Latest PHA Newsletter Available - No General Meeting in July

Summer by Matteo Angelino on flickr.com
(Creative Commons license)

It's officially summer and, after a very busy start to the year for California's developmental centers, PHA has decided to call recess in July. It's time to take a short breather, enjoy the season and our friends and families, and recoup for what will probably be an equally intense close-out of the year.

So...no general membership meeting in July. The next meeting will be 10 a.m., Saturday, September 13th, in McDougall Hall on the SDC campus. More details about the meeting will be posted here on the blog as they become available.

Print copies of the latest Eldridge Gazette will start arriving in mailboxes next week for those members on the snail-mail list. Email newsletters will arrive a bit sooner. If you're not in the mood to wait for either, you can download a copy now: May/June 2014 Eldridge Gazette. Links to this edition and many back issues can also be found on the Resources Page of the main website or by clicking on the Resource tab at the top of this page.

Happy Summer everyone -- and we hope to see you in September!

PHA and Our Coalition Partners Team Up for Impact100 Sonoma Grant

Update (6/23/14): Congratulations to the Redwood Empire Food Bank for being awarded this year's Impact Grant. (We hear the vote was very tight!) All finalists received funds towards their projects - thank you to Impact100 Sonoma.

Last week Impact100 Sonoma announced three finalists for their annual $100,000 Impact Grant, along with 15 finalists for Community Grants. The organization will award its annual Impact Grant this coming Saturday, on June 21, when its members meet at Hannah Boys Center.

Parent Hospital Association is excited and honored to announce that we are one of the three finalists, along with our Coalition partners Sonoma Land Trust and the Sonoma Ecology Center, for the Impact Grant. We have requested support for a grassroots planning process engaging the Sonoma Valley community and all stakeholders in developing a “blueprint” for the future use of Sonoma Development Center (SDC) and its surrounding 900 acre property.

The other two finalists are the Redwood Empire Food Bank and the Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance. You can read more about the proposals up for consideration this Saturday at: The 2014 finalists have been chosen! on the Impact100 Sonoma web site.

Congratulations and best of luck to all of the finalists. Let's all keep working to create a healthier, happier, and inclusive Sonoma Valley.

Behind the Failure of the Developmental Center Bills in Sacramento

The recent failure of SB 1344 and AB 2349 in Sacramento disappointed many people determined to help maintain the service options represented by Sonoma Developmental Center.

What exactly was behind the decisions to table these pieces of legislation and what might that mean for the future of California's remaining developmental centers? Kenwood Press is out with an article that gives some background information and perspective. You can access that article here: Dead legislation, budget decisions leave SDC future murky, by Jay Gamel, The Kenwood Press (06/15/2014).

Still Time to Complete Your SDC Family and Friends Questionnaire

The last issue of the Parent Hospital Association (PHA) newsletter included an important questionnaire designed and circulated by the PHA board to collect information that will help smooth the changes ahead for residents of Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC).

Many completed questionnaires have been received but we would like to double the number to make the information most useful. Have you completed your questionnaire?

If you've already recycled your copy of the Gazette -- or misplaced the questionnaire in a pile of to-do papers -- do not despair. It will be included in the next issue of the Gazette, and...you can also download a copy here and now: SDC Family and Friends Questionnaire (now in a handy 2-page version).

Thank you for your participation!

photo by trontnort on flickr

Budget News from Sacramento and the Future of Sonoma Developmental Center

The Press Democrat is reporting that the latest budget proposals from Governor Brown suggest the direction the administration would like to take with the State's remaining developmental centers, including Sonoma Developmental Center.

The Sonoma Developmental Center sits on the last large undeveloped property in Sonoma Valley. The nearly
1,000-acre state site is home to 443 developmentally disabled adults and many native plants and animals.
(Conner Jay / The Press Democrat)

You can read the entire article here: Governor Jerry Brown's budget hints at future of Sonoma Developmental Center, by Derek Moore, The Press Democrat, June 6, 2014.

Farming Still Providing Benefits for the Developmentally Disabled

A lot has changed at Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) since the facility opened its doors to the first 148 residents in 1891.

One thing that has not changed for developmentally disabled people in general over the past hundred or so years, however, is the value gained from being outside, working in the soil, and growing food. From its early days, the facility at Eldridge (first named the California Home for the Care and Training of the Feeble Minded, then Sonoma State Home, followed by Sonoma State Home before being renamed Sonoma Developmental Center in 1986) operated a fully functioning farm that provided much of the food needed to run the facility. Residents worked the farm, both as a source of labor and in the belief that physical work in the out-of-doors was therapeutic.

Today the Eldridge Farm remains as a remnant of the earlier farm, providing engaging outdoor experiences for residents and the community alike. And elsewhere developmentally disabled people are still benefiting from learning to farm and working in market gardens.

In Ohio an innovative non-profit called Cleveland Crops is providing training and jobs for  developmentally disabled as an affiliate of the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The group runs several farms in Cuyahoga County that stock a successful community supported agriculture venture, with good feedback from participants.

Read more:
Cleveland Farms: Training People With Disabilities to Farm, by Hannah Wallace, on Civil Eats (6/4/2014).