiertas staff, from left to right: Alejandra Quintana, case mentor; Blanca Huijon, executive director; Esmeralda Gil, development administrator.

Another example is the popular La Cultura Cura Workshop, which is essentially a trauma-informed psycho-education workshop centered around community and the importance of culture. This past year the La Cultura workshops were held virtually, but the screens didn’t detract from the meetings’ impact.

“We had a psychotherapist facilitate those workshops, and they were really powerful because I think that during the pandemic, a lot of people’s childhood traumas and things came up because they were on their own a lot during the day,” said Gil. “I was in it every Friday just to help out, but I think it was really necessary. We still have a lot of the ladies call and ask when we are doing the next one.”

“It was about healing through your culture, so using your culture to heal, but also learning how to heal your culture and the generational cycles,” Gil explained. “It was very powerful to see how the participants reflected and how they recognized now generational cycles that they want to break so they don’t pass it down to their children, and I think that is where it starts for long-lasting change for the families.”

Similarly, labor issues are an ongoing focus of Puertas, as many of their clients have been, either knowingly or unknowingly, taken advantage of out of fear of persecution or simply a lack of information.

“Labor issues are one of the things that our Latina community knows we are here for,” said Huijon. “There are many injustices still happening in Napa, [and] we have seen those cases that people don’t think exist anymore.”

So, Huijon, Gil, Quintana, and the rest of the team continue working to not only advocate for their community, but to show them how to use the voice they already have, too. 87 percent of Puertas’ clients last year are below the U.S. Poverty Line, and as we head into another year mid-pandemic, deeper systemic issues are proving to be problematic.

“We try to do wraparound service, so even if they come for just a referral to another agency, through our intake process and just sitting with them and talking with them we see what else we can do to help,” said Gil. “We aren’t just familiar faces,” said Huijon. “We have em-

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Chef Ken Frank, La Toque Restaurant, Blanca Huijon, Executive Director of Puertas Abiertas, Kelly Dodd Board Member, Sharon Macklin Board president and staff member Alejandra Quintana celebrated Cinco de Mayo at LaToque as a fundraiser for Puertas Abiertas.

pathy and the trust of our community because we have had those experiences and those struggles, and so that is why we are always open to handle different cases.”

The greater Napa community recognizes the importance of Puertas, too.

“Puertas Abiertas is the go-to, trusted entity for the Latinx population in Napa County,” said Michelle Laymon, Community Investment Manager for the Napa Valley Vintners. “This pandemic has demonstrated the priceless value of having a source of accurate, up-to-date information for Latinx community members … I am particularly impressed with their self-sufficiency and education classes.”

As a leading source of charitable giving in the valley, NVV is proud to have Puertas as a partner organization providing services with the help of their philanthropic giving.

“Their life skills classes provide individuals an opportunity to change their future and their children’s future through ESL, basic computer, civics, and financial literacy,” said Laymon. “The abilities learned translate to job skills, increased engagement in their child’s education and access to other health and safety services.”

Reach Sam Jones at 707-256-2221 and sjones@napanews.com.

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12 DAYS OF GIVING

IMMIGRATION INSTITUTE OF THE BAY AREA

The path to citizenship EDWARD BOOTH

IIBA

ebooth@napanews.com

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mmigrants are tightly connected to Napa’s culture, economy and community.

Immigrants represent about 73% of Napa’s agricultural workforce and large portions of the county’s manufacturing, construction and hospitality industries, according to a 2012 report about Napa’s immigrant population from the Migration Policy Institute.

But many of Napa’s immigrants likely eligible to become United States citizens have not yet been naturalized. The 2012 report found that only 30% of Napa’s immigrants were naturalized as citizens at that time, compared to 37% statewide and 36% across the US. “There are things associated with citizenship like higher rates of homeownership; higher salaries; children of US citizens reaching higher levels of education; and more civic engagement,” said Madeline Hernandez, North Bay Regional Director of the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area.

Napa’s branch of the IIBA was founded in June 2013 to help close the citizenship gap.

And, over the past eight years, the Napa IIBA has helped 1,771 of Napa’s immigrants become United States citizens.

The organization also expanded to provide other immigration-related services to thousands more. That includes outreach, education, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal assistance, family reunification, humanitarian services, and deportation defenses.

Napa’s IIBA branch was started up as a direct response to the 2012 population report, which was commissioned by the Napa Valley Community Foundation. The foundation believed the county would be better able to understand and grapple with challenges related to immigration with a set of local facts and data, according to the report.

The finished report, “A Profile of Immigrants in Napa County,” found that 23% of Napa County residents were foreign-born.

That included roughly 12,000 green card holders — immigrants authorized to live and work in the US permanently.

The report also found that immigrants represent 33% of Napa’s workforce and account for as much as $1 billion of the region’s gross domestic product.

To donate to IIBA or learn about volunteer opportunities, visit https://iibayarea.org/you-can-help/ Donations can also be made at candogiveguide.org/campaigns/ immigration-institute-of-the-bay-area/

PHOTOS COURTESY OF IMMIGRATION INSTITUTE OF THE BAY AREA‌

Napa’s branch of the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area held weekly citizenship classes prior to the pandemic.

“The individuals that we serve are individuals that basically keep Napa’s economy running,” Hernandez said.

Among several recommendations, the report urged the county to increase the availability of citizenship programs so eligible residents can participate more fully in the civic and economic life of the Napa community.

So, the Napa Valley Community Foundation set out to find a legal organization that would partner with several local organizations — including On the Move, UpValley Family Centers, and the Puertas Abiertas Community Resource Center — to help local immigrants naturalize.

“We, the community foundation, kind of hit the streets to identify how we might build legal services infrastructure for immigrants,” said Julia DeNatale, the Napa Valley Community Foundation’s vice president of community impact.

DeNatale said the community foundation ended up essentially importing IIBA — which was founded in 1918 and maintains offices throughout the Bay Area — into Napa County with grant funding.

Napa’s IIBA branch then included only Hernandez, who now directs an office of

about a dozen staffers.

