4a) Noticed Public Hearing - Discussion and Possible Action to Approve the Mendocino County Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23, Including All Recommended Actions and Adjustments
(Sponsors: Executive Office and Auditor-Controller)
September 12, 2021 I was home alone working on building a greenhouse. As I was assembling the frame I smelled smoke. I went next door to tell my 90 year old neighbors. I ran back home to find my husband had rushed home to begin our evacuation process. Luckily, we are part of that small percent of people who were prepared. We did all the things they tell you to do. We'd even practiced a full evacuation beforehand. My 90 year old neighbors weren't so prepared.
My name is Melidy Lane. Besides the few things I could fit in my vehicle next to my 4 pets, everything I owned burned that day. All of my journals, my notes, my art, heirlooms handed down through the generations of my family, everything. Before the fire I thought I wasn't attached to things. What I didn't realize was that these things were the different lives I've lived. And I was attached to them. I live now with a trauma-induced amnesia. It was a thousand deaths I mourned over the proceeding months, and they were all my own.
We received a lot of support from friends and family for the first few weeks. At that time we all spoke the same language of shock over an obvious tragedy. We all understood I had lost stuff, so stuff is what I needed.
It's been 8 months and while they've all moved on, I'm still trekking a foreign landscape. As capable and positive as I am, I am lost. The day my home burned down was not the worst day of this experience. It's the things that came after. It's the needs I had that went beyond clothes and coffee shop gift cards. Where my family, friends, Red Cross, church groups, etc. had spent all they knew on me, UDR is the one who keeps me going.
UDR is my translator in a world that doesn't speak my new language. They carry the burden of trying to articulate my need. Do I support their organization for the long term? I would be foolish not to.
This State is in a Drought. This County is in a Drought and therefore a Drought means fires and disasters which leads to families and animals becoming displaced. This has become a common condition we all are having to live with, but should not have to suffer with physical, financial, and emotional pain as so many do. United Disaster Relief of Northern California (great name by the way) has been there for so many and has done a great job of helping to ease the pain from the above. The Center has relieved so many agencies and staff by doing the redundant work helping folks that have been victimized by our disasters here in Mendocino County and surrounding areas. Those at the UDRNC center have helped so many in crisis's every day and continue to help those every day by listening, guiding, coaching, teaching, being a shoulder to leaning on, helping clients on where to go for help and so many other things and are still willing to listen and hear what they are saying and needing every day. It is heart wrenching to hear the stories day after day from of our local community members of what they are having to re-live, but the volunteers at the center do so. It is in our best interest to keep the UDRNC around to do so. We should be proud here in Mendocino County of what Daniella Sands had started right here in our front yard. This County should be willing to give 100% support to keep the Center around and having a permanent location. Daniella and the volunteers are out there fighting for our community and they will keep on fighting to help everyone that has been affected by the effects of natural disasters as well as the uncommon disasters that we are having to endure in this world today. We as community members and its Board of Supervisors should be very proud and honored to have the only Disaster Center in Northern California, which by the way, does better than the OES in my opinion. It is time for the County to step up and support a good cause to keep the Center grounded and its services for our community and our neighboring communities right here in Mendocino County. This organizing has been around since 2017 and has been supported by so many. We need to keep these doors open and supported for those of us that live here, as we can for-see the need of this service in the future of today’s times.
I strongly support UDRNC's request for funding. Every vulnerable community should have such an organization that provides support for disaster victims long after other aid organizations have pulled up their tents and left town. I know many people who lost homes and possessions to wildfires and can attest to the fact that many people, particularly those with low incomes and other vulnerabilities, need help of the various kinds provided by UDRNC for years after a disaster. Without this support many people would be left in the lurch. What better way to use PG&E settlement funds than to provide ongoing disaster relief and to have such a service ready to help after a disaster with the materials and experience offered by UDRNC? Any of us could be the next victim of a disaster. Please do the right thing here.
Agenda 4a.
It is my hope that you all will support UNDRC in purchasing the building that they now occupy.
I have been a donor, of cash and items, since 2017. During this time I have watched the hard and emotional work that Danilla Sands and her volunteers provide to the survivors of disasters. They finally have a building that can provide support and services that the cold warehouse in Redwood Valley never could. They now are able to give their clients access laundry facilities, a quiet place to relax, food, items to restart their lives and the most important is the emotional support and guidance that is so needed in the long trying time of recovery.
I so hope you will approve the funding to purchase the building, so this much need resource can continue to help and support clients for many years to come.
