Good Bye Sweet Susan! 

Susan Molloy, who has acted as Secretary and Treasuer for Sierra Roots since 2013, and who worked with me on the Board of Hospitality House for several years, has decided to leave us now to move to Turlock to be closer to her family and find new direction for herself. Susan has been a most reliable and informed secretary. She has been with us through all the ups and downs of a young and growing non-profit serving the chronically homeless of our community. Respected and loved by all the homeless people who know her, she is happy when they succeed and sad when they fall into troubles again.

Susan is organized and has a memory for the smallest details that she would be able to remind us of when necessary. I depended on Susan for anything I needed and she would be there. We all will miss Susan immensely, but I especially will miss her as a dear and precious friend as well as the best Secretary I could imagine. It will be hard to replace her, but we all wish her the best in her new life. We also look forward to seeing her now and then when she comes back to celebrate new milestones with us. She is considered one of our foundation pillars and we want her to enjoy the success of Sierra Roots as we go.  

Happy trails to you, Susan.  Keep connected.  We love you!

Janice and the board of directors

Sierra Roots Visit to   Quinn Cottages

As Sierra Roots is in the process of creating a community of small permanent homes for folks in our area who are experiencing not having a home, we have been exploring good examples of somewhat similar communities in other regions. On August 11  a group of Sierra Roots' supporters - board members, volunteers and friends - visited the Quinn Cottages. 


Quinn Cottages is a small community of 60 permanent homes that have 350 square feet of living space each. The community is located in Sacramento, just on the edge of the downtown area. The project was built by Mercy Housing, a non-profit organization that builds affordable housing.   Read More:

Nancy Bagliotto, Janice O'Brien, Leo Granucci
"Our visit to Quinn Cottages in Sacramento gave those of us from Sierra Roots a real boost to our desire to build just such a Village of small houses for homeless people here in Neva da County. Quinn Cottages recently changed from being transitional housing for people who are homeless to becoming permanent housing, with supportive community services for the homeless people in line with the "Housing First" philosophy. We were impressed with the orderliness, the beauty and the friendliness of all residents and managers we met. The cottages are big enough for one resident or one with a child or a couple."  
Jim Carney, Board Member
Introducing New Board Members

Paul Zieff
Paul grew up on the east coast, and moved to the Bay Area in 1981 after completing law school. He has been practicing law in San Francisco, specializing in business litigation, since that time, and he continues to practice on a part-time basis. Paul moved to Nevada City in January of 2017, attracted by the natural beauty, the sense of pride and commitment to community that  he observed here, the thriving and diverse art and music scene, and the area's rich history.  Upon arriving in Nevada County, Paul set out to find a non-profit organization engaged in assisting disadvantaged and vulnerable members of the community in a real and direct way - one guided by a compassionate vision with a willingness to explore new ways of providing assistance to those in need.  Paul was drawn to Sierra Roots, inspired by the dedicated team of volunteers, impressed by the good work the organization was (and is) doing, and intrigued by the Sierra Roots' mission of founding a supportive housing community for those who are experiencing chronic homelessness.  Paul looks forward to contributing to that effort, as well as to participating in the other imp ortant work that Sierra Roots has been doing since its founding.


Kathy Mann
As a resident  of beautiful Nevada County for the past 40 years, I consider myself extremely fortunate to live in this community filled with natural and community wonders. As an RN, over the years, I enjoyed working in the fields of home care, hospice, and behavioral health.  I am attuned to the gaps in services for the homeless in our community.  Several years ago, I started volunteering with Sierra Roots and assisting with the cold weather shelter. 
Appreciating SIERRA ROOTS dedication and service to the chronically homeless in our community, I am excited to work and partner with the community in developing safe, sustainable housing for the chronically homeless. Here's to building a community that works for everyone!