At first the organization was focused almost entirely on building community trust and naturalizing Napa’s green card holders, Hernandez said. IIBA held citizenship workshops alongside the partner organizations and carried out “a lot of outreach because people didn’t know who we were.”

“We did a lot of presentations about the benefits of citizenship, voting, civic engagement, higher salaries, ability to travel without limits, all the things that people who naturalize can do,” Hernandez said.

“We started doing in-person workshops where we would try to gather 20 to 50 to 80 people at a time.”

But the organization’s scope of work expanded as it came to understand the other needs of Napa’s immigrants.

“We really started focusing on raising funds and talking about immigration as a whole, what is needed in the county, what’s the demand,” Hernandez added. “And so now we really provide almost all immigration legal services.”

Ellen Dumesnil, executive director of IIBA, said the organization has tried to meet people where they are through the pandemic.

The Napa team, she said, held an outdoor,

A weekly citizenship class held by the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area in 2019 at the the McPherson Family Resource Center. drive-by event earlier in the pandemic for older clients who were fearful of moving forward with applications if they couldn’t see someone personally.

Overall, she said, the organization has grown over time to employ 60 current staff members, directly in response to needs from the communities IIBA serves and opened a Sonoma County branch in 2017.

“We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from Napa community members on behalf of other community members,” Dumesnil said. “It’s really something to see a community step up for other community members that are less fortunate, and that’s what we’ve seen in Napa.”

Throughout its existence, volunteers have also helped IIBA with a considerable amount of its work. In total, Hernandez said, 463 volunteers have donated about 12,300 hours of work to the Napa branch so far.

In total, the organization has filed 2,278 citizenship applications and 2,777 applications for other immigration benefits, including DACA. Reach Edward Booth at (707) 256-2213.

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12 DAYS OF GIVING DECEMBER 2021 | 7

GIRLS ON THE RUN

Running on girl power Girls On The Run

JENNIFER HUFFMAN

jhuffman@napanews.com

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anet Todd wants Napa (and Solano) County girls to run — and learn something about themselves at the same time.

Todd is the executive director of the Napa Solano Girls on the Run organization.

Girls on the Run is described as a “life-changing program for 8- to 13-yearold girls that promotes girl empowerment by teaching life skills,” using engaging discussions, experiential games and activities, running or just moving, according to the nonprofit.

“It’s all about building girls’ resilience and social/emotional health,” said Todd.

Todd, who has a master’s degree in exercise physiology, an MBA in marketing and was a teacher, first got involved with the nonprofit program after leaving the corporate world.

“I wanted to inspire girls,” she said.

Girls On The Run in Napa County launched in 2006, with 30 girls participating, said Todd.

It was a hit.

“We kept growing,” and in 2009, “we had people in Vallejo reaching out to us to expand the program.”

Todd was all for it. By expanding, “We can reach and impact more girls.”

Girls on the Run programs run for 10 weeks. Participants meet twice a week for 75 minutes at a time.

As of 2020, the program involved 650 girls at 52 school sites in Napa and Solano counties. Each 10-week session ends with a celebratory 5K fun run. They also complete a community impact project. Past efforts included cleaning school campuses, supporting LGBTQ efforts, making toys for animals in shelters, and creating care packages for the homeless.

This past July, the nonprofit hosted an all outdoor summer camp at Napa’s O’Brien Park.

Besides the “emotion” activities at the camp, Yzabella Mora, 10, said she also liked the exercise part of the program. Her aunt is a runner, said the youngster during an interview at the camp in July. “I feel like running just makes me feel good,” she said.

Malika Kalulu, age 8, also joined the program at O’Brien Park this past July.

To learn more, visit gotrnapasolano.org or call 707-637-8909.

SAMIE HARTLEY/REGISTER

A Girls on the Run group from Calistoga, seen here at a 2014 event, practices their team cheer before Saturday’s Girls on the Run: What Is Your Dream 5K held at Napa Valley College.

“I like that we get to run as much as you want,” at the camp, Malika said. “You can run and get exercise but also have fun while you are doing it.”

Volunteer coaches are a key part of the nonprofit.

Danielle Schofield is a Girls On The Run parent, volunteer life coach, and now board member.

She said she was drawn to the program because “it was giving girls the tools to not only deal with peer pressure and bullying but celebrating their uniqueness. I really liked that.”

Schofield said one of the best parts of her involvement with the nonprofit is when she hears how a girl successfully used a strategy learned from the program; for example to deal with bullying.

By implementing those tactics, “They feel empowered they were able to do something,” she said or felt confident speaking up to have their needs met. That’s what Girls On The Run is all about.

Coach and teacher Jennifer Veveiros said she wanted to organize a Girls On The Run chapter at Phillips Magnet Elementary School after hearing about the program from another Girls On The Run coach.

“It sounded perfect,” said Veveiros during

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Napa Solano Girls On The Run participants hit the pavement during the RADiant GOTR 5K at Kennedy Park.

TIM STREBLOW PHOTO‌

Girls on the Run participants held hands as they prepared to cross the finish line at Napa Valley College during a 5K fun run back in 2015. Girls on the Run is an empowerment program for girls between ages 8-13 that creatively combines life skill curriculum with a 2019 interview. “The empowerment of it,” and learning about fitness, community service, and how to deal with topics including peer pressure is a great combination. “It’s such a positive program.”

That was more than 10 years ago, “and I’ve been a coach ever since,” she said.

On Thursday, Girls on the Run Napa-Solano announced it would merge with Girls on the Run Sonoma to create Girls on the Run North Bay. The change will go into

JENNIFER HUFFMAN, REGISTER‌

Lexi Stephens, age 9, at the Napa Solano Girls On The Run summer camp in June. effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Todd will remain executive director.

“This is a natural merger of two strong organizations and will increase our opportunity to reach and impact more girls, particularly families who are financially disadvantaged and come from traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic groups,” Todd said of the Dec. 16 announcement.

You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com

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12 DAYS OF GIVING

SUNRISE HORSE RESCUE

People helping horses, horses helping people CYNTHIA SWEENEY

Sunrise Horse Rescue

editor@weeklycalistogan.com

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haq is about 20 years old, a gentle and handsome guy with a pleasant demeanor. He arrived at Sunrise Horse Rescue in Calistoga about a month ago. Although his exact story isn’t known, he likely lost his home in the 2015 Valley Fire in Middletown, and after that, his caretaker got COVID. She was finding it increasingly difficult to take care of him and contacted the nonprofit sanctuary.

