SONOMA GIVES 2018

SONOMA GIVES SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • SECTION G

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Heartfelt charity

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Kindness from the Glen Ellen community began flowing to Arthur and Jill Dawson on the first night of October’s Nuns fire. Read their story on Page G35.

ALTRUISTIC EFFORTS BUILD RESILIENCE IN SONOMA COUNTY

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his past year was like no other in the charitable giving landscape of Sonoma County. After the smoke from the devastating October wildfires had cleared, a harsh reality set in. Entire neighborhoods, parks, hospitals, schools, public facilities and, of course, the homes and possessions of thousands of people were gone. Within hours, the giving community stepped in. Big nonprofits redoubled their efforts to include the thousands of the newly

needy, while groups like the North Bay Relief Fund and Rebuild Sonoma County sprouted virtually overnight, amassing creativity and assembling events to raise millions in funds. Neighboring cities rallied with collaborations and donations, while individuals, churches and communities created places to stay, meals to nurture and donations to comfort. In this special issue, we look at the compassionate acts of giving that make Sonoma County strong.

Inside GET INVOLVED: A list of 2018 fundraisers for county nonprofits / G42 TOP 100: Ranking of the largest nonprofits in Sonoma County / G49

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF

SONOMA COUNTY NONPROFITS

ACTS OF ALTRUISM

Tipping Point’s Band Together benefits rally musicians in support of recovery effort / G4

Corazon Healdsburg aids Latino community with leaping barriers to access services / G28

Family behind Beltane Ranch in Glen Ellen finds a way to give back to firefighters / G34

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » HOUSING EFFORTS

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Michael Von der Porten rents out his three-bedroom house near Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park neighborhood through the COTS leasing program, which assists families displaced by the October fires to find housing while helping landlords with the tenant screening process and property management.

A roof over their heads After October wildfires, missions of COTS and Catholic Charities even more essential

By STEPHEN NETT FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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here’s a chilling moment in the movie “Titanic,” after the collision with the iceberg, when it’s clear that not everyone on board is going to get a lifeboat, and that the passengers in the cheapest berths will be on their own, to sink or swim.

In Sonoma County after the fires, a handful of agencies mobilized to prevent something similar from happening here, as fixed resources became stretched to accommodate lower-income residents newly homeless from the fires and those already living on the streets. Two of the busiest, Santa Rosa’s Catholic Charities and Petaluma-headquartered Committee on the Shelterless (COTS), are spearheading efforts to provide beds in shelters, housing support and a range of case management services for people who find themselves homeless.

Since the fire, the two agencies have seen the number of calls for assistance double. They are now bracing as a “second wave” has begun, of fire victims who’ve run out of funds, lost jobs or worn out their welcome while camping on friends’ and families’ couches.

Staff at the agencies also are concerned that the public, which stepped forward with generous aid for the thousands who lost homes in the fires, may forget the thousands of people who were already homeless before the fires, or were teetering on the edge, trying to hang on in a tough and increasingly expensive housing market.

“On Oct. 7, a homeless crisis existed,” said Jennielynn Holmes, “and on Oct. 8, when the fires hit, it magnified.”

Holmes is the bright and energetic senior director of shelter and housing for Catholic Charities, and in her tiny A Street office, she scans a computer screen to see who’s currently staying in the 138-bed Family Shelter next door. It’s full, with two pregnant women in their third trimester, a number of single moms, several families who lost homes to the fires, four domestic violence victims. Another dozen men and women occupy the Crisis Beds, which serve as the shelter’s “emergency room.”

The average age of people staying in the Family Shelter, she said, is 12.

Does Sonoma County need more shelter beds?

“Adding shelters is not going to fix the problem,” Holmes insists. “We need to free up shelter beds by opening more housing.”

That approach to homelessness reflects a relatively new change in philosophy.

Outside the Catholic Charities’ homeless drop-in shelter on Morgan Street, Brian Bernard thinks it’s a good change. At 56, Bernard is lively but moves with a cane after three small strokes. He just learned he’s a grandfather, he said, beaming.

Bernard spent six months in the Nightingale Shelter after being discharged from the hospital and now has moved into housing with assistance from Catholic Charities, a room in a shared home. Despite the trouble he’s had trying to secure a frame for his mattress, he’s pleased to be in housing and out of shelters.

“I have things I want to do,” he said. “I know people who are shelter hoppers. Six months in this one, then they move on to the next.”

Bernard slowly shakes his head. In

DARRYL BUSH / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

“On Oct. 7, a homeless crisis existed,” said Jennielynn Holmes, senior director of shelter and housing for Catholic Charities in Santa Rosa, “and on Oct. 8, when the fires hit, it magnified.” the shelters, “it takes so much effort to get things done,” he said.

Bernard is hoping to land a position as a peer counselor to assist others making the transition. He’s articulate and, he admits, blunt.

“I slept in weeds, mud, a truck,” he said, “so I understand what that’s like.”

Another local, Kevin Pickering, just learned he’s getting off the waiting list and will be moving into housing. Pickering is clean-cut, soft-spoken, with calloused hands. He has been helping at the drop-in shelter for two years, setting people up, helping keep the neighborhood clean. Soon he’ll be starting as a peer counselor, a position he has earned.

Pickering said the people who come

to the drop-in shelter include families, veterans, people who can’t make rent, some working, some without jobs, some with mental problems and addicts. There are people, like himself, hoping to make things better.

He credits his chance to the staff at Catholic Charities.

“It’s run by loving people who really care,” he said quietly.

Indeed, employees moving about the shelters, the street outreach teams, the intake coordinators, can be heard talking with upbeat, positive directness and good humor. It sets the mood.

In the drop-in shelter kitchen, there’s laughter from a small group fixing the day’s simple breakfast.

In the next room, an old box-style television runs in the corner, facing lines of chairs occupied by relaxed viewers, still dressed for sleeping outdoors in January.

“When I started here eight years ago, there was no housing for people in shelters to move on to,” Holmes explained.

Today, Catholic Charities manages more than 300 housing units for the homeless, including the Palms, a converted motel that is now home for a permanent population of highly disabled homeless and veterans. COTS has two shelters and 22 housing units.

Both groups are now looking for additional partners to help them expand a new level of housing: donors and especially property owners to participate in the managed leasing programs both agencies operate.

“They’re philanthropic landlords,” explained Sarah Quinto, chief development officer at COTS, “and this year’s goal is to double the number we have today.”

Renting out through the agency has practical as well as philanthropic benefits. Under a master leasing TURN TO ROOF » PAGE G10

“That really is our goal: to reach the point where there’s no child, no family or individual living here without a roof over their head.”

SARAH QUINTO, chief development officer at Petaluma-based Committee on the Shelterless

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » AIDING THE NORTH BAY

Fund born within hours of disaster North Bay Fire Relief has been a major contributor to survivors

so quickly and sucwent to solve immecessfully is a story of diate needs. Fund selfless determination administrators said on the part of many. the remainder will be For Cynthia Negri, distributed to local board president of nonprofits that are

By SUZIE RODRIGUEZ the credit union’s directly supporting FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Community Fund, the needs of fire surOct. 8 was the usual vivors. A committee early four months Cynthia pleasant Sunday is reviewing grant ap- Negri after the October spent with family at plications, and plans fires burned through Board president her Santa Rosa home. to distribute funds to Sonoma County, the North of the Redwood But things were far qualifying nonprofits Bay Fire Relief Fund — the Credit Union’s now. region’s largest charitable Community Fund from ordinary after midnight, when she The Redwood Credit relief fund with $30 million — and thousands of residents is still receiving donations. It’s Union Community Fund, in awoke to the smell of smoke. also determining how to spend partnership with Redwood nearly $10 million of the mon- Credit Union, The Press “My husband said it was comey donated by people through- Democrat and state Sen. Mike ing from a fire in Kenwood,” she McGuire, created the fund out the state and around the recalled. When the smoke grew within hours of the fires’ outworld. break. How it came together The first $20 million raised TURN TO FUND » PAGE G10

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MAGGIE SOWELL / REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK

Redwood Empire Food Bank staff and volunteers sort donations brought Oct. 15 to help North Bay fire victims. The North Bay Fire Relief Fund has made grants to the food bank and other agencies.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » RESILIENCE FUND

Recovery effort ‘a marathon’ Foundation seeks to support future needs of county’s victims

By SUZIE RODRIGUEZ FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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he Sonoma County Resilience Fund, created by Community Foundation Sonoma County, was launched less than two days after the North Bay fires began. By the end of December, it had raised more than $10 million.

Since the fund’s primary focus is the mid- to longrange needs of fire survivors –– things like temporary housing, environmental mitigation, post-traumatic stress and supporting the underinsured –– the money raised will be distributed in coming months and years, said Beth Brown, the foundation’s CEO and president.

However, the Community Foundation also awarded early emergency relief grants of more than $300,000 to nonprofits that needed immediate resources to provide shelter, food and other basic needs to people displaced by the fires.

Community Foundation Sonoma County has 13 staff members, some of whom were evacuated from their homes in the fire’s early days and all of whom were deeply worried at the time about friends and family throughout the region. Despite this, they came together at a time of crisis and worked hard to launch the fund and oversee its growth.

On Oct. 8, Brown attended a tribute to Holly Hunter at the 40th annual Mill Valley Film Festival and arrived back home in Healdsburg

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Community Foundation Sonoma County President and CEO Elizabeth Brown meets with J. Mullineux, vice president of philanthropic planning, on Jan. 5 in Santa Rosa. The foundation’s Resilience Fund has raised more than $10 million since its launch in October.

“Long after media attention has shifted from our community, we will be here, committed to providing support that addresses the most critical needs of our nonprofits and their clients.”

ELIZABETH BROWN, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sonoma County

around 10 p.m. She noticed that the wind seemed unusually strong and, curious, looked up the current wind speed. She was right. It was an exceptionally windy night.

That question settled, she turned off her cellphone and went to sleep. The next morning, she turned the phone back on to find six texts and several phone calls from staff members who had evacuated their homes during the night.

That’s how she learned about the fire.

“I tracked down everyone to make sure they were safe,” she said, “and I learned what I could by talking to other people throughout the day.

Power was out, I was alone and roads were closed. It was a long and isolated day.”

But Brown was busy, calling several other community foundation CEOs around the country who had experience dealing with flood, fire and

other disasters.

Nationwide, about 750 community foundations nationwide are dedicated to improving the lives of people in their defined geographic areas by bringing together donations from individuals, families and businesses to support local nonprofits. In its 34-year history, Community Foundation Sonoma County has distributed more than $200 million to local county organizations that address is-

sues such as hunger, housing and mental health.

Among the topics Brown discussed that Monday with her community foundation peers was that, historically, a large influx of donations tends to arrive on the immediate heels of a disaster.

They quickly taper off, however, while those affected by a disaster often need help months and years later, long TURN TO MARATHON » PAGE G10

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » BAND TOGETHER

PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

‘A galvanizing event’

Concertgoers fill AT&T Park in San Francisco on Nov. 9 at the Band Together benefit show. The benefit has raised more than $31 million raised through concerts and other events.

Tipping Point Community, SF Giants CEOs take lead in opening ‘floodgates’

By MICHAEL SHAPIRO FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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Dave Matthews, right, and Tim Reynolds perform a set during the Band Together benefit concert for North Bay fire relief in San Francisco.

e can’t sit idly by,” San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer said last October as fires ravaged the North Bay. While the fires were still burning, he and a group of community leaders met to plan a fundraising event.

Rabbi Ryan Bauer of San Francisco’s Temple Emmanu-El hosted the meeting. Also present were Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, a platform for cloud-based sales and marketing services, and Daniel

Lurie, founder and CEO of Tipping Point Community, an anti-poverty group that has raised more than $150 million for housing, education and disaster relief since it was founded in 2005. Both agreed to take lead roles.

Benioff mentioned that his company had a private concert coming up “a week from Tuesday” at AT&T Park for attendees of its Dreamforce conference, and that the staging would be in place. If top Bay Area musicians would agree to perform at a benefit concert, they’d TURN TO BAND » PAGE G5

Daniel Lurie

Larry Baer

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

BAND CONTINUED FROM G4 have a place to play.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich dialed in on a conference line to say the band was all in, and soon Dead & Company members cleared their schedules.

The Band Together benefit was born, with more than $31 million raised so far through concerts, other events and direct donations.

“Once Metallica said they were in (for the first concert), it was kind of off to the races,” Lurie said. “That kind of opened the floodgates.”

Metallica was followed by musicians Dave Matthews, G-Eazy, Raphael Saadiq and Rancid, who performed Nov. 9 for a crowd of 40,000 and raised $17 million for North Bay fire relief.

A concert was the ideal fundraiser because “you need a galvanizing event,” Baer said. “Nobody needs to be persuaded about the North Bay fires, but if you create something for everybody, with social media, there becomes a buzz; two plus two can equal five.”

The evening was much more than just a typical concert. About 7,000 free tickets were distributed to firefighters, 911 operators and other first responders. There also was free admission for fire victims, including many who had lost their homes.

“That front section closest to the stage was reserved for them,” Tipping Point’s Lurie said.

Community leaders and first responders were honored onstage by the musicians and sports legends including Buster Posey and Barry Bonds. Santa Rosa Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Westrope lost his Larkfield home near Sutter Hospital to fire as he fought relentlessly to save the homes of others. He and his 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son were invited to attend the first Band Together concert.

“It was a really good opportunity for us, the public safety professionals who were there, to get out of town and let our hair down and just be human again,” Westrope said. “It was good for the public safety community for their healing process.”

But the highlight was getting to meet Metallica.

“I’ve been a lifelong fan of that band,” Westrope said, and his children have grown up listening to their music. The kids, he said, “understood how special it was.”

Westrope said the band members “really cared and wanted to hear our story and how we were doing. It was

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, center, performs with singer and guitarist James Hetfield during the Band Together benefit concert in San Francisco. very heartfelt. You could tell they really wanted to be there and wanted to help the community. They were salt of the Earth.”

Athletes, musicians and others, Baer said, “get a rap because of the money that’s out there, but the reality is so many of these performers have a huge heart. They want to take their celebrity and put it to good use.”

The Nov. 9 concert was just the beginning. Lurie said he views it as the catalyst “to do hopefully a year or year’s worth of giving because the needs can’t be met with one concert or one month’s worth of giving.”

A second Band Together concert followed Dec. 14 at the Bill Graham

Live from

Civic Center in San Francisco, headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers and featuring Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real. Tickets sold for $99.50 each.

Naomi Fuchs, CEO of Santa Rosa Community Health, got onstage that night to introduce the lead act after screening a short film about how the funds raised would help rebuild a clinic lost in the fire.

Tipping Point, which stepped in to distribute the funds, granted Santa Rosa Community Health $2.5 million to help replace the lost clinic. The agency maintains nine campuses and serves 50,000 low-income clients each year. Lurie said Tipping Point has a three-phase plan for distributing the

Emergency Relief Fund. The first phase was immediate relief, during which $8.1 million was disbursed to nonprofits that include UndocuFund, Catholic Charities, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Redwood Credit Union Community Fund and Community Foundations of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

Second is the recovery phase, expected to last from three to nine months, Lurie said. The final phase is rebuilding, with Tipping Point committed to distributing all donations by the end of this year.

Fundraising was maximized at the concerts by keeping expenses low and getting corporate sponsors to make major donations. Google, for example, donated $1 million for the first concert.

“They got a suite for the concert, and they also got tickets they could give to first responders and people who were displaced,” Baer said.

Expenses were kept low in a number of ways. Staging was in place, and bands worked for free. The Giants absorbed much of the cost and led the effort to distribute 7,000 free tickets, about 15 percent of the seats.

Competing concert producers Live Nation and Another Planet also worked together on the benefits, and Ticketmaster donated its proceeds from the event.

Lurie expects fundraising efforts to continue “for as long as the need exists, and obviously the needs exist,” he said.

Local musician Bonnie Raitt will donate all proceeds from her March 20 show at Oakland’s Fox Theater to Tipping Point’s Emergency Relief Fund, and during the upcoming baseball season, the Giants will continue to support fundraising efforts. Lurie, who has dedicated himself to relief work since helping with post-9/11 recovery efforts, noted that beyond being fundraising vehicles, concerts help bring people together.

“Music builds community. It builds resilience, and helps people hope and dream of something better,” he said.

“This is what we built Tipping Point for, to respond and to take action, especially on behalf of those that don’t have the ability always to fight for themselves.”

There’s something special about the Bay Area and the willingness of people here to help one another, Baer added.

“There is a level of empathy here and a level of leading with your heart that is second to none. There is a spirit of tolerance, a spirit of diversity … that everybody wants to celebrate. Everybody wants to take care of each other.”

Sonoma Valley

Put your hands up and join us in celebrating some of Sonoma’s most charitable champions! Sonoma Market is proud to support an all-star lineup of do-gooders working hard to make a difference in our community each and every day.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley • Friends in Sonoma Helping (F.I.S.H.) • Glen Ellen Fire Department Impact100 Sonoma • Kiwanis of Sonoma Plaza • Out in the Vineyard • Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley Sonoma Community Center • Sonoma International Film Festival • Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce • Sonoma Valley Education Foundation • Sonoma Valley Museum of Art Sonoma Valley Public and Private Schools • Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau • Sonoma Volunteer Firefighters’ Association Sonoma Speakers Series • Teen Services Sonoma • Transcendence Theatre Company Valley of the Moon Lions Club • Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival (Just to name a few.)

sonomamarket.net

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It’s all about Giving We hosted over 75 events in 2017. For each event, we partnered with various Non-Profit Organizations that provide services, assistance and help to so many in our community.

Thanks to you for joining us and helping to make these events so successful!

Secret Santa Marathon

Tricks & Treats

ve

Musical Instrument Dri

Summer Concerts

Fire Relief Concert

In 2017, Montgomery Village Promotional Events raised over $400,000 for the benefit of the following Non-Profit Organizations: A Theater for Children American Heart Association Austin Creek Elementary Bergin University of Canine Studies Boys & Girls Club of Central Sonoma County Boys & Girls Club of Greater Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman CBSL to Vietnam Canine Companions for Independence Ceres Community Project Chabad Jewish Center of Sonoma County Child Parent Institute Education Foundation of Cotati-Rohnert Park Elsie Allen Band Boosters Food For Thought Forgotten Felines 4 Paws Learning & Wellness Center Hidden Valley Elementary Hospice Services of St. Joseph Health Kid Street Learning Center LandPaths Lost Hearts and Souls Horse Rescue Luther Burbank Center for the Arts Music for Schools Program Luther Burbank Garden & Home Maria Carrillo High School Band Boosters Middle School Athletic Booster Club Military Order of Purple Hearts-Chapter 78 Mothers of Military Servicemembers Paws As Loving Support Assistance Dogs Paws for Love

Piner High School Athletic Hall of Fame Piner-Olivet Education Foundation Pony Express Equine Assisted Skills for Youth Rancho Cotate High School Music Boosters Redwood Empire Food Bank Rincon Valley Education Foundation RCU’s North Bay Fire Relief Fund Sadie’s Haven Horse Rescue & Sanctuary The Salvation Army Santa Tim Saturday Afternoon Club Schaefer LIFE & Families Schools Plus Senior Advocacy Services SNAP Cats Social Advocates for Youth Sonoma County Family YMCA Sonoma Humane Society Sonoma County Search & Rescue SRJC Wrestling Program St. Leo’s Youth Group Sunday Open Table Sunrise Rotary – Kagoshima Student Exchange Program Vet Connect of Sonoma County Volunteer Center of Sonoma County Women’s Health at Memorial Hospital Youth Empowerment & Stewardship YWCA Sonoma County

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REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » SUTTER’S NEONATAL FOCUS

Keeping babies, families close After Shea House lost in disaster, foundation strives to restore resources

By STEPHEN NETT FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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hen the flames came racing down Mark West Springs Road, some of the fire’s tiniest potential victims lay unaware, snugly wrapped in soft blankets under the watchful attention of their skilled nurses. They were asleep in the neonatal intensive care unit of Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, next door to the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.

Outside and up the street, as homes of the hospital’s physicians and staff started to burn and embers fell on the roof of the Sutter facility, the babies were carefully gathered, moved into ambulances and driven to safety.

Sutter’s Level III neonatal intensive care unit provides care to infants from as far away at Marin, Eureka and Ukiah who are born prematurely, as young as 26 weeks, so small they can be cupped in two hands, or newborns struggling with life-threatening conditions. Level III is the most critical stage of neonatal medical care a hospital can provide, and nonprofit Sutter has operated this life-saving facility in Santa Rosa for more than a quarter-century.

In that time, medical care for newborns has come a long way, explained Shaun Ralston, the energetic regional manager of Sutter Health.

The Sutter NICU suffered no damage from the Tubbs fire and is now back to full operation. Inside, the care unit is soft and dimly lit, with black widescreen monitors showing moving tracks for each baby’s vital signs at a central nurse’s station. An occasional newborn’s soft cry can be heard from the surrounding rooms.

In the center of each room is a white, wheeled, all-in-one infant incubator and care-station, which is commonly known as a giraffe. The self-contained system provides precise warmth and humidity control, an X-ray tray, ventilation and even a built-in scale.

SUTTER HEALTH

A newborn baby is tended to by a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Sutter Health Santa Rosa Regional Hospital.

“Access to excellent medical care truly depends on the community’s support.”

PENNY CLEARY, director of

development for Sutter North Bay and licensed clinical social worker

affected by separation, particularly if they’re premature. Doctors now consider parents’ presence vitally important to infant recovery, and with this in mind, the NICU is clearly designed to accommodate parents.

But having parents close isn’t always that simple. The cost of staying near the hospital for days and weeks can be crushing or impossible for families from out of town, and a true financial burden at a particularly stressful time, said Penny Cleary, director of development for Sutter North Bay.

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Sutter, which reopened its Santa Rosa hospital Oct. 17 after the Tubbs fire, provides care for infants from Marin to Eureka.

Inside, the tiny swaddled infants wear soft knit caps, some asleep with their nurses and mothers nearby.

One key finding of modern neonatal research is the importance of keeping

mother and child close and in touch during the baby’s time in hospital.

Studies show that a hospitalized newborn’s health, development and future well-being are all strongly

TURN TO BABIES » PAGE G14

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » NATURE’S RECOVERY

Preserving beloved parks Outpouring of support after Pepperwood, Audubon Canyon open spaces after blazes

By REBECCA LAWTON FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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riving up Pepperwood Preserve Road outside Santa Rosa is an eerie experience since the October fires. Evening mist settles on the old barn site, now a vacant, charred piece of ground. Deer wander the ashy roadside among skeletal remains of trees. he bleak appearance of the entrance, where the preserve burned hottest during the Tubbs fire, doesn’t darken the bright mood inside the Dwight Center for Conservation Science, however.

In this bunker of a building, which survived the Tubbs fire intact despite a severe burning over, the message is optimistic.

As Lisa Micheli, Pepperwood’s president and CEO, said in her annual State of Pepperwood address, “the value of these 3,200 acres became extremely evident in this huge event. Not only is this a living laboratory, where we’ve collected a large, prefire data set on climate, water and wildlife, it’s also a place where we’ve done controlled burns and firefighters can set breaks and do controlled burns to help slow wildfire. A neighborhood full of houses contains far more fuel per square foot and burns faster. Nearly all the fire containment done by emergency responders this fall took place in the county’s open spaces.”

Julie Bartice, Pepperwood’s development director, said she reached out to members after the fires “just to find out how people were doing.” Many had lost homes and loved ones; though devastated, people still expressed concern for wildlife and natural areas.

“From that concern, support has been pouring in to keep Pepperwood going,”

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PHOTOS BY JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Pepperwood Preserve ranch manager Michael Gillogly surveys the charred chaparral on the more than 3,000-acre conservation and nature education property off Franz Valley Road outside Santa Rosa.

Bartice said, “and the generosity keeps flowing.” Year-end donations are at $437,000 and counting, more than twice those in 2016, previously a record giving year. First-time year-end donors jumped from 55 to 146, and volunteers have stepped up to help fortify Pepperwood’s research and communication needs as staff members scramble to get back up and running.

In Glen Ellen, the 550-acre Bouverie Preserve managed

by Audubon Canyon Ranch also suffered great losses and remains closed.

“The destruction of infrastructure has taken an

emotional toll on our staff, volunteers and supporters,” said Wendy Coy, Bouverie’s communications manager.

“By contrast, what we’re seeing on the land is incredibly heartening. Native bulbs carpeting our burned chaparral areas. New sprouts of rose, hazelnut, redwood, oaks, and madrone throughout the preserve.”

Prescribed burns conducted at Bouverie by Sasha Berleman helped slow the fire as it crossed the preserve. The effects were so dramatic and potentially helpful to future TURN TO PARKS » PAGE G14

Glen Ellen’s 550-acre Bouverie Preserve, which is managed by Audubon Canyon Ranch, suffered heavy damage from the Nuns fire.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

MARATHON CONTINUED FROM G3

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

State Sen. Mike McGuire and Jodi Traversaro, regional administrator for the California Office of Emergency Services, survey the fire damage in the Larkfield-Wikiup area in December. McGuire was instrumental in the establishment of the North Bay Fire Relief Fund.

FUND CONTINUED FROM G2 more intense, Negri walked to the front of her house and discovered that a nearby ridge was completely on fire. “We started calling family and preparing to leave the house,” she said. “We evacuated shortly after.”

Over in Hidden Valley, Matt Martin –– Redwood Credit Union’s VP of community and government relations –– had noticed an uptick in wind conditions around 10 p.m., when a strong gust toppled a backyard umbrella.

The family went to bed as usual, but around 1:50 a.m., Martin was awakened by a reverse 911 call about the fire and “went into reactive mode.” He dressed, began waking up neighbors and returned home.

By that time, “about 2:10 a.m., Fountaingrove was clearly ablaze, and we’re just south of there.” Martin began watering down his property, even climbing onto the roof with a hose.

In between wielding the hose and packing for a possible evacuation, Martin was communicating with “the leadership at RCU and RCU Community Fund about what we needed to be doing. Many of us were texting in the early morning hours, discussing the work ahead.”

On Monday morning, despite her temporary displacement, Negri began talking with her board and others about establishing a relief fund.

“We immediately began getting phone calls from the community,” she said. “People asked if we had a relief fund. We’d created a fund for flooding in West County last winter, and we’d had funds for other fires in the past, so there was a precedent. But did we have the resources?

“After all, members of our own staff had been evacuated, someone on our board had lost a home, and the credit union needed to be running and viable to members.”

In Hidden Valley, fire conditions around Martin’s home stabilized by late morning, so he left home around 11:30 a.m. to meet with key staff members at the credit union’s Novato branch to discuss the feasibility of starting a fire relief fund.

“Not only was our Cleveland Avenue building off limits in a fire zone,” he said, “but many of our employees had lost their homes or were evacuated and were fire survivors themselves. We had no idea if we would even have a team to help do the critical setup, and we also needed to get the credit union up and running to take care of member needs. So the first point on our one-page 10-point bullet list was to have a strong community team able to report for work on Tuesday, Oct. 10.”

That’s exactly what happened.

“We were able to get back into the

ROOF CONTINUED FROM G2 contract, COTS provides the property owner guaranteed rent, takes care of minor repairs, pays the rent if clients can’t and manages the entire property rental process, from screening to overseeing the tenants.

