Recession sparks new approaches

The reality of suddenly being homeless and jobless recently left a local, middle-class woman in her 60s in shock and feeling helpless.

But after contacting John Records, executive director of Committee on the Shelterless, Mary (not her actual name) discovered that his organization and others provide services that could help her. She began utilizing them, and also experienced an outpouring of support from family members, friends and even strangers.

Rather than try to get her life back on the same track, however, she found that she could start over by living a more modest life. She moved to Roseville, where jobs are more available and housing is less expensive, with the intention of possibly returning to an inexpensive housing unit in Petaluma at some point.

“The good side is that I will be close to family I don’t see often, and closer to the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains that I love so much. I guess you can find pros and cons with just about anything, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s to really concentrate on the pros and know that there is purpose in everything,” she wrote to Records in an e-mail published on his Petaluma360.com blog.

She’s now renting a house and subletting rooms to other women in her situation.

“We may be able to develop this into a new program: ‘Self-Managed Shared Housing for Senior Women,’” Records wrote in one of his five posts about her situation.

Mary feels that her ordeal taught her a basic lesson.

“I realized that nothing is very permanent, and one really needs to have faith and be OK with changes in their life,” she wrote to Records.

Silver linings such as those Mary experienced often have been difficult to see through the dark clouds of the economic recession, in which many local residents are facing enormous financial problems, but they are becoming visible to some people as they reconstruct their lives.

“The economy is shifting, and many people are finding it hard to manage, and are hurting,” said Records. “But I like to see this as an evolutionary development from a way of living that is not sustainable to one that, in many ways, is much more sustainable.”

He feels that the economic crisis can help people shift their priorities, including the way they spend money and the manner in which they relate to one another.

“Sometimes, we’re not learning these lessons well enough,” he said. “But many people are changing the way they live, and the economic situation is bringing people together.”

He supports the theory of “sequential bubbles,” which contends that the economy has been dependent on a series of major boosts given by technology and the housing market, among other things, since the move toward deregulation in the early 1980s. During this time, many people have lived well beyond their means, relying heavily on loans, credit and mortgages, and never fearing that this would eventually lead to serious financial problems.

“People think that we need another bubble, but another one isn’t foreseen. Maybe we’ve calibrated too much, and would do well to settle into a new mode (of more modest living),” he said.

On a larger scale, virtually all segments of Petaluma have experienced financial challenges during the past two years, and have been developing some new approaches to deal with the situation.

COTS and many other local non-profit organizations dependent on federal and state funding have been struggling to provide their usual services during the economic crisis. COTS continues to serve the community by providing food, shelter, clothing and many services to people in need. No programs have been eliminated during the crisis, but they are being stretched more than ever before.

“We almost always have more demand than resources,” Records said. “We are continuing to have a high demand for emergency food, and the people we serve are having a more challenging time finding jobs, because the competition is more difficult.”

COTS is faced with the additional challenge of helping many additional people, some of whom Records never expected to see, seeking help.

“Many people are experiencing a traumatic adjustment — it really has hurt them to lose their jobs and homes,” he said. “One of our challenges at COTS is that homeless people often feel they are failures, and as I’ve been meeting people who are newly threatened, I’ve found that they have these feelings, too.

“I try to offer people a sense of hope. People have been through worse times then these. We need to be flexible, and adapt.”

Records has contemplated some new approaches to deal with mounting problems.

“We’re consistently running over our normal capacity at our family shelter,” he said. “Part of my own challenge is to decide at what point we will seek more extraordinary remedies, such as people living in tents.

“If an earthquake hit, the whole region would switch into a disaster mode. We might need to do that at some point because of the economy, but I don’t think we’re at that point yet.”

The county unemployment rate has increased from 6 percent in August 2008 to 10.3 percent in July of 2009. Ben Stone, executive director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board, says that Petaluma’s unemployment rate is probably similar to the county rate.

“And the rate probably will continue to rise until next year,” he said. “Countywide, retail is being challenged like never before, and we’ve seen a lot of layoffs in the health field and government agencies.

“Petaluma will continue to see real challenges in the wine industry and in agriculture. Obviously, the dairy industry is really challenged, and it’s concentrated in large part in the south county.”

Stone says that Petaluma’s prospects for recovery is better off than it is for some cities.