 
 
Jim Carney
 
In early 2017, Jim started volunteering with Sierra Roots (SR).  He was inspired by the work  of the organization's efforts to improve the lives of local people who are experiencing homeless.  He  is especially inspired by SR's vision for building a village of permanent small homes to provide local folks in need of a safe place to rest, address their needs and build skills for self-empowerment and earning a living.  Jim ha s been involved with SR's committees securing grants and project development. Jim brings to SR his experience and perspective having served for over thirty years in planning, community development and affordable housing managing innovative plans, programs and projects with public agencies, including San Jose, Sacramento and Nevada County. As a consultant, Jim has helped public agencies throughout California and other states to administer funds fo r affordable housing, in particular efforts to address the foreclosure crises that resulted in the financial collapse period. In recent years, Jim formed his own firm and worked with many non-profit housing development and other organizations, nationwide, with technical assistance researching funding opportunities, grant management and organizational development.
Jim earned a Master of Urban and Regional Planning at San Jose State University and Bachelor's degree in Urban Studies and Economics from Temple University, in Philadelphia. He has been a frequent speaker at planning, affordable housing and green building forums and conferences. In 2012 Jim was interviewed for an NPR program regarding the impact of foreclosures and sustainable solutions to the housing crises. Jim was interviewed for the local A Place to Call Home, a multi-media project in 2017 about his personal and professional experiences with helping people who were homeless to secure safe and affordable homes.


New Shoes, New Jobs!

Denny Day
Sierra Roots has helped almost 50 people with the New Boots/New Shoes Program. A big thank you to Mary Kirby who has driven people to Big Five in Grass Valley every Thursday after our picnic lunch, to pick out new boots or shoes of their choice). Carla Swanson and Denny Day, have gotten part time work this summer. Denny is available for any type of yard work maintenance, specializing in roof, gutter and yard cleanup. Give him a call: 530 470-3748.
 
Carla says: "The 20 17 See You At The Fair season was for me amazing. I must have walked five hundred miles parking cars at Gate Eight. Thank you Sierra Roots for your support with my new shoes.  Sierra Roots is like their Mission Statement. Very supportive in my personal life so that I can move ahead...
Thank you   Sierra Ro ots
Carla Swanson

Colleen Morris
Greeting Card Fundraiser

Colleen Morris has graciously offered to place greeting card racks in several shops around town. These beautiful images are from paintings by Franceska Alexander, owner of the Alexander Gallery in Nevada City. Franceska has generously donated all of the proceeds from sale of the cards to Sierra Roots. 
You can find these lovely cards at: Valentina's, What's Up Coffee and Flour Garden!

Thank you, Colleen!

Project Development Team Update


The Sierra Roots Project Development Committee (PDC) has started the design of the planned Micro Home Village for people who are experiencing homelessness with a process called a "Charrette."   What is a Charrette?  It could sound like something that is a "Char" that is a smaller one!  Huh?
The French Architects used this word originally to be for a cart that carried plans for a building.  In recent times, a Charrette has been used by architects and designers of development projects as an intensive planning session where citizens, designers and others collaborate on a vision for development. It provides a forum for brainstorming and generation of "in a perfect world" wish list for designing of the best possible project.   
The Sierra Roots PDC has recently held meetings using this process to dream big about how the planning micro village could best meet the needs of the future formerly homeless residents.  As an organization that is focused on providing housing and other services to the homeless, we first thought that we wanted to ask the end users of the community what they felt they needed in the housing and village.
So, far, we have held two meetings that started with inviting current folks who are experiencing living outdoors without a home to provide their ideas of what they would love to see in the Micro Village Community.  Several homeless persons have attended those meetings and were joined by Sierra Roots board members, volunteers and friends, including our PDC team of architects, builders, designers, planners and other professional in the building industry.
The two meetings have resulted in a long list of such dreams and priorities for the micro village homes.  Some of the key ideas included:  Having a place to be able to sleep uninterrupted and to store personal belongings;  a place for pets, a sense of connection, belonging, togetherness and cooperation; skill-sharing opportunities; safety and security; a place of beauty and cleanliness; gardens/greenhouses; agreements and self-governance; self-created, built and managed; education; build skills, self-reliance and start a business; a home with windows and lockable doors, showers, kitchen and sleeping area.  Folks also dreamed of a place with theater, dance, music, art and creativity.
The Sierra Roots PDT plans other Charrettes and then will take these ideas to design and then build a m icro village that will be the pride of its residents, neighbors, city, county and the many volunteers and supports of the generous Nevada County community.
~ Jim Carney
"A group o
f us gathered for a powerful afternoon meeting in Nevada City to generate creative ideas for the micro-housing community for homeless people in Nevada county. It was an inspiring and time well spent with creative and compass
ionate folks committed to bringing a sustainable living community to our county for homeless folks.
Our group was promp
ted with the question: What would you love to see as part of a sustainable micro housing community? Pretend you live there, what would support your everyday living experience? As we began to each take a turn going around the circle several times and sharing our ideas, I was impressed with the similarity of thin
king  and how hearing other people share their idea would evoke inspiration and open up another possibility.  
There was a beautiful sketch presented with an achievable landscape and design of the micro-housing units which stimulated a healthy vision of what can be possible. Here are some of the ideas we imagined and generated as a group: Car free zone with parking for vehicles in a designated area; walkable paths throughout the community connecting the dwellings with possible edible landscape; gardens; a community kitchen for folks to prepare wholesome foods together and/or cooking lessons be taught; personal living space with a small porch and connecting paths to be in community when desired. A dojo for mind-body practices, sauna/hot tub area, healing studio. A structure or outdoor amphitheater to inspire the creative arts, music, comedy, theater, art. Chicken coop, perma-culture, fruit trees, veggie garden. Garage to store items which may be used occasionally by tenants and can be shared when needed, i.e..(vacuum cleaner). 