“We provided some food at first, but that wasn’t enough, and his caretaker couldn’t find a place for him to go,” said Mary Taylor, Sunrise’s director and one of its founders.

“He’s very well-trained, and was a drill-team horse that might have been in parades. He was also living alone, which we don’t like to see because horses are such herd animals.”

Since 2007, Sunrise has been rescuing neglected, abused, or pegged-for-worse horses, providing care, rehabilitation, and a safe place to roam and call home. The organization started as a nonprofit riding school on Lodi Lane in St. Helena, taking on horses and rehabilitating them for riding students.

Last year, they found a new home on Tubbs Lane in Calistoga. Situated on about four acres, the space is still in development, but also has a few satellite pastures where horses are rotated and allowed to wander freely, including one for a herd of “very contented geriatrics.”

Shaq is one of 25 horses Taylor and her team of half a dozen part-time employees care for. The facility also relies heavily on some 20 volunteers.

“I have to say, our volunteers are almost like staff,” Taylor said. “They are so focused on the needs of the horse.”

Paula Soekland has been volunteering for about eight years and puts in about 20 hours a week. She describes her position as one of problem-solving and caretaking.

She also noted the special relationship people can have with horses. Though they are such big creatures, they also instill “the ability to be gentle with oneself.”

Individual care is also taken with each horse, from diet to overall health. Veterinarian Vanessa G.B. Rood has her own practice with Napa Valley Equine, but has also been part-time staff at the rescue since 2013. She checks incoming horses for health issues and provides medication for the herd, such as arthritic medication for geriatric horses.

“Like with everybody here, this is a labor of love,” she said. “We have a responsibility to the horses in our community to elevate their care and protection. That’s what Sunrise does.”

What: A nonprofit horse rescue and sanctuary Where: 1400 Tubbs Ln., Calistoga To donate or volunteer contact: 707-320-3120, or sunrisehorserescue.org

CYNTHIA SWEENEY PHOTOS, WEEKLY CALISTOGAN‌

Sunrise Horse Rescue’s veterinarian Vanessa G.B. Rood, left, with volunteer Paula Soekland, and Director Mary Taylor are part of the team that cares for neglected and abandoned horses that need a home.

“People putting in the effort to help animals will always make humans better,” Rood said.

“There is a real similarity between horses and people.

Both are strong and capable, but ultimately they are also fragile and vulnerable and they need the protection of others, (like us) whether it’s a herd or a tribe. The needs Rio is one of Sunrise Horse are mirrored when we work Rescue’s ‘geriatrics’ who with horses, and we learn a now spends days in a lot about ourselves.” peaceful pasture just outside Recently, a group of 16 Calistoga. computer executives visited the rescue on a leadership and teambuilding mission. The trip was coordinated by Riverbend, with offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Johannesburg, South Africa. People who had never interacted with horses before spent the day grooming them and led the horses around an obstacle course in an arena.

The experience ended with a Napa Valley-style dinner and the group was so inspired that at the end of the evening announced they were going to sponsor one of Sunrise’s Horses helping people‌ horses for one year — for $8,000.

Shaq’s new life at Sunrise could go several ways. “He “They said it was extremely meaningful for them,” Tayprobably can’t be ridden again, but he still has a lot to give,” lor said, and there is “quite a bit of potential there for more Taylor said. He could be a companion to another foster funding.” horse that’s retiring, he also has the quiet demeanor to be a therapy horse, or he might do both.

Funding‌ Keeping people connected to nature is one of the misSunrise gets up to 100 calls a year from people around sions of Sunrise as well. The organization not only benefits the country looking for help with horses in need. Their the horses, but the horses can benefit the community. focus is mainly on Napa County, but have taken in horses

Mary Taylor, Director at Sunrise Horse Rescue, feeds Ronnie (Aka Ronnie the girl miniature horse) at their safe-haven facility on Tubbs Lane. from beyond the area if the need is desperate enough.

Even if they can’t take the horse, or the situation doesn’t warrant it, Sunrise will provide information on available resources or education, “so the horse doesn’t end up in the slaughter pipeline,” Taylor said.

It costs between $6,000 and $10,000 a year to support each of the horses at Sunrise. The organization relies on grants and donations, but primarily on two yearly fundraisers to fund operations. Since the pandemic, however, fundraisers have been put on hold.

Sunrise is also serving as a pilot location for UC Davis and Stanford’s pilot program for Early Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, called Connected Horse.

“It’s beneficial for the Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, but also creates a low-impact role for the horse, with a lot of in-stall grooming. They are just being these incredible, patient beings. That’s what I think is so great.

It could potentially create a solution for a lot of horses that are considered unwanted, if we could get programs like this funded,” Taylor said.

The new property is also still in flux, due to pending county permitting issues, but eventually Sunrise will gain about two more acres. But still, the need for land persists.

“We are still looking for legacy, or gift of property, or property to purchase,” Taylor said, keeping in mind it needs to be wildfire safe. “We can’t just evacuate this number of horses quickly. Even though we are settling here, there will always be a need for more space.”

You can reach Cynthia Sweeney at 942-4035 or csweeney@weeklycalistogan.com.

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12 DAYS OF GIVING DECEMBER 2021 | 9

PARENTSCAN

Support for families with children of all needs SAM JONES

sjones@napanews.com

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here’s no manual for parents.”

Raising children isn’t easy, let alone when you layer on developmental concerns, a global pandemic and a general lack of streamlined resources for families that are struggling. For those in the Napa area, though, there is a sort of onestop-shop center for those seeking support and camaraderie.

Enter: ParentsCAN. Established in 2005 by Napa County residents, the Napa Valley Child Advocacy Network, Inc. — or as we know it, ParentsCAN — was initially set up to be a parent-to-parent network to empower parents to advocate for themselves and their children with special needs. And while this is still part of the ParentsCAN mission, their goals have broadened dramatically to encapsulate youth of all needs, concerns and ages.

