Local Story

ARPA Town Halls: Join us to gather input on where and how Sonoma County might best invest ARPA dollars. Each virtual Town Hall will be hosted by the supervisor for that district and will include an overview of ARPA funding along with small group community conversations. Please make sure to register by clicking on the links below. September 23, 6 - 8 pm (District 3 - Supervisor Coursey) : Register Now September 30, 5:30 - 7:30 (District 5 - Supervisor Hopkins) : Register Now October 4, 5:30 -...

By Rollie Atkinson, SoCo News Staff, June 21, 2021. Civil panel says jail should not be a profit center Inmates in Sonoma County’s jails must rely on a contracted telephone service to communicate with family and friends where the charges can equal more than 20 cents per minute, exceeding prevailing market rates by tenfold. The arrangement is part of the county’s Inmate Welfare Trust (IWT) and jail commissary where inmates also can purchase snacks, books and magazines and video game...

By Joel Lewis, Healthcare Foundation, June 15, 2021. HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION AND MEDTRONIC AWARD $15,000 GRANT TO BOOST LOCAL HEALTHCARE WORKER PIPELINE Money will create 15-30 scholarships at local junior college June 15, 2021 – The Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County (HCF) has awarded a $15,000 grant to support an innovative program at a local college designed to train bilingual healthcare workers for the future. The grant, made possible by a $10,000 charitable contribution from...

By Laura Hagar Rush, Townsy, February 24, 2021, Sonoma West. Sebastopudlians driving down Bodega Avenue Wednesday morning saw an unusual sight in front of the Sebastopol Fire Department: a flock of flamingos. Pink, plastic flamingos to be exact — some with hand-knitted scarves, some painted, some beribboned and one with a pink feather boa and pink flamingo glasses. [ Please click here to read more ]

The daughter and granddaughter of leading farm labor advocates, Alegria De La Cruz is taking on the next role in her family's long campaign for social justice. https://www.sonomamag.com/santa-rosa-attorney-takes-on-racial-disparities-within-sonoma-county-government/

By Tyler Silvy, December 27, 2020, The Press Democrat. Following a successful campaign to secure a $25 million annual sales tax boost for county mental health and homelessness services, Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane was offered a special honor: a chance to name the county’s newest supportive housing site, the former Hotel Azura in downtown Santa Rosa. Zane didn’t want it named after her, and there’s already a property serving homeless veterans named after her father, World War II...

By Access Sonoma, December 7, 2020. Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency (ACCESS) Sonoma is a county initiative that focuses on the critical needs of residents who are experiencing physical and mental health challenges, economic uncertainty, housing instability, substance use disorders, criminal justice engagement and social inequity. In a matter of 10 months, Sonoma County has successfully moved 30 percent of residents into housing from Los Guilicos Village through its...

By Mary Callahan, November 20, 2020, The Press Democrat. Almost a third of the people counted in Sonoma County’s 2020 one-day homeless census were older than 50, reflecting, in part, an increasing number of people who are falling into homelessness as older adults. They are evidence of a disturbing trend first observed in the county’s 2018 count. This year, 19% of those surveyed said they had become homeless for the first time at age 50 or later. [ Please click here to read more ]

By Charlie Swanson, October 6, 2020, Bohemian. Sonoma Community Center was one of the North Bay’s early leaders in offering quality virtual programming when the Covid-19 pandemic halted in-person events and gatherings in the North Bay this past March. For the last six months, art enthusiasts from around the world have Zoomed in on the center’s digital platform, and the Fall series currently underway covers an array of subjects including ceramics, culinary, fiber, painting, drawing,...

By Chelsea Kurnick, September 29, 2020, The Bohemian. Doctor Toni Ramirez, MD puts justice at the center of her practice in her office and community Dr. Toni Ramirez entered medical school as an act of rebellion. That, and she wanted to help people. In high school in El Paso, Texas, her guidance counselor mocked her ambition to become a doctor, despite the fact that she was at the top of her class. A Latinx child in a border town, Ramirez thought, “If you’re telling me I can’t do this, what...

Hanna Institute launched an 18-month study, “Finding Positive Health in ‘Fortalezas’ and ‘Comunidad’: A Case Study of Latinos/X in Sonoma Valley” in 2018. Using a community- engaged research team, the study explored the unique assets, power and resilience of the Latino/x population that enables it to cope with and overcome stress, including those exacerbated by structural inequalities. The study focuses on community, political, spiritual, cultural and physical resources perceived within the...

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