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Greater Sacramento & Northern Nevada events and fund-raisers

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Midtown crowds come to eat, drink and support

Volunteers of America staff members Shauna Ross and
Kim Castaneda were among those who greeted visitors to
The Golden Bear’s inaugural Earth Day community
fund-raising event April 25.

The Golden Bear's innaugural Earth Day Community Fundraiser saw eager-to-play crowds converge on the corner of 24th and K streets in midtown Sacramento April 25 for live music, barbecue, urban art and plenty of libations to ward off the springtime sun.

Volunteers of America and the Sierra Club, which hosted information tables during the event, were The Golden Bear's 2009 beneficiaries, with 20 percent of all sales of food and drink divided between the two agencies, which amounted to $900 each.

Among the Sacramento bands on the bill who also came to play were Light Rail, Snap Jackson and the Knock on Wood Players, DJ Crook, The Regulars, Syncro, Crimes and DJ Riff Raff.

Sponsors for the event included: Red Bull; Grateful Bread; Full Sail Brewing; Absolut, Jameson; Berryessa Gap; Malibu; Rodney Strong Vineyards; Upper Playground; FTC; Studio 24; The Smith Gallery; Burton Snowboards; Del Rio Farms; Yolo Land & Cattle Co.; and Bledsoe Natural Pork.

A huge thank you to The Golden Bear, the sponsors, the fine and performance artists who participated, and especially to those who came to celebrate and support.

Volunteers of America staff, clients hit streets for homeless count

Volunteers of America's Lyman Fletcher and Juanita Daniel
confer at the start of Jan. 27's Streetcount 2009.

Going wherever needed, doing whatever comes to hand has been a Volunteers of America mandate since its inception in the late 19th century, and one that continues today.

More than a dozen Volunteers of America staff members, including program directors Beth Valentine, Juanita Daniel and Linda Lewis, were among the more than 400 volunteers who participated in Streetcount 2009 – the annual survey and physical count of Sacramento County’s homeless population held Jan. 27.

The county program, which in addition to fulfilling a federal funding requirement, serves to better identify and subsequently serve the homeless population through one-on-one interviews conducted by the 76 counting teams.

The Volunteers of America contingent – including 27 current clients who volunteered to act as guides – were specially selected to survey the area with the highest density of homeless people.

“In addition to the intense numbers of people with whom they interacted, it was also a grueling and harsh activity due to the terrain covered, and the extra time needed,” said Sacramento County Program Planner Ruth Mackenzie. “They were dispatched at 7 p.m. and were out until 1:30 a.m.”

The experience was humbling for both repeat surveyors such as program director Juanita Daniel, as well as first-timers like case manager Sean McGlynn.

“The count had special meaning for me as I lived homeless for nine years at some of the same campsites that I was asked to count this year,” said McGlynn, who works for Volunteers of America’s Independent Living Readiness Program. “I was asked to survey people this year and it really renewed my motivation and commitment to the work that we all do. The need is so great that at times it can be overwhelming.

“At times, at least for me, it can seem like for every person we help to get off of the river, three more arrive.”

Daniel, a veteran Volunteers of America employee whose service has included leading the mental health outreach team, was moved by the attitude of those her 12-person team encountered.

“They were very receptive to us – very cooperative,” she said. “Some even said they were going to run ahead to other campsites to let them know we were coming. I think the reason they were so supportive of our efforts was because they understood what we were doing might help their situation.

“I had one person say to me, ‘We hope it helps us find a place to live.’”

“The experience I had on the night of the count reminded me of just why it is I do what I do,” said McGlynn. “I do what I do because the people that I counted that night – they matter. The people I counted that night are not numbers, they are not expendable, they are not line items to be cut from budgets and forgotten about. They are human beings with children and parents – human beings who, with a little help and encouragement, can get better.”

Above left: Volunteers of America Program Director Beth Valentine (left) talks to fellow
staffers Maria Guardardo and Tammy Parillo at the Streetcount 2009 staging area prior to leaving for a homeless encampment; (above right) Volunteers of America's Linda Buckmaster discusses the survey with co-worker Eric Brenmark.

Volunteers of America clients kick bad habits through soccer

Volunteers of America Youth Advocate Chris Mann
(standing, left) poses with his team comprised of former
foster youth and Mather Community Campus clients.

"This work is truly inspiring," says Chris Mann, youth advocate for the LaVerne Adolfo Transitional Housing Program for Former Foster Youth, who is doing double-duty as team manager for a newly formed soccer team comprised of formerly homeless clients from Volunteers of America's Mather Community Campus and Adolfo programs.

Mann's goal is to escort his team to Washington, D.C., in June for the Homeless USA Cup, where they will compete against more than a dozen teams culled from inner-city street soccer teams and social-service agencies.

Further, players participating in the Homeless USA Cup have the opportunity to be selected to represent the USA National Team that represents the United States at the Homeless World Cup.

"This event is a god-send to our program," Mann told Lawrence Cann, president and founder of Street Soccer USA, host of the Homeless USA Cup. "We look forward to being in D.C. and playing with the other folks who are in this life-changing event. We are training twice a week and we have been fortunate enough to play in an indoor facility."

Mann says he hopes to further Street Soccer USA's mission to "promote the growth and development of a national network of grassroots soccer programs supporting the impoverished and homeless realize their goals and dreams."

After a winter holiday break, Mann's team is currently back in training, taking advantage of a Rancho Cordova indoor soccer facility's invitation to join a local Wednesday night league to get into shape.