Hello, my name is Dana Kelly, and I would like to address agenda item 4A. As a former fire survivor and a volunteer at UNDRC, I can attest to the importance of a permanent resource center for any and all disasters. My family was fortunate to be introduced to Danilla Sands and her expertise in disaster recovery in 2017. I honestly don't know how we would have gotten through the emotional and physical chaos at the time. She has worked under less-than-ideal conditions for 5 years and has not faltered in her dedications to help those in need; both immediate and extended. We recognize that disaster recovery takes 3-5 years with different needs along the way. Having a Center where all stages of recovery can be accommodated under one roof would be beneficial to our communities. I strongly recommend that funds be available, in the amount of $250,000.00, for the purchase of the building that UDRNC is now occupying.
I am totally in support of funding for undnc !! I am a volunteer and a survivor of the camp fire.
I can’t express how important this valuable and caring this program is for our community! It’s all about helping people who are in need of a helping hand! Some one to go to for support, supplies, and help maneuver through disaster! I can’t tell you how important this support is. The camp fire disaster was a horrific experience and I can’t help but feel us survivors would have been so grateful for a helpful program like UNDRC! Please grant us the help we need from our county so we can continue to help our clients return to the life they were living pre disaster! Thank you for considering our needs❤️
I am eternally grateful for the nurturing and support provided to me and my family by UDRNC after we lost everything in the Oak Fire in Sept 2020. The care and kindness for 2 years post-event helps make recovery conceivable. We are all now living in an age of Fire and need the exceptional services offered by Daniella and crew more than ever. Please support this organization and the kindness and care it provides to the citizens of Mendocino County.
My parents were helped tremendously by this organization when they lost their home in 2017 in the Redwood Valley fire. Not only with material items but with emotional help also. As they were getting their new home they were able to get information that they needed in order to make it easier for them. This center has helped a lot of different families in times of need. Please consider keeping this open by funding them money to be able to keep it open Maybe use some of the PG& E settlement money for them, after all they are helping fire victims directly.
I support funding for United Disaster Relief of Northern California. Please find it in your budget to assist them. This organization helped my father when he had to evacuate due to fire. They gave him socks shirts food whatever he needed.
United Disaster Relief is an essential service to our communities and will only prove more so in the coming years. Please support a permanent location for this important community resource, where volunteers are welcome to help neighbors in need!
United Disaster Reief of Northern California is an amazing non profit. They are prepared to help those in need after a Disaster. This is a vital need in our county. We are rural and having them here is extremely important. Please help them continue doing the good things they are doing!!!
September 12, 2021 I was home alone working on building a greenhouse. As I was assembling the frame I smelled smoke. I went next door to tell my 90 year old neighbors. I ran back home to find my husband had rushed home to begin our evacuation process. Luckily, we are part of that small percent of people who were prepared. We did all the things they tell you to do. We'd even practiced a full evacuation beforehand. My 90 year old neighbors weren't so prepared.
My name is Melidy Lane. Besides the few things I could fit in my vehicle next to my 4 pets, everything I owned burned that day. All of my journals, my notes, my art, heirlooms handed down through the generations of my family, everything. Before the fire I thought I wasn't attached to things. What I didn't realize was that these things were the different lives I've lived. And I was attached to them. I live now with a trauma-induced amnesia. It was a thousand deaths I mourned over the proceeding months, and they were all my own.
We received a lot of support from friends and family for the first few weeks. At that time we all spoke the same language of shock over an obvious tragedy. We all understood I had lost stuff, so stuff is what I needed.
It's been 8 months and while they've all moved on, I'm still trekking a foreign landscape. As capable and positive as I am, I am lost. The day my home burned down was not the worst day of this experience. It's the things that came after. It's the needs I had that went beyond clothes and coffee shop gift cards. Where my family, friends, Red Cross, church groups, etc. had spent all they knew on me, UDR is the one who keeps me going.
UDR is my translator in a world that doesn't speak my new language. They carry the burden of trying to articulate my need. Do I support their organization for the long term? I would be foolish not to.