Once we were complete with this process it felt as if we had built this beautiful community where people can co-habitate in a healthy and wholesome environment and contribute to the growth in Nevada County.  A Shift from surviving to thriving! Lets make it happen!"
     ~by Lucia Immacolata
 
Volunteers from AIM
Lunch Bunch Team Update
Our summer picnic lunches in Pioneer Park are going great.  It is such a beautiful location and our cooks are taking full advantage of their own garden's and farmer's market goodies.  Fresh beautiful tomatoes brought by Jackie and fresh peach cobbler made by Heather are just a couple of examples.  Our guests really appreciate the fresh fruits and vegetables!!  Thanks to all our generous and wonderful providers.

In addition to the Thursday lunches in the park, Sierra Roots is also providing a pizza lunch on Mondays in Nevada City.

Advocacy Team Update
On Saturday, August 19 th , the first six week Advocacy Training was completed with six volunteers being assigned to six of our homeless folks who have asked to have an Advocate to help them move forward on their path to get jobs, go to school, learn about budgeting, find housing, get cars repaired and many other small and big tasks they want to complete. Four women and two men now have someone from the caring community working with them as a friend. Advocates know agencies and contacts that will be helpful to these folks as they need and ask for help.  
 
AdvocacyTraining is a six week, 9 and a half hours of training by Sierra Roots. The next training will be sometime in October and November - time and place to be announced.This first team of trained Advocates will meet monthly to share successes, information and difficulties with each other to learn  and to encourage each other as they serve their homeless person. We look forward to celebrating their successes and learning the pathways they have found most helpful in the community. Congratulations to Caryl Fairfull, Keith and Alice Johnson, Vicki Dotterer, Betty Louise and Arlene Douglas for stepping forward to take on this very important service to our homeless  people. We recognize you as pioneers in this compassionate work. 
 


      Grant Writing Team Update
 
We should be hearing by the end of the month about the Sierra Health Foundation grant for $15,000 that was submitted in June. That grant is for a one-one advocacy program. We are submitting a grant next month to the Charis Fund to receive $10,000 to secure a deposit for the land. Other grants are available and research is needed. 
 
Emergency Shelter Team Update
 
Sierra Roots hosted two days of hot weather day shelters at the Nevada City Baptist Church. Food and beverages were provided throughout these very hot days in July. The Emergency cooling shelter will also be open on September 1 and 2nd, in the afternoon, with triple digit heat forecast.
 
Thank you Pastor Roland for supporting 
Sierra Roots to have your parish hall available.


VOLUNTEER MEETINGS
 
Next Monthly Volunteer Meetings: 
September 14, Thursday,  at 1 PM
October 12, Thursday, at 1 PM
First Methodist Church ~ 433 Broad Street, Nevada City
info@sierraroots.org  *  530 264-5113

     Our monthly meetings are intended for those who are just becoming acquainted with Sierra Roots and want to learn more about the various volunteer opportunities and for those already involved to keep you all up to date, informed and involved in discussion and planning.

     Not everyone  is aware of the many ways Sierra Roots engages and builds community with our homeless friends while we continue to look for land for our Village.  We'll talk about some of the lesser known volunteer opportunities at this meeting also.

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