"This work is truly inspiring," says Mann. "Since the beginning of our trek, all of our guys has stayed clean and sober. Five have gotten jobs, and the others are in school. And five have quit smoking – what a blessing."

In an effort to garner awareness and raise funds for his team and Volunteers of America, Mann is planning to participate in the Avia Wildflower Triathalon set for May 1-3, 2009 in Lake San Antonio, Monterey County. To help him gear up for the event, Apex Cycles of Davis has provided Mann with a heavily discounted competition bicycle to make his 56-mile pedal portion a little easier.

Sixty-six women celebrate freedom from addiction

Riley Mitchell, pictured with daughter Allison, is one of the more than 60
young women who successfully completed the Volunteers of America Options for Recovery Residential Treatment Program in 2008.

Sixty-six women celebrated freedom from life-threatening addictions Oct. 29 as they donned robes and joined with family and friends to mark their graduation from Volunteers of America’s Options for Recovery Residential Treatment Program.

“Graduation from this program is a very special time for these women and their families because it is a time for them to reflect on the challenges they have overcome and the brighter future that lies ahead for them and their children,” said Amani Sawires, vice president and chief operating officer for Volunteers of America Greater Sacramento & Northern Nevada.

Among the speakers, including Volunteers of America President and CEO Leo McFarland and Sacramento County Health and Human Services' Elizabeth Contreras, was Riley Mitchell, an Options graduate now living with her daughter at Mather Community Campus.

Mitchell, an All-American high school athlete, had good grades, a supportive and loving family and what seemed to be a limitless future.

As for many freshmen, the rush of freedom came too fast for Mitchell, and weekend partying soon became a daily ritual that began a long, uncontrolled spiral into addiction.

“I lied about my using for a long time,” said Mitchell during her address to the more than 100 friends, family and fellow graduates. “I tried to hide it from my family, friends and roommate, co-workers and fellow students. I denied my drug use to others as well as to myself. Then it became too hard to hide.”

Unable to maintain her grades, she found work, but eventually lost her job as well. Broke and homeless, she ran from all those who cared about her.

“Yet in the midst of my pain and despair, the insanity of my disease told me if I just stayed high I’d feel better,” she said.

Eventually, an unplanned pregnancy forced her to reexamine her life and finally seek help.

“My moment of truth came in the hospital after giving birth to my first child, a beautiful baby girl. She was born pos-tox – positive for methamphetamines in her fragile little system.”

In an effort to keep her newborn baby and reclaim the promise she had always shown, Mitchell embraced the opportunity to come to Volunteers of America and Options for Recovery, where she could get better while still parenting her daughter Allison.

Upon her successful completion of the residential treatment phase of the program, Mitchell took the next step and enrolled in Options’ transitional housing component. From there, she went to MCC.

“I currently attend job-search workshops daily. I have a wonderful support group. I attend church on a regular basis. My family is back in my life. My daughter is happy and healthy. And I am clean and sober. What more could I ask for?”

Read Riley Mitchell's complete speech

Sacramento mayoral candidates promise aid to homeless

Bobby Mosby was among the
54 homeless individuals who
took advantage of the
opportunity to complete their voter registration packets at
the Voter’s Forum held Oct.
16 at Volunteers of America’s
Bannon Street Shelter.

Mayor Heather Fargo and challenger Kevin Johnson promised to work directly with Sacramento’s homeless population in an effort to better their situation during their appearances at Volunteers of America’s “Voter’s Forum” event held Oct. 16, 2008, at the Bannon Street Shelter.

"We need to educate people about the homeless," Johnson told the capacity crowd in the shelter's dining hall. "Many think they choose to be homeless – that's so far from the truth. Many think they all have a drinking problem – that's so far from the truth.

"We have to care for the least among us, as well as those with all the money in the world."

Johnson pledged to form a 12- to 15-person "homeless policy team" which would include a member of the homeless community to research solutions to the problem.

"That's one commitment I'm willing to make," he said.

"As you probably know by now, my campaign slogan is 'A City That Works for Everyone,'" wrote Johnson in his Oct. 17 blog at www.kevinjohnsonformayor.com. "That includes these men and women, some of whom are experiencing homelessness for the first time because of the downturn in our economy."

For her part, Fargo made it clear she, too, was concerned by the plight of the homeless.

"I know you're on a difficult journey," she said. "My heart goes out to you. I've been concerned about your health and your safety for a long time."

The mayor did allow there were differences between her and her opponent. "I'm not a big fan of establishing a tent city," she said, referring to a possible stop-gap measure proposed by Johnson.

Fargo promised increased city-county collaboration and to look at how the police are interacting with those living on the street.

More than 50 homeless men and women registered to vote during the afternoon event, including many who had never before registered.

“I gotta get Obama in!” exclaimed Bobby Mosby, explaining why he made the effort to become a first-time voter.

"This idea sparked out of a need to have voices heard," said Volunteers of America's Nikki Stern, a staff administrative assistant who organized the event and coordinated the many volunteers who helped register the participants. "We started by registering a number of our own Volunteers of America residents, which got both staff and residents talking and led to ideas about creating this Voters Forum to register and educate more of the community."

"The homeless population is one we wanted to empower to participate by registering and listening to what candidates had to say to them specifically," Stern continued. "This event sparked a new conversation among people, which is exactly what we hoped to accomplish. We had a lot of support from the community and look forward to holding this event in the future."

In addition to the two mayoral candidates, also presenting were Barbara Hopkins of the League of Women Voters, who was on hand to clarify the registration process, as well as local spokespeople for the Obama and McCain presidential camps.