How does that work out for property owners? Mike Von der Porten has been leasing his three-bedroom, two-bath house near Santa Rosa’ Coffey Park neighborhood through COTS for two years. When he started, Von der Porten said, his concern was whether he’d get good tenants. He has found COTS does a good job of screening.

“It’s now home to a single man, another man and his daughter, and a mother with two young kids,” he said. And while he rents at a discount from what he used to charge,

WILL BUCQUOY / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The band Pride and Joy, who played Nov. 5 at a benefit in Santa Rosa’s Montgomery Village, is one of the many acts who have performed in support of the North Bay Fire Relief Fund.

HELPING FIRE SURVIVORS As of mid-January, North Bay Fire Relief Fund has raised nearly $31 million for the immediate needs of North Bay fire survivors. More than $20 million already distributed to people in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties has helped: ■ People who lost homes (victims received $1,000 checks, whether they owned or rented) ■ People experiencing economic hardship because of lost or interrupted employment resulting from the fires ■ First responders who lost homes while fighting the blazes ■ K-12 and college students who lost homes in the fires (replacing school clothes, books and supplies) ■ Small businesses impacted by the fires ■ Fire survivors with health and wellbeing needs Cleveland Avenue building,” Martin said. “We were wearing masks, there was no power, and we were literally keeping everything together with duct tape and bubble gum. But we confirmed everything we’d been texting and calling about, and went live with the North Bay Relief Fund on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at a Town Hall at Santa Rosa High School.

“It wasn’t a lightly taken decision to initiate the fund, but it was a very fast decision. We never looked back.”

“I think the North Bay Relief Fund got started so quickly because we had also founded the Lake County fire relief fund two years before,” Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said. “Nearly $3.5 million was raised in 2015.

“Redwood Credit Union stepped up at that time like I have never seen before.

Von der Porten said he is willing to take less to help folks having a hard time.

And he’s aware that finding housing is exceptionally hard now.

To help encourage property owners, Catholic Charities is offering incentives such as cash bonuses to new philanthropic landlords.

“We have an inside joke,” Quinto said, “that it’s time to end homeless services.

But that really is our goal: to reach the point where there’s no child, no family or individual living here without a roof over their head.”

COTS and Catholic Charities provide professional case management to those facing a housing crisis, but their priority is to ensure that clients have shelter. This Housing First approach, based on hard evidence and experience, is also now a requirement for receiving local, state and federal funds.

The goal at both agen-

It was a team effort on all sides, that’s the bottom line. And now, by kick-starting the North Bay Fire Relief Fund, we were doing it again. But who would have imagined that we’d raise more than $30 million?”

As of mid-January, nearly $31 million had been raised, making North Bay Fire Relief Fund the largest one dedicated to the immediate needs of North Bay fire survivors. Redwood Credit Union is covering all related administrative costs, including those of partner nonprofits, so that fire survivors receive a full 100 percent of donations.

In addition, nonprofit grants were made to agencies supporting immediate needs of fire survivors, including California Human Development, Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa, Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership, Community Action Napa Valley, Community Action Partnership, La Luz Center, Lake Area Rotary Club Association, North Coast Opportunities, Petaluma People Services, Redwood Empire Food Bank, UndocuFund and United Way of the Wine Country.

“Out of more than 32,000 individuals and organizations that donated,” said Negri, “about 66 percent are outside the four impacted counties, and we’ve received monies from 21 different countries.”

“The North Bay never ceases to amaze me,” McGuire said. “The worst of times brings out the best in people.

We’ve attended everything from penny drives at local elementary schools to Oakmont neighbors doing a collection that raised over $100,000.

“I’d walk down the street and neighbors would hand me checks and cash.

I’ve never seen such generosity. We’re so grateful that folks opened up their hearts and checkbooks to help neighbors in need.”

cies is what they call rapid rehousing. Years of studies have shown that when people spend too long without housing or housed in shelters, it is increasingly hard for them to climb out. They start adapting to their circumstances, and despite living in extreme crises and vulnerability, begin to psychologically accept being homeless as normal.

Holmes notes that Coast Guards report a similar phenomenon with refugees on the high seas: it can be extremely difficult to talk refugees off their boats, even when they are adrift and clearly in danger.

Before the fires, countywide efforts were bearing fruit. The past five years have produced modest but steady declines in the homeless population, according to the Point-in-Time Count, an annual countywide effort to contact and count the homeless living here. The next count won’t be taken until

the end of January.

But as Quinto explains, many families and individuals who were already struggling with local housing costs, or were already homeless, are now facing even steeper odds.

Holmes notes that the thousands of families displaced by the fires, many with financial support from insurance or FEMA vouchers, are placing additional strain on what was already an exceptionally tight housing market. The vacancy rate before the fires was about 1 percent. The fires have driven up competition for available space as well as rents, Holmes said. While California has capped rental increases at 10 percent, even that’s a big jump for people living paycheck to paycheck.

The result, as happened after the 2008 financial collapse, is that low-income renters get pushed out, Holmes said, many of them longtime Sonoma County residents.

after donations have greatly diminished.

“Disaster recovery has three distinct phases,” Brown said, “relief, recovery and rebuilding. In the world of disaster philanthropy, almost all funding is raised immediately, with more than 70 percent distributed quickly for direct relief and less than 5 percent going to later recovery and rebuilding, a process that can last a decade.”

“We want to make strategic and impactful grants to support the community’s well-being. So we decided to focus on mid- to long-term recovery efforts. After the community starts to heal, needs will arise that no one thought about.

“Supporting and maintaining the Resilience Fund isn’t a one-week or one-month effort,” she said. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Long after media attention has shifted from our community, we will be here, committed to providing support that addresses the most critical needs of our nonprofits and their clients.”

On Oct. 10, the staff of Community Foundation Sonoma County established the Sonoma County Resilience Fund, launched with a $250,000 seed gift from Facebook and intended to aid recovery efforts in the current and future natural disasters, including fires, floods and earthquakes.

No more than 15 percent of the funding per disaster would go toward immediate relief-support efforts, with 85 percent or more set aside for later recovery and rebuilding phases.

To aid victims of the North Bay fires, emergency grants of more than $300,000 –– focused on meeting the immediate needs of Sonoma County nonprofits –– were given to agencies that included 4C’s (Community Childcare Council), California Human Development, Catholic Charities, Ceres Community Project, Community Action Partnership, La Luz, Petaluma People Service Center, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Sonoma Humane Society, UndocuFund for Fire Relief and the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County.

Within three days of the fund’s launch, the staff raised more than $1 million, the most significant fundraising effort in such a short window in the foundation’s history. By late December, the fund had crossed the $10 million mark and continues to grow.

“My initial and rather naive goal was $1 million,” Brown said. “We knew that the generous people of Sonoma County would be stepping forward, but there was a borderlessness to this disaster that brought generosity from other parts of the Bay Area and the country.

“People who are generous think about their own community, and then think about the nation and the world. Hearts don’t stop at the borders of a county. It’s natural for people to think about helping people they know, to think about issues that impact them directly as well as the rest of humanity.

“One of the great things about philanthropy is to see the natural generosity of others, to learn how much we all have in common.”

In 2017’s count, for example, nearly 80 percent of the homeless were locals. Half had lived in Sonoma County for one or more decades before becoming homeless.

Nearly 45 percent had been homeless for less than 11 months.

Catholic Charities operates on an annual budget of $11.5 million and quickly received $1.2 million in grants to help with fire relief. COTS operates on an annual budget of $5.1 million and received fire-related grants of $40,000, including $30,000 from the county for winter weather bed expansion to house occupants of the last evacuation shelter when it closed.

Both say those funds fall short of serving the growing need for homeless housing.

They say they hope that here in Sonoma County, unlike the ill-fated Titanic passengers in the frigid North Atlantic, help is gathering on the horizon.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

SANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE AND THE SRJC FOUNDATION Recognizing the incredible impact of Frank P. Doyle’s Legacy Since 1948 the Frank P. Doyle Trust has provided

$83 million in Frank P. Doyle and Polly O’Meara Doyle Scholarship Funds to assist 127,000 local students attending Santa Rosa Junior College. A gift beyond measure, the Doyle Scholarship financially helps students achieve their education and career goals.

Honoring the contributions of Frank P. Doyle and Exchange Bank to Santa Rosa Junior College and the community In recognition of 128 years of dedicated service to the community and 100 years of community partnership with SRJC,

Exchange Bank will be honored with the 2018 President’s Medallion Award.

Please join us at the

100th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Award Ceremony, May 31, 2018.

Support SRJC students and programs 707.527.4797 foundation.santarosa.edu

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

The nutritious meal that’s delivered daily is just as important as the warm greeting from the Meals on Wheels driver. Both are critical.

Older people are an important and growing part of our community. At Council on Aging, we know that some older people will require services and supports, while many others will continue to play active and helpful roles in our families, schools, and civic life. We’re your partner in aging with dignity and respect. Whether you or a loved one needs assistance, or if you’re interested in a meaningful volunteer experience, Council on Aging is your local expert on aging in the community.

We’ve tackled the tough issues of aging for 52 years. Isolation, depression, health, cognitive and mobility challenges - all took their toll on local seniors in the recent fires. Caring for our aging neighbors is vital to rebuilding our community. With a wide variety of programs and services designed to keep seniors connected to a supportive network, Council on Aging is your partner in building an Age Friendly Sonoma County.

Council on Aging Services for Seniors 30 Kawana Springs Rd. Santa Rosa CA 95404

707-525-0143

http://www.councilonaging.com/ This space was made possible by Friedman’s Home Improvement

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Supporting Together our community

BY SUPPORTING US

WE ARE ABLE TO ASSIST OUR COMMUNITY

As we celebrate our 72nd year as a locally owned family business, we acknowledge and appreciate your loyalty and support.

We proudly continue our founders' commitment to contribute our time and resources to address the needs of our community.

TOGETHER,WE ENRICH OUR COMMUNITY Here are a few of the non-profits Friedman's supports. We encourage and thank you for assisting these as well as our schools, seniors, veterans and the many other non-profits in our community!

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

BABIES CONTINUED FROM G8

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Park manager John Roney, left, hands a shovel to volunteer Dave Chalk as they work to repair fire damage on Pony Gate trail at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park on Jan. 10 in Kenwood. A fundraiser in December raised $10,000 for the park’s recovery efforts.

PARKS CONTINUED FROM G9 fire readiness that Berleman is helping to lead a regionwide, “all-hands, all-lands” areawide fire preparedness program.

With community support, Bouverie is rebuilding its mountain lion research project, offering its 22-week docent training at alternate venues throughout the valley and preparing for students to arrive back on the land.

Naomi Sultana Young, Audubon Canyon Ranch director of philanthropy, said, “Across all donors — individual, foundation and corporate funders — we saw a 55 percent increase of online gifts and 58 percent increase in giving. By this time last year, we had raised just under $310,000. During the same time this year, we have raised just under $750,000, a significant portion of that increase was driven by fire-inspired generosity, we believe.”

John Roney, park manager at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, has seen similar generosity.

“When the park closed because of the Nuns fire, there were no longer any entrance fees to pay staff salaries,” he said.

A Dec. 6 event at Landmark Winery raised $10,000, enough to keep staff

working to reopen the park.

“Another $7,000 or so has come in through the Sugarloaf website, and people are still giving. We’ve seen about double the response over our last year-end appeal.”

With those funds, a California State Park Foundation Grant and support from Rotary of Sonoma Valley and other organizations, Sugarloaf staff are working hard to reopen. “We’ve cleared trails, removed hazard trees and assessed losses in bridges, retaining walls and wooden steps,” Roney said.

And the park has a new look.

“The color palette is stunning up here now. The grassy areas are greening up and are really quite beautiful. The dead trees are showing fall colors, contrasting with the black areas,” Roney said.

Visitors may have a chance to see the visual feast themselves in limited areas of Sugarloaf that are opening Feb. 1.

County Regional Parks played an unforeseen role during the fires: Evacuees fled to coastal units, particularly Doran Beach, to get out of harm’s way and breathe cleaner air.

Given the damage in other regional parks — particularly Shiloh Regional Park in Windsor, Sonoma Valley Regional Park in Glen Ellen and Hood Mountain near Kenwood — the

nonprofit fundraising partner of Regional Parks got busy right away.

Susan Bryer-Shelton, fund development associate with the Sonoma County Parks Foundation, said “within a week of understanding the nature of the fire, we set up a Fire Recovery Fund on our webpage. We’ve had an extraordinary response. Right away the fund went from a small amount of seed money to $88,000. Now we’re closer to $145,000, from 900 individual donors.”

The badly needed funds will go to control erosion, shore up trail systems, rebuild infrastructure such as bridges and buildings, and help identify and reduce potential fire hazards and thick, flammable understory and canopy that can fuel fires.

Not all needs are on the ground.

Bryer-Shelton said, “Some of the money will go to community engagement, to bring people of all ages and abilities into the parks to find solace in healing nature once we are safely reopened.”

Similarly, Pepperwood is revising its educational programming. Grade school students who will return next month will see firsthand the effects of fire in wild nature. Bartice said, “Our hope is that an increased fire ecology focus will help them deal with some of the traumas they’ve also perhaps personally experienced.”

In the past, Sutter was able to provide these families of NICU patients with hotel vouchers and meal assistance, thanks to community donations and in particular, the fundraising generosity of Sonoma County’s World Croquet Championship Children’s Foundation, led by local winery owner and entrepreneur Brice Cutrer Jones.

But a better and more sustainable solution opened when Sutter relocated from Chanate Road to its present modern facilities. Local benefactors Bill and Elizabeth Shea stepped forward to donate support to construct a four-bedroom home for parents and families of newborn patients who could not otherwise afford to stay with their children. The Shea House was opened within walking distance of the Sutter maternity center.

Unfortunately, the house, which was occupied the night of the fire, burned to the ground. The family inside escaped after being roused by a hospital security guard and safely evacuated, and they later reunited with their infant.

Sutter has continued to help parents by providing hotel vouchers but, according to Cleary, they’re rapidly exhausting their available funds. Each year, the four furnished rooms in the Shea House served as temporary homes to 50 or more families who stayed from two to 60 days. Providing hotel vouchers and gift cards for meals is considerably more expensive and more difficult for parents who are worried about their infants.

Sutter plans to rebuild the house.

But, as a nonprofit medical center, Cleary said, Sutter counts on fundraisers and donors to help meet many costs.

That can be an ongoing challenge, but it has a key advantage.

Because they don’t have to be concerned with investor returns, they’re able to devote their full attention to finding talented staff and focusing on patient care.

High-risk newborns continue to arrive at Sutter’s Level III NICU by helicopter and ambulance, and the hospital’s staff, many of whom lost homes in the October fires themselves, continue to serve as the region’s first neonatal responders.

Helping the smallest and most vulnerable patients and their families is something Sutter Health Santa Rosa Regional Hospital is fully equipped and prepared to do.

“Access to excellent medical care truly depends on the community’s support,” Cleary said.

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Z e r o Wa s t e S o n o m a C o u n t y Sebastopol Center for the Arts Humane Society of Sonoma County S u m m e r f i e l d Wa l d o r f S c h o o l a n d F a r m Elsie Allen High School Brookhaven School • Analy High School Cardinal Newman High School Roseland University Prep

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

Real Food. Real People.®

Thank You. TOGETHER WITH OUR CUSTOMERS, OLIVER’S Supports our Community

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

SONOMA GIVES REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » LUTHER BURBANK CENTER FOR THE ARTS

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Anova Center for Education founder and CEO Andrew Bailey stands beside the burned wing of the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, which was home to Anova’s ACE Sonoma campus, in Santa Rosa on Oct. 18.

Landmark rallies back Center’s campaign seeks to offer refuge via celebration of creativity

By DIANNE REBER HART FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

I

n the wake of the catastrophic Tubbs fire, staff at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts went into high gear to assure the curtain would rise again as quickly and safely as possible at the damaged Santa Rosa landmark.

Although flames didn’t reach the 1,600-seat Ruth Finley Person theater, damage to the facility’s east wing was extensive.

Insurers are still determining financial losses, while the center has begun fundraising campaigns to fill in the gaps.

Special post-fire donations total $60,000 so far, while the center exceeded its 2017 year-end goals by 6 percent.

The center’s immediate challenge, though, was to assure the public, while checking on the welfare of its employees and volunteers.

As management reached out to determine the safety of staff and supporters, and as rumors swirled that the nonprofit center had burned to the ground, its new Director of Marketing and Patron Services Anne Abrams fielded scores of media TURN TO LANDMARK » PAGE G18

PHOTOS BY DARRYL BUSH / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Fourth-grader Jazara Villanueva, 9, plays violin with other students at Mark West Elementary School on Dec. 22 in Santa Rosa. The violins were on loan from Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.

“It’s really a place that’s central to our community as an arts center and events space.”

RICK NOWLIN, president and CEO of Luther Burbank Center for the Arts

T hank You S ponsor s YOU’RE MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE FOR SONOMA VALLEY YOUTH! Believer S ponsor s

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Marchelle & Cur t Carleton • Larr y & Ginny Krieger Cham pion S ponsor s

Julie Atwood • August & Sylvia Sebastiani Foundation Advocate S ponsor s American AgCredit Business Resource Training Company (Patti Peters) Car y Leigh Dacy & Timothy Snowden • Erin & Dale Downing Dr. Jad Elkhour y, D.D.S • Noreen & Stan Feig Kimberly Hughes & Steve Mozad • Ginger Mar tin RS Brand (Matt & Andrea McGinty) • Windee Smith & Denise Bolek Snipz Salon • Westamerica Bank P r emier In-Kind S ponsor s

as of 1/22/18

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » UNDOCUFUND

Coalition for undocumented Group provides aid to immigrants struggling to survive in Sonoma County

By LEILANI CLARK

W

FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

hile the North Bay’s largest and best-known relief funds were raising millions of dollars in the aftermath of the October wildfires, immigrant rights advocates worried that undocumented immigrants essential to Sonoma County’s economy would be left out.

Some fire victims weren’t applying for help out of fear that information provided on Federal Emergency Management Agency applications could be shared with immigration agents. Others didn’t have the required identification to cash relief checks at the bank.

In response, a few short days after the fires began, a coalition of concerned organizations launched UndocuFund, a relief effort specifically for undocumented residents who were living an alreadyprecarious existence and now faced even less certainty.

They hoped the collaborative effort would help those people stay afloat during the long, difficult recovery period ahead.

By mid-January, the fund had received $3.9 million from individual donors and matching grants and had dispersed nearly $2.4 million. With more than 300 families on a waiting list to be screened for needs and qualifications, public clinics were held to complete those screenings, with plans to disperse the rest of the money by the end of January.

“We’re still working to serve victims who have not yet received aid,” said Michael Kavate of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, the fund’s fiscal agent. The overarching goal remains the same — to build greater equity for Sonoma County’s undocumented community and to support the recovery of every local and undocumented fire victim who needs it.

Like many who awoke to the smell of smoke in the early hours of Oct. 9, Agustin Vivienda and his family raced out of their home and tumbled into the family car. As flames streamed into their neighbor’s backyard, Vivienda’s wife had just enough time to toss the children’s U.S. birth certificates and other important documents into a bag; Agustin grabbed the family’s two Chihuahuas.

While the family fled to the nearby town of Windsor, the rental they had just moved into — at $1,850 per month, a bargain in pricey Sonoma County — burned to the ground.

Their home was one of more than 4,600 structures destroyed by the Tubbs fire, the most devastating wildfire in California history.

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Volunteer Jazzman Gudinó assists a client with paperwork on Jan. 15 at the UndocuFund Clinic in Santa Rosa.

“We want to make sure we are pulling resources together as a hub for people to actually get long-term support.”

MARA VENTURA, lead organizer at Santa Rosa-based North Bay Jobs with Justice

Along with an estimated 38,500 undocumented residents who have made homes in Sonoma County, Vivienda found himself back at square one: In addition to his home and belongings, the 45-year-old construction worker also lost his tools and his work truck in the fire.

“It takes tools to make money to support my family and it takes money to buy my tools,” said Vivienda.

“Even though I would like my own place to live, this is my main priority so I can go back to work full time.”

Sonoma County’s economy is built on industries that depend on immigrant labor. In addition to construction, Sonoma is famous for its wine, food, and hospitality. North Bay Jobs with Justice estimates that half of the area’s largest food processors rely on the 80 percent local and immigrant workforce.

Some of the most vulnerable are the farmworkers who worked in vineyards and make up the backbone of the $600 million wine industry. According to the Sonoma County Farmworker Health Survey, the county’s agricultural sector employs between 4,000 and 6,000 permanent farmworkers each year — the majority of whom are Latino and undocumented.

“The vineyards won’t get replanted until spring, after the ground thaws and they can put new plants in,” said Christy Lubin, director of the Graton Day Labor Center, which provides access to training, education, health care and legal resources for Sonoma County’s immigrant workforce. That

LANDMARK

DARRYL BUSH / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Instrument program putting violins into students’ hands

By DIANNE REBER HART FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

C

hildren at Mark West Elementary unwittingly saved 15 small violins from the fires that consumed nearly 400 instruments at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. The instruments were in the hands of music students who had borrowed them for the school year from LBC’s lending library.

“There are students who would not be able to participate without the ability to borrow instruments,” said Kara Kaufman, a music teacher in the Mark West Springs Union School District. “The Luther Burbank Center definitely makes up for that.”

Ray Gargano, the center’s director of education and community engagement, said once word spread about the destroyed instruments, North Bay residents started showing up with replacements in hand.

So far, about 100 instruments have been donated, some from families who once borrowed a guitar or flute or saxophone from the Music for Schools program. Others came from the Gibson Foundation, in partnership with Creative Sonoma.

The Santa Rosa Symphony reached out to provide instruments, and Sonoma State University music students performed and hosted an appeal at the Santa Rosa Plaza, gathering 10 instruments and about $2,000.

Everything helps, Gargano said. The lost instruments were valued at about $250,000.

means the grapes won’t be ready to pick for three years.

“Plus, there will be more competition for the jobs that do exist,” she said.

In addition to being displaced by the fires, farmworkers already faced a range of challenges. They experience higher rates of occupational injuries and a higher prevalence of chronic disease than other workers. A farmworker health survey found that a lack affordable housing options also has a negative impact on their health.

In addition to the lack of financial and social safety-net services that always complicate the lives of the undocumented, fears about immigration agents visiting evacuation shelters and shelter workers who insisted on seeing IDs for admittance left many struggling to recover.

Like Vivienda and thousands of others in Santa Rosa, Mara Ventura, lead organizer at Santa Rosa-based North Bay Jobs with Justice, was forced to evacuate her home early Monday morning as the fires began.

After dropping bags at a friend’s house, she headed straight to the nearest shelter to offer assistance.

Right away, she noticed that Latino families weren’t getting the same attention as other fire victims, possibly because volunteers didn’t speak Spanish. Lubin echoed Ventura’s observations at other shelters.

What’s more, a few Latino families, particularly those who are undocumented, had gone to nearby beaches to camp. The evacuees to the chilly coast needed camping gear — sleep-

the Tubbs fire raged along Mark West Springs Road, it was showtime at the LBC. Doors opened Nov. 6, providing visitors with a sense of CONTINUED FROM G17 community and a place to connect.

“It’s really a place that’s central inquiries from across the country.

Adding to the confusion, a $5 mil- to our community as an arts center lion renovation was underway, with and events space,” said Rick Nowlin, the center’s president and CEO. “It portions of the campus boarded really is the community’s place.” up for construction before the Nowlin credits the early opening firestorm hit. Unknowing passersby to the tireless efforts of the center’s thought the devastation was even operations team, who worked in more extensive. Abrams, on the unison with a mitigation company. job for just a week, scrambled to “It was an unbelievable commitreassure the public the venue was ment, a nonstop cleanup,” he said. mostly still standing.

Before the center reopened to the About 30,000 square feet of the center’s 140,000-square-foot campus public, nine shows were canceled, with six more hoping to reschedule. was destroyed, including a 400-seat First responders and those affected auditorium and performance space by the fires were welcomed back utilized by North Bay Stage Co. A storage and workshop building with a monthlong “Pay What You Can” ticket program for select shows, also was lost and, particularly disa gesture of gratitude and goodwill. heartening, a two-story classroom building was gutted, part of the The financial impacts to the complex used by the Anova Center center are still unclear, but Nowlin for Education, a nonprofit school for said the net losses were about a children and young adults with auquarter-million dollars in the month tism. (It has since reopened in other the center was closed. areas of the LBC.) “It really is too soon to tell,” he Also destroyed were some 400 musi- said. He estimates it could take several years to crunch numbers and cal instruments used for the center’s Music for Schools lending library and calculate the overall impacts. summer music camps, such as the Robin Seltzer, the center’s develesteemed Mariachi Camp. Materials opment director, said she’s been enhoused in the storage shed by Roustcouraged by fundraising efforts over about Theater also were ruined. the past few months. The fires hit at Additionally, the center lost much a critical time for year-end gifts and pledges, as the tax year was drawing of its landscaping and irrigation to a close. systems, and its sculpture garden was damaged, including many of the “We had to rethink and retool all of old-growth redwood sculptures by re- our (appeal) letters to be current and nowned local artist Bruce Johnson. respectful and have the right tone,” Seven staff members lost their she said. “So far things look OK, but homes, as did four board members we’re going to have to work harder and nearly 10 volunteers. to make up for the losses. I’m very In the midst of so much tragedy pleased by the response to date.” and devastation, the center’s manThe center established the LBC agement team was determined to Fire Recovery Fund to help with the help restore a sense of normalcy to unanticipated costs of cleanup, lost the community. ticket revenue, maintenance tools, When insurance adjusters the instruments and other expenses. surveyed the damage following It also focused donations to its Netthe firestorms, they estimated the work for Good “5,000 More Smiles at nonprofit would likely reopen in the LBC” campaign to provide addiJanuary. Instead, just a month after tional free tickets to school matinées

ing bags, lanterns and tents. Everyone needed food. And since most had run out of their houses with nothing but their pajamas on their backs, they needed money.

Lubin and Ventura quickly deployed Spanish-speaking volunteers to shelters, and the Day Labor Center became a hub to receive donations — from cash to food to sleeping bags and blankets. During that first chaotic week, Lubin handed out money for cellphone bills, gas and other essentials, but soon she and Ventura discussed the need for a fund that would help undocumented immigrants get back on their feet over the longer term.

On Oct. 11, as the fires still raged in Sonoma and Napa counties, they met with leaders from the North Bay Organizing Project, another grassroots community coalition that works with the immigrant community. Less than 72 hours after the fires ignited, the coalition had launched UndocuFund.

“Christy’s leadership, her history, and her work in this community allowed for all of the most important people to be at the table right away,” Ventura said. “And we never would have been able to launch the fund within 48 hours if it weren’t for GCIR and Exchange Bank,” which expedited the process and made it possible for UndocuFund recipients to cash their checks without extra fees or government-issued identification by using a thumbprint and phone number.

Within a week, they also had set up an advisory committee.

“We wanted all of the decisions around applications, eligibility, how we would grant, and how much, to be decided by leaders in the undocumented community,” Ventura said.

This article was previously published in CivilEats.

and family shows for those in need, a priority for outreach.

