| Dear Friend of SOS,
I am reaching out to ask for your support in requesting increased funding from the Sonoma City Council to feed the homeless.
In FY2024-2025 Sonoma Overnight Support gratefully received an allocation of $50,000 from the Sonoma City Council to provide meals for unhoused clients at SOS’s Unity Kitchen. This funding is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding set to conclude on June 30, 2025.
Twenty-two percent of the 76,004 meals we served last year were to those who were unhoused – a total of 16,720 meals – and the numbers continue to rise this year at an alarming rate. Our cost per meal is $6.25 per meal with a total cost of $104,525 for the unhoused. This includes breakfast and lunch five days a week for residents of Homeless Action Sonoma’s Home and Safe Village. Because of that, SOS is requesting an additional $25,000 for FY2025-2026.
A City Council budget session for FY2025-2026 is scheduled on May 22, in the Emergency Operations Center in the Sonoma Police Station building, 175 First Street West. The public is invited to attend. Specific times will be available when the agenda is published next week.
A final decision will be made when the budget is adopted at the City Council meeting on June 18. Please email the Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Councilmembers to encourage them to allocate additional funding to SOS Unity Kitchen – see the email example below, with contact email addresses. Feel free to add your own personal comments.
Email example:
TO: patricia.farrar-rivas@sonomacity.org, ron.wellander@sonomacity.org, dguhin@sonomacity.org, jack.ding@sonomacity.org, john.gurney@sonomacity.org, sandra.lowe@sonomacity.org
FROM (your email address)
SUBJECT: Additional funds for SOS Unity Kitchen
Dear Mayor Farrar-Rivas, Vice Mayor Wellander, City Manager Guhin, and City Councilmembers Jack Ding, John Gurney, and Sandra Lowe
I would like to encourage you to allocate additional funds to Sonoma Overnight Support to provide meals for the homeless at SOS’s Unity Kitchen and Home and Safe Village.The number of individuals is growing steadily, and I feel strongly that no one in our community should go hungry.
Sincerely,
(your name)
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