Meet Your New Fire Chief: John Walbridge Chosen To Lead Central

COMMUNITY NEWS Meet Your New Fire Chief

John Walbridge Chosen To Lead Central Fire Protection District

John Walbridge, a longtime local who has spent 30 years with Central Fire District, is the new Central fire chief.

He got the job in a unanimous vote by the Central Fire Board of Directors on Jan. 12.

Central Fire is in the process of consolidating with Aptos/La Selva Fire Protection District.

Walbridge had been interim fire chief since July 2020.

His interest in the fire service started in the late 1970s when he was tasked by his father to ride his bike to Live Oak Fire Station #1 on 17th Avenue to retrieve burn permits from firefighters that he would ultimately work with a decade later.

Walbridge began his professional career in 1990 as a seasonal firefighter with Cal Fire.

In 1991, he joined the Central Fire Protection District as a paid call firefighter. Since then, he held the positions of Firefighter, Firefighter/ Paramedic, Captain Paramedic, Battalion Chief, Temporary Division Chief and Fire Chief.

He was one of Central Fire Protection District’s first three firefighter/ paramedics.

His past responsibilities have included Logistics Chief, Operations Chief, Safety Officer, Central Fire Investigation Team, Emergency Response Coordinator, Emergency Medical Services Manager, and Facilities/Inventory Manager.

He has an associate’s degree in fire protection technology from Cabrillo College and a bachelor’s in chemistry from UC Santa Cruz. He is also a California State Certified Fire Investigator I, Fire Officer and Chief Officer.

The announcement of his appointment says, “He has the passion, history and dedication one needs for this role, as well as the respect of all our members.” n

Central Fire Chief John Walbridge

New Job Resource For Veterans Kiss, Kiss: Cabanayan’s Painting

Veterans and their family members have a new resource through the public library. Our Veterans Information Page now includes VetNow at https://www.brainfuse.com/highed/ Navigator. The Live Veteran Navigator connects Veterans with experts on VA benefits, job coaching, and community resources. To access this resource, use your Comes in Third in Reflections of 2020 Artist Charina Cabanayan placed third in the novice category of City of Capitola’s “Reflections of home.asp?a_id=7E7D0F69&ss=2&r= Santa Cruz Public Libraries Card and 2020” digital art contest with her water-

This tool has many resources for job pin number. You can find VetNow on our color/pressed flowers on Baltic birch seekers including: Live Job Coaching, Website at santacruzpl.org. If you need panel painting “Kiss, kiss.” a Resume Lab, and a Live Veteran help, call 831-427-7713. n “2020 has been a year full of changes and challenges on an individual and global scale,” Cabanayan said. “No one has not been affected somehow by the impact of the pandemic. For many, isolation feels like a loss in human connection and community. She continued: “Amidst the losses, there’s also a sense of hope. 2020 has in some ways also revealed what is essential. For me this is love. Cultivating more love is essential to me as I move forward into the next decade. Love is the opposite of fear - which has been certainly been rampant this year. In the moment when one takes their last breath, thoughts Charina is a mother, yoga teacher, go back to the ones they love. and self-taught artist who lives in Aptos. “Love for our planet will help us She was a fashion designer in her prepreserve our natural resources and care vious life and had forgotten how much for the earth. Love for our family and she enjoyed creating. community allows us to make difficult During the beginning of the pandecisions in how we choose to social demic, Charina rediscovered her love for distance and interact within our family drawing. She has been teaching herself “pods.” Love is complex, yet also so how to paint in water color while on a simple. Love is what remains when all break from teaching in-person yoga. n else is stripped away. It is, at the core, the ••• root to all healing. To learn more about Charina visit www. “This piece is titled “Kiss, kiss.” It is yogalyfe.com and see work in progress a portrait of my two daughters. I hope it at https://www.instagram.com/charina. lightens your heart.” aquarella/

COMMUNITY NEWS Fondue for Valentine’s Day

Looking for something delicious to spice up your Valentine’s Day? Try this easy chocolate fondue. You won’t be disappointed! •••

EASY CHOCOLATE FONDUE

Prep Time: 10 min. • Total Time: 10 min. Servings: 8 -12 servings

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces 4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces 1/2 – 3/4 cup whole milk (depending on thickness preference, I use 1/2 cup) 1-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

Dipping Ideas:

Bananas, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, clementines, marshmallows, Oreos, Graham Crackers, Milanos, whatever sounds good!

INSTRUCTIONS

Start by preparing all of the ingredients/ treats you will be dipping in the fondue. The preparation of the fondue goes quickly so you want to have all the treats and skewers (if using) ready!

For the fondue, combine the chocolate, 1/2 cup milk or cream, and butter* and melt gently in a barely simmering water bath or microwave on Medium (50 percent) power for about 2 minutes.

Stir until completely smooth.

Add more milk if desired. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and salt.

Serve immediately.

If the fondue gets too thick (or starts to harden), reheat in the microwave in bursts of 15 seconds stirring in between each burst for 10 seconds until melted and smooth again.

*Butter results in a more mellow chocolate flavor. For a more intense chocolate fondue, leave out the butter.

