YWCA Sonoma County: Domestic Violence Awareness Month
For more than four decades YWCA Sonoma County has been a safe haven for domestic violence survivors. The organization helps individuals and families through their hotline, housing, therapy services, a preschool, advocacy, and more. Founded in London in 1855, a branch...
Sonoma County Resilience Fund Donates $1,750,000 to COVID-19 Relief Efforts
Since March, Community Foundation Sonoma County has granted more than $4.6 million to support nonprofit organizations responding to coronavirus. When the coronavirus pandemic struck Sonoma County in March 2020, Community Foundation Sonoma County (CFSC) and our donors...
Building the Bridge from Homelessness to Housing: Catholic Charities
Like all organizations working with our local houseless community, Catholic Charities continues finding temporary and permanent housing for hundreds of people in Sonoma County, despite the added challenge of the COVID pandemic. “I consider us as kind of the bridge...
Welcoming Kris Van Giesen to our team
We are delighted to welcome Kris Van Giesen to our team as our Senior Vice President for Philanthropic Planning. Kris was born and raised in Santa Rosa (go SRHS Panthers!) and is a lifelong fan of the Cal Bears. Kris and his wife Holly are soon to be...
Serving Uninsured and Underinsured People in a Time of Crisis
From shifting toward Zoom and telephone appointments, to setting up virus testing clinics, Sonoma County’s health centers have handled the sudden changes brought on by the COVID pandemic like the champions they are. In addition to the large healthcare centers, smaller...
Helping our Community Heal: Santa Rosa Community Health Centers
For more than two decades Santa Rosa Community Health (SRCH) has provided physical and mental health services to Sonoma County’s low-income population. The organization has eight clinics across Santa Rosa, which includes a campus for dental services, and a site that...
It takes a Village – Transitioning out of Homelessness at Los Guilicos Village
Until late January 2020, a community of nearly 250 unhoused people lived in tents along a 2-mile stretch of the Joe Rodota Trail, an eight-mile bike and pedestrian path that runs west from Santa Rosa to neighboring Sebastopol. Declared a public health crisis, the...
Cooking Up Healthy Meals with Ceres Project
In ancient Rome, Ceres was the goddess of agriculture and offered blessings to farmers and their annual harvests, ensuring communities had enough to eat. Today in Sonoma County, Ceres Community Project is known for something similar: blessing those in need with hearty...
Catching Up With Our Sonoma Valley Cohort
When our cohort of six Sonoma Valley nonprofit organizations met for the first time in February, their primary focus was to identify the ways they could strengthen and support their own and each other’s missions. Soon after that first capacity building meeting,...
Sonoma County Resilience Fund activates for LNU Lightning Complex Fires
Since inception in 2017, we have supported local disaster recovery efforts through grants nearing $10 million. Community Foundation Sonoma County (CFSC) first launched the Sonoma County Resilience Fund in the wake of the 2017 fires, with a mission to help support our...
Sheltering Unhoused People During Shelter in Place – COTS
When news of the coronavirus first hit the U.S., the staff at COTS (Committee On The Shelterless) stepped into action to ensure the unhoused population they serve would be protected. COTS operates the 112 bed Mary Isaak Center Shelter in Petaluma, and staff knew that...
Taking Care of Mental Health in Times of Crisis – NAMI Sonoma County
One of the first contacts many have with NAMI Sonoma County is through the NAMI Warmline, a non-crisis helpline that operates Monday to Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM (call/text 866-960-6264). Although the line is not staffed 24 hours a day, NAMI’s trained staff and volunteers...
Announcing: COVID-19 Competitive Grants Program
The COVID-19 pandemic has touched every aspect of our lives and created widespread and long-term challenges in Sonoma County communities and throughout the world. As with previous disasters, the impact is not distributed evenly. The Latinx population has been...
Over 8 million meals since March: the Redwood Empire Food Bank
Redwood Empire Food Bank (REFB) is no stranger to supporting communities through disasters. In recent years, they’ve responded to their fair share: Sonoma and Mendocino Complex Fires, Russian River floods of 2019, the Kincade Fire, and more. Now they have a new crisis...
211 – A Lifeline in Times of Emergency
Since United Way of the Wine Country took over operations of the 211 information and referral line just over a year ago, many Sonoma County residents have come to know the service as an emergency hotline. When in crisis, locals can call or text 211, or visit the 211...