December 2020
12/5/2020
November 2020
11/1/2020
October 2020
10/3/2020
10/17/2020
- The Rotary Club of Glen Ellen-Kenwood, and Steve Sando from Rancho Gordo New World Specialty Food for their monetary contributions.
- Chris Benziger of Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen, and Kaetlyn Bartlett of Mark Herold Wines in Napa for donating their excellent wines for the Halloween event
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
10/24/2020
September 2020
9/5/2020
9/19/2020
9/18/2020
St. Andrew Presbyterian Church for providing us with the funds to purchase a generator, which is now in readiness at the Sonoma Springs Community Hall in case of a power emergency.
The individual donors who have increased not only their amounts but their frequency of giving.
The local nonprofits who have put together incredible fundraising efforts to make significant donations
The businesses, foundations, and churches whose grants and contributions are helping us meet the increasing need for meals and services.
August 2020
8/1/2020
- Johnnie, age 73, has chronic medical issues. This summer he had been housed at Sonoma State University, but when the dorms had to be vacated for incoming students, he slept in his car.
- Gary, age 67, had been living in his truck.
- Jessie, age 49, had previously turned down offers to stay at the Winter Shelter and other shelters, because her dog, Lettie, would not be allowed to stay with her.
- We are now serving a record-breaking number of 140 meals a day.
- In July 2020 we served 922 meals more than we did in June 2020.
- Even with food donations from Wild Oak Saddle Club’s restaurant and additional food from FISH and the Redwood Empire Food Bank, meals cost us $4.80 per meal.
- We need to buy a carload of paper supplies and drinks every week from Costco and Smart & Final.
8/21/2020
- 55 people, 205 meals, three cases of water, and 20 pairs of socks
- 47 people, 166 meals, three cases of water, and 28 pairs of socks
- 48 people, 157 meals, three cases of water, and 17 pairs of socks
8/31/2020
July 2020
7/5/2020
We are grateful to Logan Harvey, Mayor of Sonoma, the City Council, and City Manager Cathy Capriola for their support of this vital program. The Safe Parking Program, located in the police parking lot adjacent to The Haven, provides a protected sleeping place for people living in their vehicles. The program is limited to 10 cars, and there is a waiting list .
7/25/2020
June 2020
Special thanks to our new teen volunteers, who handed out flyers in the Springs to local businesses, including the Dollar Store, Barking Dog Roasters, La Michoacana, and bodegas. Many new participants came in holding the flyer.
We will continue to reach out in both English and Spanish to La Luz Center, Teen Services Sonoma, and to Saint Leo’s Catholic Church, where groceries are distributed through the St. Vincent de Paul Sonoma County, and other food distribution sites.
We are also sending food to those in the encampments, with a volunteer who delivers hygiene kits from County of Sonoma Human Services Department. In a way, SOS is returning to its roots, when our co-founder, Elizabeth Kemp, and the Brown Baggers fed itinerant farmworkers in Agua Caliente.
6/9/2020
Dear Friends of SOS,
We are a homeless shelter without a home — SOS is on the move again.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, we’ve been quickly adapting to new rules and regulations, while continuing to offer essential services.
On May 1, due to social distancing guidelines, we shifted from serving local restaurant food to-go in the backyard of The Haven to preparing and serving food in Burlingame Hall. We are so grateful to the First Congregational Church for allowing us to be there during the month of May.
Now that Phase 2 regulations have allowed some businesses to reopen, their preschool is moving back, so we are moving again, too. Starting June 1, SOS’s food program will be at the Sonoma Springs Community Hall (formerly The Grange) providing meal service Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Winter Shelter, which opened in December in the fellowship hall of Sonoma Alliance Church, closed on May 26. During this season, 60 individuals were provided with a warm place to sleep, for a total of 1,960 bed nights. Our gratitude is deep for the compassion and generosity shown to us by the church congregation.
Thanks to our partnership with Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, 10 people now have permanent shelter at Sonoma State University, Santa Rosa Fairgrounds, Los Guilicos Village, and SHARE housing in Sonoma.
SOS continues to operate a portable shower in the parking lot at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall, where we do our best to take care of as many homeless clients as possible, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon.
Your financial support continues to make all our efforts possible!
“I cannot do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something I can do.”
— Helen Keller
Many thanks,
Kathy King
Executive Director
Sonoma Overnight Support
May 2020
5/23/2020
Dear Friends of SOS,
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.”
Our responsibility is to take care of all those who make up our community. With your help, the SOS staff and Board continue to face that responsibility every day.
This Memorial Day weekend, we want to honor those who lost their lives in service of our country. Several of our clients are veterans, and we are grateful for what they gave to our country. We are only too happy to provide what little we can in return.
We’d also like to honor those brave souls who gave their lives fighting for our public health against this terrible virus. Their service cannot and will not go unforgotten. For those who are still sick, we are praying for them to be healthy again soon.
