‘Unprecedented’ Sonoma County pilot program to offer vulnerable residents aid amid storm losses

Sonoma County officials and their nonprofit partners are launching an “unprecedented” new cash assistance program Sunday to help ensure the county’s most vulnerable residents recover from recent storms.

The pilot program is intended to help those whose storm-related losses may not be structural, seem substantial or appear obvious, but could prove pivotal.

It may be that extended power failures spoiled a refrigerator full of food or kept a person’s place of work closed for days or weeks. Or perhaps road closures kept someone from getting to work or required they evacuate to a motel so they could keep working.

There were emergency generators to purchase, RVs and trailers to tow, and other gear made necessary by the constant storms.

Though the Russian River caused mainly roadway flooding, creeks did spill into some homes, as well, forcing people out for a few days and damaging contents.

“We have so many folks who live paycheck to paycheck, and any unexpected expense can constitute a personal financial crisis,” said west Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district includes the lower Russian River.

The program will be funded from the $2 million Hopkins requested last year during budget hearings to start a Community Disaster Immediate Needs Fund. Its creation stemmed, in part, from major flooding in 2019 and the impact of COVID-19 on marginalized communities for whom lost wages during quarantine and other economic impacts took a significant toll.

An amount well under $2 million is expected to be spent, though no cap was available as of publishing deadline.

“We are talking pretty limited funding here,” Sonoma County Director of Emergency Management Chris Godley said. “It’s not thousands of dollars. But we know, early on in disaster recovery, getting a car fixed, replacing food in the refrigerator, can make recovery go not only faster but it’s stronger.”

“We’ve looked at the fact that this is not a mass disaster” and thought “let’s get in there and pilot an effort to do exactly what we want to do long-term,” Godley said.

The plan is to have applicants call 211, a preexisting line for assistance, to be screened for income eligibility and referral to one of several community-based organizations that are part of Sonoma County Community Organizations Active in Disaster.

Major partners include River to Coast Children’s Services, West County Community Services, Nuestra Comunidad, Corazón Healdsburg and Catholic Charities.

They will be helping to assess applicants, many of whom may already be clients, as well as reaching out to vulnerable people who may qualify, officials said.

“We’re relying on the (community-based organizations) to help us identify those who are most at risk and who have the most need and who qualify,” county spokesman Matt Brown said.

County representatives could not say Saturday how much individuals might receive, as each case would be unique.

The program is intended, in part, to augment existing relief being offered in the way of gift cards and emergency cash assistance by West County Community Services’ Crisis Support Fund and the Russian River Alliance.

It’s also for those who have fallen through the cracks in the past because they were separated by language barriers or geographic distance, by difficulty producing documentation of losses or other hurdles, officials said. Residents who live in the country illegally also are sometimes excluded from assistance, like disaster unemployment, Godley said. Yet many of them bore the heaviest burdens.

“We learned a lot of lessons during COVID and how to get disaster assistance to the people who need it most,” Brown said. “It’s a pilot program, and we’re hoping to really push for an equitable recovery and really kind of close the gap on people who have been disproportionately impacted in those communities.

“It’s been a priority of the board of supervisors, and this will really demonstrate how we can stand this up after a disaster or in the middle of the disaster.”

Hopkins said the county has the good fortune to have longtime trusted partners who work year-round with those in need and are in a good position to evaluate eligibility.

She said she’s eager to see how the program launches, what needs are made apparent and how the assistance rolls out.

“It’s unprecedented,” Hopkins said. “This is not something we’ve done before.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.