All of us here at Face to Face hope that this message finds you safe and healthy while Sheltered In Place. This is a challenging time for all of us with things changing on the daily. Although it may seem like there is not much good going on at this time, we must all remember that the fires and floods of the past three years have shown us how to deal with catastrophe and we are Sonoma County Strong!
Here at Face to Face we remain resilient, hopeful and committed to our work. That has not stopped from day one of this pandemic and we will continue to do our work in the best and most safe way possible that we can at this time.
Along the way there are always silver linings. At times like these we need to dig a little deeper to find them. But trust us, they are all around and we wanted to take some time to share some of those silver linings with you.
Our Work Continues to Enhance the Lives of Others
Over 10,000 Needles per week along with Naloxone have been provided by Face to Face during this pandemic.
Harm reductionists are among the invisible healthcare workers continuing to provide essential services to our community. Lorie Violette, our Prevention Director is working on the frontlines here in Sonoma County to continue to provide Syringe Exchange services as well as Overdose prevention with supplying people with Naloxone. She has given out over 10,000 needles per week since the arrival of COVOID-19 by providing mobile services out of the trunk of her car.
Lorie has also filled 17-eight gallon containers that hold approx. four thousand used needles in them since she has gone mobile. This in part helps keep needles off of the streets in our community. People with underlying chronic health conditions face increase severity and risk of death from Coronavirus. The more that we can provide this service in our community the more lives we will be saving.
We have placed 5 clients into new homes in the past month!
Our Case Workers Consuelo Ardon and Tania Silvia along with our Housing Administrator Miasha Terry have placed 5 clients into their new homes, including two homeless clients into hotels in the county. We are thrilled to report that as of today 3 more homeless clients are going to be placed in hotels during this most fragile time. Homelessness is a health risk especially during a pandemic. The more we can assist in getting people off the streets the better chances we have at keeping people healthy.
Our Executive Director, Sara Brewer is navigating through this crisis on a daily basis.
In times of crisis one must be ready to take charge and lead their team through the rough challenges that they all face. We are so fortunate to have an Executive Director that puts the care of her team at the forefront while having to balance that with keeping the organization up and running. Sara has been able to do both while actively looking at all the options that are out there to keep Face to Face fully functional and operating. Wading through all the government options along with applying for Grants are taking up most of the days while keeping in touch with the team via Zoom meetings. Please send all your positive vibes out there to Sara!
Homemade Masks for our Prevention DirectorLorie Violette, our Prevention Director here at Face to Face has been on the front lines since Day 1. She has become a one-person Syringe Exchange team providing exchange and overdose prevention to those in need.Just this week she received an email from the Harm Reduction Coalition based in Oakland informing her that one of their mom’s was making home made masks since she is a tailor/clothing maker. She has been making these masks which include a filter and nose piece and has offered some to Lorie to get her through her days meeting up with clients.
We are so grateful to have people who are reaching out to others to protect them while they are doing their work that puts them in harms way.
Ways to help others in Sonoma County during the Coronavirus Pandemic
It is so beautiful and inspiring to see a community coming together in times of need. The Press Democrat did a great piece on a number of ways to help out while SIP. While we would love you to donate to Face to Face, and we hope that you will. We realize that we are all in this together and that there are so many organizations that provide amazing services in our county. Some of them include Meals On Wheels, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Food For Thought, La Luz Crisis Fund, Undocufund, Ceres Community Project and PEP Housing.
New Initiatives Pay Struggling Restaurants Thousands to Feed the Needy
As our restaurant industry is hurting at this time we love the way that people are finding ways to be creative in coming up with new initiatives that are helping restaurants feed so many in our communities. You can read the full article in SfEater here that feature some of our local establishments.
DO YOU HAVE SOME “SILVER LINING” STORIES TO SHARE?It is at times like these that we need to find inspiration. There are so many out there doing good at this time and we would love to hear from you so that we can share these stories with our community. Email your stories to gsaperstein@f2f.org