“As an organization, I think we were a lot more focused back then on children with special education needs, and I think as we evolve and became more engaged in our community, we are really realizing that there’s lots of special needs and a lot of parents who just don’t know where to go in those first months when your child is struggling,” said Marlena Garcia, Executive Director for ParentsCAN. “Trying to catch things before they go to school and before problems get larger has really been one of the focuses for ParentsCAN in the last couple of years,” she said.

As a result, ParentsCAN administers development screenings for anyone in the community with a child under five years old, where parents can run through the 60 question survey called the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. A scientific and evidence-based screening, this survey is oriented around play and is parent-friendly, asking for a ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ or ‘not yet,’ response for each question.

“It is a very friendly language about where your child is right now, and that doesn’t mean that they’re never going to get to this other stage, it just means there might be some things for us to work on,” said Garcia. “It also validates parents …

Parents know their child best, and that is one of our biggest philosophies.”

Garcia said that when they first started this developmental screening program, families were largely only coming if they

ParentsCAN To learn more about ParentsCAN’s workshops and support groups or to donate online, visit parentscan.org.

TALIA GODINEZ, PARENTSCAN‌

ParentsCAN was established in 2005 to meet SUBMITTED PHOTO the unique needs of families of children ParentsCAN received a the generous donation in February from North Napa Rotary’s Harvest with special needs in Napa County, and all Auction to help them support the families of children with special needs. The auction services are available in both English and included items from local businesses and club members. Featured from left are ParentsCAN Spanish.

President Steve Simich, Bill Bennett, John Duser, fundraising chairperson Nelson Brooks (on photograph), Tom Webber and ParentsCAN executive director Marlena Garcia.

Garcia has moved up to Executive Director, watching her first class of kids grow up all organization also has a slew of support the while. Now in 2021, many of them are had concern.

“Which is great because we do want par- groups for those seeking camaraderie with graduated or graduating from school and ents who are struggling and trying to figure families going through similar struggles. youth services, spurring a new mission for it out, but we also want parents to know Another unique thing about ParentsCAN Garcia and her crew. that their child is on track,” she said. “Our is that staff are all parents or immediate “Kids grow up and they become young organization is very synonymous with dis- family members of someone with a special adults,” she said. “And you know what … abilities and special needs, and that is who need or challenge, so visitors can feel safe Parents still can.” we serve, but it’s much broader than that fully expressing the full range of emotions “And often, they still have to provide a — We also want to make sure that all of our they are experiencing. lot of support, so that is our next phase — kids are growing up healthy and happy and “Everybody at our center knows what To look at our role within youth and young have the services and resources they need.” it’s like — that 24 hour a day, seven days a adults and what we do to continue supSeventy-five percent of ParentsCAN’s week reality of those challenges and those porting them.” referrals come from professional part- doubts that we can have as parents,” said For those supporting ParentsCAN finanners like teachers, doctors, therapists and Garcia. “And that connection you get with cially, the impact of the group is evident. mental health specialists, so Garcia said other parents who you don’t have to explain For the Napa Valley Vintners, this has led it is important for them to build trust and to, and they won’t invalidate your concern to a continued relationship and habit of support with their families as well as the however big or small it is? I think that is the charitable giving to the organization. folks locally providing services for chil- biggest power of ParentsCAN.” “My job is to know these organizations dren. As a result, they work with over 50 Personally, Garcia has two brothers inside and out, to understand their mission organizations and providers ranging from with intellectual disabilities, and growing and how they strive to achieve their goals,” Kaiser Permanente to Napa Valley Unified up with immigrant parents, says she often said Michelle Laymon, Community InvestSchool District. found herself as the bilingual middleman ment Manager for Napa Valley Vintners.

“Wherever children are getting services, between specialists and her family.

“I have also experienced the gift of getting we’re always knocking on the door and “Oftentimes, I was talking about things I to know clients they serve, people in our saying, ‘Hey, how do we support?’” said didn’t even understand as a child,” she said. community, your neighbor or coworker or Garcia.

“But that’s the beauty of ParentsCAN … We child’s classmate, and I can’t imagine the In addition to screenings, ParentsCAN are the parents that we serve, we are the hole that would exist if these services were also offers workshops on topics like special families that we serve, and we really under- not in our community.” education rights, managing your child’s stand and we come from that perspective.”

IEP (Individualized Education Program), Since beginning her early intervention You can reach Sam Jones at 707-256-2221 and classes on “positive parenting.” The career with ParentsCAN back in 2005, and sjones@napanews.com.

10 | DECEMBER 2021

12 DAYS OF GIVING

FAIR HOUSING NAPA VALLEY

Keeping a roof over your head EDWARD BOOTH

Fair Housing Napa Valley

ebooth@napanews.com

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air Housing Napa Valley staffers have had their hands full during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with other nonprofits On the Move, UpValley Family Centers and Bay Area Legal Aid, FHNV has been helping Napa’s landlords and tenants fill out lengthy state rental relief applications to reimburse back rent that went unpaid earlier in the pandemic.

That’s because the state enacted a moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent so people wouldn’t lose their homes — and potentially amplify the pandemic — after they lost jobs and income.

Under the moratorium, however, back rent still accrued.

So, to prevent a wave of evictions once the moratorium expired on Oct. 1, the state aimed to pay off 100% of back rent for tenants who make below 80% of the area median income.

But since the state reimbursement program had a low application and payout rate months after it was established, FHNV and the other organizations have been helping Napa’s landlords and tenants apply for that aid through a program that started up in July. The application rate for the state program has since picked up considerably in Napa and throughout the state, though the payout rate is still lagging.

Many of the applicants most in need of the financial assistance face language and technology barriers that make it more difficult for them to complete the necessary forms or to learn about the relief program in the first place, said Pablo Zatarain, executive director of FHNV. In that sense, typical work the organization has continued to carry out falls directly in line with the tasks they’ve taken on during the pandemic. FHNV largely focuses on Fair Housing work — which essentially means investigating discrimination in housing — and landlord/tenant disputes, Zatarain said.