“One thing that helps Petaluma is that it has a pretty diverse economy,” he said.

Stone says that the economic downturn provides an opportunity for new, progressive business ventures.

“Creativity and innovation will be the hallmarks of this recession. Entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to come up with new ideas that add value,” he said, adding that jobs openings are expected to significantly rise in progressive technology fields.

Commercial real estate will continue to pose challenges in Petaluma and other local cities, says Keith Butts, research coordinator for the county’s Economic Development Board.

“Sonoma County will be competing with Marin and San Francisco,” he said.

Marie McCusker, executive director of the Petaluma Downtown Association, says that there has been an upswing in the business occupancy rate.

“We have 17 percent vacancies, but we’re doing better than most places,” she said. “We have a pretty resilient group of downtown businesses, and some great new businesses have been moving in.

“Now, more businesses are moving in than are moving out, and some existing businesses are moving to larger spaces. I’ve been much more optimistic in the last six months than I was during the previous six months.”

The health-care industry also has been significantly hurt by the economic downturn. Many people have lost their insurance due to layoffs, and are having to make difficult choices regarding what insurance, if any, they can afford.

“People are struggling with this issue,” said Daymon Doss, executive director of the Petaluma Health Care District. “They are having to ask questions such as, ‘Should I go without insurance?’ ‘Should I buy it just for my children?’ and ‘Should I purchase it only for people in my family who have a chronic illness?’”

Also, due to the costs of deductibles and co-pays, some residents are delaying surgeries and other major treatments, and are not making visits to their physicians when other health issues arise.

“But a lot of physicians bank on people having annual checkups and regular procedures. It’s not that people are feeling that these things aren’t necessary: They just don’t feel they can afford them,” Doss said.

Just as with many other local hospitals and their emergency rooms, the number of people being seen at Petaluma Valley Hospital and its emergency room have been declining, although it’s not clear that this is due only to people’s financial concerns, said Dr. Randy Singh, chief of staff at Petaluma Valley Hospital’s emergency department.

“It could be one plausible explanation,” he said.

From July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 there were 2,131 elective surgeries performed at PVH, compared with 1,806 from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009.

Doss is hopeful that a national health-care reform bill will be passed, and will help to address some of the major problems with the health-care industry. But he also feels that some additional, far-reaching matters plaguing the industry will need to be addressed.

“People are just starting to understand the true, outrageous condition of health care in this country,” he said. “We don’t have to just keep feeding the health-insurance companies and other components of the health-care industry machine.

“For example, is it ordained that health-care providers need to be reimbursed at a rate of revenue that we can no longer afford? Should anesthesiologists continue to make $270,000 per year?”

During the economic crisis, health-care providers have been increasingly relying on collaborative efforts to continue to provide quality services.

Major stake-holders in Petaluma have been working together to try to determine what medical model to adopt for the recruitment and retention of physicians, and the consultant hired for the project, Dr. Martin Serota, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of collaborating in other health-care areas, as well.

Local colleges and schools also have been severely affected by the economic situation. Fewer teachers and staff members, expanded class sizes and reduced course offerings are some of the major problems they are facing.

Due to state budget cuts, Petaluma City Schools reduced the number of teachers, administrative and support staff at individual schools and at the district office; eliminated three staff-development days; reduced the number of counselors and classified staff members at schools; and increased the number of students in many classes.

“Everybody is feeling the strain of being asked to do a lot more, with less help,” said Steve Bolman, deputy superintendent of business and administration.

Ted Russo, the president of the Petaluma Federation of Teachers for PCS, as well as a physical education teacher at Kenilworth Junior High School, says that the larger class sizes impact all grade levels, but particularly kindergarten through third-grade classes, because the one-on-one time that teachers spend with each student is reduced.

Bolman feels that since school funding is provided by the state, which continues to face serious financial problems, no immediate relief is in sight.

“The state’s financial woes don’t seem to be lessening,” he said.

He says that schools are working hard to provide a quality education for children, despite the cutbacks, and at the beginning of the school year, PCS Superintendent Greta Viguie emphasized the importance of increased teamwork.

“School and district staffs ... cannot do it alone. By working and sharing resources, knowledge and skills, we will better educate our students,” she said, adding that “Parents, guardians and community members can play a critical role in supporting school success.”

(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)