Small Sonoma County program gets big grant
Mentor Sue Jenkins demonstrates how to bottle feed a goat at the Forget Me Not Farm program at the Sonoma Humane Society near Santa Rosa. The mentorship program has received a large federal grant to expand its reach.
JOHN BURGESS / The Press DemocratPublished: Monday, January 11, 2010 at 6:34 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, January 11, 2010 at 6:34 p.m.
The 17-year-old girl wrapped her arms around a baby goat that had been dumped off at a farm and brought to the Sonoma Humane Society for medical treatment.
The red-headed teen, who is deaf, has suffered her own form of abandonment, living at a group home for foster kids.
But through a little-known mentoring program that connects her with vocational opportunities at the society's Highway 12 shelter, the girl said she sees hope for her future in that of the animals she helps comfort and treat.
“Seeing the experience that these animals go through, I know if they are suffering they'll be healed here,” the girl said through an interpreter. “I see them every week in the (veterinary) hospital. Then they are put out front and adopted. That totally inspires me.”
Forget-Me-Not Farms is not well-known because of its small size and privacy restrictions for kids in foster care. But because of an unexpected major grant award, the farm's mentor component stands to become a significant player in the county's network of programs for abandoned kids, many who suffer trauma related to their circumstances.
“It's a very exciting time for us — a time when a lot of national organizations are seeing the benefits of having foster children work with animals,” said Carol Rathmann, the farm's executive director.
The mentor program is the beneficiary of a nearly $500,000 grant from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention.
One of only 54 programs nationwide to receive such an award, the farm now stands to grow by leaps and bounds, when a few months ago Rathmann feared having to scale it back or shut it altogether.
She started the farm in 1992 to connect foster kids to the therapeutic power of working with animals. Many of these kids suffer emotional problems or other symptoms of neglect and abuse. Many of the animals, in turn, were rescued from bad living situations.
An average of 350 kids from 11 different social service agencies visit the farm every year. The barns and stalls are behind the Humane Society's Highway 12 shelter, west of Santa Rosa.
A much smaller number of kids — usually no more than 20 — are chosen to participate in the mentor component that connects them to vocational training in animal care.
The first part of a six-week training program for the teens is devoted to classroom instruction on animal care issues. The kids are then matched to a career or department of interest where they begin working in a real-life job situation. They also learn skills in resume building, preparing job applications and interview skills.
Rathmann said some of the program graduates hold jobs at UC Davis, veterinary hospitals, grooming salons or attend Santa Rosa Junior College.
With the federal grant, Rathmann expects the program will include 150 kids by 2012, a seven-fold increase over current levels. She said the program will be able to serve kids who live in foster homes, and not just in group care settings, as is the case currently.
The farm also received $25,000 from proceeds raised by Levi Leipheimer's GranFondo cycling event in October. Odessa Gunn, Leipheimer's wife, is on the farm's board of directors and is a weekly volunteer there.
All of the money and attention creates a new set of challenges for Rathmann, who is giving up her role with the Humane Society hospital to devote herself full-time to the farm's operations. She's also planning to hire three more half-time positions.
Rathmann said she is required under the terms of the federal grant to track how teens fare in the program, as well as into the future after they have moved on. Much of this will be done through questionnaires the teens will fill out.
She hopes that success will lead to more grants and donations.
“If you can administer a federal grant successfully it can open doors for other local foundations to grant you money,” she said.
One thing money does not solve is attracting volunteers, who work one-on-one with teens in the mentor program. Rathmann said there's always a need for more of them.
To learn more, call the Humane Society at 542-0882, ext. 232.
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