“In housing, you have fair housing: dealing with discrimination, segregation, equality, civil rights,” Zatarain said.

“And you have landlord-tenant issues, which is dealing with the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords alike and ensuring compliance. They can often overlap.”

The organization also helps with mobile home-related disputes, and disaster relief and support as well, said Pattie James, program manager for FHNV. “We’re trying to level the playing field any way that we can,” Zatarain said.

Many housing issues can easily be considered fair housing issues if they connect to civil rights in some way, Zatarain said. He said a simple example is a landlord evicting a tenant on the basis of their race.

Another example would be a landlord attempting to restrict pit bulls from their property when one of their tenants has a pit bull that’s an emotional support animal, according to James.

“They’d pay a lot of money to get legal advice if they’d hired a lawyer,” James said. “Whereas I can just quote them part of the Fair Housing Act and explain that it would be disability discrimination, you can’t restrict a breed.”

To donate to Fair Housing Napa Valley, visit https://www.candogiveguide.org/campaigns/ fair-housing-napa-valley-fhnv/ To learn more about FHNV, visit napafairhousing.org/

EDWARD BOOTH PHOTOS, REGISTER‌

The staff members of Fair Housing Napa Valley. Top row (left to right) Arvinda Krishnan (fiscal manager), Tamika Bellamy (investigations coordinator), CeCe Crosby (fair housing specialist I), and Santos Sanchez (fair housing specialist II). Bottom row: Pablo Zatarain (executive director), Katia Bobadilla (fair housing specialist II, education and outreach), Kathrine Young (intake specialist), and Pattie James (program manager).

Tamika Bellamy and CeCe Crosby in the Fair Housing Napa Valley office. eral landlord-tenant conflicts. That’s a big deal, James said, because about 75% of cases the organization takes on end up being landlord-tenant issues.

That could include habitability issues with an apartment, a tenant not being able to pay rent or needing rental relief, or landlords and tenants wanting to know responsibilities and rights with pandemic-era protections, among much else, she said.

Staffers at FHNV help people understand relevant housing laws and bring them to other agencies — like Bay Area Legal Aid — if tenants or landlords need specific legal or financial assistance, James said.

“There’s a huge number of landlord-tenant issues,” James said. “When COVID hit, I think every renter in Napa called us. You can read what these protections do or what they’re supposed to protect but understanding them and applying them to your situation is a whole different story.”

Napa’s housing issues have much crossover with the Bay Area’s housing crisis at large, Zatarain said. Rental prices are high, supply of housing is low and demand continues to rise. Everything that happens related to housing in Napa, he said, needs to be considered with the context of low housing stock.

Julia DeNatale, the Napa Valley Community Foundation’s vice president of community impact, said the foundation sees housing as the primary driver of poverty in Napa County.

“What I would say impacts Napa the most is, because it’s isolated geographically, you really feel the shortage of housing stock,” Zatarain said. “And so everything that occurs with that as an underlying factor, knowing that this isn’t a larger city where you can say: ‘I’m sorry you had to vacate but there’s another property available for you.’ That’s just not the case here.”

Fair housing also extends into broader contexts, such as discriminatory lending practices, according to Zatarain. That includes looking into events like Hurricane Katrina, which Katherine Young and Pattie James highlighted housing inside James’ office at the Fair inequality in New Housing Napa Valley office on Orleans because the Jefferson Street in Napa. areas that were hit the hardest were predominately the segregated Black communities, he said.

“This agency and a lot of fair housing agencies have adapted over time to not only continue to address ongoing issues with housing discrimination — which has unfortunately continued — but really the context in which they’re occurring,” Zatarain said.

Zatarain said that, before joining FHNV in 2013 he, he worked for the National Fair Housing Alliance. He traveled around the country and, with the help of local fair housing groups, investigated real estate-owned properties — properties banks had foreclosed on and now owned — and how they were being maintained depending on what neighborhood they were in.

“We found a huge pattern of discriminatory banking, if you can call it that, based on the way that a number of very big lenders were maintaining their portfolios,” Zatarain said.

Fair Housing Napa Valley is somewhat unique among fair housing agencies in that it also works to resolve gen- You can reach Edward Booth at (707) 256-2213.

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12 DAYS OF GIVING DECEMBER 2021 | 11

NAPA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Preserving the past — for the future HOWARD YUNE

Napa County Historical Society

hyune@napanews.com

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door sign on a city street can be a prosaic touch, so common a sight as to escape the notice of people rushing by. But one sign that has begun appearing this year in downtown Napa is at once a small gesture to welcome visitors – and a meaningful change of attitude to call attention to the county’s past.

“We’ve put in an OPEN sign,” Sheli O. Smith, executive director of the Napa County Historical Society, said of a subtly important addition to its home inside the landmark Goodman Library on First Street.

“In the last year, not a week has gone by when people haven’t said to us, ‘I’ve never seen you open before!’”

Clearly and visibly welcoming passers-by who otherwise would ignore a seemingly vacant century-old edifice is just one of the changes made by Smith and other leaders in hopes of making the Napa Valley’s backstory more vivid, more relevant to more listeners – and easier to find, whether in person or on the internet.

New software is tying photographs and images to the historical society’s voluminous collection at the Goodman Library. A museum exhibit, which debuted in October and will run through March 2022, relates the story of the Napa Valley’s wine industry through artifacts and displays meant to appeal to the wine novice and enthusiast alike. And staff members at the nonprofit are seeking to recast exhibits and outreach to share the county’s past more inclusively than before.

“We’re focusing on the people rather than the architecture and the big names you hear all the time,” said Kelly O’Connor, the society’s research librarian.

Overhauling how the Napa County Historical Society delves into the valley’s past and shares the experience with others is not only a cultural imperative, but a necessity to keep the non-profit vibrant and relevant through repeated stresses to the city, according to Smith, a Napa native and museum researcher and curator who was named the society’s executive director in March.

