HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12052000 - P1 PA
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Dates December 5, 2000 Matter of Record
Subjects Presentation of the second annual People Who Care Awards
On this date a presentation of the second annual People Who Care Awards was made to
the Board of Supervisors.
TRIS IS A MATTER FOR RECORD PURPOSES ONLY
NO BOARD ACTION WAS TAKEN
NOU-29-2000 13:42 P.O2
Contra Costa County
Homelesss
Memmaft-dfto
TO., Julie Enea,Adminstration
From. Keith Bussey, Homeless Program
CC. Cynthia Belon.,Horneless Program Director
Date: 11128/00
ee. People Who Care Awards
The following are people and organizations that have begirt selected to
receive the People Who Care Award.
Faithm_munr ittr'[Presenter should be.supervisor DeS'aulnierl
FERST Interfaith Advisory Committee (Recipient)
The FERST interfaith Advisory Committee is composed of 54 faith congregations.
This program began its fourth year in September 2000. Currently, the host sites will
provide 34 weeks of shelter in Central Contra Costa County and 14 weeks in East
County.
The members of these congregations provide seven days of shelter each from
September through May for 30 homeless family members in Central Contra Costa
and 15 weeks of shelter in East Contra Costa County in 1999-2000. Each shelter
provided a warr , a safe place to live, a nutritious hot dinner each evening, breakfast,
and a bag lunch each day. In addition, volunteers from each church and synagogue
helped the children with homework and provided recreational and other types of
activities. Role modeling and emotional support were also given by the host site
volunteers.
The 1999-2000 emergency rotating shelter helped 69 families-a total of 211 people in
all; 88 adults, 125 children (76 school age and 49 aged 4 years and under).
In addition, clothes and monetary funds were provided by many of the congregations.
For instance, when it became necessary to close the program several weeks before
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NOU-29-2000 13:42 F.03
the school year closed, one of the churches provided enough money to supply motel
rooms for the families in the shelter to extend their stay for one week.
The monetary funds donated by the congregations were used to help at-risk families
and individuals remain in their homes by helping to pay utility bills, etc.
Individuals
1. Sara Ardell (Supervisor Jahn Gioia presenter)
Mrs. Sara Ardell is a Filipino-American woman who identified a need in Contra Costa
County for homeless teenage girls who needed a safe and secure home where they
could receive full time care and supervision.
She discovered that there are only 47 homes for children in Contra Costa County
and only 16 are available for girls between the ages of 10-17. These girls enter the
juvenile justice system younger (12, 13, and 14 years of age) than boys with lengthy
substance abuse histories, with use beginning as early as 5 years of age. The risk
core factors for these girls include histories of emotional and sexual abuse and
frequently failing in school.
Beginning in 1997, Mrs. Ardell worked to establish initially one home for girls-Wesley
Youth Homes For Girls, Inc, as a 50103 residential community service agency
providing at risk homeless teenage girls in Contra Costa County with twenty four hour
care and supervision, social services, counseling, mentoring, and educational
support services.
Mrs. Ardell was responsible for acquiring a full time Licensed Marriage and Family
Therapist and Social Worker for the girls in the program and employed the
educational support services of a credentialed Contra Costa County teacher from the
Mt. Diablo Unified School District who provides both tutorial support to our girls and
advocacy liaison services with their teachers to acquire the necessary educational
services and resources to meet the needs of our children.
Today Mrs. Ardell has worked to establish two residences for homeless girls in
Pittsburg, CA. She is the President of the Wesley Youth Homes for Girls Board of
Directors and she serves without any salary compensation.
2. Jerry Yahiro (Supervisor Donna Gertner presenter)
The past two years Jerry Yahiro has been instrumental in coordinating and
conducting the Veteran's East Bay Stand Down. He volunteered as the Director of
the East Bay Stand Down 2000, his many hours of work directly contributed to the
success of the event that provided assistance to hundreds of homeless veterans in
the Bay Area.
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Jerry has been dedicated and relentless in his efforts to form a consortium of
volunteer individuals, medical and legal professionals, service providers and
organizations for the purpose of creating a self-contained teat city, East Bay Stand
Down, Camp Parks, Dublin, CA, for the betterment of hundreds of homeless
veterans.
Jerry Yahiro was a combat infantry officer during the Vietnam War.
Service Qubl0r_+aaa&wtio»(Supervisor Gayle tllikemar, presenter)
Project Hearth (Frances Singer)
Project Hearth created in 1991 by a group of seven friends concerned about
homelessness has worked tirelessly to prevent homelessness for the working poor.
Each year, this volunteer group raises funds that are disturbed through SHELTER,
Inc, to low-income families at risk of becoming homeless. Project Hearth works to
educate the community about homelessness, asks their friends to contribute
financially and works with SHELTER, Inc.to oversee families being helped.
Since 1991, Project Hearth has helped prevent 132 households in Contra Costa
County from becoming homeless. Project hearth has raised over $300,000 which
has gone directly to provide rental subsidies, help families with emergency needs
and provide intensive case management support. Project Hearth is a model for other
concemed citizens; new volunteer groups based on this model have been
developed.
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