Rick Coates, Co-founder and Executive Director of Forest Unlimited
Rick Coates has a degree in chemistry from the University of California and has taught chemistry, physics, mathematics, geology, forestry, English essay and sociology at the secondary and college level. He also has 10 years’ experience as a programmer and electronics engineer. He is the former Executive Director of Northern California River Watch and World Stewardship Institute and serves on the Board of Western Sonoma County Rural Alliance and Friends of SMART. He has served on the Technical Advisory Group for the International Standards Organization’s ISO 14000 Environmental Management Standards on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Policy Advisory Council and has served as Executive Director of Forest Unlimited since 1995.
Cindy Pasko, Executive Director of the Living Room
Our speaker for February 24, 2022, was Cindy Pasko, Executive Director at the Living Room. Cindy has 20 years of experience in California and Oregon working with communities to close homelessness service gaps and build diverse collaborations to help those at risk. She has been the Living Room ED since 2018 and currently lives in Cloverdale.
Cindy believes that homelessness is a public health issue. The Living Room’s mission is to support women and children experiencing homelessness in Sonoma County. Its operations include food services, transitional housing, outreach, and a new Life Center.
The Living Room serves between 500 and 700 meals per week out of its “Secret Hope Kitchen.” They serve hot meals to off-site encampments, Living Room residences, and senior and youth sites. They also deliver and serve boxed meals, complete with cooking instructions, to families in compromised housing. These boxed meals serve a family of 5 and are designed to provide at least 20 grams of protein.
The transitional housing program includes 5 main houses, 2 ADU’s and 1 tiny house. The program typically houses 10 adults and 9 children. Residents are offered up to 1 year of housing with an option to extend if necessary. The Living Room’s next housing project will be for aged-out homeless foster youth and will be run with youth service provider partners to help integrate these young people with community services. The “Outreach” program includes outreach into street and community encampments as a way to provide living gear, food, and a “linkage” to other community services, and to drive women and children to the Life Center for health centered services. In 2021, the Living Center received a grant from Kaiser to deploy its partner services program “Unite Us.” It expects this program to maximize vaccinations and connect people to health services.
The Living Room’s new location will be called the “Life Center” and will be located on North Dutton Avenue and open up in March. The Life Center will offer a wide variety of services, including voter registration, housing and service linkage, health screenings, a computer lab, job skills training, recovery groups, legal aid, and peer counseling. The Living Room is actively looking for volunteers to help with delivery, kitchen food prep., mentors, and gardening.
Thank you, Cindy, for the update. The Living Room’s transformation is remarkable, and we look forward to working with you in the near future.
Did you miss it? Click HERE to watch the recording. It will be available for a limited time.
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, submits pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
Since we are in Pisces season, I thought it would be appropriate to briefly discuss our subconscious and dream interpretation. Whether we remember them or not, we all dream at night. Our subconscious is a powerful force, and those who can remember their dreams the following morning can use the images they experienced as guidance during consciousness. Certain symbols can serve as a warning, while others serve as validation. There are different types of dreaming methodologies as well. There are people who lucid dream, which means they can actively narrate the stories of their unconscious and control the images and the thoughts that occur while they sleep. This can be very draining and can lead to exhaustion, so it is not something that should be done every night.
Next, there are premonition dreams. The dreamer hears or sees something unfold and is completely objective about the action. There is no emotion. The vision is crystal clear, and shortly after waking, something similar happens in conscious life. I have had several of these types of dreams and it can be overwhelming when I am awake. Two examples: I dreamt of the sky being black and red and smelling smoke. The following morning, I woke up to a massive wildfire in San Diego. Another dream was I heard a song play very clearly in my dream: the following morning the first song I heard play on the radio was the same song.
Loved ones who we have lost can visit us in our dreams. I have always found this to be poignant. My personal belief is our loved ones who have exited this world are visiting us to let us know that they are still with us and they are protecting us. They are our spirit guides-our angels. If we are faced with a challenge or heartache, they are here to gently remind us that this will pass, and we will prevail.
Another compelling factor about dreams is they are studied both in the spiritual realm and the scientific realm. They hit all four major points of the human psyche: intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual. Dreams have been outlined throughout human civilization, and it is still quite mystifying.
Have you had any crazy dreams lately? How about reoccurring dreams? If so, please share! We’d all love to hear about the adventures of your subconscious…
Luciana is learning early, with fine coaching! Her father, Javier was on his university team, affording scholarship funds for his graduate studies.
Now living in Tampa, the Fonseca's are finding welcome avocation in sport and vocation as Javier and Ana Lucia progress in their career path to Dentistry.
Our monthly BLOWOUT EXTRAVAGANZA gala at the Redwood Empire Food Bank was true to the core last Thursday!
No less than TEN Sunrisers and friends packed 2 tons of apples for local distribution. Some of the gems weighed in at 1.5 pounds!! just two in that pack versus 5-6 in most 3 pound sacks. Give a cheer to Pres Jen, Stacy and friend Kevin, Brian, Doug, Rich & Betsy, Ken, Jim and Del!!
Nearly 250 Elsie Allen Seniors filled the gym bleachers to enjoy ice cream treats and discover the menu of services offered through the school's Scholarship Foundation: Mentoring, Career Guidance, Academic and Vocational Scholarships and Leadership Development.
Just before distributing thousands of calories, Sunrise Rotarians Carolyn Anderson, Merle Hayes and Rich Randolph catch their breath. Carolyn's husband George Reese joined. Foundation Coordinator Herman Hernandez delivered the Foundation pitch to the students. We all were impressed with the student's courtesy and expressed thanks.
Sunrises Rotary has deep roots at Elsie Allen High School. Merle & Carolyn are current Board members, Rich is on the Community Board.
As a result of ongoing disease surveillance, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has confirmed a case of type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) in a child suffering from paralysis in Malawi. Analysis has shown the virus is genetically linked to WPV1 that had circulated in Pakistan’s Sindh province.
The GPEI is supporting health authorities in Malawi to conduct a thorough assessment of the situation and begin urgent immunization activities to mitigate any risk of spread. Environmental surveillance measures are also being expanded in Malawi and neighboring countries to detect any other potential cases.
Detection of WPV1 outside the world’s two remaining endemic countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan is a serious concern and underscores the importance of prioritizing polio immunization activities in countries such as Malawi to prevent future instances of importation. Rotary has continued strong financial support to Africa since the most recent previous case in Nigeria. During the last two years, 54% of the Rotary PolioPlus budget has supported disease surveillance, outbreak response, the purchase of vaccines and operational expenses throughout Africa.
While the news from Malawi is disappointing, the polio program has seen importations from endemic countries to regions that have been certified wild polio-free in the past, and has moved quickly to successfully stop transmission of the virus in these areas. As an imported case from Pakistan, this detection of WPV in Malawi does not affect the WHO African region’s wild polio-free certification status.
In the more than three decades since Rotary launched its PolioPlus program and formed the GPEI, we have repeatedly stressed that polio anywhere is a threat to children everywhere. The case in Malawi imported from Pakistan underscores the importance of that statement. Now is the time for all parties – Rotary members, communities, government leaders, and global partners – to recommit to ending all forms of polio for good. As Rotary members, it is critical that we ramp up our efforts to raise awareness for the importance of reaching all children with polio vaccines, and continue raising the funds necessary to carry out critical eradication activities to protect vulnerable children and prevent further outbreaks.
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