Finding Solutions to help Second Harvest Feed People

While some people see problems and wonder who will solve them, a young Santa Cruz entrepreneur saw the county’s hunger problem and took action.

For the past three years, Andrew Trowbridge, 12, has worked on generating financial donations for Second Harvest Food Bank. This year, after adding up the earned funds, he donated $2,175 to the food bank.

Family and friends from his church helped him. But Andrew managed the effort to its great success.

Andrew first embraced becoming one of Second Harvest’s Hunger Heroes by running a lemonade stand and earning several hundred dollars, which he donated.

“Trowbridge” page 23

COMMUNITY NEWS Bezos Grant Aims to End Family Homelessness Locally

Housing Matters, the largest nonprofit in Santa Cruz County working on solutions to homelessness, is one of 42 organizations nationwide to be awarded a $2.5 million one-time grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund.

“We are so honored and excited to receive this grant,” said Phil Kramer, executive director at Housing Matters, where the goal is to end family homelessness in Santa Cruz County over the next five years.

The most recent count, in January 2019, found 122 families with 419 members were homeless. About half were in a shelter; half were not.

The Day 1 Families Fund awarded $105.9 million in grants this year. To select these organizations, the fund worked with an advisory board of homelessness advocates and leaders whose expertise spans housing justice, racial equity, direct services, homelessness policy, equity for Native American communities and antipoverty work.

Currently, when a family finds themselves in the crisis of homelessness in Santa Cruz County, they find a waitlist for the services and programs that could help them get back on their feet. Shelter beds are not readily available, and even case management programs are greatly impacted.

Tom Stagg, director of programs at Housing Matters, explained that the goal is for families who need help to receive it immediately.

“We know how to effectively and efficiently help families once they are receiving services and programs,” he said. “The biggest problem is that there is an incredible backlog of need; there just aren’t enough resources to go around.”

He said Housing Matters will work closely with community partners to identify specifically what needs to be done.

For a person without a home, every single day that passes adds to their trauma, said Diana Flores, Rebele Family Shelter program manager at Housing Matters.

“Each situation is different,” she said. “But the sooner someone gets help, the sooner they’re able to get back on their feet, and the more likely they are to be successful in retaining their housing.”

Many people who need services don’t qualify for any of the existing programs, but this grant will allow that to change, she added.

Another goal is to gather data on housing retention.

“Improving our data collection and analysis will provide more effective systems change,” Stagg said.

Housing Matters started collecting data on the effectiveness of the services in 2017, and has made key programmatic decisions based on that data.

“We are thoroughly committed to ending family homelessness,” said Stagg. “And we’re looking at this holistically. We will take every step needed to reach our goal. It’s a bold goal, but I truly believe we can get there.” n

•••

For more info, see: www.bezosdayonefund. org/day1familiesfund and www.housingmatterssc. org

Federal Vaccine Tracker Santa Cruz County Bank

To see how vaccinations are progressing, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has to the CDC more than 31 million doses have been distributed. Data comes from healthcare pro- Opens in Monterey created the COVID Data Tracker, an interactive map with state-by-state tallies. The page gives the total number viders, and the CDC Data Tracker is expected to be updated on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays excluding On Jan. 19, Santa Cruz County Bank, with assets of $1.4 billion, announced the opening of a new full-service of vaccines distributed, total number holidays. n branch at 584 Munras St., Monterey. administered, total number of people who https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data- This is the 16-year-old bank’s eighth received their first dose and the rate per tracker/#cases_casesper100klast7days branch and the first in Monterey County. 100,000. The 584 Munras Street building, built

Another data point in 1984, was purchased by the bank in April tells how many doses 2020 for $1.55 million, according to Xome Inc. Goodwill Central Coast chief financial the federal pharmacy The building, centrally located at the officer for guiding the nonprofit through the program has provided corner of Munras Avenue and Webster Street federal Payroll Protection Program last year to long-term care facil- in downtown Monterey, was previously during the COVID pandemic. ities, such as nursing home for a fitness center, Pouchet Training, “Our expansion into Monterey County, homes, which are and before that, Monterey Mattress. with the opening of our eighth full-service prioritized under U.S. Following an extensive remodel, the banking office, allows us to better serve vaccination guidelines. new Santa Cruz County Bank branch looks our long-established business relation-

As of Thursday, much like the downtown Santa Cruz head- ships in Monterey County and attract new the CDC’s map shows quarters. It is open for business, with a staff business,” said Santa Cruz County Bank West Virginia leads in of well-known bankers overseen by Rich board chairman and acting CEO William doses administered Aiello, senior vice president, relationship J. Hansen. “We know the right location with more than 7,000 manager, who came on board in 2019. coupled with well-regarded and wellper 100,000, followed Aiello took over his family’s fishing known bankers is the formula for success.” by Alaska and then business before entering banking, first at Aiello added, “We are well-positioned South Dakota and Community Bank of Central California and to help lead and support the community Vermont. later at Rabobank. in the economic recovery of businesses

All in all, according He was praised on LinkedIn by the impacted by the pandemic.” n