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Women Transforming Sonoma County Through Collective Philanthropy - Dec 2017/Jan 2018
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Dear Impact 100 Redwood Circle Members,
Santa Rosa is a different community since our last newsletter. The October firestorm changed all of our lives in so many ways, but also brought us together. As I counted my blessings this Thanksgiving, high on the list was the exceptional group of women who call themselves "Impact 100 Redwood Circle." You are a resilient and generous team who has made lives better for many Sonoma County residents.
Thanks to the diligent work of the E&E and Membership Committees, we will once again host a
membership meeting at the Scottish Rite on Wednesday, December 13, from 5-7 p.m.
This meeting will give us an opportunity to reconnect and to evaluate how Impact 100 RC will be engaged as Sonoma County rebuilds from this disaster. More than ever, our group has the opportunity to continue making a positive impact, and our community needs our skills, talent and leadership.
Some members are not yet ready or able to participate in a membership meeting. We completely understand, and we welcome you whenever the time is right. For others, taking pleasure in the company of other philanthropic women and immersing ourselves in the business of Impact 100 offers a welcome reprieve.
Please RSVP here if you can join us on December 13. The Community Grants and Impact Grant committees look forward to hearing your thoughts about how we should direct our future philanthropy; and the meeting also will offer a discussion of how we can strengthen our organization and committees going forward.
Also, Impact 100 RC member Joan Tabb and I will be leading a New Year's Day hike on Monday, January 1, 10 a.m. at the Kawana Springs entrance to Taylor Mountain (rain cancels.)
RSVP: Joan Tabb
Best wishes,
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General Membership Meeting
Wednesday, Dec. 13th
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Scottish Rite Center
600 Acacia, SR
New Year's Hike
When:
Monday, Jan 1, 2018
Where:
Kawana Springs entrance to Taylor Mountain
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Welcome to the newest members of our circle!
Teri Simpson
Lee Golden Wright
Marion Weinreb
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The devastating wildfires of early October affected all of us in Impact 100 Redwood Circle, but we would like to acknowledge, in particular, our members whose homes were left in ruins. We are aware of 21 members who lost homes.
We reached out to all of these women and heard harrowing stories of hurried evacuations in the dark of night and perilous car rides through encroaching flames and flying embers. Some had to run out of their houses in their nightclothes with no time to grab irreplaceable family photos and important documents. The women we spoke with told us about taking refuge at community shelters and in hotels as well as at the homes of friends and family members. And now they are working their way through mounds of paperwork and trying to make difficult decisions about the future.
For some, waves of sadness and loss occasionally still sweep over them out of nowhere, leaving them feeling overwhelmed and adrift. We know it will take a long time for some of our members to once again feel they are on solid ground. We want our members who lost homes and, in some cases, loved ones to know that we care deeply about them and look forward to seeing them again at a committee meeting or a membership meeting whenever they feel ready to rejoin us in any capacity.
Below is a list of members whose homes were destroyed.
Members who lost homes but are not listed either requested anonymity or we were unable to confirm their preference on publication.
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Deedee Bridges
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Judi Hyman
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Barbara Ramsey
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Martha Buzza
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Carole Keiner
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Sudha Schlesinger
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Karen DeGroot
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Kathryn Koh
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Dani Stockham
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Jenny Downing
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Ilene Kristoff
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Shirley Ward
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Karen Erickson
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Marianne Messer
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Elly Werner
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Susan Gorin
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Carol Newman
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Gayle Holste
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Carol Orme
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If you lost a home and have not heard from us, we are unaware of your situation and kindly ask that you contact Susan Milstein and please accept our condolences.
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VOICES - Education Navigator Report
VOICES education navigator, Kelsey Bjudstad, has met with 84 youths since the beginning of the fall semester. Of those 84, she met with 19 on multiple occasions with successful outcomes:
- 16 of the 19 enrolled in a post-secondary education program at SRJC.
- 9 of the 16 enrolled in college classes for the first time.