The museum and research library “has had to really rethink itself in the last 10 years,” she said during a recent interview at the Goodman Library, which opened in 1901 and hosted the Napa city library before the society took it over in 1974. “You’ve had

Goodman Library, 1219 First St., Napa Winter hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Wednesday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday 707-224-1739; info@napahistory.org Website, online catalog: napahistory.org

HOWARD YUNE, REGISTER‌

Sheli O. Smith, executive director of the Napa County Historical Society has overseen an exhibit on the Napa Valley wine industry that is currently on display at the historic Goodman Library. the recession, the earthquakes of 2005 and 2014, both of which required massive architectural work on the building. The 2014 quake required five years of renovation, and then you had the fires and the pandemic, all those things that dramatically impacted the traditional ways of reaching into our community.”

A current example of the historical society’s focus on accessibility is “Wine: Our Story,” a visual history of the Napa Valley’s most famous and prized product from the 1830s to the present.

“Wine: Our Story”, which will be displayed at the Goodman until March 26, melds photos and narratives with an array of artifacts to illustrate the importance to the industry of cork, toasted oak for barrels, the evolution of glassware and other trends – often with objects provided by Napa Valley wineries for the occasion.

“We’ve been able to make new partner-

kept people away. The non-profit endured a nearly four-year exile during a $1.7 million repair of its building following the August 2014 quake, endured the threat posed to tourism by the North Bay wildfires of October 2017 – and then saw its stream of visitors almost completely severed by the shelter-at-home orders that followed the coronavirus’ arrival in early 2020.

Forums and question-and-answer sessions became Zoom videos while Napa County gradually relaxed curbs on public gatherings. Guests on walking tours of local landmarks received maps and headphones to allow them to learn about attractions while standing farther away from their docents.

Some improvements that took shape during the enforced social distancing of the COVID-19 pandemic’s depths are intended to continue even with visitors again cleared to tour the Goodman Library. A key upgrade is the historical society’s first new cataloging software system in more than 20 years, with cloud-based cataloging to allow faster searching of its historical collection and tie images to each record. (Among other goals, the society plans to use the software to catalog about 10,000 photo negatives from Napa Valley Register issues from the 1970s to 2000, according to Smith.)

O’Connor, the research librarian, also pointed to efforts to broaden the historical society’s cultural web in the coming years.

As one step toward bolstering its stores of local minority history, for example, the society is seeking copies of oral histories by speakers of Spanish and other languages, she said.

“We have a responsibility to reach out to the groups we traditionally haven’t attempted to reach,” said O’Connor.

ships we’ve never had in the past,” Smith said last month at the Goodman Library of the bonds thus forged with winemakers through the exhibit. “This is becoming more and more of an entrepreneurial non-profit. We have to be able to think that way, and consistently expand in those directions.”

With tourists and visitors comprising up to 95% the Goodman Library’s summer-season guests, the staff inevitably encounters curious visitors “who often admit, ‘I don’t know what AVAs are; I don’t know what varietals are,’” according to Smith.

“We’ve taken those questions, and this exhibit includes a lot of that information.

And we have a lot of people who go see it and they’ll say, ‘Uh, well, now I won’t feel so foolish going into the tasting rooms!’”

Other examples of the historical society’s ambitions were borne from the disasters You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 that shut down the Goodman Library, or or hyune@napanews.com

12 | DECEMBER 2021

12 DAYS OF GIVING

CANINE GUARDIANS

Canine Guardians are friends in need BARRY EBERLING

Canine Guardians

beberling@napanews.com

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yellow Labrador named Patriot trained by Napa-based nonprofit Canine Guardians Assistance Dogs has been a game-changer for San Francisco Giants baseball broadcaster Mike Krukow.

Krukow has a non-life-threatening disease called inclusion body myositis that weakens his muscles. It also causes him anxiety.

He received Patriot from Canine Guardians two-and-ahalf years ago, and it was a night-and-day difference from day one, Krukow said.

“He can sense when you’re anxious; he can sense when you need to be calmed,” Krukow said in a phone interview.

“That’s what he’s trained to do. He lays across your legs, and it’s just an amazing, calming experience.”

Krukow, who is unsteady on his legs, could fall if overly-enthusiastic Giants fans rushed up to give him a friendly pat on the back. Patriot will circle around him to keep well-wishers at a comfortable distance.

Talk about a best friend.

“It’s made all the difference in the world…I sleep better; I’m not as anxious; it’s just an answered prayer,” Krukow said recently.

Canine Guardians gives fully trained assistance dogs to those who need them. Recipients range from veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to people with disabilities. Veterans receive the dogs for free; non-veterans pay.

Local resident Rochelle Heskett founded Canine Guardians. The idea arose out of experience.

Back in 2011, she became a “puppy parent” for another canine program in Santa Rosa — she raised a golden retriever named Ellie for a year and helped socialize Ellie for a future career as a service dog. That meant taking the puppy to public places.

“I started noticing that people would stop me and ask where they could get a service dog,” she said. “I decided there was a great need in Napa.”

She inherited about $100,000 when her parents passed away and put the money into starting Canine Guardians in 2013. She had gone to Bergin University of Canine Studies in 2012 to become a certified dog trainer.

A backbone of the program is having puppy parents to socialize the dogs and teach basic obedience skills. These volunteers have a challenge that Heskett knows from her days as a puppy parent — they have only about a year or two with the dog.

“As you spend time with the puppy, you get attached,” she said. “It’s very difficult to give the dog back.”

But there’s the big payoff when the dog is placed with a veteran or other person who has a big need for an assistance dog.

“Once you find out how much your dog has improved a person’s life, it’s amazing,” she said.

Katrinka Ruk was a puppy parent for the yellow Labradors Freedom and Captain.

“It’s not hard to give up the dog because I go into it

Go to canineguardians.org to learn how to volunteer for and donate to Canine Guardian Assistance Dogs.

BARRY EBERLING, REGISTER‌

Rochelle Heskett founded Canine Guardians Assistance Dogs.

Dogs are trained by “puppy parents” to be comfortable in public places and are placed with veterans and people with disabilities. knowing that it’s temporary, and the dogs are going to somebody who needs them more than I do,” Ruk said.

“They’re going to save a life.”

She mentioned the case of a dog going to a veteran who had considered suicide.

After the initial puppy parent phase, the dogs are ready for advanced training. Heskett has the skills to teach them.