As before the firestorms, the center relies on sponsors, members and donations to help fund its programming and sustain its mission to enrich, educate and entertain the community; ticket sales cover only about half the center’s costs.

“People definitely are responding, even people who lost homes,” Seltzer said. “We’re eternally grateful.”

Since its founding in 1981 through the Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation, the center has been known as a premier arts and events venue, while also producing nationally recognized education programs.

Locals have visited the center for high school proms, weddings and other celebrations.

Though affected by the firestorms, there’s an optimistic current at the LBC. Community members have been reaching out since shortly after the blaze. A 7-year-old boy who enjoys programs at the center was among the first to help. He sent a note expressing his concern along with $2 from his savings jar. That gesture provided much-needed encouragement to staff members who worked those first weeks from homes and hotels, some without power.

Shortly after the fire, the center welcomed several nationally known comedians for the sold-out “Stand Up Sonoma,” a fire relief benefit for Sonoma Pride and King Ridge Foundation, with a donation to the LBC Fire Recovery Fund. It was an opportunity to share laughs and directly help those in Sonoma County affected by the fires.

The efforts are part of the center’s ongoing campaign to engage the community and provide refuge, recovery and celebration through the arts.

Despite challenges, uncertainties, damage and disruptions resulting from the firestorm, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts is still doing its part to serve the community.

“It’s truly a miracle we’re here,” Abrams said.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » CHEFS AND FOODIES UNITE

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Funds raised at The Grateful Table dinner, hosted by chef Tyler Florence on Nov. 21 in Sonoma, benefited four community groups working on wildfire recovery efforts.

Nourishing A the recovery

same: To help.

“In times of turmoil, people always seem to go back to basics. They need fter the firestorm and the devas- shelter and food,” said Dustin Valette, tation left in its path, local chefs chef and owner of Valette restaurant in and foodies have contributed to Healdsburg. “There’s no reason why the food (displaced) people are getting can’t relief efforts by focusing on the place be some of the best food in the county.” that incites creativity: The kitchen.

On one level, this has meant food Valette knows a thing or two preparation on a granular scale –– about post-fire charity efforts. In the chefs and foodies coming together immediate aftermath of the fires, he to cook basic meals for families that snapped into action, organizing a have lost everything. On another number of North County chefs to prelevel, it has meant something far more pare parts of meals he then assembled grandiose –– huge events that raised and distributed to regional shelters. nearly $700,000 for relief efforts and He also donated prepared meals to the people they serve. first responders such as firefighters Regardless of the size and scope of these efforts, the goal has been the TURN TO NOURISHING » PAGE G20

By MATT VILLANO

FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Huge events raised more than $700,000 for nonprofit organizations helping victims

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

NOURISHING CONTINUED FROM G19 and police officers.

More recently, in early December, Valette was one of the chefs who helped organize Rise Up Sonoma, a big-ticket fundraiser that featured some of the best food and wine in the Bay Area (more than 30 restaurants and wineries were represented).

Tickets for Rise Up started at $500 per person, and the event drew chefs ranging from Perry Hoffman of Healdsburg Shed and Mark Stark of Bird and the Bottle to celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse, who was there as a spectator.

All told, according to Tony Lombardi, one of the organizers, Rise Up raised more than $550,000, which was distributed evenly to six charities: the Care Relief Fund from Dustin Restaurants Care, the Valette Redwood Credit Union Community Fund, UndocuFund for fire relief in Sonoma County, Homes for Sonoma, Rebuild Wine Country and Burners without Borders, which is trying to launch a village of shipping container homes.

Ari “Going in, we hoped Rosen to raise a good amount but really had no idea how we’d do,” said Lombardi, who also owns Lombardi Wines in Santa Rosa. “We were blown away by the support we got.”

Lombardi added that Rise Up organizers already are discussing repeating the event later this year.

Rise Up hasn’t been the only major chef-driven fundraising event. Another fundraiser, dubbed The Grateful Table, raised just less than $150,000, and gave participants a chance to nab one of 500 seats at a 500-foot harvest table that straddled Napa and Sonoma counties in the Carneros, just before Thanksgiving.

The Grateful Table event attracted big-name chefs such as Tyler Florence, Chris Cosentino of Acacia House in Saint Helena and Ken Frank of La Toque in Napa, among others. The event attracted attendees from all over the world, as well. While the majority of guests were local (some of the tickets were earmarked for first responders and victims), at least one came from Japan.

The meal at this event was notable. It included clam chowder, fall squash soup, fried Brussels sprouts, leafy greens, butternut squash risotto, Sonoma turkey

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Deborah Cutler, a volunteer with Sonoma Family Meal, puts together stuffed bell peppers to be cooked in the kitchen of the Vintners Inn in Fulton. Sonoma Family Meal is a collaborative effort to offer top-quality meals to wildfire victims for free. and lamb and sticky fig cake in a jar.

Proceeds were split evenly between four community groups working on fire recovery efforts: the Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund, Sonoma County Resilience Fund, Mendocino County Disaster Fund and the California Restaurant Association Foundation.

Ryan Becker, a spokesman for Visit California, the regional marketing organization that produced the event, said this kind of collaboration and cooperation among chefs is rare but very powerful. He added that iconic images of the long table in the vineyards became a sign of unity after the fires, images that told the world that Wine Country would survive.

“Our mission is to keep people coming to the region and spending their money,” said Becker. “We need our communities to showcase that (their) community spirit is alive and well.”

Both Rise Up and The Grateful Table were high-profile events that required serious planning and involved celebrity participants. Other chef-driven efforts to assist with fire relief have been a bit more organic, a bit subtler.

Perhaps the best example is Sonoma Family Meal. This effort, launched by Press Democrat food writer Heather Irwin, grew out of a desire to care for fire victims by preparing them top-quality meals for free.

Irwin collaborated on the project with chefs that included John Franchetti, owner of Franchetti’s Wood-Fired Kitchen in Santa Rosa. He not only

contributed some of the food for the meals but also donated his 80-seat restaurant as the place where some of the meals could be administered.

“It just seemed like a perfect fit,” he said. “We had food, they needed it.

We had the space, they needed that, too. Everywhere we turned, (Sonoma Family Meal) had needs and we had resources to share. The bottom line is that we just want to help people out.”

Other examples include the No Pay Café in Sonoma, which was started

by Sheana Davis, owner of Epicurean Connections. Also known as Café Gratis, the effort attracted the support of Facebook, SF Chefs Fight Fire, Kendall-Jackson and Sonoma Kiwanis to fill food orders for local nonprofits and deliver meals each week.

At Campo Fina in Healdsburg, chef and owner Ari Rosen also has hosted a handful of one-night fundraising dinners, and will continue to do so throughout the year. At the Trading Post in Cloverdale, chef and owner Erik Johnson is doing the same. Johnson, who also participated in Rise Up and has expressed interest in getting involved with Sonoma Family Meal, said that food is the perfect object for charity because it is a great unifier.

“Food is comforting and restorative,” Johnson said. “It relieves pressure in people’s lives. After what we’ve all been through, this is important. To me, it also means there’s no greater calling right now than to be (a great chef) doing this for the community.”

FIRE RELIEF FUNDS $31 million: North Bay Fire Relief Fund $31 million: Tipping Point $10 million+: Sonoma County Resilience Fund, through Community Foundation of Sonoma County $3.9 million: UndocuFund $1.5 million: Rebuild Wine Country in partnership with Habitat for Humanity $1.5 million: Catholic Charities (fire-related grants) $700,000: Sonoma County Grapegrowers Foundation in partnership with Sonoma County Farm Bureau $550,000: Rise Up Sonoma benefit $437,000: Pepperwood Preserve annual donations, more than twice normal $150,000: Grateful Table benefit $145,000: Sonoma County Parks Foundation (fire-related donations) $85,624: Audubon Canyon Ranch annual donations for all preserves $50,000: Beltane Ranch auction $40,000: COTS (Committee on the Shelterless) fire-related grants $17,000+: Sugarloaf Ridge State Park (fire-related grants)

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » HOUSING

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Steve Kwok, left, and Aaron Jobson of Quattrocchi Kwok Architects are key sponsors of Homes for Sonoma, an architect-driven project to build short-term homes for fire victims with support from Burbank Housing, Maker Media and North Coast Builders Exchange.

Jump-start for modular homes Architects, builders spring into action with solutions amid county’s shelter gap

By MICHAEL SHAPIRO FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

I

n the natural world, devastating fires are followed by green shoots of renewal. That’s also what is happening with housing as the North Bay begins to rebuild.

Homes for Sonoma, a group of volunteer architects and builders, is one of several groups that sprung from the disastrous infernos last fall

to jump-start rebuilding efforts.

Their goal is designing and providing short-term housing for fire victims while also helping to ease the North Bay’s chronic shortage of affordable shelter.

They hope to have the first 40 units up by April on a site in southwest Santa Rosa. If all goes as planned, they anticipate completing a total of 400 homes by the end of the year.

“We all are very committed to

helping the fire victims, but there’s a longer-range vision of helping solve the affordable housing problem in the county,” said Steve Kwok of Santa Rosa-based Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, who’s helping to steer the group’s effort.

Homes for Sonoma has teamed with Burbank Housing, which has a long history of providing affordable TURN TO MODULAR » PAGE G24

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

We are pleased to welcome

Dr. Susan Cooper as Executive Director

It’s my pleasure to join the amazing team at Community Action Partnership as the new Executive Director.

CAP Sonoma County is an far-reaching agency that works tirelessly to create opportunities for low income families and under-served communities. This year, the agency plans to transform how we address poverty through a “Whole Family Approach”, an evidence-based model that creates a legacy of economic security.

From Head Start to Sloan and Harold’s Homes women’s shelters, and life-changing dental programs, come discover how CAP is making a difference in your community.

Warmly,

Dr. Susan Cooper Executive Director

We are so grateful to be able to support those affected and displaced by the wildfires. Through the generosity of our Sonoma County community we are able to provide over $700,000 in direct aid to fire victims. Our staff continues to work tirelessly to assist our Sonoma County families with rental, deposit and material needs assistance.

Kathy Kane Assistant Director of Programs

Since the early 1960’s, Community Action Partnership has been working to empower residents of low-income neighborhoods to create their own communities through advocacy and hard work. The annexation of Roseland into the City of Santa Rosa is a major victory for the residents of Roseland, whom I and CAP have served for many years.

I want to thank all the supporters of CAP and our long-term community engagement programs for supporting true community organizing and empowerment.

Vince Harper Director of Community Engagement

Bank of Marin is proud to support Community Action Partnership.

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Visit us at www.capsonoma.org to learn more about our programs and ways to help your community.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

MODULAR CONTINUED FROM G21 housing for Sonoma County’s neediest residents.

The group’s principals have designed homes that can be built quickly and affordably, and contractors have been recruited to build them.

“Everybody in this organization is a volunteer,” Kwok said. “Nobody’s getting paid.”

Aaron Jobson, a principal at Quattrocchi Kwok, said designs are variable and include modular homes, but all dwellings will conform to residential building codes. In other words, they will have nothing in common with the FEMA trailers used in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

“There is no compromise in the quality, durability and sustainability of what we are building,” Jobson said. “It’s not built as a temporary structure. It’s built as a permanent structure” that can be relocated.

The homes have been designed, but Homes for Sonoma needs site approvals from the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County — and because the structures are pre-fabricated, they need state approval as well.

As soon as the permit approvals and funding are in place, building will commence, Jobson said, adding that he believes these approvals can be gained quickly as government officials want to expedite the rebuilding effort.

There are two sizes, he said: a one-bedroom, 12-by-40 foot home (480 square feet) and a three-bedroom home that’s 768 square feet. The ballpark cost per home is $100,000 to $150,000.

Funding hasn’t been secured yet, but Jobson said Homes for Sonoma has applied for grants in partnership with Burbank Housing. The group also has a substantial commitment for funding from the Jackson Family Foundation, but the specific amount hasn’t been determined yet.

The goal to finish building the 40 homes in southwest Santa Rosa

by April is aggressive but attainable, Jobson said, because the homes are pre-fabricated.

“A lot of pieces need to fall into place to make this happen, he said.

Anyone interested in applying should visit homesforsonoma.org and click on “I Need a Home.” The focus is to “help those most in need,” Jobson said, those who aren’t receiving support from FEMA or insurance, and especially people who were renters before the fires.

Burbank Housing will own and

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Amy Marlar comforts her daughter, Logyn, 11, next to what used to be the front porch of their home on Dec. 20 in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. After the October wildfires, architects are stepping up with short-term housing solutions.

“We as architects are always trying to think about how to make our communities more sustainable and more livable and more humane.”

STEVE KWOK, architect with Santa Rosa-based Quattrocchi Kwok Architects

operate the housing project and will be involved in the selection process.

Some rent will be required to cover operating costs and utilities, Jobson said, but it could be as low as $200 a month. Rents will be on a sliding scale and will be well below market rate.

“The exit strategy,” Kraesig added, could include secondary use for students or the homeless after the fire victims vacate the dwellings. “There’s a lot of opportunity” for employing these homes “beyond the disasters.”

As horrific as the fires were, they presented architects with an opportunity to re-think how to build in harmony with the environment, Kwok said.

“We as architects are always trying to think about how to make our communities more sustainable and more livable and more humane,” he said.

Friends of the Animals in the Redwood Empire

Who We Are: FAIRE was organized in 1985 and is an allvolunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. All of our members are unpaid volunteers who love companion animals and want to help them.

Our Mission: To increase adoptions and reduce the need for euthanasia at our local shelters.

Our Spay/Neuter Voucher Program: One of our primary goals is to help pet owners understand the need for pet population control and responsible pet ownership.

We help pay for veterinary expenses so that those in need are able to afford to get their dogs, cats, and bunnies “fixed.”

Our Advertising Program: We sponsor ads in the Press Democrat advertising homeless dogs, cats, and bunnies for adoption at our County’s six animal shelters. We also run special classified ads encouraging spaying and neutering.

Our Foster Care Program: We provide orphan kittens with special kitten formula and supplies at the Rohnert Park Animal Shelter.

A Special Message to Those Who Lost Pets in the Fires: FAIRE has been supporting the efforts of those groups working on finding the pets separated from their owners in the fires and will continue to do so as long as we have the resources. If you lost your pet in the fire, please check with the local animal shelters. Many pets rescued after the fires are still waiting for their “person” to show up and claim them. You should also be sure to update your pet’s micro-chip information so it is current and check the Found Pet lists posted on the Sonoma & Napa Fires Pet Rescue and Reunification group on Facebook. Don’t give up! Animals are still being re-united with their owners!

Dedicated to Helping the Companion Animals in our Community www.FAIREonline.org

F riends of the A nimals I n the R edwood E mpire

Help us help the animals.

Send donations to: P.O. Box 2001, Rohnert Park, 94927

“We all have a stake in having a more sustainable world.”

No one wants to slow rebuilding efforts, Jobson said, “but at the same time it’s an opportunity to innovate and come up with new solutions.”

One strategy is to have cottages fabricated outside the North Bay, where builders are more available, Kwok said, and then truck them to where they’re needed. In addition, Homes for Sonoma is working with Rebuild Together Petaluma, which is providing volunteers and recommending local contractors.

Some of the labor also will come from students in vocational programs at schools such as Santa Rosa Junior College, who are seeking to learn construction skills.

“It’s an opportunity for students who want vocational training,” he said.

“This is one of those great opportuni-

ties to really enhance those programs.”

Jobson noted that SRJC launched training courses this month that are based on the construction skills necessary to build temporary units for people left homeless by the fires.

The courses also will provide OSHA certification for students.

“We needed more construction workers before (the fires), and now we need a whole lot more,” Jobson said. “This is a workforce development opportunity.”

A prototype should be ready in the next few weeks, he said, but additional funds and cooperation from government agencies will be required before they can expand the program.

Like others working to rebuild in the North Bay, Jobson notes that Homes for Sonoma must move quickly to provide housing for people who otherwise may leave the area.

“If we don’t have a solution to this problem of providing houses, people are going to have to leave this community and they are an important part of the community,” he said.

“We don’t want them to leave, so we need to do it as quickly as possible, or it’s not going to work.”

If you are a victim of: Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Elder Abuse or Child Abuse

You are not alone...

Family Justice Center Sonoma County provides confidential services

(707) 565-8255 2755 Mendocino Ave. Suite 100 Santa Rosa, CA 95403

www.FJCSC.org

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

REBUILDING AND FIRE RELIEF » HOUSING

Putting cash into construction Occidental nonprofit joins forces with Habitat to create affordable dwellings

By MICHAEL SHAPIRO FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

B

y the second full day of the October fire, Senses Wine co-founder Chris Strieter was asking, “How can we help –– what can we do?”

“We thought maybe we could do an event, we could fundraise, donate some money, donate some time, see where people needed help,” he said.

Soon Strieter realized that the wine industry was eager to get behind a major relief effort, so he and his co-workers at the Occidental-based winery created Rebuild Wine Country (rebuildwinecountry.org).

Using social media and other digital assets, the new nonprofit found a way to channel that outpouring of support into financing for new home construction.

To date, the group has raised more than $1 million for Habitat for Humanity, he said, with a goal of raising $5 million to build homes for fire survivors that can be reused as affordable housing.

The first five to eight homes are slated to be built in February and March, with people flying in from across the country to help with the construction.

“Not only do they fly in at their own expense, they also chip in up to $5,000 and their time,” said Strieter.

“It’s not just professionals. Anyone who wants to help, there’s going to be something that could be done.”

Fundraising is continuing with events such as the 5K Run to Rebuild Wine Country (runtorebuildwinecountry.org) on March 11 at Napa

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Chelsea Boss, from left, and Chris Strieter of Senses Wines are spearheading Rebuild Wine Country, which has partnered with John Kennedy of Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County for fundraising.

Valley College in St. Helena.

The nonprofit came together when Strieter reached out to his childhood friend, Algeo Ché Casul, the volunteer and community development manager for Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County.

Though the Habitat office on Piner Road in Santa Rosa was “basically shut down” during the first days of the fires, Strieter worked with Casul to set up a tax-deductible fund.

Part of Habitat for Humanity’s mission is to respond to disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

in 2005, so when Strieter asked what was most needed to help the North Bay rebuilding efforts, Casul had one word, money.

“He said, ‘Chris, why don’t you guys raise money and help us rebuild homes, and we can help throughout all of Wine Country through our local affiliates,’” Casul said.

That became the organization’s No. 1 focus.

Chelsea Boss, general manager of Senses Wine, said they began to see bigger needs than those being addressed by some of the well-funded

and well-executed community fundraising efforts.

“We wanted to have a long-term impact,” Boss said, “so when Chris made the connection with Ché, he thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this solves all of our problems.’ They are going to be rebuilding homes. That’s long-term impact, and they can give money to multiple chapters affecting the entire Wine Country.”

John Kennedy, board chairman for Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma TURN TO CONSTRUCTION » PAGE G26

“Our No. 1 goal right now is to keep these families that are at risk from leaving in our community. We cannot afford to lose them ...”

ALGEO CHÉ CASUL, volunteer and community development manager for Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

CONSTRUCTION CONTINUED FROM G25 County, said Rebuild Wine Country has been instrumental in getting the word out about Habitat’s effort to help the North Bay regenerate its housing stock.

All the funds coming from Rebuild Wine Country are allocated for housing “fire survivors” in “Sonoma cottages” similar to the “Katrina cottages” built for refugees of the 2005 hurricane that inundated New Orleans.

That year, Habitat built temporary homes of 500 to 800 square feet on “skids” or large sleds that could be relocated to wherever they were needed. Some were placed on public lands while their occupants rebuilt their homes.

In the North Bay, fire survivors will be able to live in these one- to three-bedroom homes for up to two years, then the houses will be moved to permanent locations to provide affordable housing for low-income families or single people such as veterans.

The cost of the homes will likely range from $30,000 to $100,000, he said, depending on the size and number of rooms. With volunteer labor, those numbers decrease by 10 to 20 percent.

The cost to occupants hasn’t yet been set but will be based on what a family can afford, Kennedy said, “as with our other Habitat programs.”

Casul said he expected that monthly rent to be about $1 a square foot, far below the market rate.

“Once those homes are no longer needed –– they will be on temporary foundations wherever they are –– we will offer them to Habitat first, then we can put them on somebody’s land as granny units,” Casul said.

“This can become a long-term rental for a low-income family and provide desperately needed housing in our community,” Casul said.

Ultimately, these homes will give Sonoma and neighboring counties a more affordable housing base.

“We see it as a great program to cost-effectively help fire survivors as well as helping to alleviate the affordable housing problem in Sonoma County,” said Kennedy.

Casul noted that typically Habitat’s efforts are reserved for lower-income residents, for example, those earning 80 percent or less of the county’s median income.

But this effort isn’t as limited.

Anyone earning up to 120 percent of the area’s median income is eligible for assistance.

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2015

A Habitat for Humanity volunteer paints a coat of primer on a home under construction in Cotati. Habitat officials say Rebuild Wine Country has played a key role in raising awareness about the nonprofit’s effort to help the North Bay replenish its housing stock.

WAYS TO LEARN MORE AND CONTRIBUTE To learn more about or to contribute to rebuilding efforts in Sonoma County, visit the websites of these organizations: Rebuild Wine Country: rebuildwinecountry.org Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County: habitatsoco.org Sonoma Fire Survivors Tiny Home Challenge: youcaring.com/ habitatforhumanityofsonomacounty1038154

CHRIS STRIETER / SENSES WINE

Liz Rentzel of Habitat for Humanity and Jack Blankenship, a Habitat board member, sort materials at ReStore in Santa Rosa. The homebuilding organization has partnered with a local nonprofit to build temporary housing for people displaced by the wildfires.

In addition, Habitat is helping people rebuild for “pennies on the dollar,” Casul said. Case in point: A recent $15,000 job in Bennett Valley for two 90-year-olds that cost the homeowners $234. Materials were donated through Builders Exchange, and vocational youth were trained to

do the construction work.

“The couple had two adult children: the son had a broken back and the daughter is fighting leukemia,” Casul said. “That is the return we bring to the table for these families.”

Before the October fires, Habitat of Sonoma County sought to build

600 homes in the next 10 years. Kennedy said that goal has been accelerated, cutting the time frame to five to eight years.

But the most important time period will be the first half of this year, Casul said. Traditionally in disasters, about half the people who lose their homes leave the region because homes aren’t built quickly enough.

“Our No. 1 goal right now is to keep these families that are at risk from leaving in our community,” he said.

“We cannot afford to lose them … because we already were pressed for workers. And we need to keep this economy moving forward.”

Thank You!

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offering fresh microgreens & produce to the community.

Visit our booth at the Friday Farmers Market & our farmstand on West Spain, June through October.

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369 5th Street West Sonoma CA 95476 . 707-996-3104 www.sweetwaterspectrum.org

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

THANK YOU to our Sonoma County Sponsors $10,000 MASTERS SPONSORS Guy Lampard & Suzanne Badenhoop Herb & Jane Dwight Professional Program Insurance Brokerage Sonoma County Office of Education

An Annual Gala to Benefit 10,000 Degrees

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$5,000 BACHELORS SPONSORS Bank of America Bank of Marin Sonoma Raceway $2,500 SCHOLAR SPONSORS Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery Chandi Hospitality Group Sandy Donnell & Justin Faggioli Nancy & Tony Lilly Midstate Construction Corporation Sonoma State University Marty & Marlene Stein The Press Democrat (confirmed sponsors as of 1/22/18)

To become a sponsor of One Amazing Night 2018, please contact Caroline Silverstein at csilverstein@10000degrees.org or call 415.451.4016.

WE HELP MAKE COLLEGE DREAMS COME TRUE A leading college success nonprofit in California, 10,000 Degrees helps students from low-income backgrounds get to and through college.

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Now more than ever, your generous contribution will directly impact thousands of local students and their families in your community.

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Nancy Torres, 10,000 Degrees Alumna 2017, B.A. Sociology Sonoma State University

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COUNTY NONPROFITS » CORAZON HEALDSBURG

Bridging gaps for Latinos Group helps October fire victims overcome barriers to aid, supports moms-to-be

By MATT VILLANO FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

C

onsidering that about 30 percent of the people who live in Healdsburg consider themselves Latino, according to U.S. Census data, it’s curious that until recently no independent organization existed to bridge the cultural, racial and economic gaps between this population and the others around town.

Thankfully, the lone organization, Corazon Healdsburg, has made up for lost time quickly. Founded in November 2016, the nonprofit supports multiculturalism by taking collective action around what it considers to be the social determinants of health.

In theory, this means connecting Latino residents with programs and services that better their quality of life. In practice, it means the group has engineered a spate of social programs in the areas of wellness, education and more.

“It’s really important for our community to have an organization where there is bilingual, bicultural staff that understands firsthand the barriers one has in accessing education, health services and even immigration,” said Executive Director Leticia Romero. “Many times, when people are seeking assistance, they come across barriers and either give up or don’t know what next steps to take. We’re able to provide follow-up to make sure they get what they needed in the first place.”

Following the October wildfires, Corazon sponsored a free store at which victims could “shop” for items donated by community members. It also provided volunteers at the store to assist Spanish-speaking victims with applications for fire relief funds such as Redwood Credit Union and UndocuFund.

Board chairwoman Ariel Kelley ran the free store until it closed in November, and notes that fundraising for Corazon and recruiting volunteers has been challenging because of what she calls “post-fire fatigue.”

“We were previously able to get a lot of human power donated through

ERIK CASTRO / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Twins Mileidy Jimenez, left, and Melissa Jimenez, 5, receive a backpack full of school supplies from United Way during the Corazon Healdsburg preschool fair held Jan. 20 at the Healdsburg Community Center.

“Knowing you’ve got people in your corner, making sure you don’t have to go at it alone, makes the experience completely different in all sorts of positive ways.”

ARIEL KELLEY, board chairwoman for Corazon Healdsburg

volunteers, but now we are finding so many volunteers are burned out after working so hard after the fires, we have to pay people to do work that was previously donated,” she said.

“Basically, we need all the help we can get.”

With an annual budget of $250,000, Corazon sponsors a variety of initiatives, including a flagship program

that is a partnership with Alliance Medical Center focusing on maternal health. Called Moms to Moms, the initiative is a free program designed to help expecting mothers prepare for parenthood with prenatal, birthing, lactation and peer-to-peer support education classes for pregnant mothers in their third trimester.

The effort also collects donations

that are distributed to expecting mothers at five group baby showers thrown throughout the year by other moms in the community. The most recent baby shower was in December, and Kelley said the event continues to be a huge help for mothers-to-be.

“Becoming a new mom can be TURN TO CORAZON » PAGE G29

SCHOLARSHIP HAS AWARDED MORE THAN $450,000 TO 200+ STUDENTS

ANNUAL GALA Children of Vineyard Workers Scholarship Fundraiser Join us for a Night of Wine, Food and Philanthropy

You are cordially invited to our lively 2018 Scholarship Fundraiser benefitting all Sonoma County vineyard students as we give back to individuals that are the cornerstone of our wine industry.

Bid on incredible silent & live auction items while sipping on award-winning wines and dining farm to fork featuring a three-course menu prepared by Park Avenue Catering.