In the meantime, we continue to serve those most vulnerable in our community. With Phase 2 restrictions lifting, allowing limited business openings, our food program will have to move out of First Congregational Church by June 1 to make room for the reopened preschool. First Congregational’s generosity and kindness make us sad to leave, but we are excited by several other venue partnerships which are in the works.
Your continuous support is paramount in providing essential services to our homeless community.
Thank you to those who selflessly give their time, and to those who send financial support. Both efforts allow us to keep marching onward.
Happy Memorial Day.
Gratefully,
Kathy King
5/11/2020
Dear Friends of SOS,
As we reflect on Mother’s Day, we’re sad to know that we did not have our Mother’s Day lunch, our one and only fundraiser of the year. We are grateful, however, for the support of Supervisor Susan Gorin, who has allocated a $60,000 #CommunityImpactGrant to SOS from the county’s Tourism Impact Fund. This will help us make up for the loss of revenue from the Mother’s Day event.
We are grateful for the kindness of First Congregational Church and Pastor Curran Reichert. Thanks to her and her congregation, SOS was able to move our breakfast and lunch service into Burlingame Hall. We provide meals Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., to approximately 40 people a day, who can now sit inside and eat.
We are thankful for community organizations that have helped SOS.
Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club (SVWC) is selling yard signs saying, “You Can’t Quarantine Love ❤️” and giving all the proceeds to SOS.
The Sonoma Community Center made masks for our clients, and the Rotary Club of Glen Ellen/Kenwood donated funds to buy a new industrial-size dishwasher.
We are grateful for volunteers who will now be able to help us reduce the cost of buying meals by making meals in the Burlingame Hall kitchen. (They will, of course, practice safe distancing.)
The Haven has been closed since the middle of March because of #COVID19, and regulations do not allow us to accept donations of food prepared in home kitchens.
Thinking back to past Mother’s Day luncheons, when we honored some amazing mothers like the late Elizabeth Kemp, one of the founders of SOS, and the late Cindy Vrooman, past President of the Board, I am reminded of the words of the poet, Sylvia Plath:
“My mother said the cure for thinking too much about yourself was helping somebody less fortunate than you.”
Thank you to all the mothers who continue to think about those less fortunate than themselves in #Sonoma and Sonoma Valley, by giving their time, talent, and treasure to SOS.
Kathy King
Executive Director
Sonoma Overnight Support
5/3/2020
Dear Friends of SOS,
Amid the latest news that shelter-in-place has been extended through May and possibly beyond, I’m pleased to let you know about some positive outcomes this week.
Following the state guidelines established by Governor Newsom to protect at-risk homeless people during the #COVID19 crisis, 140 rooms have been opened up at Sonoma State University‘s Verdot Village. SOS, with the help of Sonoma Valley Community Health Center has placed four clients there.
All of them are Sonoma residents over 65 years of age, chronically homeless, with underlying medical conditions. At Verdot Village, they will be provided with beds in a dorm room, meals, professional monitoring, and support services.
In addition, SOS has arranged for another two homeless people to share a trailer at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds.
Our thanks to COTS – in California, Petaluma for providing transportation to Rohnert Park. We hope that there will be more placements in the coming weeks.
On May 1, SOS signed a contract to extend the Winter Shelter at Sonoma Alliance Church, which has been providing 10 to 12 homeless clients a night with a safe and warm place to sleep. This has been funded by the County of Sonoma until the end of May.
And last, but not least, I’m excited to announce that the Kivelstadt Dinner Club will be donating 100 meals every week to SOS. Many thanks to Jordan Kivelstadt and his wonderful crew from Kivelstadt Cellars for providing such delicious meals. I encourage you to visit his website. For every meal that you order, he will donate a meal to SOS.
I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful community of nonprofit organizations, individuals, volunteers, and businesses who are so supportive of our most vulnerable citizens.
In the words of Jacqueline Kennedy, “We should all do something to right the wrong that we see and not just complain about them.”
This is what SOS is doing with your help. If you can, please continue to support our efforts financially.
Gratefully ,
Kathy King
Executive Director
Sonoma Overnight Support
April 2020
4/19/20
Dear Sonoma Community,
For the past month at The Haven, Sonoma Overnight Support has been complying with the new rules and regulations of sheltering in place, using face coverings, and keeping social distances.
With to-go food provided by six different restaurants, Teen Services Sonoma, and Sweetwater Spectrum, we were able to hand out 1,379 meals.
Our thanks to the volunteers who picked up and served the meals.
As of the end of March at the Winter Shelter at Sonoma Alliance Church, 56 unique individuals found a warm, dry place to sleep.
The Shelter provided 1,575 bed nights.
A portable ADA-approved shower was installed at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall on April 11 for the use of our clients.
To date, we have provided over 70 showers.
Those using the showers are each provided with a hygiene kit of soap, shampoo, conditioner, razor, and two towels. If necessary, they can also get clean socks, clean underwear, and a change of clothing.
Finally, we’d like to extend a special “thank you” to our Overnight Monitor, Matthew. To bring some joy and comfort into the lives of those at the Winter Shelter, he has been bringing old VHS tapes (including “Bambi” and “Sound of Music”) to show in the evening before lights out.