Dogs are trained to pick up dropped items. They’re Patriot is a yellow Labrador trained to turn on and off that Canine Guardians lights. They’re trained to Assistance Dogs placed open a refrigerator by tug- with San Francisco Giants ging on a rope and bring a broadcaster Mike Krukow. water bottle.

Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder might not like having people directly behind them. With the command “block,” the dog will sit behind them as a buffer.

Heskett said a 22-year-old man who fell installing solar panels and was paralyzed from the neck down will receive a dog. The dog will be trained to meet his specific needs.

Canine Guardians has come far since Heskett launched the nonprofit in 2013.

In 2015, Canine Guardians placed five Labrador pups with puppy parents. In July 2017, the nonprofit held a graduation ceremony at Napa Valley College to celebrate its first pairings of dogs with veterans.

One Iraq war veteran had been his own puppy parent for his dog Hero. He shared during that 2017 ceremony that

COURTESY OF CANINE GUARDIANS‌

Canine Guardians trains dogs to do such tasks as turn on lights and take a water bottle from the refrigerator. The dogs are placed with veterans and those with disabilities.

Napa-based Canine Guardians Assistance Dogs uses volunteer “puppy parents” to help dogs grow comfortable in public places. When trained, the dogs are placed with veterans and people with disabilities.

Hero woke him at night if he forgot to wear his breathing machine.

An Afghanistan war veteran received a dog named Freedom. He said that Freedom woke him when he had nightmares.

Four years later, Canine Guardians has placed 14 dogs.

The nonprofit has eight dogs in training.

Each dog costs about $5,000 to raise and feed. Beyond that are such expenses as veterinarian care. Canine Guardians hold an annual fundraiser, the most recent one at Napa Golf Course at Kennedy Park.

Canine Guardians has a fan in Krukow.

“They recognize a need, they find an animal specially trained for that need and they make a difference,” he said.

Reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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12 DAYS OF GIVING DECEMBER 2021 | 13

AG 4 YOUTH

Connecting kids and animals JENNIFER HUFFMAN

Ag 4 Youth

jhuffman@napanews.com

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aul Tarap isn’t going to let a “little” thing like a worldwide pandemic get him down. Or stop the nonprofit program he runs in Napa called Ag 4 Youth.

The show(manship) must go on.

This is Tarap’s 22nd year running Ag 4 Youth.

Its mission is “to educate and assist under-served youth, while promoting the virtues of ranching, animal husbandry, and local community agriculture.”

Back in 2000, Ag 4 Youth kids began raising animals as an auxiliary program of the Christian Brothers at the Mount La Salle Ranch.

In 2010, Tarap moved the animals and youths to his family ranch on Gateway Drive, home to Napa’s famous “Oreo” cows.

After Ag 4 Youth was established as an independent non-profit charitable organization, the group later received a 2-acre permanent ranch site of its own, courtesy of the Napa Valley Horsemen’s Association.

The pandemic impacted many after-school programs, especially those that usually meet indoors.

However, Ag 4 Youth has been fortunate.

Obviously, the kids (about 48 per year) are already working outside. For social distancing, students were divided into groups and assigned different times to visit the ranch.

Instead of two animals per year, students took on just one. But support hasn’t wavered. In fact, the group received the same amount of income from its livestock auction, even with half the animals.

“The prices were sky high this year, across the board,” said Tarap. “People really came out to support the kids,” at the modified action.

That’s how well-regarded Ag 4 Youth is.

Tarap said because most of his students were studying remotely during the height of the pandemic, “they looked forward to coming to the ranch more than ever because they didn’t get to see their friends at school.”

The leader said that Ag 4 Youth has slowly evolved over the years. Today, 90% of members are considered “at risk.” That can mean a student comes from a low-income family or has a disability (visible or not).

For example, one of the newest Ag 4 Youth members is Christian Rabanales, a

To learn more, visit ag4youthnapa.org or call 707-738-3079.

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Napa Ag 4 Youth members practice their showmanship skills during the pandemic.

14-year-old with Down syndrome.

But his family isn’t new to Ag 4 Youth.

His older brother Henry and sister Lesby Tatiana were both members as well.

Lesby Tatiana is now 20 and studying wine and viticulture at Cal Poly. She’s a first-generation college student whose education is being funded by her Ag 4 Youth earnings.

“I’m very thankful for the program and the people who have supported me throughout the years,” she said.

“I don’t know if I’d be where I’m at right now,” in college at Cal Poly, if it wasn’t for Ag 4 Youth.

Lesby said before she started the program, “I never pictured myself putting on boots and picking up poop and stuff like that.” But it turns out, “I enjoyed it.”

She learned that she liked being responsible for her animals, “And having that responsibility of going to the ranch every day and feeding them. Paul taught us about being responsible and not making excuses.

I feel like the program matured me a lot.”

Her favorite animal was her steer named Romeo. “I had a great connection with my steer,” she said. “He would come up to me when I would go into the pen; it was so sweet.”

Steers are one of the most competitive animals to both raise and show, she noted.

“They’re larger animals (so) you have to train with them more.” And there’s no faking it in front of the judges.

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Christian Rabanales, a Napa Ag 4 Youth member, poses with a ribbon he won at the Napa Town and Country Fair.

JENNIFER HUFFMAN, REGISTER‌

Paul Tarap stands at the Napa Ag 4 Youth farm on Foster Road in Napa.

“Once you’re in the arena, you can tell how much you’ve trained with them.”

Ag 4 Youth has also meant a lot to Lesby’s little brother Christian.

“I feel like being around animals has helped him a lot,” she said. He’s more independent and has more freedom at the ranch, she said. “He knows what food is (for each) animal (and) how much to feed them.”

Plus, “When he’s at the ranch, he gets to socialize,” with more than his classmates in his program at Napa High, she said. “That’s helped him.”

“He loves it. He knows every Tuesday and Thursday he has to go to the ranch to help clean up. Before going to school, he has

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A Napa Ag 4 Youth member works with a goat. Kids raise one to two animals per year. his boots ready outside,” so he can quickly change after school.