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JUNE 9, 2018 | 6-10 PM TICKETS: $100 PER PERSON OR $750 FOR A TABLE OF 8 WINEMAKER TABLE: $1,500 (8 GUESTS – 5 TABLES AVAILABLE) VISIT WILSONARTISANWINES.COM/SCHOLARSHIP TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS In 2002 Wilson Winery established the Children of Vineyard Workers Scholarship Fund. In collaboration with the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, this project has helped students further their education by providing scholarships. We are united in the mission to expand access to education for the children of our community. Past scholarship recipients have included children of vineyard workers from Buchignani Vineyard, EJ Gallo, Ferrari Carano, Garden Creek Vineyards, Kendall Jackson, Mauritson Vineyards, Paul Hobbs Winery, Pedroncelli Winery, Preseton Farm & Winery, Sonoma Cutrer, Sebastiani, Syar Family Vineyard, Tri Valley Vineyard Management and many more!

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CORAZON CONTINUED FROM G28 overwhelming,” she said. “Knowing you’ve got people in your corner, making sure you don’t have to go at it alone, makes the experience completely different in all sorts of positive ways.”

Other Corazon initiatives spotlight education. Earlier this month, the organization launched ESL and Spanish-language GED classes, which have become particularly popular with moms from the Moms to Moms group. The classes are in partnership with Santa Rosa Junior College and are held at Corazon’s office in the Healdsburg Community Center.

Last week, the nonprofit hosted the first-ever Healdsburg Preschool Fair, an event that brought together representatives from local preschools in a bilingual forum where all parents with kids up to 5 years old were able to learn about options for early childhood education. The event was underwritten by the Healthcare Foundation of Sonoma County, First 5 Sonoma County and the American Association of University Women.

Corazon also runs an effort to help Healdsburg High School students who represent the first generation in their families to attend four-year colleges. The First Gen College Counseling program currently serves about 30 students and is growing every year.

Director Lori Rhodes said that in addition to helping students write essays and prepare transcripts, the program also connects them with one- or two-week summer programs on college campuses so they have experience applying, being accepted and going away from home.

“It takes a lot in this day and age to get a kid to college, and the resources necessary to do that are resources members of this (Latino) community usually don’t have,” said Rhodes, a former Healdsburg High School principal. “By helping these students understand what they need to make themselves viable applicants, and by helping them get out there and get a true understanding of the options they have, we’re trying to help them make a difference in their lives, their families’ lives and the world.”

Corazon also has expanded its roster of day-to-day wellness programs.

Thanks to a grant from the Healthcare Foundation, the organization now subsidizes yoga and Zumba for members of the local Latino community, and will be launching financial literacy classes this spring to teach the importance of saving, building

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Patricia Ryf decorates a wall of photographs and flowers to be used as an altar while dancers during the Dia de los Muertos celebration on Oct. 29 on the square in Healdsburg.

JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Corazon de Healdsburg Executive Director Leticia Romero made candles for the Dia de Los Muertos kickoff party for the organization. credit and paying taxes.

The group even has hosted “Know Your Rights” seminars during which local officials explain to members of the Latino community what their rights are during stops by police or officers from Immigration and Cus-

91

toms Enforcement.

No look at Corazon Healdsburg is complete without acknowledging the organization’s start. It was the brainchild of two local restaurateurs, Ari Rosen and Dawnelise Regnery.

Rosen was inspired by the Nuestra

Casa Family Resource Center in Ukiah, where he grew up. In that community, Nuestra Casa advocates on behalf of Latino residents by offering community services, sponsoring big events and supporting locals in times of need.

When he and Regnery moved to Healdsburg and opened the now-shuttered Scopa, they were surprised that no similar organization existed in their new town, so they started one.

Corazon’s “coming-out” party was the 2016 Dia de Los Muertos celebration in Healdsburg. In 2017, Corazon sponsored the same shindig, and it was one of the biggest block parties the city has ever seen.

Moving forward, Rosen said he hopes to see Corazon expand offerings to the point where the gaps between Healdsburg’s Hispanic and Caucasian communities are all but erased.

“You have to raise equality to have justice and social interaction that’s real,” he said. “Ultimately the idea is to create an environment where people find themselves having experiences together, and differences become secondary to all the things we share.”

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ACTS OF ALTRUISM » TAPPING INTO AGRICULTURE

A food community unites

JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

When Let’s Go Farms owner Joey Smith, right, lost his home and farm to the Tubbs fire, Evan Wiig and farmers groups stepped up to help replant his farm. “I’ve learned that part of the recovery effort is to make sure that our local food economy is supported,” says Wiig, who also helped coordinate food donations after wildfires struck in October.

Tight-knit network of farmers steps up to channel fresh produce to fire evacuees

By LEILANI CLARK FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

S

onoma County already had a well-connected food and farming system before the October wildfires, but several spontaneous efforts to provide immediate relief are blossoming into programs that may continue long after the rebuilding begins. Individual groups of farmers, food distributors, chefs and philanthropists who stepped up to funnel local produce to ad hoc soup kitchens are finding ways to continue their work as a second wave of need emerges in Sonoma County.

On the first Friday after fires swept through Sonoma County, Tim Page drove from San Francisco to the Salvation Army in Sonoma County with 2,000 fresh, chef-made breakfasts stacked in the back of his company van, courtesy of SF Fights Fire.

The trip was the first of many made over the next two weeks by Page and his employees at F.E.E.D. Sonoma, a micro-regional produce aggregation and distribution hub in Sebastopol that connects dozens of small, organic farms and chefs and restaurants across the Bay Area.

Page knows the ins-and-outs of

delivering large amounts of farm-fresh produce to different drop-off points.

Thus, when he was asked to help streamline the connections between farms and the spontaneous kitchens erupting all over Sonoma County to feed fire victims, evacuees and first responders, Page’s answer was “Yeah, for sure, what else can we do?”

With its large walk-in refrigerators, storage capability and fleet of four delivery trucks, F.E.E.D. (short for Farmers Exchange of Earthly Delights) transformed into a hive of volunteer activity.

TURN TO FOOD » PAGE G31

This space made possible by Julie Atwood Events

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

FOOD CONTINUED FROM G30 Donations poured in from small family farms and ranches locally and across California, including whole pallets of pastured-raised chickens from Root Down Farm in Pescadero and ground beef from Markegard Family Grass-Fed. F.E.E.D. was the hub for all. These ingredients were then delivered to emergency kitchen operations run by the chefs at Backyard, which prepared and distributed 16,000 meals the week after the fire, along with Ceres Community Project, and Worth Our Weight. Page says the “communal” call to action in a time of unprecedented disasters was impossible to refuse.

“It was a grass-roots, multi-pronged effort,” he added. “Plenty of people around the county started cooking and handing out meals.” Ultimately, it came down to doing what they already knew how to do, but doing it really well and under pressure.

In Occidental, Kaelyn Ramsden started thinking about access to fresh fruits and vegetables in evacuation centers. As the school garden coordinator at Salmon Creek School, she knew the solution lay in procuring produce from the wealth of small farms in Sonoma County.

Why should disaster workers in evacuation centers and first responder camps have to rely on canned food imported from across the country to feed people in a place where the support for good, clean and local food runs strong?

First, Ramsden harvested as much kale as possible from her own garden, taking it to Ceres Community Kitchen, where volunteers were preparing daily meals for evacuees at Analy High School.

Within a couple of days, Ramsden had coordinated with Page at F.E.E.D. and a crew of volunteers to get the produce donations from farms into pop-up kitchens. It was her way of ensuring that people were getting the good, nourishing food she believed they needed in a time of crisis.

“There is no reason why if you’ve been evacuated from your home that you should be eating cans of beans and pesticide-sprayed garbage,” said Evan Wiig of the Farmers Guild/ CAFF. “On top of having lost your house and belongings and nearly escaped death, suddenly you throw a bunch of crap in your stomach? The least we can do was provide them a healthy, wholesome meal.”

Wiig helped to coordinate food

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

Caiti Hachmyer, owner of Red H Farm in Sebastopol, joined forces with fellow Sonoma County farmers to deliver produce to Sonoma Family Meal, a roving chef-managed disaster kitchen that served at 70,000 meals after the October wildiires.

“The idea was for chefs to create local and organic-sourced meals for people to take home, amazing food that nourished them and had dignity to it.”

HEATHER IRWIN, founder of Sonoma Family Meal

donations during that first chaotic week, as the fires still burned in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties. People from the culinary world were calling to ask where they could get produce and ingredients. He started calling local farmers asking for donations.

“Of course, without a moment’s hesitation every single one of them started showing up to kitchens with deliveries, from New Family Farm to Red H to Singing Frogs,” said Wiig.

At this point, Ramsden stepped up transportation efforts, coordinating volunteers to pick up donations so that time-strapped farmers could get back to the harvest.

Still, something wasn’t sitting right.

Although farmers were offering donations without hesitation, Wiig knew sales were down 50 percent for farmers who already operate on slim margins. The large farmers market at the Luther Burbank Center had burned out, restaurants had closed and people weren’t going out to eat. Farmers were feeling the economic hit.

“I’ve learned that part of the recovery effort is to make sure that our local food economy is supported,” said Wiig. “I was pretty off-put when George Bush told people to go shopping after 9/11, but I do recognize that supporting our local economy during times of crisis is just as important as fighting fires.”

Wiig turned to the owners of Sebastopol restaurants Lowell’s and Handline, who had asked how they could help. He asked them to help raise money for what he called the “farm-to-emergency pipeline.”

Through Thursday night dinner sales, they raised $10,000 used by F.E.E.D. to purchase food for emergency kitchen operations directly from local farms.

These donations were invaluable to Heather Irwin, a food writer at The Press Democrat who launched Sonoma Family Meal, a roving chef-managed disaster kitchen, while evacuated from her Santa Rosa home. The group served 70,000 meals in October.

“The idea was for chefs to create

local and organic-sourced meals for people to take home, amazing food that nourished them and had dignity to it,” said Irwin. “One woman who had lost her home told me: ‘We had no kitchen, no home, we were scared. We got this meal, and it was so loving.’”

With the help of Ramsden and farmer Caiti Hachmyer of Red H Farm, Wiig also set out to raise enough money to buy out the produce at the Sunday Sebastopol Farmers’ Market. By the end of the day, they had raised $800 to purchase as much produce as possible; Wiig walked out with about $1,500 worth of food, as farmers gave generously.

The goods were stored at F.E.E.D. and then driven to Franchetti’s in Santa Rosa, where chef and owner John Franchetti was preparing food for Sonoma Family Meals. Some went directly to the kitchen to be roasted for the night’s meals. The rest— squash, carrots, potatoes, onions — was bagged and handed out to those in need.

Once the immediate crisis was over and Franchetti had re-opened his restaurant, Sonoma Family Meal received nonprofit status and was awarded a grant from the North Bay Fire Relief Fund to hire a chef. Meal prep and distribution resumed Jan. 9, serving 25 families that had lost homes.

This article was originally published on KQED’s Bay Area Bites.

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Become part of an inspirational story… photo: Jay Lee

For 28 years, the Laguna Foundation has worked with our partners, community stewards and volunteers on successful conservation and restoration projects, and inspiring outdoor education for children and adults.

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Imagine witnessing the first step taken by a boy who had never walked; hearing the first word uttered by a child who had never spoken. These extraordinary things happen when the focus is on possibilities, not limitations.

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This space space made made possible possible by Julie Atwood This Atwood Events Events

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

Leading Rural Residents to Safety & Preparedness

The Halter Project connects the whole community by providing resources, education, and financial support to First Responders and Volunteer Groups working together to help animals in emergencies and disasters To learn more, visit us at

HALTERproject.org

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

SONOMA GIVES

Alexa Wood feeds hay to her horses at Beltane Ranch on Jan. 11 in Glen Ellen. Wood and her children own and operate the ranch, which was saved by fire crews in October.

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

ACTS OF ALTRUISM » BELTANE RANCH

Giving back to firefighters Family’s annual wine release dinner turns into benefit

By CAROLE KELLEHER FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

W

ithout the heroics of firefighters and friends, Beltane Ranch would be ash, which is why owners of this Glen Ellen inn and winery transformed their annual November zinfandel release party into a community love fest. Their gesture of overwhelming gratitude raised more than $50,000 for firefighters and fire victims in Glen Ellen and Kenwood.

Still coping with their trauma and losses, they hosted a dinner dance and auction, held in a battery-candlelit horse barn, that was tearful, laughter laced and the ultimate example of neighborly love.

The 911 call from Beltane Ranch Inn and Winery is believed to be one of the first received when the wildfires began raging, and the family’s efforts to beat back the flames succeeded when the local fire departments arrived, saving TURN TO BELTANE » PAGE G34

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

ACTS OF ALTRUISM » NORTH COAST BUILDERS EXCHANGE

Replacing ‘tools of their trade’ Nonprofit, stores, manufacturers step up to fill critical need for workers

HELPING BUILDERS ACROSS THE NORTH COAST The North Coast Builders Exchange serves craftsmen in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties. For more information, call 707-542-9502 or visit ncbeonline.com.

By DIANNE REBER HART FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

O

ctober’s devastating firestorms were still burning when a local nonprofit contractors’ association recognized the immediate need to get tools back into the hands of its members and their employees, who were personally hit by the fires.

Many in the construction trades “lost not only their homes, but they literally lost the tools of their trade,” said Keith Woods. He’s chief executive officer with North Coast Builders Exchange, a service and advocacy group with a membership of almost 1,200 licensed contractors, sub-contractors and others affiliated with the construction industry.

As the exchange was considering ways to help, Santa Rosa resident Jon Richards of Apex Tool Group was thinking about “all those white trucks you see in Coffey Park,” the neighborhood that lost some 1,300 homes in the Tubbs fire.

Richards, sales operations manager with Apex, started reaching out to tool manufacturers across the country who quickly got on board to help the tradesmen and women in Coffey Park and elsewhere affected by the fires.

With support from local lumber and home improvement stores and individual donors, North Coast Builders Exchange teamed up with Richards to open a distribution center for a dropin tool replacement program.

They offered nearly $250,000 worth of hand tools, everything from hammers, screwdrivers and drills to extension cords and safety goggles. Some 200 people received tools: carpenters, landscapers, laborers, plumbers, plasterers, house painters, sheet metal workers, mechanics and electricians, among others.

“The program has really been critical,” Woods said. “We’ve heard it from everyone who walked out the door.”

Evan Hughes, 31, is among those who stopped by an expansive warehouse in Windsor to select tools offered free to those with FEMA case numbers.

A project engineer at Midstate Construction Corp. in Petaluma, Hughes gained more than tools at the giveaway. He got a much-needed dose of compassion and left with a glimmer of optimism, something, he said, “that’s critical to my mental health.”

Hughes had moved to Santa Rosa from the East Coast only a few months before the fires. He and his fiancée, Jessica Wentz, lost their home when the Tubbs fire raged through their Mark West Springs neighborhood. They were living in a guesthouse adjacent to his childhood home, which also burned in the fire.

JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Evan Hughes, 31, received free tools from the North Coast Builders Exchange after he and his fiancee lost everything in the Tubbs fire.

“It means a lot. It’s someone going out of their way to give you a measure of control in your life again. It’s empowering in a way that’s difficult to describe. The point is that they care.”

EVAN HUGHES, Santa Rosa resident and project engineer at Midstate Construction Corp. in Petaluma

The tool replacement program provided Hughes “a measure of independence,” something that’s been elusive since the fires, he said.

“It’s just seeing people who don’t know you, reaching out like that,” Hughes said. “It means a lot. It’s someone going out of their way to give you a measure of control in your

life again. It’s empowering in a way that’s difficult to describe. The point is that they care.”

David Brown, who managed the program from the 8,300-square-foot warehouse donated by Pruitt Industrial Park, agreed.

“This was a healing process here,” he said.

BELTANE CONTINUED FROM G33 the inn, Alexa Wood’s cottage and her daughter Lauren Benward Krause’s family home on the property, while a barn, other small structures and about 700 cases of Beltane Ranch wines were taken by flames.

Wood, Krause and her brother, Alex Benward, who lives near the ranch and has 14 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter, made sure their bed-and-breakfast guests were safely evacuated. They then fought the fire with garden hoses and shovels. Some cars belonging to guests burned, and Benward sent two couples off to safety in his 1972 vintage Ford Bronco.

The smoky inn had been closed for a month when it came time for the annual wine release party in November. Deciding to go forward with the dinner dance while still emotionally reeling from the fires, they were in no mood to party.

“It leaves you in a state of shock.

You’re sort of different afterwards, like you’ve experienced another world,” Wood said.

So they decided to make the event a way to say thanks, adding a fundraising auction to benefit local fire departments and victims of the fires, with each of the team owners designing their own auction lot.

More than three months have passed since the fires and the inn is again open, yet when Krause thinks of the support her family received, tears still come and her voice almost fails her.

“Each of us came up with something that was true to us and true to

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Alexa Wood, center, joins her children, Lauren Benward Krause, right, and Alex Benward, who, together, operate Beltane Ranch in Glen Ellen. the ranch. We wanted it to be authentic,” Krause said.

Wood is known as an expert in the kitchen, always using fresh ingredients from the property’s extensive gardens, so she offered a five-course dinner for 12, paired with Beltane Ranch estate wines, to be served in the inn or on the lawn overlooking the Valley of the Moon, often a sought-after wedding venue.

“It’s a miracle we are still here,” she said. “I really felt the need to do something.”

Krause went with a more casual Beltane experience for a larger crowd of 25 guests, offering her homemade guacamole and ceviche, estate wines and adding a taco truck

for a dinner served on either the lawn or in the vineyards.

When Benward designed his lot he included his old Bronco, offering a ride in it to the Fremont Diner for brunch, followed by a barrel tasting at Beltane, a tour of private ranches in the Valley and a sunset picnic in the vineyard.

To further show their gratitude and create a thankful scene, they invited the Glen Ellen and Kenwood firefighters who saved Beltane Ranch and surrounding properties as their guests.

“It felt like an opportunity to move forward,” Krause said.

They asked John Serres, a Glen Ellen ranch and vineyard owner and longtime friend, who also helped

The devastation from the fires “was pretty much widespread in the industry,” Brown said. He estimates about 80 percent of those who received tools were from Coffey Park.

Recipients left the distribution center, on average, with about $1,000 to $1,200 worth of tools.

Mead Clark Lumber, Healdsburg Lumber Co. and Friedman’s Home Improvement were among the businesses that gave generously. Additional donations came from people as far away as the South Bay, where a radio station announced the need for quality hand tools, new or slightly used.

Initially offered to North Coast Builders Exchange members and their employees, the program expanded to include others in the construction trades.

“It’s not solving the problem. We just figured this is what we could do,” Woods said. “It sure helped out a lot of people.”

Santa Rosa resident Magdalena Lopez was ecstatic when she heard about the program. She stopped by to gather tools to surprise her 60-yearold father, José, a carpenter and plasterer who was at work that afternoon using borrowed tools.

The family lost everything in the firestorm and had no resources to replace tools, or much else.

“He doesn’t even have a dustpan, you know what I mean?” Lopez said.

She was grateful as she pushed a cart through the warehouse, surveying neat stacks of sledgehammers, pliers, measuring tapes, brooms, shovels, clamps, task lights, utility knives, ratchet sets, wrenches and even a small selection of power saws and toolboxes.

“I can’t believe how much there is,” she said. “I thank God.” Silas Boden, a retired building contractor and Construction Hall of Fame member, said he was inspired by the generosity of donors and the appreciation of recipients. He volunteered at the program, where he heard countless stories of people escaping flames with just a moment’s notice.

Boden lives in Windsor, but has three siblings who lost their homes in Santa Rosa.

The tool replacement program was just the first step in assistance offered by the exchange. It now serves as a referral center for homeowners and businesses, and provides tips from building professionals for those planning to rebuild. Free, online webinars include protocol to verify contractor licensing and best practices to follow in the rebuilding effort.

“It makes me feel good to know we’re doing something to help other people,” Boden said.

save their property by bringing a water truck the night of fire, to be the auctioneer. They didn’t have a dollar goal in mind when they chose their lots and additional cases of wine as donations, but when the total came in at close to $50,000, it was more than they ever imagined.

Wood’s lot sold three times for a total of $18,000; Krause’s twice at $7,000 each time; and Benward’s sold four times for a total of $14,000. The auctioned 20 cases of 2016 Heins Block estate zinfandel bumped the total higher.

Neighbors and firefighters who knew one another joined with Beltane Ranch wine club members, some who are vacation home owners not usually plugged into the local scene. Together they repeatedly raised their auction paddles as Serres, with his gruff voice and cowboy hat, urged them on.

“People were gasping for air they were laughing so hard,” Wood said.

People won auctioned cases of wine and then gave them to firefighters.

Emotions were running high. “I was very touched to see people who own big, fancy vacation homes having dinner with farmers and ranchers from the Valley. They were making friends with people they would not otherwise know,” Benward said.

Fifty percent of the funds raised that night will go to the Glen Ellen, Kenwood and Mayacamas fire departments, and 50 percent is going directly to those who lost homes or tools of their trade in Glen Ellen and Kenwood, people Krause said they like to think of as friends of the ranch.

“We wanted to do anything we could to say thank you. There aren’t words to describe how grateful we feel,” she said.

“Each of us came up with something that was true to us and true to the ranch. We wanted it to be authentic.”

LAUREN BENWARD KRAUSE, co-owner of Beltane Ranch in Glen Ellen about their auction lots for the

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

ACTS OF ALTRUISM » NEIGHBORHOOD SUPPORT

Humbled, awed by generosity Glen Ellen couple whose home burned in Nuns fire doing A-OK despite loss

having pets makes it much more difficult to find a rental.”

Then, while fires were still raging in the county, longtime neighbors Rich and Margie Foster called.

“They lived just outside the burn zone,” Arthur said, “and were going to put a trailer on their property. They invited us to stay there while we rebuilt our home. They said, ‘Look around, and

By REBECCA LAWTON if you find something better, just let us FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT know, but right now we’re holding this spot for you.’” indnesses began flowing to ArThe offer simply floored the thur and Jill Dawson on the first Dawsons. Up until then, they hadn’t night of October’s Nuns fire, known the Fosters well. Arthur rewhen their Glen Ellen home burned. calls that he taught one of their sons The couple didn’t anticipate how much poetry some 20 years ago: “We’re in caring would continue to roll in during the same neighborhood, but I hadn’t the following weeks and months. spent a lot of time with them.”

“The outpouring of generosity has Jill recalled that Rich and Margie been humbling and inspiring,” Arthur had been flooded out of their home on said, “from temSonoma Creek sevporary lodging to eral years back, and GoFundMe support, believes that their it’s been people empathy came from helping each other.” having had a similar experience.

He and Jill have “They really been moved to tears knew firsthand how too many times to it felt to lose everycount. “The immenthing,” she said. sity of this experience continues to Then when the overwhelm me,” she Dawsons visited the said, “not so much newly purchased 30the lost home but foot trailer, it posed the sheer volume of some challenges. kindness.”

“It really hit us Evacuated at how tough it would JILL DAWSON, Glen Ellen 2 a.m. the night of be on our 5-foot-10, resident whose home the fire with son 17-year-old son,” she was destroyed by the Nuns fire Larkin, family dog said. “He’d really Pepper and cats Peeka and Boo, Jill loved his own room and space, and there and Arthur fled to a friend’s house on was no separate room for him.” That’s Madrone Road. At 9 a.m., Madrone when someone suggested moving a was evacuated, and the Dawsons found second trailer to the Fosters for Larkin. refuge with other friends in Boyes Hot Margie and Rich were game and even Springs. A few days later, when Boyes owned a candidate trailer for the job. was under an evacuation advisory and Larkin’s first comment when he the air had become unfit to breathe, saw the tiny teardrop trailer was, the Dawsons headed for Nicasio.

“It’s adorable.” Later the Fosters found Larkin an even a bigger trailer, “People never hesitated,” Arthur a vintage cab-over RV, and he’s now said. “They just took us right in.” settled in nicely.

The Dawsons stayed in five different friends’ homes for several weeks Arthur’s still amazed by all the adwhile they looked for longer-term ditional work the Fosters put in. “Rich housing. Jill blogged about their dug a ditch to put in a bigger sewage search as it wore on: “We’d begun to holding tank, added new water lines cast the net wider and farther, even and electricity. Margie brought us as rents began to rise, houses became less available, and we learned that TURN TO GENEROSITY » PAGE G40

K

“The immensity of this experience continues to overwhelm me, not so much the lost home but the sheer volume of kindness.”

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Arthur and Jill Dawson received a trailer, bought by a neighbor, after their Glen Ellen home was leveled by the Nuns fire in October. The gift was one of the many ways in which they experienced the outpouring of support from the Sonoma Valley community.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

We cordially invite you to mix and mingle together as community philanthropists, and bid on high-fashion purses and local luxuries while enjoying craft cocktails, savory bites and delectable desserts. The night concludes with a live auction and a special tribute to all those affected by the recent North Bay wildfires.

PURCHASE TICKETS

V O L U N T E E R N O W. O R G For nearly fifty years, the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County has worked to create a more vibrant community by sharing the power and vitality of volunteerism. Proceeds from Desserts, Purses & Cocktails will directly support community programs and restoration of Sonoma County.

THIS SPACE WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY SONOMA COUNTY TOURISM

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

Nick and Jen Demarest Chef/Owners | Harvest Moon Cafe

Nicci Bacigalupi | Co-Owner Bacigalupi Vineyards

Patrick Mukaida | Director of Hospitality Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery

Margaret Lindgren | Co-Owner | Unbeaten Path Tours

Ina Welker | Youth Education Docent Quarryhill Botanical Garden

Kyle Kuklewski Executive Chef | Ramekins Culinary School, Events & Inn

Jennifer Bice | Owner | Redwood Hill Farm

Tanya Gayer Exhibition & Facilities Manager | Sonoma Valley Museum of Art

Mike Nixon | Co-Owner | Papa’s Pizza Cafe

Kim Masklyne | Executive Housekeeper Hampton Inn & Suites Windsor-Sonoma Wine Country

David Blom | Executive Pastry Chef Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa

Nancy Delorenzo | Owner | Wild Goat Bistro

Harold Jones | Chief Tour Guide | Wine Country Walking Tours

David Chambers Banquet Houseman | Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa

Guadalupe Villagomez | Tasting Room Sales Associate | Toad Hollow Vineyards

Mary Rand | Owner | SunRise Ranch

Dustin Valette Chef/Proprietor | Valette Healdsburg

Kathy B. Fries Petaluma Visitors Center Coordintor | Petaluma Visitors Program

Gerald Huth | Sonoma County Art Trails | Gerald Huth Fine Art Studio

DOUBLETREE BY HILTON HOTEL SONOMA WINE COUNTRY (left to right) Ryan Schaffer, Front Desk Supervisor | Zenah Abualhalawah, Guest Services Agent

DRY CREEK VINEYARD (left to right) Jim Cutcher, Assistant Tasting Room Manager | Darren Abel, Concierge & Brand Ambassador | Ian Eddy, Tasting Room Manager

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

FREE One-Day Event

Friday, February 23 • 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building 1351 Maple Ave., Santa Rosa

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60+ EXHIBITORS & 100S OF GREEN BUILDING EXPERTS Siegel & Strain • CASBA • Sonoma County • South Mountain Firma Design • California Community Lender • Citizens Climate Lobby SR Group Modular Lifestyles • Ecological Building Network • Cali PASSIV Acre Designs • Neighborhood Woods • Clean Coalition Scott McGlashan • Sonoma Marin Saving Water Partnership Sun Power • SolarCraft • Beau Solliel Architects Gilleran Energy Management • Apperson Energy Management Shelter Publications • Sol Solutions • Anne Cope • Beyond Eciency

SEE THE WEBSITE FOR EXHIBIT AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

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Rebuild Green EXPO is a project of the Rebuild Green Coalition. Fiscal sponsor: Ecological Building Network

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

A PERSPECTIVE » ONE WOMAN’S VIEW

Human nature’s star turn Bouverie Preserve ecologist gains a great deal from life-changing wildfire

By JEANNE WIRKA FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A

s the resident biologist of the Bouverie Preserve near Glen Ellen, my home for the past 13 and a half years has been the 535 acres of oak woodlands, mixed evergreen forest, chaparral and riparian habitat that comprise this beloved nature preserve, owned and operated

by Audubon Canyon Ranch. A core responsibility of my job is to hike the preserve’s network of trails, keep our many volunteers up-to-date on what nature is doing at any given time, and to document change over time.

