Local Community Organizations Join Forces to Accept State’s 100 Day Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Goal is to accelerate efforts to combat and end homelessness in the county)

Sonoma County joins Santa Barbara and San Francisco Counties as the second cohort of communities in the state to accept the challenge from Governor Newsom by rethinking the way in which their current homeless systems of care function.

The 100 day challenges were developed through the Rapid Results Institute in coordination with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and have spurred innovative ways of tackling homelessness in several communities across the country.

Representatives from each county met to determine the specific county goals. In Sonoma County, the goal is to connect 65 Transition Age Youth (TAY) to housing with a special focus on LGBTQ+ youth and on youth who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. In addition to housing 65 youth, the Sonoma County 100 Day Challenge aims to reshape and reimagine the homeless response system in order to ensure housing accessibility to the maximum number of youth possible.

The challenge is ambitious. The three Sponsor-Mentors of the 100 Day challenge are Amber Twitchell with On the Move, Anita Maldonado with Social Advocates for Youth (SAY), and Tom Bieri with Community Support Network.

Bieri reports that he is, “thrilled to see all of the agencies who support youth in Sonoma County bringing new resources to the table and finding creative new ways to collaborate. I am confident that the team will not only meet the 100 day goal, but will continue to utilize the new resources and enhanced communication avenues to house more youth once the challenge is over.”

Martha Cheever, the Housing Authority Manager with the Sonoma County Housing Authority and Bella Ortega, SAY’s Street Outreach Coordinator, are the Team Leads for the Sonoma County 100 Day Challenge Team.

Says Ortega, “I am excited to be a part of this cohort and am looking forward to see the collaboration between Sonoma County agencies to better help serve our TAY population that are experiencing homelessness.”

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For further information contact:
Allen Wales
Community Support Network
707-575-0979 x120
allen@csn-mh.com