"Verity" is Sonoma County’s sole rape crisis, trauma and healing center providing services and support to all survivors of sexual violence, human trafficking, and other related sexual assaults to all ages and genders for 43 years.
Christine is a passionate individual who has always seen herself focusing on the goal of working for what is right and just in our world. She is a survivor of sexual violence and knows firsthand the impact of this horrific crime on the life of the individual, her assaults occurring in her early childhood years. She is dedicated to working as best they can to provide services and supports to those who are victimized as well as their families and systems of support and to ensure that survivors know and understand that they are not to blame for this crime happening to them.
 

Christine been married to Herb Castillo for 33 plus years and theyu have a daughter, Camila. They have two stepchildren, Sierra and Miguel, and three grandchildren. "Many life blessings!"

Our speaker for the May 30^th meeting was Cindy Pasko, the Executive Director of the Living Room. Cindy is a relatively new addition to the Living Room but has over 15 years of executive leadership experience addressing homelessness at all levels. The Living Room, which our Club has supported regularly, serves women and children of all ages and backgrounds experiencing homelessness. It is the ‘entry gate’ for women and children needing emergency assistance due to homelessness. It provides day services for the homeless, including hot meals, laundry, showering, resting/napping, reading, mail, first aid and supplies. It also provides licensed therapy, group and art therapy, pet services, financial literacy, help with the maze of social services and domestic violence services. The Living Room also can provide a care advocate if needed.

The Living Room was founded in 1993 at the Church of the Incarnation. It was run by 37 women and is a women-only campus. It now resides on Cleveland Avenue in a newly refurbished building. It operates at least three houses for women in the vicinity. It has a full kitchen and serves 110 meals per day! The Living Room sees an average of 64 women and 6 children each day, with increases in the summer.

Cindy gave us some alarming statistics about homelessness. There were 2,835 reported homeless people in Sonoma County in 2017.  2018 is worse, with a reported 2,996 homeless. Experts believe the actual homeless population is 3 times those numbers. 39% of homeless in Sonoma County are women. 64% of homeless are unsheltered. 409 of the reported homeless are over age 60. Cindy told us that 90% of the women who show up at the Living Room are traumatized by their homelessness. They are injured, starved, disassociative, and/or reactive. Homeless living is a non-stop series of traumatic events. As she says, there are always “predators at the gates” for these women, the Living Room is a safe place for women to spend parts of their day, and to eat, rest, clean up, and speak with advisors and other volunteers.

Homelessness in Sonoma County has many causes. The average cost of a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,900/month. Women become homeless due to a variety of problems, including a deceased or separated partner, unsafe family conditions, injuries or ill health, inadequate retirement, mental illness, alcohol and drugs, and unemployability (including among seniors). Women sometimes become homeless with no warning and are completely unprepared for the event.

Thank you, Cindy, for the fantastic and informative discussion of the homeless problem and the services provided by the Living Room. And thank you for all your work in the community for the homeless and others. Well done and we will be seeing you!

On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, as well as Club Public Relations-Image Director Jack Strange, submit 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!

Paul Harris Fellow awards:

New Paul Harris Fellows in our club, a recognition for contributing $1,000 to support Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation. The award is named for Paul Harris, who founded Rotary 114 years ago in Chicago.

While most of our club efforts are often focused locally, it’s important for us to understand what Rotary --  WHAT WE – are trying to accomplish in the world.

Rotary International has, through its Foundation, spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects throughout the world.  

The mission of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty.

In our club’s nearly 33 years, Santa Rosa Sunrise members have contributed $425,555 to support Rotary’s international efforts, including polio eradication.  A total of 341 Paul Harris Fellow awards have been granted by our club.

Rotary is a part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which spent $4 billion and has vaccinated 2.5 billion children worldwide. This initiative includes the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  

Since 1988, millions of children’s lives have been saved with Polio prevention. The only Polio cases reported so far in 2019 are in the Mideast: Of 22 cases, 15 are in Pakistan and 7 are in Afghanistan, according to our Past District Governor Larry Myers of South Ukiah, himself a Polio survivor.

What impact can one donation to Rotary International have?

•For as little as 60 cents, a child can be protected from polio.

•$50 can provide clean water to help fight waterborne illness.

•$500 can launch an anti-bullying campaign and create a safe environment for children.

Honoring 3 new Paul Harris Fellows and the Rotarians who made these awards possible:

1.Del Raby is honoring his relatives Edwin Raby and Susan Winslow.

2.Steve Herron is honoring his mother Charlene Herron.

3.We have a special award from Rotary District 5130 making Arthur Cheney a Paul Harris Fellow.

Whether you’ll be attending the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany, from 1 to 5 June, or you simply want to keep up with everything that’s happening there, you can find all the latest news on Rotary.org and social media.

Rotary International

Every day, the Convention Minute provides a quick video recap of the previous day’s events, along with a look at the day ahead. The Convention Minute covers the general sessions and breakout sessions and includes other items of interest, such as popular booths and events in the House of Friendship. Find the Convention Minute on Rotary’s Facebook page, at riconvention.org, or within the daily convention e-newsletter. You can browse exclusive photos of all the convention highlights. You’ll also be able to watch and share full videos of the world-class speakers who will be inspiring Rotarians to greater service.

To see the latest convention news on social media, look for the hashtag #Rotary19 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Rotary staff will be blogging and tweeting from the general sessions, House of Friendship, workshops, host committee events, and more. And be sure to use the hashtag in your own social media posts about the convention.

Register for the 2019 Rotary Convention in Hamburg at riconvention.org.