Change over time. On Oct. 9, the house I occupied at the preserve with my 15-year-old daughter, Grace, was destroyed in the Nuns fire along with all of our possessions and all but two of the buildings on the site. The home of my co-resident and co-worker Jennifer Potts and her family suffered the same fate.

As ecologists, Jennifer and I understand the natural and necessary role of fire in California’s habitats. When I moved to the preserve in 2005, the last fire to ignite our canyons and hills was the Nuns Canyon fire of 1964, a fire that burned when I was about 1 year old.

Many a scorching autumn afternoon, Jennifer and I gazed with some trepidation at the Mayacamas Ridge on the east side of Sonoma Valley.

Cloaked in mixed chaparral and crowned with knob cone pine forest, this mountain range is adapted to frequent fire, on the order of years, not multiple decades. Not half a century.

I will admit to secretly hoping for a small, friendly, wildfire — confined to the natural areas — that would reduce the massive fuel build up and begin the cycle of renewal and regrowth to which this ecosystem is adapted.

I never expected that a wildfire sparked in the mountains would reach downtown Santa Rosa. I never expected to lose my home. I never took it personally. Then the October fires raged through our neighborhoods with unearthly power, and suddenly it was all personal. And in the humanity of this life-changing event,

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Jeanne Wirka, left, director of stewardship for Audubon Canyon Ranch, and her daughter, Grace McCaull, lost the house that they had lived in for 13 years when structures at Bouverie Preserve were destroyed in October by the Nuns fire.

I learned a great deal more than my ecological training ever taught me.

As Jennifer told me recently, “It’s like my life before the fire was a clear window pane. The fire shattered that glass, and now I see a million fragments reflecting rainbows of light.”

The light and colors emanate from the hundreds of people from whom we have received incalculable generosity, kindness and support. Within weeks of the fire, the ACR staff and volunteer community (upward of 800 docents, land stewards, research volunteers and other lovers of the land) organized a Meal Train to deliver home-cooked dinners to our families. More often than not, these

Republic of Thrift

meals came in elegant cookware that we were urged to keep, perhaps with an extra set of kitchen utensils or a gift card tucked in a breadbasket.

We received envelopes of cash from known and unknown benefactors. My good friends in Glen Ellen, who themselves lost their home of 40 years, made a trip to our new rental in Fetters Hot Springs bearing a card about courage during these difficult times.

In the card, they had tucked $300 in cash that others had raised for them, for their own losses. They called it “our share” of the generosity of our community.

And there’s more: A couple who own a local business with deep roots

in Sonoma chipped in to pay our rent for a couple of months. In a gesture that will forever bring music to my ears, the technician who had tuned our Steinway piano for years before it was destroyed in the fire gifted us a piano he had played and loved for 43 years. It is the second piano he ever owned in his life. Delivered free of charge to our door by a professional piano moving company.

It is a difficult task to wrap my gratitude around all these blessings from our Sonoma County neighbors, from people I know. It is even more mind-blowing to fathom the kindness TURN TO NATURE » PAGE G40

“Paws for Love” th 19 Annual Gala Heartfelt Art by Shelter & Rescue Animals To Benefit Animals in Need

Photo credit: Laurie Decker

WHO: Republic of Thrift is a homegrown 501c3 nonprofit thrift store benefiting Sonoma Valley public schools.

Started from the ground up by two sisters wanting to make a difference in their kids’ education.The dream has been fully realized as over $180,000 has been donated to the district’s schools since they opened in 2012!

WHAT: 3,000 sq. ft. of independent thrifting paradise!

We offer a full range of quality clothing and merchandise all priced low to move quickly.

WHERE: Beautiful Sonoma Valley, a mini-mecca of resale shopping with 11 resale shops on a scenic ten mile loop.

WHEN: Opened in 2012, the store celebrates its 6th

Saturday February 10, 2018 6:00-10:00pm Live & Silent Auction Gourmet Hors’d’Oeuvres Wines by Mutt Lynch, Pedroncelli, Iron Horse, & Korbel Champagne

anniversary in February with their annual Anniversary Sale, February 2, 3, & 4. with 50% off their already low prices!

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Finley Community Center West College & Stony Point Santa Rosa, CA www.pawsforlove.info • 707-799-6151

17496 Sonoma Highway, Sonoma 707.933.9850 republicofthrift.com Open Mo-Sa 10am-5:30pm, Su 12-5pm Closed first Monday of each month.

Donations Fr-Mo from open until 4pm.

Tickets: $45 in advance • $55 at the door VISA/MC accepted A 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

ACTS OF ALTRUISM » FOR AG WORKERS

Cloverdale pair adjust to life in their new home Grape Growers Foundation comes to aid of vineyard employees affected by fires

By LINDA MURPHY FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

T

he Cloverdale home of Emigdio and Celia Olivera wasn’t damaged in the October firestorm, but they were displaced nonetheless.

Their landlord evicted them from their rented house after his own Mark West Springs house was destroyed in the Tubbs fire. He moved into their house, and the Oliveras searched, without success, for another rental at a time when thousands of homes had burned and rents were rising Emigdio, a longtime vineyard supervisor for Redwood Empire Vineyard Management in Geyserville, and his wife, Celia, now live in a spanking-new, silver-and-blacktrimmed white Keystone Springdale travel trailer on a vineyard property on Healdsburg’s Westside Road.

It’s a cramped yet consoling shelter purchased by the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation Wildfire Housing Support Fund, which raised more than $700,000 for agriculture workers and their families impacted by the fires.

The couple and one of two adult sons will stay in the trailer until they find permanent housing. When they do, the trailer will be passed along to others in need.

More than 175 families of Sonoma County agriculture workers suffered losses in the fires, said Karissa Kruse, president of Sonoma County Winegrowers. Some lost their homes and possessions, others their jobs, and for a few, their means of transportation.

Kruse, whose Fountaingrove house was leveled in the Tubbs fire, quickly joined forces with grape grower Steve Dutton, president of the Sonoma

County Farm Bureau, to establish the housing support fund.

“These families work hard, and some saw their livelihoods, their careers, all go away in one night,” Dutton said. “It’s important that the industry support them, and the ag fund does that.”

In what later would be considered ideal timing, the nonprofit Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation was relaunched in 2016. Kruse is the executive director.

“We had a labor shortage and were deep into our efforts to achieve sustainability, so we asked ourselves if we were doing enough for vineyard employees. The answer was no,” she said of the foundation. “We conducted feedback sessions in Spanish for workers, most of whom are Latino, and housing was their big concern — finding it, affording it and having it be convenient to where they work.”

Within a week of the fires, a GoFundMe campaign began online (www.gofundme.com/scggf-wildfirerelief-fund) and raised $74,000, Kruse said.

“We had people from all over the county, and all over the country, donate. Prima restaurant in Walnut Creek and Bernardo Winery in San Diego made significant contributions. We’ve had an amazing support system outside of Sonoma as well as within,” she said.

Large companies made an even bigger impact, handing over fat checks for housing relief. WilberEllis, an international agriculture services company with an office in Healdsburg, donated $50,000, as did Foley Family Wines, whose wineries include Sebastiani Vineyards in Sonoma, and Chalk Hill Estate and Lancaster Estate in Healdsburg.

The GoFundMe dollars were used to purchase Visa gift cards, which the nonprofit Burbank Housing organization gave to agriculture workers

to pay for food, clothing, utilities, transportation, other essentials and holiday gifts for their children. Larger amounts from the foundation were paid directly to landlords for rent and rental deposits and, in the case of the Oliveras, for a temporary home with a grand view of vineyards, a pond, and rose and vegetable gardens.

Their trailer is hooked up on the Westside Road property of an absentee vineyard owner from Texas. When she visits next, she will discuss with Emigdio the possibility of converting a garage and shop adjacent to the shiny Keystone into a house for the Oliveras.

“We stayed with friends until the trailer arrived,” said Emigdio, who has spent 30 years working for Redwood Empire Vineyard Management after arriving from Oaxaca in 1988.

“We had a ribbon-cutting ceremony

for the trailer, with my boss telling me I could stay in the trailer as long as we needed,” he said.

Celia rolled her eyes as if to say, “I hope it’s not too long.” Her kitchen is a lot smaller than she needs, and with three adults plus pet pooch Charlie packed inside, the quarters are tight.

But Emigdio said he sees a positive future on Westside Road, and he has plans if the garage becomes a home.

“It’s beautiful here,” he said, smiling broadly.

“After winter, I’ll tend the gardens for the owner. We’ll get our belongings out of storage and have family over.”

He points to a patio next to the pond, to be topped with bamboo once the weather warms up. “It’s perfect for a party, yes?”

Perhaps a house-warming party.

RON BERCHIN

JEANNE WIRKA

RON BERCHIN

JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Emigdio Olivera, a vineyard supervisor with Redwood Empire Vineyard Management, and his wife, Celia, received a new trailer through a housing support fund after they had to leave their rental home when their landlord lost his home in the October fires.

NATURE CONTINUED FROM G39 of strangers.

In line at Nordstrom’s Rack to replenish her decimated wardrobe, my daughter Grace found herself $15 over the value of a $200 gift card.

Having overheard Grace talking about the fires with the cashier, the woman in line behind her paid for her purchase — not just the extra $15 but the entire amount.

My eldest daughter, Laurel, a senior in college, raised $11,000 dollars in a GoFundMe campaign that was disbursed to disaster relief organizations and families in need. The donors included nearly 200 individuals, mostly college students on the East Coast, very few of whom are from Sonoma County. Laurel and her stepsister, Samantha Sleeper, orchestrated a benefit art auction in New York City that raised another $32,000 for Sonoma County fire victims.

My brother Karl and his wife, MaryJane, mobilized a small army of their friends in Massachusetts who sent personalized packages containing everything from handmade jewelry to collections of cookbooks. And the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers of Laurel and Grace’s dad, John McCaull, banded together to raise thousands of dollars for food and supplies.

On a recent afternoon, Grace and I went to the Bouverie Preserve to hike the trails during the first rains of 2018. The land was alive with re-sprouting vegetation, gopher mounds, mushrooms, mule deer and birdsong. We encountered red-bellied newts and slender salamanders, banana slugs and band-tailed pigeons.

After the hike, we poked around

GENEROSITY CONTINUED FROM G35 food. They suggested a work party to build a patio between the trailers — they even supplied the pavers. Their generosity has just been astounding.”

When another neighbor needed a place to stay as well, the Fosters bought a third trailer. “Nick had been burned out of his rental and was really bad off,” Arthur said. “The Fosters were just as generous with him.” The property now has a three-unit mini-neighborhood they’re calling the AOK Trailer Park.

Financial arrangements are still being worked out, but Arthur said he and Jill will buy the trailer. “Then when we leave, we’ll sell it. So it’s an affordable solution.” And a cozy one.

Life begins to return at the Glen Ellen preserve with the appearance of mushrooms, from left, salamanders and sprouting shrubs.

RON BERCHIN

Fog floats in the hills beyond the recovering landscape at Bouverie Preserve on Jan. 3 in Glen Ellen. a bit in the sodden plaster-covered remnants of our former dwelling.

It was the first time Grace had been back since the fires. I asked her how it made her feel.

She shrugged and said, “You know how I feel.” Confessing that I did not, she swooped her arm to the east to encompass the mountains and said, “This is our real home. The rest is

just stuff.”

Jill writes that all the human and animal members of the family are beginning to feel at home.

Other generous offers keep coming, to the point where Jill is regularly moved to tears.

“From help with pets,” she said, “to delivered meals, a check from the Redwood Credit Union-United Way fundraiser, gift cards from the Kenwood School community, gifts from the local Rotary Club and local businesses, a wonderful holiday party thrown for us by dear friends and filled with great people — this is just the tip of the iceberg of the incredible outpouring of love we’ve felt.”

The Dawsons have no desire to leave the neighborhood, even though they no longer believe that their Glen Ellen lot is immune to wildfire.

Arthur said that “as a historical ecol-

ogist, I should’ve known better. We weren’t in the 1964 wildfire footprint, so I just assumed we’d never burn.

But in 1923, fire did sweep down from the Mayacamas, all the way to the valley floor. The winds were so strong that people said they ‘couldn’t stand against them.’ It could certainly happen again, so we’ll definitely build our house more fire safe this time.”

For the community’s part, people are happy to keep the Dawsons in Glen Ellen. Whether it’s Jill’s preschool students and parents, her Twilight Choir friends and vocalists, Arthur’s California Poets in the Schools’ colleagues and students, his environmental community, or neighbors they’ve lived alongside for 25 years, the Dawsons are adored.

Friends say they’re patient, caring, giving, imaginative and just plain fun.

“We’ve had many years to get to

know this community,” Arthur said.

“If we’d been here for only five years, maybe none of this amazing support would be happening.”

He’s got advice, too, for anyone looking to help people who have suffered trauma such as losing a home: “Ask someone what he needs before you give it. There’s a thing called ‘receiver exhaustion,’ and it’s real.

When so much comes someone’s way that even to refuse it is exhausting, they can be burdened by unneeded things given with good intention.”

Meanwhile, he has been learning to receive gracefully.

“That’s been one of the biggest lessons of all this,” he said.

Another big lesson is the love, Jill said. “We cannot express our gratitude enough and feel very loved. And love is all. That’s it.”

Jeanne Wirka is the Director of Stewardship for Audubon Canyon Ranch.

She currently lives in Sonoma.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

Thank You to Our Donors A heartfelt thank you on behalf of West County Health Centers’ patients, staff, volunteers, and board of directors for supporting access to quality, affordable healthcare in our communities.

West County Health Centers Supporters Improving the Quality of Life for our Community

2017 ANNUAL C AMPAIGN & C APITAL C AMPAIGN DONORS

Individuals

A. Mountain & C. Maynard Adela Akers Alan & Mary Azhderian Alan Siegle & Shelley Brown Alex Brao DDS Alexis Layman Allan Garfield MD Amber Hulsey Ana Puga-Flores Andre Maiorana Angeles David Ani Palmo Ann Griego MD Ann E. Hayes Anne Dale Anne Ludwig Ari Shelton Arlene Rothschild Bush Arline Thomas Ascencion Labra Audrey Dodson Barbara Bassignani Barbara Gegan Barbara Graves Barry & Lynn Aldridge Ben & Jo Ann Bray Ben Cushman & George Tuttle Beryl Glitz Beth M. Jackson Bill & Kathy Mabry Bob Butler Brenda Adelman Brenda Kyne Brian Stricker Brooke Vezino MD Caresse P-Orridge & L. Battistelli Carl & Dickie Schmidt Carol McHale Carol Taylor Carciere Carolyn Epple Casaundra Downward Cassandra Garcia Catherine & Kelly McCool Cecille Gannon Charles & Susan Eckberg Cheryl Bonacorso Chris Monroe & Barbara Jacobsen Christopher Hightower Christopher & Mary Szecsey Church Family Claire Etienne Clara Else & Kevin O’Connor Connie Earl DO Corinna Halfhide Corlene Van Sluizer Cyndi Yoxall Cynthia Berman PhD Dale Westrom MD Damian Pestana MD Daniel Angeles Daniel Healy Danielle Bush Danika Rosado-McKelvy Darcy McNally Darryl Thurner Dave Anderson David Dillman David Gorchoff MD David Defries & John Hagerty David Sloves David Thai DDS David Van Der Griff Dawnmichelle Tucker Debbie Morris Debi Yeager Deborah Lev-Er Deborah Garcia Debra Farmer & Robert Hartstone Debra Johnson & Carol Kanner Debra McIrvin-Gulling DeEtte DeVille MD Dennis Davis Diane Spain Don Greenberg Donald & Kathryn McCorkle Donna M. Paul

Doris & Murio Sterling Doris L. Baumgras Doris M. Dickenson Dottie & Bill Ruppert Dr. & Ms. Justin Cauntay Dulce Hernandez Dunham Sherer Ed Wane Ed & Kathy Smith Edmee Danan MD Edward Chio DMD Eliot Enriquez Elisabeth Chicoine & Mark Sloan Elise Sullivan Elizabeth Dadko Elizabeth McCarthy Elizabeth Tynan Ema Andre Emily Ramsey Erin Elo Estefania Gonzalez Eva Lambert Eve Harstad Forrest & Eileen Jang Frances Moore Francine Cherne Frank Chong Frank & Jackie Dono Gabrela Medina Gail Culverwell Gary Collins Gary & Carolyn Harris Gary Sullivan & Timothy Lynn Gay Guidotti Genevieve Engel Genevieve Moller-Duck George & Nadia Stafford Georgia & John Leyden Gloria Keller Greg Troll MD Gregory Venegas Harold Kwalwasser Harry P. Smith Heather Bussing Helen Baum Helen C Smith Henri & Noel Yates Ila Kathleen Sheridan Itzel Beltran J.T. & Kathy Lance Jack & Kathie Phelan Jacob Rich Jacque Brazieal Jade Hatheway Jade Mitchell Jake Hamlin James Fox James & Barbara O’Donnell Jane Allardt Jane Barry Jane Krensky & Peggy Tourje Janet A.Guidotti Janis Bowers Jared Garrison-Jakel MD Jasmine Enriquez Jason Cunningham DO Jayne & Peter Hamel Jeanette Jed Heibel Jeffery Orth Jennell Parr Jennie Snyder Jennifer Encinas Jennifer Moore Jennifer Neeley Jennifer Nichols Jennifer & Christopher Inden Jennifer Krill Jenny Mountjoy Jeremie Robenolt Jerilu Breneman Jesse Sullivan Jessica Wong Jessica Royer Jill Ravitch Jill Rees PhD

Jim & Diane Keegan Jim & Sandra Maresca Joan McFadden Jodi Chung Jody & Julia Reinstein-Laine/White John & Jayne Burns John & Mary Pawson John & Valerie Reid John Kornfeld & Laurie Prothro John Schubert & Sarah Brooks John W. & Elizabeth Cotton Josefa Molina PhD Joseph Hague Julia Veitch Julia Santos Julie Lester Jymmey Purtill K Papadopoulos Kalima Rose Karen Frindell Karen Girard Karen Birkhofer Karen Egan Karol Scheiner Kate Marie Broderson Katherine Mattes Kathie & Frank Mayhew Kathleen O’Brien Kathleen Whisman Kathleen & Thomas Flynn Kathy Inman Katie Rosenfeld Kellie Nelsen Ken Sansone Ken & Luci Farr Kenia Jimenez Kenneth Crittenden PhD Kenneth Ward Kim Moffitt Kricket & Kirk Zaro Kris Nevius Kristin Thurman-Fein Kyla Ehrenreich Laura Goldman Laura Moss Lawrence & Carol Reed Lawrence Montgomery Lee Pollard Leena Merritt Lenny Weinstein Leo & Ella Rose Smith Leona Judson Leslie Conner Linda Owens Linda Swartz Lisa Folsom-Ernst Liz Caine PhD Liza Loop Lorelle Saxena Lori J. Ingram Lorraine Sekito Luke Entrup Luly Zavala Lydia Barrera Lydia Mertens MD Lynn Camhi Lynn Gilmore M. Katherine Davis Marakesh Lewis Marc & Jeanie Kahn Marc & Mary Felton Marcia & John Kreidler Marguerite Matthews Marian Pena Marilyn Jordan Marilyn Herczog & David McAuliffe Maritza Jimenez Solorio Mark Brunst Mark Short & Carl Ray Marlus W. Shaw Martin Seeley & Henk De Wildt Mary Maki-Rich Mary Taylor Mary Bridget Helt Mary Sheila Gonnella Mary-Anne Gutafson

The Health Center of the Future The Russian River Health Center was destroyed by fire on December 26, 2015.

From this crisis we have the opportunity to further our mission of supporting optimal health and wellness for all. The future Russian River Health & Wellness Center will

Marylee Carli Maureen Donaghue Mela Angleman Melinda Rivera Melinda Francis Melinda M Walker Melissa Contreras Meri & Greg Storino Michael Hillman Michael & Judy Farrell Michele Luna Michelle Davey DO Misty Zelk MD Molly Kirkconnell MD Mr. & Mrs. Dan Cronin Nancy & Mike Wood Nancy Flores Nancy Vallee Natalie Dwyer Nicholas Jarrett Nina Redman Norman Grib Pat Vossen Pat & Mike Hayes Patricia Couryer Johnson Patricia Hertz Patricia Szecsey Patricia Sinclair Paul & Kathleen Blank Paul Rossi Paulette Hall Peter Zajichek Peter & Deanna Gumina Phyllis & Michael Rosenberg Pricilla Ramirez Rachel Reiss Rain Moore MD Ralph Schoolcraft Raymond Utterback Raymond Rapp Rebecca Rubin Rebecca & Abraham Zarate

Rebekah McGuire Rhonda Berney MD Richard Beebe Richard Kellar Richard Auger & Mary Radu Richard Ingram & P. Harrington Richard Meiss Rob Catterton & Gwynn O’Gara Robert Feuer Robert Hogencamp Robert Zoglin Robert & Linda Judd Robert Vega Roger F. House & M. Downing Ronald & Judith Cook Rose Thaker Roselia Rojas-Lopez Rosemary Beck Rosie Traversi Roy D. Ragghianti Ruth Brown-Wilson Ruthie & Gary Bolender Sandra Kopecky Sandra & Marc Babitz MD Sara & David Bardoni Sarah Mitchel Sasha Peterson Scott Johnson Scott Nickel Shana Navarez Sheena McDermand-Toledo Sherry Rhoades-Kane Sig Anderman Stanley & Lynn Woolley Stephen Mack Steve Bromer MD Steven & Heidi McNeal Steven Hasna Sue Monti Summer Penn & Josh Patheal Sundari Salman

Surani & Patrick Kwan Susan Daniel Susan Friedman Susan & Martin Tierney Susan Heller Susan Jo Stein Susan Watson Susanna & Harry Simms MD Suzanne Saville DDS Suzanne Watson Teresa Voreis Teresa Tachovsky & Karen Knudson Terry Blue The Manzanares Family Theodore & Elizabeth Theiss Thomas Novotny MD MPH Thomas Toedter Thomas Lambert Tom Strand Toni Winter Tory Davis MD Trina Bowen MD Veronica Jordan MD Victoria Minnifield Vincent Umscheid & R Michael Collins Virginia Foley Virginia Valente Vivian & Ken Hower Walt & Sandra Bodley Walter Krampf MD Wayne George Wayne Mitchell & Rick Young Wendy Babcock Wendy Wiley Will & Cynthia Collier William & Catherine Newman William L. Ward William McCraw & Janet Muscio William Orr Yazmin Vazquez Yesenia Avalos

Businesses & Foundations Accounting on Computers AIDS Walk San Francisco Foundation Berkshire Hathaway Sonoma County Properties Blue Shield of California California Health Care Foundation Center for Care Innovations CHW LLP Codding Foundation Community Foundation for Northern Virginia Community Foundation Sonoma County County of Sonoma Curtain Call Theatre Company-Michael Tabib Dawn Ranch Lodge Dawn Redwoods Charitable Trust Direct Relief E & J Gallo Winery Exchange Bank Forestville Pharmacy Friends of Monte Rio Gallagher Chapman Insurance Guerneville School 6th-8th Grades 2016 Heck Foundation Human Race - Volunteer Center Sonoma Cnty.

KLH Consulting Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Lark Media LLC Lark Rexall Drugs, Inc. Lazy Bear Fund, Inc. Loving & Learning Center Mary’s Pizza Shack

Mitchel Monkeyface Fund Nonstop Wellness Occidental Community Council Pacific Foundation for Medical Care Papas and Pollo Phelps Foundation PRAXIS Architects R3 Hotel Rainbow Cattle Company Ranney Construction Redwood Credit Union Redwood Community Health Coalition Rio Crest Winery Rotary Club of Sebastopol Russian River Rotary Foundation Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Russian River Vineyards Sonoma Wine Country Weekend St. Joseph Health Community Benefit Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa The Big Tomato Inc. Tipping Point United Way of the Wine Country Wesley & Cindy Chesbro Community Fund WestAmerica Bank Whole Foods Wilcox Family Foundation William G. Irwin Foundation Willow Creek Wealth Management

Donors highlighted in blue have contributed to both the Annual Campaign to Support Patient Care at WCHC and the Capital Campaign to Rebuild the New Russian River Health & Wellness Center.

Donors in bold have contributed for 5 consecutive years or more.

Donors highlighted in orange have contributed to the Capital Campaign to rebuild the New Russian River Health & Wellness Center.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of this list. Please accept our apologies for any errors or omissions.

A N I N T E G R AT E D H U B F O R H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

multiple generous donors our capital campaign has reached 68% of our goal as of January 2018. For more information about how make a gift supporting health & Join our Capital Campaign today to help wellness please contact our Development raise $4.2 million towards the new Russian Department at 707-869-5977 ext. 3313.

River Health & Wellness Center. Thanks to be an integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health facility serving more than 3,500 local residents.

L E A D C A P I TA L C A M PA I G N D O N O R S REDWOOD gifts of $500,000+

OAK gifts of $250,000 - $499,999

OLIVE gifts of $100,000 - $249,999

SYCAMORE gifts of $50,000 - $99,999

MONTEREY PINE gifts of $15,000 - $49,999

Anonymous

Kaiser Permanente Sutter Health Anonymous

Codding Foundation Sig Anderman Wm. G. Irwin Charity

California Healthcare Foundation KLH Consulting Wilcox Foundation

Heck Foundation Jennifer Nichols Marc & Mary Felton

W I L L O W gifts of $5,000 - $14,999 Alan Siegle & Shelley Brown Christopher & Mary Szecsey James Fox John Kornfeld & Laurie Prothro Kathie & Frank Mayhew Mark Short & Carl Ray

Pacific Foundation for Medical Care PRAXIS Architects Steve Bromer, MD Surani & Patrick Kwan Julia Veitch

M A D R O N E gifts of $2,500 - $4,999 Church Family Debra Johnson & Carol Kanner Karen Egan Liza Loop

Nonstop Wellness Thomas Novotny MD MPH Surani & Patrick Kwan

PLEASE JOIN OUR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN | VISIT: WWW.WCHEALTH.COM Checks can be mailed to West County Health Centers, PO BOX 1449, Guerneville, CA 95446 CALL US TODAY FOR DETAILS: 707-869-5977 X 3313

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

FUNDRAISING » SUPPORTING CHARITIES

Runners sprint from the starting line at last year’s Human Race in Santa Rosa.