We are grateful for all of your continued support!
Onward,
Kathy King
4/10/2020
Dear Sonoma Community,
As we approach the coming of spring and Easter, I see signs of hope, compassion, generosity and kindness.
I see the compassion of our new cadre of volunteers who have stepped forward to help at The Haven. We are grateful to:
Suzanna Bon, SOS founder Elizabeth Kemp’s daughter, who has served breakfast the last couple of days to our hungry sheltered folks.
- Pat Collins, Pamela Macphee, and Martina Lutz Schneider, who pitched in to help when Dan Kahn, our dedicated Volunteer and Food Coordinator, took a few well-earned days off.
- Constance Grizzell, Mary Favaro, and Stella Favaro who are picking up food from the six local businesses we are supporting.
I see signs of hope with the announcement that Sonoma County, along with the help of the City of Sonoma, will soon send SOS a portable shower that will be installed behind Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall.
SOS continues to provide to-go meals and socks, snacks, sleeping bags, blankets, and personal hygiene items for people living in cars in front of The Haven, those who attend the Winter Shelter, and those who are unsheltered and food-deprived.
I am reminded of the words of Mother Teresa: “if you can’t feed 100 people, then feed one.”
That has been SOS’s mission for the past 13 years, and that is what we will continue to do, with your help.
With thanks and blessings,
Kathy King
Executive Director
Sonoma Overnight Support
4/2/2020
Dear Community,
In moments of crisis, we cannot help but get caught up in the anxiety of hour-by-hour news. But in spite of heightened tension, we have seen heartening moments of unity and partnership around the world which highlight our resilience and the power we have in shaping our future.
For those of us at Sonoma Overnight Support, we consider ourselves blessed to have this close-knit community whose friendship and encouragement have kept us open.
In March we served 2,825 meals to the unhoused and hungry in our community.
Already 12 new volunteers, including Sonoma Mayor Logan Harvey and City Council Member Madolyn Agrimonti, have picked up, dropped off and served food at The Haven. Others have brought much needed pre-packaged snacks and supplies to our doorstep
We’ve partnered with the Basque Boulangerie, Broadway Market, Cochon Volant BBQ Smokehouse, El Coyote, Picazo Café and Deli, and Reel & Brand to make specially ordered food to-go for us to serve. Teen Services and Sweetwater Spectrum have also made much-needed food.
To all of these and the many more who show their support through personal messages and financial donations, THANK YOU! We are proud to be a part of this community. We could not do this important work without you.
As we move into the next month of continued emergency action, we ask those who are interested in helping to reach out to us. In particular, we need monetary donations to cover the increased costs of buying prepared food.
You can stay in touch with us through our Facebook page and website where we will be posting updates.
On behalf of the SOS Board of Directors, our deepest thank you to all our noble volunteers, financial supporters, tireless staff, and our local business partners!
Gratefully,
Kathy King
Executive Director/SOS
March 2020
3/26/2020
Dear Friends of SOS,
In this unprecedented time for all of us, but especially for those who are homeless with nowhere to shelter in place, the Sonoma Overnight Support board and staff are doing our best to meet the needs of the unhoused in Sonoma and Sonoma Valley.
We have made the transition to provide food “to go” prepared by local restaurants to avoid any potential health risks that might be associated with food prepared in homes and offsite kitchens.
We ask that our dedicated 125 volunteers from faith-based congregations, service and non-profit organizations, and home cooks not bring any food to the HAVEN.
We are accepting donations of store bought pre-wrapped items. These can be dropped off at the HAVEN weekdays between noon and 5 p.m.
If you regularly provide SOS with food, we would appreciate cash donations in the amount you would have spent on that food. That way we can continue to feed the homeless and hungry with healthy food while supporting our struggling local restaurants.
We are keeping the Winter Shelter at Sonoma Alliance Church open until the end of April and will continue to serve meals seven nights a week to those who are sheltered there.
Our day clients and those who are living in their cars are receiving to-go breakfast and lunch from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. each week day in the backyard of the HAVEN.
We are currently serving over 120 meals each day.
SOS is grateful to Sonoma Valley Community Health Center for monitoring the health of our homeless adults, to the Community Foundation of Sonoma County for a grant to purchase prepared food, and to sonomavalleyvolunteers.org. who are helping us pick up the prepared food and distributed it at the HAVEN. Visit their website if you are under 60, and would like to volunteer
We have three hand wash stations and a porta-potty donated by the City of Sonoma for those who come to SOS for meals.
The circumstances facing our clients are indeed challenging. We are working tirelessly to do what we can to keep everyone safe.
Since the COVID-19 situation is changing daily, we will try to keep you updated as best possible.
I am reminded of the words of the poet Maya Angelou.
“You may not control all of the events that happened to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
Let’s move forward together with care and compassion for each other and those in our community who have no place to call home.
With Appreciation,
Kathy King
Executive Director
Sonoma Overnight Support