This State is in a Drought. This County is in a Drought and therefore a Drought means fires and disasters which leads to families and animals becoming displaced. This has become a common condition we all are having to live with, but should not have to suffer with physical, financial, and emotional pain as so many do. United Disaster Relief of Northern California (great name by the way) has been there for so many and has done a great job of helping to ease the pain from the above. The Center has relieved so many agencies and staff by doing the redundant work helping folks that have been victimized by our disasters here in Mendocino County and surrounding areas. Those at the UDRNC center have helped so many in crisis's every day and continue to help those every day by listening, guiding, coaching, teaching, being a shoulder to leaning on, helping clients on where to go for help and so many other things and are still willing to listen and hear what they are saying and needing every day. It is heart wrenching to hear the stories day after day from of our local community members of what they are having to re-live, but the volunteers at the center do so. It is in our best interest to keep the UDRNC around to do so. We should be proud here in Mendocino County of what Daniella Sands had started right here in our front yard. This County should be willing to give 100% support to keep the Center around and having a permanent location. Daniella and the volunteers are out there fighting for our community and they will keep on fighting to help everyone that has been affected by the effects of natural disasters as well as the uncommon disasters that we are having to endure in this world today. We as community members and its Board of Supervisors should be very proud and honored to have the only Disaster Center in Northern California, which by the way, does better than the OES in my opinion. It is time for the County to step up and support a good cause to keep the Center grounded and its services for our community and our neighboring communities right here in Mendocino County. This organizing has been around since 2017 and has been supported by so many. We need to keep these doors open and supported for those of us that live here, as we can for-see the need of this service in the future of today’s times.
I strongly support UDRNC's request for funding. Every vulnerable community should have such an organization that provides support for disaster victims long after other aid organizations have pulled up their tents and left town. I know many people who lost homes and possessions to wildfires and can attest to the fact that many people, particularly those with low incomes and other vulnerabilities, need help of the various kinds provided by UDRNC for years after a disaster. Without this support many people would be left in the lurch. What better way to use PG&E settlement funds than to provide ongoing disaster relief and to have such a service ready to help after a disaster with the materials and experience offered by UDRNC? Any of us could be the next victim of a disaster. Please do the right thing here.
Agenda 4a.
It is my hope that you all will support UNDRC in purchasing the building that they now occupy.
I have been a donor, of cash and items, since 2017. During this time I have watched the hard and emotional work that Danilla Sands and her volunteers provide to the survivors of disasters. They finally have a building that can provide support and services that the cold warehouse in Redwood Valley never could. They now are able to give their clients access laundry facilities, a quiet place to relax, food, items to restart their lives and the most important is the emotional support and guidance that is so needed in the long trying time of recovery.
I so hope you will approve the funding to purchase the building, so this much need resource can continue to help and support clients for many years to come.
Hello, my name is Dana Kelly, and I would like to address agenda item 4A. As a former fire survivor and a volunteer at UNDRC, I can attest to the importance of a permanent resource center for any and all disasters. My family was fortunate to be introduced to Danilla Sands and her expertise in disaster recovery in 2017. I honestly don't know how we would have gotten through the emotional and physical chaos at the time. She has worked under less-than-ideal conditions for 5 years and has not faltered in her dedications to help those in need; both immediate and extended. We recognize that disaster recovery takes 3-5 years with different needs along the way. Having a Center where all stages of recovery can be accommodated under one roof would be beneficial to our communities. I strongly recommend that funds be available, in the amount of $250,000.00, for the purchase of the building that UDRNC is now occupying.
I am totally in support of funding for undnc !! I am a volunteer and a survivor of the camp fire.
I can’t express how important this valuable and caring this program is for our community! It’s all about helping people who are in need of a helping hand! Some one to go to for support, supplies, and help maneuver through disaster! I can’t tell you how important this support is. The camp fire disaster was a horrific experience and I can’t help but feel us survivors would have been so grateful for a helpful program like UNDRC! Please grant us the help we need from our county so we can continue to help our clients return to the life they were living pre disaster! Thank you for considering our needs❤️
I am eternally grateful for the nurturing and support provided to me and my family by UDRNC after we lost everything in the Oak Fire in Sept 2020. The care and kindness for 2 years post-event helps make recovery conceivable. We are all now living in an age of Fire and need the exceptional services offered by Daniella and crew more than ever. Please support this organization and the kindness and care it provides to the citizens of Mendocino County.
My parents were helped tremendously by this organization when they lost their home in 2017 in the Redwood Valley fire. Not only with material items but with emotional help also. As they were getting their new home they were able to get information that they needed in order to make it easier for them. This center has helped a lot of different families in times of need. Please consider keeping this open by funding them money to be able to keep it open Maybe use some of the PG& E settlement money for them, after all they are helping fire victims directly.
I support funding for United Disaster Relief of Northern California. Please find it in your budget to assist them. This organization helped my father when he had to evacuate due to fire. They gave him socks shirts food whatever he needed.
United Disaster Relief is an essential service to our communities and will only prove more so in the coming years. Please support a permanent location for this important community resource, where volunteers are welcome to help neighbors in need!
United Disaster Reief of Northern California is an amazing non profit. They are prepared to help those in need after a Disaster. This is a vital need in our county. We are rural and having them here is extremely important. Please help them continue doing the good things they are doing!!!