This year’s event takes place on April 28.

Having fun &giving back Enjoyable ways to get out and contribute to Sonoma County organizations during 2018

F

DARRYL BUSH / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

undraisers provide the primary cash flow for many Sonoma County nonprofit organizations. Here’s a list of 2018’s major events sponsored by local agencies.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 3: Bourbon, Bacon and Beer Speakeasy Party, benefiting Council on Aging and Meals on Wheels, councilonaging.com/ bourbon-bacon-and-beer Feb. 3: Sonoma County Farm Bureau Crab & Wine Fest, sonomafb.org. or sonomafb.org/crab-feed TURN TO FUNDRAISERS » PAGE G44

THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING SAL AUTO Customers like you allow us to do free car repair for low income single mothers right here in Sonoma County.

F U L L S E R V I C E A U T O R E PA I R F O R A L L M A K E S A N D M O D E L S CALL TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TODAY!

707.527.3660 910 Santa Rosa Avenue

We keep single mothers moving forward.

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

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Speak up for a foster child!

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

CASA

of Sonoma County is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to serving abused and neglected children who have been removed from their homes for protection and referred to CASA by the Juvenile Court.

We are committed to recruiting, training and supervising volunteers to advocate for foster children in the courtroom, classroom, and community.

How You Can Help: Are you eager to make a difference in a child’s life?

Become a Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA volunteers establish stable relationships with foster children, getting to know their unique history and making informe recommendations to the courts. When a child has an advocate, he/she is more likely to get needed services in education, mental health and a permanent, stable home.

Volunteer at the CASA office or for our fundraising events.

Donate to CASA today at sonomacasa.org/donate.

If you would like to help us create a brighter future for a foster child, contact us today!

CASA of Sonoma County P.O. Box 1418 Kenwood,CA 95452 707-565-6375 or info@sonomacasa.org www.sonomacasa.org

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

Dr. Greg Sacher performs a swing dance routine with dance partner Janelle Guido during Dancing with the Stars and Stripes, a benefit for the Veterans Resource Centers of America. This year’s fundraising performance will take place on April 7.

FUNDRAISERS CONTINUED FROM G42 Feb. 4: “The Big Game,” benefiting Council on Aging and Meals on Wheels, councilonaging.com/the-biggame Feb. 9: Make Kids Smile Again Awards Dinner at Vintner’s Inn, PDI Surgery Center, pdisurgerycenter. org/npeevents.aspx Feb. 24: Desserts, Purses and Cocktails, supports the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, volunteernow.org; volunteernow.org/services/desserts-purses-cocktails

MARCH

March 3: Give Me Shelter, Healdsburg Center for the

Animals, sonomahumane.org/gms March 4: Red Carpet Evening to benefit the Alexander Valley Film Society. avfilmsociety.org March 4: Academy Night at Rialto Cinemas, Food For Thought, fftfoodbank.org March 31: Who’s Got The Chop’s Lip Sync Battle, Luther Burbank Center, Chops Teen Center, chopsonline.com

APRIL

April 7: Dancing with the Stars and Stripes, Sonoma Country Day School Jackson Theater, dancingwiththestarsandstripes.org April 7: The Art of Dessert, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts education programs, lutherburbankcenter.org/ support-us/other-ways-to-give/art-of-dessert

April 13: Wine, Women and Cheese at Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, YWCA Sonoma County, ywcasc.org April 14: Reading Between the Vines at Jordan Winery, United Way of Wine Country, unitedwaywinecountry. org/take-action/give/womenunited April 14: SAY Soiree, Social Advocates for Youth, saysc. org/soiree April 21: Evening with the All-Stars Gala, Hanna Boys Center, hannacenter.org April 21: Quaker Tea, benefits Friends House, friendshouse.org April 21: Healdsburg/Geyserville Dinner & Auction, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma County, bgccsc.org/ events April 27: Real Heroes Breakfast at Hyatt Vineyard Creek, TURN TO FUNDRAISERS » PAGE G45

Support your local They keep our Valley safe and present the following events to the community Hit the Road Jack- June 3, 2018 Sonoma's 4th of July Celebration Open House and Pancake Breakfast - Oct. 21, 2018 Fire Prevention- Oct. 2018 Santa to the Plaza in Vintage Firetruck- Dec. 2018

DONATE TODAY !

SonomaVolunteerFirefighters.org | 630 2nd St W • Sonoma, California 95476 | (707) 996-2102

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

Suzi Redlich, center, Paul Yeomans and David Koch, right, socialize at the 10,000 Degrees of Opportunity Gala in support of scholarship funds. This year’s event takes place on April 28.

FUNDRAISERS CONTINUED FROM G44 Red Cross, 707-577-7600. tinyurl.com/yb44gwnd April 28: 10,000 Degrees of Opportunity Gala, benefits scholarship funds, 10000degrees.org/event/ one-amazing-night-2018 April 28: Human Race, benefits many nonprofits. humanracenow.org; scvolunteercenter.org April 28: Empty Bowls dinner and auction, Redwood Empire Food Bank, refb.org

MAY

May 5: Meals on Wheels Derby Day, Council on Aging, councilonaging.com/derby-day

May 11: Go Red for Women, American Heart Association, Northbaygoredluncheon.heart.org May 17: Keegan Leadership Series, Memorial Hospital, tinyurl.com/ycryqdox TBA: Resorts in Bloom Garden Tour, West County Health Centers, resortsinbloom.com

JUNE

June 1-17: Sonoma Wine Country Games, Council on Aging, winecountrygames.com/councilonaging.com June 8: Annual Golf Tournament, Sonoma County Farm Bureau Ag Programs, sonomafb.org/golf-tournament TBA: Roasters 2 Roasters Benefit Walk/Run, Green

JEREMY PORTJE / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

TURN TO FUNDRAISERS » PAGE G46

Jeannie Calverley laughs with friends during Meals on Wheels Derby Day benefit, taking place this year on May 5.

Our Mission: Teen Services Sonoma engages and supports teens and young adults with work-readiness skills and experiences that empower them to succeed.

A huge

THANK YOU

to all of our friends, volunteers, and donors!

Thanks to YOU, we served over 500 teens in 2017. Within our Ready to Work program alone, 77 teens completed work readiness certification, 135 gained work experience, and 88 participated in career pathways. And we had fun!

We are aiming even higher for 2018.

Come join us!

Save The Date

For Teen Services Sonoma’s annual fundraiser Cowboy Cab Saturday, June 9th

TEEN SERVICES SONOMA 17440 Sonoma Highway | Sonoma | 707.939.1452 | www.teenservicessonoma.org

This space made possible by Body Best Collision Center

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

PHOTOS BY ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Petaluma Riding and Driving Club color guard members Sahar Bartlett, from left, Betsy Robinson, Melisa Brown and Caryn Hoeflein carry U.S. flags during Sonoma County Farm Bureau’s Love of the Land benefit last year in Windsor. This year’s fundraiser will be on July 12.

FUNDRAISERS

Bureau, sonomafb.org/love-of-the-land

AUGUST

CONTINUED FROM G45 Acre Homes and School, greenacrehomes.org June 9: Beerfest: The Good One, Face to Face, beerfestthegoodone.com or ftf.org June 9: Annual Gala, Becoming Independent, becomingindependent.org. becomingindependent. org/event/annual-gala/ June 23: Wine, Women and Shoes, Healthcare Foundation of Northern Sonoma County, healthcarefoundation.net/events/wine-women-shoes A rescued pitbull mix that lost its left front leg attends the Sonoma Humane Society’s Wags, Whiskers and Wine fundraiser, taking place this year on Aug. 10.

JULY

Aug. 10: Wags, Whiskers & Wine, Sonoma Humane Society, sonomahumane.org/gala Aug. 18: Harvest of the Heart, Ceres Community Project, ceresproject.org Aug. 25: Red and White Ball, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, svgreatschools.org

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 6: Be Great Golf Challenge, benefits Windsor Boys & Girls Clubs, bgccsc.org/events

July 12: Love of the Land, Sonoma County Farm

A GREAT COMMUNITY NEEDS GREAT SCHOOLS

TURN TO FUNDRAISERS » PAGE G47

Supporting the Rohnert Park Animal Shelter and animals in Rohnert Park and Cotati by...

Helping to save lives of shelter animals that need extra medical care...

Assisting seniors who need help with veterinary care for their pets...

Thank you

from the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation!

We are grateful for the continued support of our Donors, Volunteers, and Community...YOU help us make a difference at every grade level from:

EARLY LITERACY TO COLLEGE & CAREER READINESS ________________________________________________________________________________________

Teaching the next generation about responsible pet care...

And Much More: Get Them Back Home campaign pays for FREE microchips and ID tags for all dogs and cats living in Rohnert Park and Cotati, Wellness Clinics for low-income pet parents, and the Holiday Pet Gift Bag Giveaway.

Won’t you help us help them?

Save the Date August 25, 2018

svgreatschools.org 707.935.9566

ANIMAL SHELTER LEAGUE OF RP 301 J. Rogers Lane, RP 94928 • 707-523-9420 Donate online at AnimalShelterLeagueRP.org

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The annual breast cancer fundraiser Catwalk for a Cure, which will hit the runaway in October in Santa Rosa, supports screenings and support services at Sutter Health.

FUNDRAISERS CONTINUED FROM G46 Sept. 15: Art for Life, Face to Face, artforlifef2f. com or f2f.org Sept. 23: North Bay Heart Walk, American Heart Association, northbayheartwalk.org Sept. 29: 40th anniversary Gala, PEP Housing, pephousing.org TBA: Pinnacle Capital Mortgage Invitational Golf Tournament, Greenacre Homes and School, greenacrehomes.org

OCTOBER

BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Sample wine during the Pinot on the River festival on Oct. 21 in Healdsburg.

NOVEMBER

Oct 20: Back to the Future, Chop’s Teen Center, chopsonline.com Oct. 18-21: Alexander Valley Film Festival in Cloverdale, Geyserville and Healdsburg, to benefit Alexander Valley Film Society. avfilmsociety.org Oct. 21: Pinot on the River, benefits Boys & Girls Clubs, bgccsc.org/events Oct. 28: Carousel Fund Run at Ellis Creek, Petaluma’s Carousel Fund, carouselfund.org.

TBA: Catwalk for a Cure, North Bay Womens Health Center, sutterpacific.org/catwalk TBA: Royal High Roller Motorcycle Run, Green Acre Homes and School, greenacrehomes.org

Nov. 17: Holiday Faire, benefits Friends House, friendshouse.org Nov. 29: Dining Out For Life, Food for Thought, fftfoodbank.org TBA: Casino Night, Cloverdale Arts Alliance, cloverdaleartsalliance.org

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Guests enjoy wine, food and music inside the Jordan Winery oak tank room during Reading Between the Vines, a fundraiser for United Way of the Wine Country’s education initiatives.

Stroll through the gardens at Harvest of the Heart, left, a gala hosted by Ceres Community Project in Sebastopol.

DECEMBER

Dec. 6-9: Light Up A Life, Hospice events in Healdsburg, Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Oakmont, hospicelightupalife.org Dec. 31: 10th annual New Year’s Eve Gala Concert, Petaluma Museum, petalumamuseum.com Dec. 31: Bubble Ball New Year’s Eve Gala, Green Acre Homes and School, greenacrehomes.org

To All the Nurses Who Put Their Patients Before Themselves and Their Own Families During the Fires, We Say

THANK YOU! For 18 years, The DAISY Foundation has been celebrating extraordinary, compassionate care nurses give patients and families every day. around the world.

On October 9th, “extraordinary compassion” could not express the selflessness of our local nurses and other healthcare providers. Their heroism, like that of so many first responders, was indescribable.

ERIK CASTRO / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

1005 W. College Ave. Santa Rosa, CA 95401 P: 800.223.8550 sruniform@sbcglobal.net

Family Owned and Operated!

Proudly Servicing & Outfitting Our MEDICAL PUBLIC SAFETY CULINARY HOSPITALITY

Community Since 1969!

Formal Tuxedo Rentals COMING SOON!!

#sonomastrong www.DAISYfoundation.org

This space made possible by Santa Rosa Uniform & Career Apparel, Inc.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

BE

NOT STILL: LIVING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES Part 1 Opening: Saturday, January 27 4 PM - 6 PM

On view: January 27–May 27, 2018 Dodie Bellamy & Kevin Killian, Ala Ebtekar, Rigo 23, and Allison Smith

Artist Talk: Saturday, February 3, 2:30-3:30 pm In Conversation: Dodie Bellamy and Pamela Lee

5200 Sonoma Highway Napa, CA 94559

707-226-5991 dirosaart.org

Major support for Part I is provided by Stags’ Leap Winery and Darioush & Shahpar Khaledi. Generous support is provided by Wanda Kownacki and Phil Schlein.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

SONOMA GIVES

100 LARGEST NONPROFITS 2. Redwood Credit Union

1. Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital

3. Community Foundation Sonoma County

IN SONOMA COUNTY

Sonoma County is home to about 2,900 registered nonprofit agencies that reported over $1.9 billion in annual revenue, according to data compiled by Guide Star, using the most recently available tax forms. They are involved in everything from health care and human services to education, arts and culture. The following are the 100 largest nonprofits incorporated in Sonoma County, ranked in order of annual gross receipts reported in their most recent tax filing. The list excludes private family foundations, credit unions, trade groups, recreational clubs and employee associations.

TURN TO NONPROFITS » PAGE G50

for youth development® for healthy living for social responsibility

US

...

IS EMPOWERING The Y is a place that unites “us” in communities through safe spaces, community outreach, mentorship and volunteer opportunities and more to make “us” feel whole again.

www.scfymca.org 1111 College Ave. 707-545-9622

The Y. For a better us.

TM

SONOMA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Driver Duane Anderson unloads full donation barrels from a truck at the Redwood Empire Food Bank, the largest hunger-relief organization serving the north coast of California.

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Doctors, technicians and nurses are busy in the emergency room at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, which ranked as the largest nonprofit organization in Sonoma County.

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The Santa Rosa Symphony, the resident orchestra at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, reported $15.8 million in revenue for 2017.

NONPROFITS

17

CONTINUED FROM G49

1 2 3

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital: Santa Rosa, $525 million. Hospital.

707-525-5300, stjosephhealth.org Redwood Credit Union: Santa Rosa, $131 million. Credit Union.

800-479-7928, redwoodcu.org Community Foundation Sonoma County: Santa Rosa, $112 million.

Connecting people, ideas and resources to benefit the community, we receive current and legacy gifts, manage funds, distribute grants for charitable purposes and provide tax advantages not available through private foundations.

707-579-4073, sonomacf.org Petaluma Valley Hospital: Petaluma, $91.3 million. Hospital.

707-525-5300, stjhs.org Santa Rosa Community Health Centers: Santa Rosa, $60.1 million.

Eight centers that provide primary health care and health education to underserved people in our community, regardless of their ability to pay.

707-583-8839, srhealthcenters.org Canine Companions for Independence: Santa Rosa, $43.7 million. Enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs. 707-577-1700, cci.org The Mental Insight Foundation: Sonoma, $40.4 million. Private foundation. 707-938-8248 Sonoma Academy: Santa Rosa, $37.4 million. Private co-ed college preparatory high school. 707-545-1770, sonomaacademy.org Petaluma Health Center: Petaluma, $32 million. Primary medical care for all ages, regardless of ability to pay. 707-559-7500, phealthcenter.org Redwood Empire Food Bank: Santa Rosa, $29.7 million. The largest hunger-relief organization serving north coastal California from Sonoma County to the Oregon border.

707-523-7900, refb.org Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation: Santa Rosa, $24.5 million. Raises funds to support programs, scholarships, facilities and special projects of Santa Rosa Junior College. 707-527-4348, santarosa.edu/ foundation Roseland Charter School: Santa Rosa, $23.4 million. K-12 charter school.

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4 5 6

20

ERIK CASTRO / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Training coordinator Kristina Gehlken works with dog Hazel during a demonstration of the dog’s ability to turn off light switches during a benefit for Canine Companions for Independence.

9

23

10

12

21

22

7 8

11

Alternative Family Services Inc.: Santa Rosa, $19.7 million. The AFS mission is to support vulnerable children and families in need of stability, safety and wellbeing in communities. AFS serves thousands of foster youth in Northern California.

707-576-7700, afs4kids.org West County Health Centers: Guerneville, $18.1 million.

Community health center serving western Sonoma County providing medical, dental and mental health care services, sites include Sebastopol, Occidental, Guerneville and Forestville. 707-869-5977, wchealth.org Plastic Recycling Corp. of California: Sonoma, $17.9 million. Develops programs and policies for the reclamation and recycling of polyethylene terephthalate beverage containers. 707-935-1997 Animal Legal Defense Fund: Cotati, $17.8 million. ALDF’s mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. 707-795-2533, aldf.org Ernest L. and Ruth Finley Foundation: Santa Rosa, $16.8 million. Gives primarily for the preservation of visual arts, social services, youth activities and support, religious endeavors. 707-545-3136 Community Child Care Council of Sonoma Co.: Santa Rosa, $16.5 million. 4Cs operates 11 Sonoma County child development centers and preschools supporting and providing quality, accessible, affordable preschool and child care services for children, families and child care professionals via education, resources and direct services. 707-544-3077, sonoma4cs.org California Human Development Corp.: Santa Rosa, $16.2 million. Creates job training, housing, recovery and other services for farmworkers, day laborers and people with disabilities. 707-523-1155, CaHumanDevelopment.org Hidden Leaf Foundation: Bodega Bay, $16 million. Philanthropic foundation. 707-875-2989, hiddenleaf.org Santa Rosa Symphony: Santa Rosa, $15.8 million. North Bay’s premier orchestra, resident orchestra of the Green Music Center, providing high-quality musical performances including classical, pops and choral

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

Petaluma Valley Hospital had more than $91 million in revenue in 2017.

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Sonoma State Enterprises Inc.: Rohnert Park, $22 million.

Provides services to the campus of Sonoma State University. 707-664-3251, sonoma.edu/afd/enterprises Aid for Starving Children: Santa Rosa, $21.3 million. Food, immunizations, Christian education, water purification and self-help programs for children and their families

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in Africa and Christian orphanage support, as well as providing aid for single, black working mothers in the U.S. 707-528-3499, aidforstarvingchildren.org Sonoma County Indian Health Project Inc.: Santa Rosa, $21 million. Improves and maintains a comprehensive health care system to serve the needs and traditional values

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Catholic Charities Homeless Service Center in Santa Rosa serves county residents living on the streets.

of the Sonoma County American Indian Community. 707-521-4545, schip.org Goodwill Industries of the Redwood Empire: Santa Rosa, $20.9 million. Dedicated to developing, maintaining programs that place people with disabilities and other special needs in productive and competitive jobs. 707-523-0550, gire.org

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

WHERE AT-RISK YOUTH FIND HEALING

Hanna Boys Center is a full-time residential treatment and education center where at-risk youth replace adversity with resilience and success. We’ve been turning hurt into hope since 1945.

EMPOWERING YOUNG PEOPLE TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL

One in six Americans experiences serious childhood trauma, leading to unemployment, violence, incarceration, family dysfunction and more. That’s where Hanna makes a difference. We give teens the education, therapeutics and caring required to deal with severe and long-lasting effects of emotional, physical and psychological trauma, allowing them to mature into productive adults. In short, we help these youth achieve the life they deserve.

GIVE TO HANNA TODAY! Hanna Boys Center receives no government or church funding and relies solely on private donations. Thank you for your support!

CALL: 707-996-6767 | 877-994-2662 toll-free VISIT: www.hannacenter.org

FIND US ON: 17000 ARNOLD DRIVE, SONOMA CA 95476

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

NONPROFITS CONTINUED FROM G50 works and music education for schools and youth orchestras. 707-546-7097, santarosasymphony.com Bay Area Environmental Research Institute: Petaluma, $15.7 million. Promotes and conducts research in the environmental sciences, particularly atmospheric science.

707-938-9387, baeri.org Sonoma State University Academic Foundation Inc.: Rohnert Park, $15.4 million. Receives and administers endowment gifts and planned giving that enhances and promotes Sonoma State’s educational mission. 707-664-3251, sonoma.edu Vadasz Family Foundation: Sonoma, $14.9 million. Private foundation. 707-938-3014 Sonoma Land Trust: Santa Rosa, $14.8 million. Protects the scenic, natural, agricultural and open landscapes of Sonoma County for the benefit of the community and future generations. 707-526-6930, sonomalandtrust.org United Cerebral Palsy of the North Bay: Petaluma, $14.6 million. Promotes and supports a full quality of life for people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. 707-7669990, ucpnb.org North Bay Rehabilitation Services: Rohnert Park, $13.7 million. Vocational rehabilitation for the disabled. 707-585-1991, nbrs.org Becoming Independent: Santa Rosa, $13.7 million. Becoming Independent is a community-based service organization established over 40 years ago to help people with disabilities live meaningful and productive lives in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties. 707-524-6600, becomingindependent.org Vietnam Veterans of California Inc.: Santa Rosa, $13.6 million. Offers community-based programs and services for veterans and their families. 707-578-2785, vietvets.org Warsh Mott Legacy: Freestone, $13.6 million. Private foundation. 707-874-2942, csfund.org Alliance Medical Center: Healdsburg, $13.3 million.

Community health center serving low-income residents of Healdsburg and Windsor with medical and dental services. 707-431-8234, alliancemed.org Larry L. Hillblom Foundation Inc.: Petaluma, $13.3 million.

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KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

Sonoma Land Trust acquired 162 acres to join Hood Mountain Regional Park and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in Santa Rosa.

Medical research. 707-762-6691, llhf.org Park Lane Apartments Corp.: Santa Rosa, $13.3 million.

Affordable housing complex. 707-5369782 Catholic Charities, Diocese of Santa Rosa: $13.1 million. A human services agency serving those most in need of all faiths, primarily seniors, immigrants and families facing poverty and/or homelessness. Offices in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties.

707-528-8712, srcharities.org Point Blue Conservation Science: Petaluma, $13 million.

Mission is to conserve birds and other wildlife ecosystems through scientific research, restoration, outreach and partnership. 707-781-2555, pointblue. org Luther Burbank Center for the Arts: Santa Rosa, $12.5 million. North Bay’s premier arts center with performances in music, dance, theater, comedy and spoken word plus education-through-the-arts

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WILL BUCQUOY / FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The “So You Think You Can Dance” tour is among the myriad acts to take the stage each year at Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, the North Bay’s premier performance arts center.

California Animal Rescue (Rescue* Foster* Adoption*)

California Animal Rescue

“Saving the life of one animal may not change the world, but it changes the world for one animal” P.O. Box 2179 • Healdsburg, CA 95448 Vicki - (707).293.4470 Facebook @ California Animal Rescue www.ca.rescuegroups.org • Rescuedcritters@gmail.com

This space was made possible by Hair of the Dog Pet Grooming

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The Sonoma County Tourism Bureau seeks to attract visitors to the Wine Country, such as Ironman triathletes biking through the Alexander Valley, and other parts of the county.

NONPROFITS CONTINUED FROM G52 programs for children and adults; also, facility rentals for community events.

707-527-7006, wellsfargocenterarts.org Abandoned Children’s Fund: Santa Rosa, $12.1 million. Medicine and medical supplies for children in Ghana, Haiti, Ethiopia, Philippines, Kenya, Mexico and Uganda. 888-8840567, abandonedchildrensfund.org Redwood Empire Electrical Workers Health & Welfare Trust: Santa Rosa, $12.1 million. Pro-

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vides health care benefits to eligible participants. 707-526-1996 Anova Education and Behavior Consultation Inc.: Santa Rosa, $11.6 million. Specialized education institution. 707-527-7032, anovaeducation.org Redwood Community Health Network: Petaluma, $11.2 million. Supports medical clinics with the implementation of comprehensive IT systems, collaborative support service programs and other duties. 707-7927900, rchc.net St. Joseph Home Care Network: Santa Rosa, $10.8 million.

Provides in-home nursing care,

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therapy, social services and personal assistance. 949-381-4513, stjhs.org Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County: Santa Rosa, $10.5 million. Human services agency founded in 1967, mission is to partner with low-income families and individuals to help them achieve economic and social stability, reduce poverty, build community and advocate for social and economic justice.

707-544-6911, capsonoma.org Sonoma County Fair & Exposition Inc.: Santa Rosa, $9.6 million. Operates Sonoma County Fairgrounds. 707-545-4200, sonomacountyfair.com

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Association of Behavior Consultants: Santa Rosa, $9.5 million. Provides behavior modification services to developmentally disabled individuals. 707-575-3290 Social Advocates for Youth: Santa Rosa, $8.5 million.

Helping youth and families throughout Sonoma County by providing housing, counseling, education and employment programs for more than 43 years. 707-544-3299, saysc.org Sonoma Valley Community Health Center: Sonoma, $8.3 million. Health care for those in need, especially the underserved of Sonoma Valley. 707-939-6070, svchc.org

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Community First Credit Union: Santa Rosa, $8.2 million.

Credit union. 707-546-6000, comfirstcu. org TLC Child and Family Services: Sebastopol, $8.1 million.

Foster care. 707-823-7300, tlc4kids.org Sonoma County Tourism Bureau Inc.: Santa Rosa, $7.3 million. Promotes Sonoma County as a premier overnight destination with unique and diverse experiences.

707-522-5800, sonomacounty.com Summerfield Waldorf School Farm: Santa Rosa, $7.1 million.

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Happiness is a clean puppy

We groom in a loving, open and social environment where every pet is treated as our own.

Adopt a dog from our friends at California Animal Rescue and get your new best friends first grooming free.

2770 Stony Point Road, Ste. E Santa Rosa

(707) 331-3143

www.hairofthedogsr.com • Tues - Fri 9-5 | Sat 9-4

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

HUMANE SOCIETY OF SONOMA COUNTY:

Creating a future where all pets are safe

2017 was an important year for the Humane

technologies. During the fires, HSSC took a lead role

that were so critical during the fires. Our Pet Food

Society of Sonoma County (HSSC). Thanks to the

in building a central database to increase our com-

Pantry, which expanded to become a distribution hub

support of our community, we achieved a 98% lives

munity’s ability to reunite lost pets with their owners.

for donated pet food and supplies to help evacuated

saved rate and placed more dogs and cats into lov-

Our staff and volunteers compiled data from local

families care for their pets, continues to be accessed

ing homes than in any of our last ten years! Commu-

animal care agencies and the many social media pag-

by pet owners still in need.

nity support has helped us carry out our lifesaving

es that were cropping up daily during the fires. Hav-

mission for the last 87 years, and it’s what will sustain

ing an easily accessible database incorporating GPS

us as we rise together in creating a stronger, safer

applications will get pets back in the arms of their

Sonoma County for all animals.

people sooner, possibly even before they are brought

Last October’s fires changed us all. At the Humane

to the shelter.