- 1 is exploring a high school diploma completion program.
Kelsey reaches out to students in a variety of ways both on-site at VOICES and wherever there is a program available to foster students at SRJC.
- She is available for drop-in support for any foster student after they attend a tutoring session called Bear Club Scholars on the SRJC campus. There are over 50 foster youth involved in this program.
- She attends an Independent Living Skills workshop at VOICES for high school students so she can start building relationships with the youth before high school graduation.
- She spends time at the Transitional Housing Program office in order to be on site for weekly tutoring sessions on Thursdays from 12-4PM. She is also present at this site on Tuesdays in case she can be helpful to the students in that program.
- Additionally, she offers homework support throughout the week by appointment at either VOICES or the SRJC campus.
Kelsey is not content to rest and enjoy the success of this program. She is working with the Sonoma County Office of Education to get greater access to students in their foster homes.
The Liaison committee is delighted with Kelsey's progress and wishes her continued success with the program.
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Introducing our Officers for 2018
What a stellar leadership line-up, bringing a wealth of professional and volunteer experience to the table. The revised slate received a true vote of confidence and was unanimously approved by all who emailed in a ballot. Many members also included personal notes of appreciation for all who are stepping up to lead us next year (with a special "thank you" to Melissa Kelley for her willingness to again be President).
- President: Melissa Kelley co-founded Impact 100 RC in 2014, and served as President the past two years. When Gayle Holste had to step off the slate due to the loss of her home, Melissa graciuosly offered to continue to serve as President for as long as needed, up to the entirety of 2018. Melissa is the Executive Director of the Sonoma County Parks Foundation.
- First Vice-President (and Chair of the Governance Committee): Helga Lemke brings extensive professional experience in executive leadership of non-profits. Now retired, she remains active with various organizations in our community, particularly in the areas of citizen engagement and housing.
- Nominating Vice-President: Susan Milstein enjoyed an extensive career as a journalistic reporter with several newspapers, and now has a business as a personal biographer, helping individuals, families, and companies record their personal histories.
- Treasurer: Ginger Kelly had a career in Silicon Valley finance and accounting prior to moving to Sonoma County, where she currently owns a real estate finance and investment business.
- Secretary: Sharon Beckman spent most of her career as a marketing executive in New York, and now facilitates non-violence workshops in California prisons.
Congratulations and thank you to our 2018 officers!
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In Other News....
PDI Surgery Center Wins Jefferson Award
The Jefferson Awards for Public Service programs was adopted by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on October 24, 2006. While there are many local award programs that serve to honor volunteerism, the Board decided to focus these awards on "Excellence in Community Leadership and Civic Engagement. One of our 2017 Community Grant winners, PDI Surgery Center, won for their exceptional service to our community. PDI was one of six award recipients. To see the article on PDI and the other winners, click here.
Nonprofit Leadership Awards for Melissa and Beth!
The North Bay Business Journal awarded a Nonprofit Leadership Award to our very own Melissa Kelley for her work as the executive director of Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation and as volunteer board president of Impact 100 Redwood Circle. Member Beth Brown also won for her role as President and Executive Director of the Community Foundation Sonoma County, our host organization. To see the complete coverage, click here.
From Your Treasurer
Our finances are in great shape. As of the end of October we had almost $129,000 in our grant fund. With November and December yet to come, we are on track to have our strongest donation year yet! This means we already have $100,000 in hand for our 2018 Impact Grant, and will have additional funds to disburse as well. Exactly how those additional funds could be deployed is a topic that our membership will discuss at our December 13th meeting. In addition to our grant funds, our operations/administration account is in good financial shape.
Impact 100 RWC Hike!
When:
Monday, Jan 1, 2018
Where:
Kawana Springs entrance to Taylor Mountain
Phone:
650 759 7386
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Contact our Newsletter Editor:
If you have questions or suggestions for The Impact 100 Redwood Circle Communique, please contact Editor, Jan Houts at [email protected]
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