This past year, Christian earned a bright yellow ribbon for his animal showmanship skills. It’s proudly hanging in his room, along with his 4-H hat, Lesby said.

You can reach reporter Jennifer Huffman at 256-2218 or jhuffman@napanews.com

14 | DECEMBER 2021

12 DAYS OF GIVING

RIANDA HOUSE

Serving seniors during pandemic JESSE DUARTE

Rianda House

jduarte@sthelenastar.com

At the heart of Rianda House is the greeter — the volunteer who welcomes you to the converted house that serves as the Upvalley’s only senior center, shakes your hand, gives you a warm smile, and establishes a connection with you.

The pandemic might have closed the building, put a stop to handshakes and covered the smiles with a mask, but the staff spent the last year and a half mustering all of its energy and resourcefulness to fulfill Rianda’s core mission of connecting with seniors.

March 18, 2021 was the day Rianda House “went virtual.” Operations manager Toni Abdalla remembers Rianda House being “inundated with calls” in those early days of the pandemic.

People were looking for information, resources and reassurance. Most of all, they wanted the center to reopen, which was still impossible given the statewide lockdown.

Instead, the Rianda House staff worked the phones, checking in with local seniors, asking how they were doing — essentially doing what greeters had done pre-pandemic.

“There are so many little connections, so many good friends I’ve made over the years that don’t go away just because there’s a pandemic,” Abdalla said. “I felt a responsibility to check in and keep everybody updated.”

A team of six volunteers made 300 to 400 “care calls” per week “just to keep them connected,” said Elizabeth Cobb-Bruno, program manager.

Going virtual‌

As it became clear that COVID-19 wasn’t going away in a matter of days or weeks, Rianda House adapted, issuing email blasts, expanded its events calendar into a fullblown newsletter, and embraced Zoom.

“This team didn’t give up,” said Peter Working, Rianda House board president.

“They could have said ‘OK, forget it, we’ll reopen next year.’ But that didn’t happen here. It’s a tribute to the spirit of the house and its staff.”

Executive Director Julie Spencer said the challenges of the pandemic brought the Rianda House team together.

“We became closer as a team even when we were far apart,” she said. “We’re more intentional about coming together as a

Info: 707-963-8555; riandahouse.org

About 50 Upvalley seniors attended a Thanksgiving luncheon Nov. 16 hosted by Rianda House and served by the Federated Women of Upper Napa Valley, with food from Oak Avenue Catering. From left are Julie Finley, Barbara Toner, Janet Lochner, Joann Mattioda and Carisma Brooks.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS‌

St. Helena’s Mike Greensill, left, serenaded Upvalley seniors at the annual Thanksgiving luncheon. The wait staff was made up of Rianda House boardmembers, volunteers team because our work is more important and staff, including operations manager Toni than ever.”

Abdalla, right.

Lisa Hinz is a psychologist and art therapist who has taught two virtual classes at She’s taken part in everything from BalRianda House during the pandemic. In one, seniors created collages and then wrote po- ance & Stretch classes to music appreciems to accompany them. A core group of ation to the Rianda House book club. She six seniors who bonded during the class even volunteers to help produce The Wrinkept meeting virtually twice a month. kle, the monthly newsletter that’s mailed to “It wasn’t until a couple of Fridays ago about 550 people. that we met in person for the first time, afDuring the pandemic, Rianda’s virtual ter 16 months online,” Hinz said. offerings were a lifeline for seniors “when Another class focused on current events we were stuck in our homes and couldn’t helps participants share their values, core go anywhere,” Gridley said, adding that she beliefs and emotions. They met in person felt “overwhelmed” when the pandemic for the first time just before Thanksgiving. started.

“Having someone to talk to and classes Hinz said expressing emotions reduces stress, especially amid the social isolation to enlighten you has been so wonderful,” and anxiety of a prolonged pandemic. she said.

“I was surprised at how quickly and deeply people shared really important is- COVID-19 vaccines‌ sues and feelings with one another,” she When vaccines became available, the St. said. “It showed me what a need there was Helena Hospital Foundation asked for Rifor this kind of outlet.” anda House’s house help contacting local seniors.

A senior’s perspective‌ The Rianda House staff called seniors, St. Helena resident Anne Gridley partic- told them how to get vaccinated, and coipated in the current events class. ordinated with the foundation on three “I literally don’t think I would be here if clinics that vaccinated approximately 500 it weren’t for Rianda House,” Gridley said. people ages 65 and up. In some cases, the “This has been my life.” foundation’s mobile unit vaccinated homeShe said Rianda “was my lifesaver” when bound seniors in their own homes. her late husband was experiencing demenRianda House staff also attended the tia. Rianda House offers a caregiver support vaccine clinics. After months without group in partnership with Collabria Care in-person interaction, the sight of a familand the Alzheimer’s Association. iar face — even under a mask — was enough “That taught me how to take care of him to bring some of the senior center’s longand what to say to him,” Gridley said. time patrons to tears.

Members of the Federated Women of Upper Napa Valley prepare their annual Thanksgiving luncheon for Upvalley seniors.

“We became their safe zone,” CobbBruno said. “They knew who we were, so they felt safe.”

Aside from their vaccination efforts, the staff distributed about 900 masks manufactured by Beth Lincoln’s Maisie the Mask Makers group. They also organized a few drive-through events, starting with last year’s take-home Thanksgiving luncheon, which the staff remembers fondly even though it was pouring rain.

“That luncheon gave everyone a sense of human-to-human contact,” CobbBruno said. “Everybody got the sense that ‘There’s Toni! There’s Priscilla! There’s Julie! They’re still there.’”

‘Hearts were opened’‌

Priscilla Upton, a boardmember who runs the board’s finance development committee, said donations went up during the pandemic.

“People appreciate the work that Julie and the staff are doing to reach out to our members and making sure they’re not isolated and alone,” Upton said. “They feel this is an important part of our community.”

With seniors being at the greatest risk of serious illness from COVID-19, the pandemic “has focused our community on senior well-being in a way I’ve never seen before,” Spencer added. “Hearts were opened.”

You can reach Jesse Duarte at 967-6803 or jduarte@sthelenastar.com.

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