Society, not a day goes by that we don’t feel the

Pets who were microchipped were the easiest to

an existing housing crisis that has been exacerbated

impact in ways both challenging and positive. As we

reunite with their families during the fires, especial-

by the loss of home stock, there was an existing need

move into 2018, we’ve had the opportunity to review

ly those whose microchip registration information

in our community for low-cost and charity veterinary

lessons learned: What worked? How can we best pre-

was kept up-to-date. “Microchips were the hero in

services. The need has expanded with the many pet

pare to keep animals safe and serve our community

our story,” says Dr. Sarah Reidenbach, HSSC Director

owners who lost their homes and incomes,” Cindy

in another emergency? What needs are emerging as

of Shelter Medicine, “because we knew we’d get to

Roach explains. “We will need to address this now and

local families continue to heal and rebuild?

watch a beautiful reunification each time our micro-

in the months ahead, or risk many more animals being

Our relief efforts were bolstered by the way our

chip scanner beeped!” We aim to join with our part-

surrendered to local shelters.”

local coalition of animal welfare agencies came

Additionally, we were able to temporarily offer veterinary care and wellness clinics free of charge at our Santa Rosa facility for pets of fire-affected families, thanks to local veterinary professionals who volunteered their time during the fires. “Just as there was

ner agencies to offer free microchipping services for

During our shared crisis, the public’s outpouring of

together to support each other and our community.

pets county-wide.

Each organization stepped up with their own unique

Keeping pets and their families together is a mainstay

displaced and injured animals. With continued sup-

strengths and capacities to best respond to the needs

of the work that we do yet, sadly, we are seeing a new

port we can usher in the crucial programs and ser-

of displaced animals and their families. “This recent

wave of animals being surrendered to us as their heart-

vices needed to keep pets safe in Sonoma County’s

disaster has shown us the value of interagency col-

broken owners are unable to find permanent housing

changing landscape. We are confident that this is a

laboration,” Humane Society Executive Director Cindy

that allows pets. For those who do find pet-friend-

future we can create together! “As a nonprofit orga-

Roach explains, “and there is a need for us to create

ly housing, they may face other challenges—we are

nization we see generosity demonstrated on a daily

formal mutual aid agreements for the future.”

receiving calls from people seeking behavior support

basis, but what we experienced during the fires was

One collaborative effort we are pursuing is to

for pets experiencing stress in changed environments.

absolutely inspiring” says Cindy Roach. “We continue

streamline a system to help lost and found pets get

As our community adapts to our “new normal”, there

to be buoyed by the generosity of our community and

back home quickly and efficiently using mapping

remains a need for many of our supportive services

support allowed us to effectively shelter and care for

of humankind.”

photo © The Labs & Co.

Remembering Captain “

He will always have a spot in our hearts and under dad’s chin.

“

At the Humane Society of Sonoma County, we never give up on an animal in need and neither does our compassionate community. During Captain’s short journey with us, we saw this compassion come full circle.

The handsome pale orange cat, formerly known as Buddy, was saved by a Coffey Park neighbor whose own cats had gone missing during October’s fires. He arrived at HSSC five days after the fires broke with burns on his paws, ears and sides. Bloodwork from his intake exam showed that he also had moderate kidney disease, which is incurable. In spite of the trauma he’d been through and his painful condition, he demonstrated stoicism and gratitude as he received intensive burn care from our shelter medical staff.

Since he was microchipped, we were able to find his owners. They’d lost everything in the fires, and after careful consideration, they decided it would be in Captain’s best interest to find a new family who could focus on giving him all the love and care he needed.

While we helped Captain heal, he helped us heal. His affection and resilience brought smiles and boosted morale for our fire-weary staff and volunteers, and many of our friends on Facebook too!

A wonderful local family, the Jensens, had been following his story. They felt a strong connection to this brave survivor and as soon as he’d recovered, they came to meet him. He padded up to each family member, giving them nose kisses and graciously accepting all the petting and gentle sweet talk they bestowed upon him. Captain made it clear: he was ready to go home.

We’d hoped Captain would have had more time with this family who loved him so unconditionally during his short time with them. His health declined rapidly right before Christmas, but the Jensens continued to love him like an old friend until he told them it was time to go. “We were so blessed to have had the opportunity to love, care and absolutely spoil the wonderful gentleman that was Captain,” they share. “He will always have a spot in our hearts and under dad’s chin.”

We’re so grateful that Captain could spend his remaining days in a loving home. His resilience and dignity—and the kindness he inspired—uplifts each of us as we help each other rebuild strong. photo © The Labs & Co.

HUMANE SOCIETY of

sonoma county

Santa Rosa & Healdsburg

NEW NAME, SAME

fantastic NON-PROFIT!

5345 Hwy 12 West, Santa Rosa 707.542.0882 555 Westside Road, Healdsburg 707.431.3386 humanesocietysoco.org

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

In 2016 Pets Lifeline gave shelter to 495 lost and abandoned cats and dogs, found forever homes for 392 and returned 89 to their loving homes.

Start your New Year with a gift that saves lives!

(707) 996-4577 x106 or www.petslifeline.org ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Children examine the collage of Peanuts comic strips that comprises a mural of Charlie Brown and Lucy at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.

NONPROFITS CONTINUED FROM G53 Private primary and secondary school. 707-5757194, summerfieldws.org Friends Association of Services for the Elderly: Santa Rosa, $6.9 million. A continuing care retirement community. 707-538-0152, friendshouse.org Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County: Santa Rosa, $6.9 million. To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens through after-school programs and summer programs.

707-528-7977, bgccsc.org Sonoma County Family YMCA: Santa Rosa, $6.5 million. Offering health and wellness programs for all ages including a fitness center, child care, preschool, pool, camps and youth sports. 707-545-9622, scfymca.org Sonoma Country Day School: Santa Rosa, $6.5 million. Private primary school.

707-284-3200, scds.org Redwood Gospel Mission Inc.: Santa Rosa, $6.4 million. Services for the homeless and needy. 707-578-1830, srmission.org Drs. Martin & Dorothy Spatz Charitable Foundation Trust: Sebastopol, $6.3 million. Private foundation. 707-861-9242 Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Foundation: Sonoma, $6.1 million. Raises money for Sonoma County charities through wine-related activities that are within the expertise of vintners and growers. 707-935-0803, sonomawinecountryweekend.com Fountaingrove Golf & Athletic Club: Santa Rosa, $5.8 million. Recreational facility and fitness center. 707-521-3207, fountaingrovegolf.com Drug Abuse Alternatives Center: Santa Rosa, $5.5 million. Turning lives around by providing healthy alternatives to alcohol and drug use. 707-571-2233, daacinfo.org Burbank Housing Development Corp.: Santa Rosa, $5.3 million. Dedicated to increasing the supply of housing in Sonoma County, so that low-income people of all ages, backgrounds and special needs will have a better opportunity to live in decent and affordable housing. 707-526-1020, burbankhousing.org Alexander Valley Healthcare: Cloverdale, $5.3 million. Primary medical care provid-

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er. 707-894-4229, alexandervalleyhealthcare.org Council on Aging: Santa Rosa, $5.2 million. Senior services agency providing social, financial, legal and nutrition services to promote well-being and maintain independence.

707-525-0143, councilonaging.com Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center: Santa Rosa, $5.1 million.

Preserves, displays and interprets the art of Charles M. Schulz. Offers tours, classes, camps and workshops. 707-579-4452, schulzmuseum.org Greenacre Homes & School: Sebastopol, $4.9 million. Residential care and education of developmentally disabled boys. 707-8238722, greenacrehomes.org Pathways Charter School: Rohnert Park, $4.7 million. Supports individualized home-based independent study for students in grades K-12 in five North Bay counties. 707-5856510, pathwayscharter.org Redwood Community Health Coalition: Petaluma, $4.7 million. A network of health centers in Sonoma, Napa, Marin and Yolo counties providing high-quality cost-efficient care to all, regardless of ability to pay. 707-285-2967, rchc.net PDI Surgery Center: Windsor, $4.6 million. A sustainable dentistry resource serving low-income children of Northern California who need safe sedation for dental treatment.

Also provides oral health and prevention education. 707-837-8833, pdisurgerycenter.org Sonoma West Medical Center: Sebastopol, $4.5 million. Hospital and primary care facility. 707-823-8511, sonomawestmedicalcenter. com Vintage House Senior Multi-purpose Center of Sonoma Valley: Sonoma, $4.5 million. Senior center. 707-996-0311, vintagehouse.org Occidental Arts and Ecology Center: Occidental, $4.5 million. Organic horticulture, arts and ecology education and training for community organizers. 707-874-1557, oaec.org COTS (Committee on the Shelterless): Petaluma, $4.4 million. Shelter, housing, food and transformative programs and services for homeless children and adults. 707-765-6530, cots-homeless.org Sonoma West Medical Foundation: Sebastopol, $4.3 million. Supports Sonoma West Medical Center. 707-823-8312, sonomawestfoundation.org

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THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

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KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Blessing bags filled with food were given out at the Great Thanksgiving Banquet put on by the Redwood Gospel Mission, a Santa Rosa charity that serves the homeless and the needy.

19686 8th Street East, P.O. Box 341 Sonoma, CA 95476 (707) 996-4577 Open: Wed-Fri 12–5p. Sat & Sun 11a–5p.

Closed Mon & Tues

Pets Lifeline receives no financial support from the city or county of Sonoma.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

NONPROFITS CONTINUED FROM G55

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Institute of Noetic Sciences: Petaluma, $4.2 million. Research institute studying the mind and consciousness. 707-775-3500, noetic.org Center for Applied Research Solutions Inc.: Santa Rosa, $4.2 million. Provides training and technical assistance to major initiatives in mental health, substance abuse, stigma reduction, suicide prevention and safe and healthy schools and colleges through research, training and the dissemination of educational materials. 707-568-3800, cars-rp.org Burbank Housing Development Corp.: Santa Rosa, $4.1 million. Dedicated to increasing the supply of housing in Sonoma County, so that low-income people of all ages, backgrounds and special needs will have a better opportunity to live in decent and affordable housing. 707-526-1020, burbankhousing.org Burnand-Partridge Foundation: Rohnert Park, $4.1 million.

Private foundation. 707-586-3534 Sonoma Humane Society: Santa Rosa, $4.1 million. Receives and administers gifts, program revenues and bequests that are used to support its animal shelters and programs that benefit animals and people in Sonoma County. 707-5420882, sonomahumane.org University of Northern California Foundation: Rohnert Park, $4.1 million. Supports the University of Northern California. 707-331-1110 California Parenting Institute: Santa Rosa, $4.1 million. A parent education and children’s mental health agency, with the mission to end child abuse and strengthen the health of children, parents and families through parent education, therapy services and a school for emotionally challenged children. 707-585-6108, calparents.org County of Sonoma Public Financing Corp.: Santa Rosa, $3.9 million. Provides facilities for administration of Sonoma County activities. 707-565-6124 Volunteer Center of Sonoma County: Santa Rosa, $3.8 million. Matches prospective volunteers with local nonprofit agencies and businesses; also operates community resources programs including legal, literacy and human services information and referral (211). 707-573-3399, volunteernow.org

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JOHN BURGESS / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Nicolette Weinzveg, development officer for the Sonoma Humane Society Healdsburg Center, sits with a dog at the shelter. The Santa Rosa-based nonprofit group administers funding used to support its animal shelters and programs in Sonoma County.

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Chinese Christian Mission: Petaluma, $3.7 million. Evangelism among the Chinese community locally and through foreign missions.

707-762-1314, ccmusa.org Paws for Purple Hearts: Rohnert Park, $3.6 million.

Trained service dogs for military service members and those with PTSD, mobility issues and traumatic brain injuries. 707-238-5110, pawsforpurplehearts.org Ag Innovations: Sebastopol, $3.6 million. Assists agricultural and environmental organizations and enterprises with education and promotional campaigns. 707-823-6111, aginnovations.org William H. Hinkle Charitable Foundation Inc.: Geyserville, $3.5 million. Private foundation supporting projects including music, education, the arts and the environment. 844-226-9255, thehcf.org Oakmont Village Association: Santa Rosa, $3.5 million.

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BETH SCHLANKER/ THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

The Crossing the Jordan Foundation, founded by Dana Bryant, provides housing and job training for women and children in need in Sonoma County.

SUPPORT OUR PROGRAMS, GET INVOLVED TODAY!

Habitat For Humanity of Sonoma County

CHANGE A LIFE (MAYBE EVEN YOURS!)

JOIN US IN BUILDING HOMES, COMMUNITIES, AND HOPE IN SONOMA COUNTY!

AFFORDABLE HOME OWNERSHIP 32 homes currently in Habitat’s pipeline.

REBUILD

Habitat is partnering with under-insured individuals affected

by October’s wildfires, to rebuild.

AGING IN PLACE

12 repair projects planned for 2018 to help seniors remain in their homes.

RESTORE

Volunteering is a great way to give back to our Sonoma County community. Catholic Charities has many opportunities to help change lives – from young children to seniors. Meet fellow volunteers to distribute food to needy families, cook meals, offer comfort to folks with dementia, drive seniors to medical appointments, and so much more.

Interested in maybe changing your life too?

Contact Volunteer Coordinator Noreen Mendoza at nmendoza@srcharities.org or 707.528.8712 x160.

You can also learn more about us by joining a tour of our programs. The next tour is

THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 8 from 5:30-6:30. RSVP to Margie Pettibone at 707.528.8712 x161.

Providing affordable new and used building materials and home goods.

3273 Airway Drive • Santa Rosa, CA 95403 • (707) 578-7707

habitatsoco.org • info@habitatsoco.org

SUPPORT OUR PROGRAMS, GET INVOLVED TODAY!

Visit srcharities.org/get-involved

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

NONPROFITS CONTINUED FROM G56 Provides social and recreational activities for the members of Oakmont Village. 707-539-1611, oakmontvillage. com Bauman College: Penngrove, $3.3 million. Educational institute focusing on holistic nutrition and culinary arts. 800-987-7530, baumancollege.com United Way of the Wine Country: Santa Rosa, $3.2 million. Serving Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte counties by mobilizing the caring power of our community through leadership, community engagement and effective investment including education, financial stability and health initiatives.

707-528-4485, unitedwaywinecountry. org Crossing the Jordan Foundation Inc.: Santa Rosa, $3.1 million. Provides housing and job training for women and children in need in Sonoma County. 707-540-5124, crossingthejordan.org La Luz Center: Sonoma, $3 million. Assistance for recent immigrants in the Sonoma Valley. 707938-5131, laluzcenter.org PEP Housing: Petaluma, $3 million. PEP Housing is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to providing limited-income seniors with quality affordable housing, housing support services and advocacy. 707-7622336, pephousing.org Carpenters Housing Corp.: Santa Rosa, $3 million. Public housing for low-income families and the handicapped people of Santa Rosa.

707-546-1797 R House: Santa Rosa, $2.9 million. Leader in the field of adolescent substance abuse treatment.

707-571-2215, rhouseinc.org Healdsburg School: Healdsburg, $2.9 million.

Private school. 707-433-4847, thehealdsburgschool.org Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce: Santa Rosa, $2.9 million. Advances educational, cultural and economic interests through the success of businesses in the Santa Rosa community. 707-5451414, santarosachamber.com Rural California Broadcasting Corp. KRCB-TV Channel 22: Rohnert Park, $2.9 million. Provides educational television and radio broadcasting in Northern California. 707-584-2000, krcb.org

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BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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KRCB, whose studio is located in Rohnert Park, provides educational TV and radio broadcasting in Northern California. Rural California Broadcasting Corp. reported $2.9 million in revenue in 2017.

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More than 80 nonprofit organizations serving the community in Sonoma County had revenue in 2017 exceeding $1 million.

Trione Family Foundation: Santa Rosa, $2.8 million. Private foundation.

707-542-3134 Live Oak Charter School: Petaluma, $2.8 million, K-8 Charter School.

707-762-9020, liveoakcharter.org Extended Child Care: Santa Rosa, $2.7 million. Provides before and after-school programs at 10 sites in the Mark West, Wright and Windsor school districts. 707-545-2402, extcc.org Boys & Girls Clubs of Marin and Southern Sonoma Counties: Petaluma, $2.6 million. Youth programs geared toward fostering positive childhood experiences and attitudes programs include after-school recreation, drop-in unstructured programs, as well as day camps, preschool programs and organized team sports.

707-769-5322, petaluma-marinbgc.org Sebastopol Independent Charter School, Inc.: Sebastopol, $2.6 million.

K-8 public charter school that teaches the Waldorf education system.

707-824-9700, sebastopolcharter.org Presentation School: Sonoma, $2.6 million. Private primary school.

707-935-0122, presentationschool.com

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OTHER NONPROFITS

Young Women’s Christian Association of Sonoma County: Santa Rosa, $2.6 million. YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. 707-3038413, ywca.org/sonomacounty United Camps Conferences and Retreats Inc.: Petaluma, $2.5 million.

Creates partnerships to provide life-changing experiences. 707-7623185, uccr.org Redwood Credit Union Community Fund Inc: Santa Rosa, $2.5 million.

Advancing the well-being of our community through programs including financial wellness and literacy, individual and/or organizational wellness and safety for those in need or crisis.

707-576-5142 Community Support Network: Santa Rosa, $2.5 million. Provides support, housing and dignity to individuals with mental health challenges. 707575-0979, communitysupportnet.org Sonoma County Vintners: Santa Rosa, $2.5 million. Promotion of Sonoma County wine. 707-522-5842, sonomawine.com Early Learning Institute: Rohnert Park, $2.5 million. Serving young children with special needs and their families. 707-591-0170, earlylearninginstitute.com

Associated Students of Sonoma State University: Rohnert Park, $2.4 million. Seeks to enrich the lives of Sonoma State University Students.

707-664-3251, sonoma.edu/as Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley: Sonoma, $2.4 million. Seeks to provide positive opportunities for youth to learn and succeed. 707-9388603, bgcsonoma.org Odd Fellows Cemetery Association of Santa Rosa Inc.: Santa Rosa, $2.4 million. Cemetery and burial services. 707-542-1586 Inquiring Systems Inc.: Sonoma, $2.4 million. Offers training and technical assistance in ethically directed business development and management.

707-939-3900, inquiringsystems.org Transcendence Theater Co.: Sonoma, $2.3 million. Performing arts organization. 877-424-1414, ttcsonoma. org Woodland Star Charter School: Sonoma, $2.3 million, Primary charter school. 707-996-3849, woodlandstarschool.org Abused Children’s Fund Inc.: Santa Rosa, $2.3 million. Provides or supports programs that deliver food, clean water, health care, housing, educational, vocational training and mentoring for abused or abandoned children.

707-483-2939, abusedchildrensfund.org

Quarryhill Botanical Garden: Glen Ellen, $2.3 million. Environmental preserve. 707-996-3166, quarryhillbg.org Petaluma People Services Center: Petaluma, $2.2 million. Human services agency with a broad scope of services including counseling, job placement, gang prevention, daily hot meals, rides to the doctor, case management and financial assistance for homeless prevention. 707-765-8488, petalumapeople.org Children’s Village of Sonoma County: Santa Rosa, $2.1 million. Provides nurturing and stable family homes for children and their siblings in foster care.

707-566-7044, thechildrensvillage.com Reach Parent Foundation: Sebastopol, $2.1 million. Supports the Reach charter school.

Spring Hill Montesori: Petaluma, $2 million. Charter school. 707-7639222, springnhillmontessori.org The DAISY Foundation: Glen Ellen, $2 million, Excellence in nursing program and nursing research grants.

707-996-7936, daisyfoundation.org Sonoma Charter School Inc: Sonoma, $2 million. Charter school. 707-9354232, sonomacharteschool.org Slow Sculpture: Santa Rosa, $2 million. Intermediate care facilities serving adults with developmental disabilities. 707-537-7024 River to Coast Children’s Services: Guerneville, $2 million. Resources, referrals and support to families and child care providers in western Sonoma County. 707-869-3613, rccservices. org Don Yoder Foundation: Santa Rosa, $2 million. Philanthropic public foundation. 707-579-9419 Ceres Community Project: Sebastopol, $2 million. Teens volunteer as gardeners and chefs preparing nutritious meals for individuals and families facing life-threatening illnesses. 707829-5833, ceresproject.org Petaluma Educational Foundation: Petaluma, $2 million. Supports educational programs for public and private nonprofit schools within the Petaluma area. 707-778-4632, pefinfo.com Credo High School: Rohnert Park, $1.9 million. Public college preparatory charter school using Waldorf methodology. 707-664-0600, credohigh.org Food For Thought: Forestville, $1.9 million. Provides food, nutrition and other services to people affected

by HIV/AIDS. 707-887-1647, fftfoodbank. org Chop’s Teen Club: Santa Rosa, $1.9 million. A nonprofit enrichment TURN TO NONPROFITS » PAGE G59

THE 1 PLACE TO REACH 7 OUT OF 10 NORTH BAY ADULTS. We have the numbers Sonoma Media Investments delivers the award-winning publications and websites that engage the North Bay communities.

We’re also experts in the latest tools and technologies that will deliver broad coverage or finely tuned targeting, depending on your marketing goals. From mobile to desktop to a variety of publications, our locally-focused content connects you to a highly-engaged, highly-desirable audience on every device on every occasion. Call 707.526.8587

Sources: Scarborough Research, 2017 R2; internal audience analysis and estimates

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NONPROFITS CONTINUED FROM G58 and recreation facility for Santa Rosa teens in seventh to 12th grades. 707284-2467, chopsonline.com Frank Doyle Trust: Santa Rosa, $1.9 million. Scholarships for Santa Rosa Junior College Students and $2,000 for the upkeep of Doyle Park.

707-524-3117 Guild of Sommeliers Education Foundation: Petaluma, $1.8 million.

Provides scholarships to fund education in wine and spirits. 707-695-7380, guildsomm.com Children’s Museum of Sonoma County: Santa Rosa, $1.8 million.

To inspire children’s creativity and stimulate their curiosity to discover the world through playful exploration of the arts and sciences. 707-546-4069, cmosc.org Sonoma Valley Museum of Art: Sonoma, $1.8 million. Art museum and educational programs. 707-939-7862, svma.org Ducommun and Gross Foundation: Santa Rosa, $1.8 million. Private foundation.

Community Matters: Santa Rosa, $1.7 million. Leader in bullying and violence prevention. 707-823-6159, community-matters.org Tietz Family Foundation: Healdsburg, $1.7 million. Private foundation.

707-433-4111 Plumfield Academy: Sebastopol, $1.7 million. Boarding school for at-risk boys. 707-824-1414, plumfieldacademy. net River Montessori Charter School: Petaluma, $1.7 million. Private Montessori school. 707-778-6414, rivermontessoricharter.org Jackson Family Foundation Inc: Geyserville, $1.7 million. Private foundation. 707-431-3241 Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County: Petaluma, $1.7 million. To increase homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families in Sonoma County while ensuring permanent housing affordability through the use of the land trust model. 707766-8875, housinglandtrust.org Human Awareness Institute: Petaluma, $1.7 million. Educational programs and materials related to developing and maintaining healthy relationships. 707-981-7886, hai.org North Bay Credit Union: Santa Rosa, $1.6 million. Credit union. 707-584-0384, grangecu.org Sonoma Valley Education Founda-

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, 2016

Sweetwater Spectrum provides continuing care for adults with autism at its residential community in Sonoma.

tion: Sonoma, $1.6 million. Primary fundraising and volunteer resource for the Sonoma Valley Unified School District. 707-935-9566, svgreatschools.org Landpaths: Santa Rosa, $1.6 million.

Environmental conservation organization with educational programs.

707-544-7284, LandPaths.org Padmasambhava Peace Institute: Santa Rosa, $1.6 million. An educational center providing retreat and study facilities for people interested in environmental stewardship and training in practices for peace. 707-632-5629, padmapeace.org West County Community Services: Guerneville, $1.6 million. Critical social programs for at-risk and vulnerable populations including employment, housing, mental health and counseling services. 707-823-1640, westcountyservices.org Robert and Shirley Harris Family Foundation: Santa Rosa, $1.6 million.

Private foundation. 707-545-6110, Petaluma Golf & Country Club: Petaluma, $1.6 million. Country club.

707-762-7041, petalumagolfandcountryclub.com Dovetail Learning Inc: Sebastopol, $1.6 million. Educational programs and materials related to developing and maintaining healthy relationships. 707861-3386, dovetaillearning.org National Indian Justice Center: Santa Rosa, $1.5 million. An indepen-

dent national resource for tribal courts delivering legal education, research and technical assistance. 707-579-5507, nijc.org North Bay Association of Realtors: Santa Rosa, $1.5 million. Real estate trade association. 707-542-1579, norbarrealtor.com Sweetwater Spectrum: Sonoma, $1.5 million. Continuing care facility for adults with autism. 707-996-3104, sweetwaterspectrum.org Face To Face Sonoma County AIDS Network: Santa Rosa, $1.5 million.

Face to Face strives to improve the lives of people affected by HIV and to eliminate new infections in Sonoma County. 707-544-1581, f2f.org CS Fund: Freestone, $1.5 million.

Private foundation. 707-874-2942, csfund.org King Ridge Foundation: Santa Rosa, $1.5 million. Promotes the environmental, physical and psychological benefits of cycling. 707-480-2137, levisgranfondo.org Oaks of Hebron Incorporated: Rohnert Park, $1.5 million. Supports adults with special needs by providing at-home support services, life management, job seeking, recreational activities and a working vegetable farm. 707-795-5927, oaksofhebron.org Burbank Housing Development Corp.: Santa Rosa, $1.5 million.

Dedicated to increasing the supply of

Polly Klaas Foundation Helps to Bring Missing Children Home Safely Thank you for your support over the past 24 years. Because of your generosity and vehicle donations, the Polly Klaas Foundation has helped to bring over 10,000 missing children home safely. On behalf of their families, thank you for making this possible.

Help us bring missing children home.

DONATE YOUR VEHICLE TODAY! Call 800-753-0442 www.PollyKlaas.org

housing in Sonoma County, so that low-income people of all ages, backgrounds and special needs will have a better opportunity to live in decent and affordable housing. 707-526-1020, burbankhousing.org Center for Well-Being: Santa Rosa, $1.5 million. Evidence-based preventive services and self-care classes.

Primary focus: diabetes, heart disease, tobacco prevention, adult and pediatric weight management, nutrition, chronic pain; English and Spanish.

707-575-6043, norcalwellbeing.org Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation: Sonoma, $1.5 million. Cultivates community support and raises funds for Sonoma Valley Hospital. 707-9355070, svhfoundation.com Sonoma County Children’s Charities Inc: Santa Rosa, $1.4 million.

Fundraising for youth programing in Sonoma County. 707-578-5344, theschulz.org The Living Room: Santa Rosa, $1.4 million. Day center for homeless women and children. 707-579-0138, thelivingroomsc.org Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau: Sonoma, $1.4 million. Promoting public awareness of Sonoma Valley.

707-996-1090, sonomavalley.com Earle Baum Center of the Blind: Santa Rosa, $1.4 million. Provides opportunities for people who are blind or visually impaired to improve their

personal, social and economic lives.

707-523-3222, earlebaum.org Alchemia: Santa Rosa, $1.4 million.

Arts programing for adults with developmental disabilities. 707-978-3229, alchemia.org Pepperwood Foundation: Santa Rosa, $1.4 million. Operates a 3,2000-acre scientific preserve to engage students, volunteers and scientists in applied conservation. 707591-9310, pepperwoodpreserve.org Pets Lifeline Inc: Sonoma, $1.3 million. Seeks to protect and improve the lives of cats and dogs in need in the Sonoma Valley through sheltering, adoption, humane education and community programs. 707-996-4577, petslifeline.org Wine Road Northern Sonoma County Inc.: Healdsburg, $1.3 million.

To increase awareness of Sonoma County Wine Country through education and marketing. 707-433-4335, wineroad.com Keysight Technologies Foundation: Santa Rosa, $1.3 million. Private foundation. 707-577-5471 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union 0551: Santa Rosa, $1.3 million. Maintains local union operations. 707-542-3505, Sonoma County Farm Bureau: Santa Rosa, $1.3 million. Farm and ranch support organization. 707-544-5575, sonomacountyfarmbureau.com St. Vincent De Paul Society: Rohnert Park, $1.3 million. Supports the needy through low-cost sales and gifts of food and merchandise. 707-584-1579, svdp-sonoma.org Center for Social and Environmental Stewardship: Windsor, $1.2 million. Encourages community to become stewards of their own lives, the lives of others and the environment. 707-838-6641, cfses.org Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center, Inc: Petaluma, $1.2 million.

Equine-assisted therapies and activities for children and adults with disabilities. 707-769-8900, giantstepsriding.org Cloverdale Citrus Fair: Cloverdale, $1.2 million. Annual fair with exhibits and displays made from citrus products. 707-894-3992, cloverdalecitrusfair. org Petaluma Animal Services Foundation: Petaluma, $1.1 million.

Animal shelter services for the city of Petaluma including animal control, spay and neuter clinics, sheltering and adoption services. 707-778-7387, petalumaanimalshelter.org

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Thank you, $25,000+

$10,000 - $24,999

$5,000 - $9,999

Chauncey & Marion D. McCormick Family Foundation Community Foundation Sonoma County Ernest L. & Ruth W. Finley Foundation George H. Sandy Foundation Theresa and Michael Haire Hazen Family Foundation Henrietta Heyman Trust Housing and Urban Development Jackson Family Fund Jonas Family Foundation William and Inez Mabie Family Foundation City of Petaluma Matt and Polly Stone Robert and Sharon Roper St. Joseph Health County of Sonoma Vic and Karen Trione Well Being Trust

Anonymous Artisanal Agency Bank of America Charitable Foundation Bear Gulch Foundation Bethlehem Foundation Donald and Maureen Green Foundation FEMA Ronald and Kristy Fedrick Jeremy Forcier Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation The Friedman Family and Friedman’s Home Improvement GreaterGood.org Harrison Mecham Relief Fund Anne Isaak Ron and Sara Malone Ms. Nancy Shepard Janae and Jimmy Rosen Sonoma Wine Country Weekend Speedway Children’s Charities St. James Catholic Church W. Bradley Electric

American River Bank Foundation Amy’s Kitchen Karen and Michael Bergin and Kyle McIsaac Amy Berliner Mike and Joan Buckley Charis Fund Church of God’s Persons Intelisys Communications Paul Dana Exchange Bank Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Sue Conley and Nan Haynes Rentia and Joel Humphries Gary and Lynn Imm Jon and Jane Jernigan Jeff and Jeri Johnson Mike and Karen Kasper Jeanne Laskin Ann and Derek Lee Lifetime Planning Marketing Pro2Col415 Memorial Fund Marcia and Bruce McGlochlin Petaluma Valley Baptist Church Andrea and James Pfeiffer Joanne Schell Lauren Scott Peggy and Leon Sharyon Shirley Ziolkowski Revocable Trust Terrell and Carmel Swan The Kansha Foundation The TJX Foundation, Inc. Paul and Jennifer Warner Wilfried and Eeva Zimmerman

$1,000 - $4,999 Harriette Acorne Michael Adayan Jr. and Melanie Martinez-Adayan Adobe Christian Church Paula and Michael Aja Vince Albano Mark Alton Amy Anderson Appleby Foundation Arrow Benefits Group Jay Ayala B’nai Israel Jewish Center Lewis and Janet Baer David Short Patrick and Olga Barnes Teresa Barrett Basin Street Property Management John Baxter Bay West Development Dominique Bayart and Jonathan Hayden Jacob and Yesenia Beckman Dan and Anne Benedetti Tim and Corey Benjamin Carlos and Star Berguido Rhonda Berney Robert and Kathleen Billings Dorothy Blake Lawrence R. Brackett Joan and Bill Brandt Sheila and Gardner Bride Brigitte and Norris Dyer David Robert Brown Suzanne L Brown Robert Brundage Jim and Nancy Brush Gerald Burke Calvary Chapel Petaluma Robert Caruso Allan and Christine Cecil Century 21 Bundesen Nino and Elaine Cerruti Rebecca Chaboya and Bill Foss Lionel Chan Zachary Chan Shunzi Che Nancy Chien-Eriksen Ben Choate

City Ministries Al Claxton Clover Sonoma Bob Comstock John R. Comyns and Marcie Miller Comyns Timothy John Connor Jess and Danielle Couch CourseCo, Inc. John Crowley Fr. Michael Culligan Sara and John Cummings Casey and Pam D’Angelo Douglas and Nancy Dade Stephen and Deborah Dalton Naomi Davis Michael and Pam Dayton Loren and Craig Deroy Joseph and Katie Destein Manuel and Carole Diaz Warren and Susan Dranit Jeannine and Thomas Drew Andy and Carol Eber Paul Efstathiu Phoebe and Geoff Ellis John Emery Emmaus An Inclusive Catholic Community Encore Events Rentals Exchange Bank Sara Ferrandini Reed and Nancy Ferrick Martin and Julia Fornage Bill Gabbert Gap Inc. Bruce Gardner Willis Garriott Steve and Lorena Gies Jessica and Jason Goebel Jasmine Gold George A. Googins Mike and Sue Gordon Patricia Gorman Greta and Nicholas Goulden Joe Gracyk Michael W. Grady Katie and Al Haas Henry and Marilyn Hansel

Harold Koepke and Nancy Karidis-Koepke Ellen and Andrew Hathaway Kate Hawley Doug Hecker Heffernan Foundation Karen Hegarty Wayne Henkels and Kristin Mills Steven and Troy Hightower Myron Hinrichs, D.V.M. Tina Hittenberger and Chuck Pyle Maggie and Brad Hohle Gregory DiPaolo and Barbara Hughes Marie Huhtala Glenn and Pamela Illian In-N-Out Burger Foundation Interactive Brokers Thomas Isaak Moe Jacobson Debra Dow and John Johnson Ruthanne Johnston Kaiser Permanente Kenneth Kasper Brandon Keefe Robert and Wendy Kelley Blair and Laura Kellison Marie Kint Michael Kirby Agnes G. Klebe Elizabeth Kohlenberg Andy and Marsha Kopral Nancy Jean Kull and Bill Young Lagunitas Brewing Co. Lauralyn Larsen Ken Larson and Linda Adams Doug and Mary Ann Laslo Nancy and Mike Lefler Levi Strauss Foundation Dan and Carol Ann Libarle Sidney and Gerry Lipton Loka Properties Inc. Fr. Gary Lombardi Scott and Jackie Loveless Luther Burbank Savings

Mabel Horrigan Foundation Peter and Theresa Mahoney Nariman Manoochehri Vicki Martinez and Peter Gruhl Brian Marvin Masonic Lodge Royal Arch #20 Jane McDonald H. Gordon Cox and Gail E. McGovern McNear’s Restaurant & Bar Stephen McNeil Rozalynd and George Merrill Michael J. Nelson Foundation Robert and Sue Miller Brian Mintz Elizabeth and Stephen Mori Leslie Murphy Jeffrey Nehmens Karen and Tom Nelson Ray and Jean Noll North Bay Association of Realtors Don & Anthy O’Brien Derek Ohlander Diane Olberg Michele and Gary Orsinger Maria do Ceu and Madeline Clare Julie and James Parnow Tony and Terri Parrish Claire Pass Petaluma Academy of Martial Arts Petaluma Council No. 1586 Knights of Columbus Petaluma Health Care District Petaluma Market Petaluma Poultry Petaluma Refuse & Recycling Petaluma USBC Assoc.

Loretta Philibosian and Carl Rechsteiner Vernon and Marilyn Piccinotti

Ray and Denise Pounds Kathie Powell Pat and Tim Preston David and Sylvia Proctor Chris and Shari Ranney Jane Read Jeffry and Jan Recob Redwood Credit Union Reed’s Trailer Sales Rob and Margaret Reichmuth John and JoAnne Richards Val and Abram Richman Rick and Sandra Sheldon Timo and Frances Rivetti Janet Rodd Richard and Susan Rodkin James and Gaylene Rosaschi Christopher Samuel Ross and Susan Lyn McKinley Ross Margaret Roth Mary Sabella Safeway Foundation Katharine and Claudio Salusso Ken Savano Bill Schrader John Sedlander Jehoshua Shapiro John Sheehy and Laurie Szujewska Rebecca Shirley Jim and Karen Sipich Smart Caregiver Corporation Judy and Steve Smith Tory and Michael Smith Brian and Bonnie Sobel Sonoma Clean Power Authority

Sonoma Country Day School Joan F. Stimson Frank C Stranzl Tom Stubbs Allen and Kristine Sudduth Michael and Gail Sullivan Pete and Sherry Swayne Christopher and Lese Sykes Laura Tarantino Terry and Jon Stark Andrea Tobias Traditional Medicinals Michael Troy and Judy Shubin Michael and Judy Tuhtan Paul Turner Toby and Joann Tyler United Church of Christ United Way of the Wine Country Xavier Unkovic Joan and John Walsh Welfare League of Sonoma County Westamerica Bank Willis Lease Finance Ralph Witherell World Centric Rafael and Clare Yebra Carol York John E. Zimmerman

Thank You Corporate and Business Sponsors!

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

u, Sonoma County. $150 - $999 360 Church of Petaluma AA Meeting Group Dick Abbey Ace Promotional Specialties Christine Adams Stephanie Adams Kenneth Adan Adobe, Inc. David Airey Carroll Albertson Peter and Linda Alexander Verne and Judith Alexander Joanne and John Alkazin Allianz Amica Companies Foundation Jennifer and Menahem Anderman Brad Anderson John Anderson Nancy Anderson Catherine Andrews Angels’ Attic Thrift Shop Caryn C. and Joseph G. Ansel Aqus Cafe James and Sally Archbold Winifred Archibald Jose and Gabriela Arellano Patricia Arfsten John and Angela Armstead Jo Arroyo Kathleen Arsenault Royal and Nancy Atkinson Tim Attell Lori Ayre David Babcock Brent Babow and Kristin Prentice John and Sue Backer Andrew Bailey Mary King and Robert H. Bailey Bev and Al Bonomi Rosemary Barnes and William Paxton Ron and Jennifer Barney Sue Bates-Pintar and Jeff Pintar Lucille H. Battison and Deanna McCoy James Bauer Roslyn Beauchamp and Gail Franklin Brian Beggs Karl Bell Madelyn Belliveau Marilyn and Howard Belove Leah Benz Shellie and Daniel Berry Gerald Besses and Jerrie Patterson Ray and Nina Bettencourt Esther and Frank Bidaurreta Patrick Bigot Garth Bixler Cheryl and Howard Blake Michael Blume Brad Bollinger Doris Bowman Jodi and Phil Boyle Joseph and Carol Boyle Connie Brandner Sally Brasseur John and Trudenka Brayton Brad and Diane Breithaupt Patti Breitman The Brody Family Dennis and Kimberly Brooks Rev. Monet Brooks Stuart Broughton Michele Brouqua Carolyn Jane Brown Pete Brown Sam and Ginger Brown Steven Brown Bruce and Trudie Scott Sherri Brungart Joseph and Ginny Buccelli Margo Budman Dianne and Warren Bunting Richard Burg and Deborah Burg-Schnirman Patricia Burns Raymond Burns and Howard Leonard Will and Carley Burns Peter and Bernadette Burrell Dennis and Carolyn Buss Alan and Margaret Butler Alyson Butler Charles and Deanne Cadman Phillip Cain California Correctional Peace Officers Association Joseph Callinan Fr. Stephen Canny Robert and Elaine Carlson Carmen G Welling Trust Cynthia Carr Sue Castellucci Tracy and Craig Cathcart Cathleen and Christopher Oakes Alvin and Joan Cattalini

Sheila Cauldwell Steven and Nancy Cefalu Tom Chambers Ken and Maureen Chapman John and Helen Charlson Church of the Oaks Carolyn Clark Leann and Robert Clark Terence and Laura Clark Casey Clement Joseph Cochrane and Victoria Parks-Cochrane David and Doreen Coe Stephen and Judith Collins Russell Colombo The Doctors Management Company Robert and Kathleen Conover Susan and Clark Coolidge Kevin and Nancy Cooper Richard and Alex Cooper Paula M. Cornyn Paul Costello James and Harriet Coyne Freda Cronemiller Hali Croner Cross and Crown Lutheran Church Tom and Rebeca Cullen Patricia M. Cummings Hope William Curry Marianne Ricotta Curtis James and Peggy Daniels Jo Dargie Burjor and Corry Dastur Marcella Davis Warren Davis and Judith Helman Kate Deering Rick Degraf Joseph and Cynthia Del Buono Dan and Karen Demars Teresa and Richard Denniston Design in Wood, Inc. Vance and Nadine Devost Fred and Cathy Dickson Laurence and Jo-Ann Dito Ruth and Randy Dobson Dolby Match Program Mary and Robert Dollar Patricia Donegan Dorsett Lawncare David and Jenny Doyal Malcolm Doyle Robert Drew and Candace Loeffler Margaret Druse and Timothy Harris Richard Dunagan Tom Duryea Walter Earle and Margaret Graham Ellen J Eggert Cindy and Dan Eggink Betsy Ehlen Hall Jeff and Bessie Eisenhauer Paul and Sherry Eklof Gilbert & Lisa Eldredge Elim Lutheran Church Daniella S. Ellicott Adrian Jan Elrod Rosemary A. Endicott Carol and Jeff England Environmental Science Associates Mark Escalera Ted and Jan Eshleman Fabulous Women’s Group Edna Facio Nicole Fainaru-Wada George E Faithful III William and Linda Fannin Jeff Farnsworth Scott and Mary Farrar Joanne and Mike Ferris Joanne Figone and Michael Tange Penelope Fink First Presbyterian Church Fischer Trucking Ed and Mary Fitzgerald Dan and Susan Fix Herman and Christie Flum Marilee Ford and Robert Hendricksen Donald and Alice Forsyth George and Janette Fragakis Margaret (Peggy) Fraze Mary and Rawls Frazier Vinton Freedley Natalie and John Freitas Patricia Anne French Mark and Nina Friedman Anita and Leonard Gabrielson Gail Anderson & Associates James and Silvia Gallagher Charles Galt Angelina Garcia Richard Gatti Gary J. and Karen A. Geerdes

Cheryl and Derlin German Marilyn Gervasoni and Mark Blomquist Joe and Robyn Gibbs Constance Majida Gibson Brian Gilmore Faith Giosso Diane Glotzer Robert and Alana Goetzinger Stanley and Hedda Gold Christina Gomez-Mira Susan Gorin Julie Gotham Bruce Gould Todd and Janet Gracyk Pamela and James Granger Daniel Green Kevin and Margaret Green John Griffin Petar and Roberta Griovski Stephen Guest Margaret Guyder John Haig Nicola Haines Sarah Hameed Tom and Emmanuela Hand Richard Harris Gary and Nancy Hartwick Gerald, Jan and Garth Haslam Kevin McDonnell and Melissa Hatheway William Scott and Katherine Alice Hayes Cathy Lou Haynes Patricia and David Heaney Thomas and Myrita Henry Laurel Henson Earl Herr Marilyn and Kip Herzog Robert Hesse Eric and Nancy Hieber Hillside Church of the Nazarene Mary Holder Roger Honour Anne Hosfeld and Michael Frank John Hoy Nicholas Hromalik Corrinne Hughes Robert and Kristen Hughes Human Sun Institute Judith A. Hunt Miriam and Don Hutchins Terry Iddins Karen and Guerino Iezza Gretchen Hunt Irvine Lorraine Isaacs Bill and Evelyn Isaak Susan and Mark Jaderstrom Sarah James Norma L. Jellison Joan Johnson Marlin & Linda Jones Matthew Jones Thomas and Kathleen Jones Craig and Sandra Jordan Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrun Seifert Susan Jostmeyer Tom and Marcia Joynt Roger Jungerman and Stephanie McAllister Ronald Kammann Sandra and Paul Kaplan Katherine and Robert Furukawa Leonard Katz Patricia Kauffman Babs Kavanaugh and Michael Witte Tim Kellgren John and Dorothy Kennedy Ron Kilgore James and Sharon Kimball Jeremy and Elisa King Lynn and David King Sharon Kirk Susan Kirkpatrick Thomas Kneeshaw Natalie Knott Michelle Zyromski and Kevin Konicek Kronos, Inc. Verna and Jack Krout Mohammad Ali Kujoory Robert H Kushler Andrew and Inge Kvalheim Marcia Kyne and Sandra Bliss Debra Lamfers and Don MacDonald Susanne Lampert Victoria G Landes Amy Lane Richard Lane David and Kim Lapp Carol Latvala Rose Lavezzo Law Office of Richard J. Meechan Law Offices of Reuben Yeroushalmi

Elizabeth Lazaroff Louisa Leavitt Barbara A Lee Jan and Herbert Lee LEMO USA, Inc. Benjamin Leroi Jeff and Jean Levenstam Janine Levijarvi Curt Lewis Martie Leys Carrie Libeu Joyce Libeu Nurit Licht and John Pendleton Blanche A. Lieb Lifestyle Pilates Craig Litwin Jim Lloyd Robert and Karen Loewenthal Frances A Phelan Logue and Terrance Logue Amy Loh Edward Lombardi Joanne Longaker Leroy and Johna Lounibos Cindy Love Dominic Lucia Peter T. Lyons Jeffrey Lyons and David Levison Noel Lyons Sandra Machado Charles Mache Jenny and Alex Maestoso Nannette Magnani Sanganur Mahadevan Maher Chiropractic Leslie Malloy David L. Maris Trust Cate Markey Luba Markoff Donald and Dorothy Martin John and Elizabeth Martin Teresa and David Martinelli Dennis Martino Kenneth Mascia Mary Kay Matossian Jennifer Lee Mayol Laurel A McClay Doris McCoy Rosemary H McCreary Nancy and Bob McFarland Shirley McFarren John J McGovern Mary McLean Philip and Patricia McLean Billy McMillan IV Keith and Deborah McNeil Kathleen A. Meadows John and Sylvia Melrose Louis Menachof Brenda Merwin Anne Metevier Philip Meyer Sherie Michaile Judith and Irwin Miller Kathi Miller Milli Family Foundation Kimi Minnick Marcia Monchatre Amy Mononi Ricardo Montelongo Melinda Moreaux Morris Distributing Frederick and Rosemarie Morris Stephen and Allison Morris Mark Mortensen Dana Morton Daniel and Lonna Mulkey Lynn Mumaw and Jim Hyatt Cathy and Ken Mumford Glee and Chuck Murphy Terry and Jane Murphy Cynthia Murray Howard Nakagawa and Suzy Hazy Hannelore Narnes National Philanthropic Trust Lennie and June Nave Marian Nelson Network For Good Beckie and Brent Newell Wendy Newman Marc Nickel Marv Nickel Annie Nicol Rhonda R Nilsson Michael and Grace Nistler Maureen Noonburg North Coast Carpet Care Northbay Alliance of Professional Women North Bay Business Journal T. Kevin O’Brien and Patricia J. O’Brien Barbara and James O’Donnell Martha O’Hayer Margaret O’Leary Catherine Oak Schoeffler Patti Jean O’Brien

Ellie O’Connor OdysseyRe Foundation Aaron Fredrik Olsen Laura Owens Louise Oren Packard Cheri Page Betty Pagett Patrick G. and Mary L. Goshtigian Susan J Perkins Tracy and Doug Perlich Stefany and Dean Perlman Lee Perron and Judy White Petaluma Christian Church Petaluma Lodge, No. 26 Petaluma Plaza Barber Shop Petaluma Valley Athletic Club Joel and Sue Petersen DJ Phimister The Pipals Richard Planka Daniel Plumley and Margaret Saragina POAP Charity Poppy Bank Carol Porter Wendy Porter Carol Pound Christopher and Virginia Pratt Merton Preston Marie Price Catherine and Robert Priestley Margie and Robert Proctor Alfred and Beverly Proud Bill Putnam Steve and Therese Quig David Rabbitt Environ International Corporation Bette Jo and Glenn Reich Ellen Reinhold Susan Reinke Bill and Mary-Louise Reinking Tammy Renstrom Dusty Resneck Cindy Riddle Jessica and David Rising Colleen Robar Tiffany Robbe and Zachary Matley Anila Roberts Natalie T Roberts Patricia and Frank Robin Larry Robinson Joyce Rogers John and Gail Ronald Greg Rosa Kalima Rose Michele Rossi James and Diana Rutherford Sack Properties, Inc. Michael and Mary Savage Zane and Mary Schafer Christopher Schmidt and Gail Sickler Henry and Joan Schmutz Henry and Laila Schoenlein Keith Schoenthal Daniel Schottenfels Jean Schulz Ed and Linda Schulze Dan Schurman and Molly Matheson Don and Dorothy Scott Douglas Scranton Ina Scrocco Elaine and Robert Scutari Anne and John Seil Mark and Lena Sell Maureen and Frederick Seydel Marjorie Sharon Phyllis Sharrow Linda Sheppard Neil and Barbara Shooter Marti Shortridge Carol and Tom Siebe Phillip Siebels Robert Sikorski Lee Silverstein Eileen Simard Deborah Simons Paul Skeem William and Ruth Slack Michael and Susan Sloan Lloyd and Gayle Smalley Christopher and Deborah Smith Don and Jean Smith Rebecca J. Smith Paul Margolis Sonoma County Employer Advisory Council George and Theresa Spellman Barbara Spicer Caitlin Spirlock William Spita Dorothea Kim Sprouse Robert and Karen Spurgeon St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church

St. John’s United Methodist Church Bambi Stalder Amy and Greg Stanton Grant D. Steer David and Laurel Stevens Rosalie Steward and Nolan Snook Heidi Stewart and John Weinstein David and Cynthia Stirrat Stoesser Investments Charles and April Stuart Ken and Margaret Stumpf Clare and Deborah Sturges Summit State Bank Susan and Kenneth Gertz Heather and Franklin Swain Patrick and Ellen Sweeney Peter Taines and Carole Hyman Jill Talmage Kevin Tasselmyer David and Eva Michelle Tate David Tegnell Telecom Pioneers Redwood Life Member Club Jennifer Terwilliger The Vine Church of Petaluma Ted and Elizabeth Theiss Maria Thom Matt and Wendi Thomas Carl and Susan Thompson Chris Thompson Larry and Karen Thorstad Peggy Tiernan Jane Tobin Kathleen Tobin and Jerry Klor Amber Null Todahl Jorge and Lillian Torrico Neva Turer Rob Turner Steven and Christine Tuscher Edith Ullman and Bruce Gorden Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma United Ancient Order of Druids of California United Way California Capital Region Bruce Updyke Patricia Urasaki Bradley Vaccaro Ed Vail D. Valentine Gale Valentini Royce and Carolee Van Bebber Lyn Van Tighem Veloce Motors West Nicole Victor Cindy Vine Christopher Visgilio Viviann and Mark Stapp Joseph and Patricia Vollmer Gary Vuchinich Elizabeth & Chuck Wade Perry Walker Freeman Wallace and Janice Curtis Lee Wallace Steven and Cecilia Wallis Zenaida and Dennis Warren Paula Sue Waters Ken and Cheryl Watsey David Watts Ronald Welch Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign Westamerica Bank Tandy Whitaker Henry White and Catherine Diane Bedecarre Steven and Christine White Doris and Dan Widger Wild Ride Eventers Savita Wilder Carol Williams Lisa and Peter Williams Thomas Williams and Maureen Kennedy-Williams Alberta Winterboer Janette M Witte Charles Wolf Joanne Wolfson Bill Wolpert Cindy Wood Vickie and Eric Worden Barbara Wornum Brett Wright Glen Wright Janice and Bryan Wright Bill Zavora and Monique Semp Amos Zucchi Sara and Tim Zwickl + Hundreds more supporters that we don’t have space to thank!

For a full list, please visit cots.org

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OUR LLOVE IS HERE HERE TO ST S AY

The Music of George & Ira Gershwin North Bay Wildfire Relief Fundraiser, with Richard Glazier & Friends.

100% of the proceeds will be equally divided by the four non-profits; Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, Boys & Girls Club, Hanna Institute and Sonoma Charter School for Wildfire Recovery and continued Resilience Work.

Come be inspired at this intimate, artistic musical experience coming to Sonoma Valley. Celebrate the lives of George & Ira Gershwin with Richard Glazier and a team of artists as they perform favorite Gershwin tunes and capture moments in history with their lively performances. Two concert times inspiring and benefiting our youth in Sonoma Valley, it is a moment in music history you won’t want to miss!

AN INSPIRING DAY OF HISTORY & MUSIC, 100% BENEFITING OUR YOUTH IN SONOMA VALLEY

Brought to you by Gary D. & Marcia L. Nelson

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Saturdayy March 201818

Hanna Boys Center | Auditorium 17000 Arnold Dr, Sonoma, CA 95476

Concert 4-5:30PM 7-8:30PM Times VIP RECEPTION FOLLOWING

VIP RECEPTION FOLLOWING

Tickets: $75 general admission or | $125 VIP with Champagne reception Get Tickets: www.gershwinforgood.org This space made possible by Gary D. & Marcia L. Nelson

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

NORTH BAY

PHILANTHROPIC

LEADERS

FOR NEARLY

FIVE DECADES Nelson is committed to involvement and investment in the communities where we live, work, and play.

The Nelson company and family are proud to support a variety of health care, education, performing arts, and other types of organizations that benefit our North Bay communities, including: • • • • •

Sonoma Valley Hospital Emergency Room Literacy and Math Programs at Sonoma Charter School Grade Level Proficiency Project in Sonoma Valley Public Schools Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley

Human Resources

Administrative

Wine & Beverage

Manufacturing

• • • • • •

Hanna Boys Institute Transcendence Theatre Company Sonoma Community Center Make-A-Wish® Greater Bay Area Redwood Community Fund’s North Bay Fire Relief Efforts And many more.

Sales & Marketing

Legal

Accounting & Finance

Engineering

Technology

Call us today to learn more about our staffing, recruiting, and payroll services, and find your next great hire. nelsonjobs.com | 1.866.GO.NELSON

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018

Lifting up local nonprofits, together Since 1999, the Celebrate Community Partners have donated more than $15 million in advertising, marketing and funds to hundreds of local nonproďŹ ts, enabling these important organizations to tell their stories, recruit volunteers and better the lives of our residents.

Please join us in this endeavor. For more information about Celebrate Community and how you can become a Partner, please contact Jennifer Hedgpeth at 707.526.8577 or Jennifer.hedgpeth@pressdemocrat.com.

C O E M T A R

N ITY I H

P

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AR

MU

C E LE B

Visit www.celebratecommunity.org

TN E R S