WOMEN TRANSFORMING SONOMA COUNTY THROUGH COLLECTIVE PHILANTHROPY | JUNE 2021 | ISSUE 45 |
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IMPACT 100 REDWOOD CIRCLE - SIX YEARS AGO! |
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Just six years ago, on June 15, 2015, a kickoff event was hosted by the Community Foundation of Sonoma County at the Museum of Sonoma County. As the organization grew, a "leaf" with the new member's name was placed on a membership tree (pictured at left).
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INTRODUCING OUR FINAL FOUR COMMUNITY GRANT WINNERS! |
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Valley of the Moon Children's Foundation |
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Membership - We Welcome all New Members! |
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All 2021 new members: Watch your email for an invitation to the New Member Orientation on June 30, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Find out ways to engage with Impact 100 Redwood Circle as you desire. See you there!
Next Coffee & Conversations: July 15, 9-10 a.m. It’s one of the best ways to introduce friends to Impact 100 Redwood Circle. Register a friend and yourself Register yourself and a friend here.
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ED TALK - Elizabeth Vermilyea, PhD.
"Is Resiliency More Than Just a Buzzword?"
A 1994 Kaiser patient study offered data so profound it sparked a shift in medical practice, community health and social services. Over 17,000 predominantly white, middle-class patients in San Diego exposed an irrefutable correlation between incidents of childhood trauma and onset of adult diseases such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and addiction. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACEs) initiated a new movement of “Trauma Informed Care”. Instead of screaming “What’s wrong with you?”, we’re finally asking “What happened to you?”
Fortunately, a high ACE score is not destiny, and a new focus on “resilience” - the capacity to rebound, to adapt well in the face of adversity, to recover and thrive - can help end generational dysfunction and redirect billions of community dollars in health, education and criminal justice. The Resilience movement includes programs that honor individuals’ unique history and provide touchpoints of care that inspire healing. It includes the environmental, social, and economic challenges we’re facing in the 21st century.
We are so fortunate that Elizabeth Vermilyea, PhD, is our featured speaker for our July 19th, 4:30 ED TALK (Zoom.) A nationally recognized leader and Master Trainer in Trauma Recovery, she was lead consultant in the implementation of Trauma Informed Care in Washington and Oregon States. Please click on her bio: Please click here for her bio.
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Sharing Her Story - Jean “Jeannie” Schulz
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She’s arguably one of Santa Rosa’s best known and most beloved citizens. Countless nonprofits list her as benefactor. Most Santa Rosans know—or know of—Impact 100 Redwood Circle member Jeannie Schulz. Her life is an open book-or is it?
Consider this: she was born in Mannheim, Germany. Her parents, both British, were managing the Mannheim Berlitz Language School when Jeannie was born. At the urging of the British government, the family left Germany when Jeannie was just six months old. Hitler invaded Poland the very next month.
Another little-known fact about Jeannie is that she was “horse mad’ as a “feral child” growing up with two older brothers in Mill Valley. She and friends were known to mimic “neighing, stomping and galloping” in the forests when no one was watching. When the family moved to Fallbrook, she had real horses to ride through neighboring avocado orchards on weekends.
It’s also surprising to learn that Jeannie doesn’t relish the limelight, even though she’s often in it. “I’d rather be behind the scenes,” she says. As a student at Pomona College that meant she worked backstage on theater productions. “I didn’t want to sing or dance. I liked painting sets and working on the light boards.” That’s where she met first husband Peter.
Jeannie’s civic mindedness predated her life In Santa Rosa and her marriage to Peanut’s creator Charles M. “Sparky” Schulz. As a young wife and mother of two living in Hawaii, she was active in the League of Women Voters. She credits the League with giving her “self-confidence” and the sense “It’s up to us to monitor what’s going on in government and be engaged.”
The family moved to Santa Rosa and Jeannie became heavily involved with the Volunteer Center while also serving on civic commissions and school committees. She found time to finish her college degree at Sonoma State and got her pilot’s license. Along with family, she made a cross country trip in a single engine Piper and participated in three cross country air races.
Both divorced, Sparky and Jeannie met and married in 1973 and enjoyed 27 years together before his death. “He was supportive of everything I did,” she recalls. And that was a long list, including serving on boards such as the Volunteer Center, Canine Companions for Independence and the Sonoma County Community Foundation, taking countless classes at SSU and SRJC, playing killer tennis, and learning to speak French, “Pure stubbornness” led her to 25 years of lessons and fun on the flying trapeze.
She’s added major construction projects to her list of activities since Sparky died, overseeing the building of a world class Museum and Research Center dedicated to his works and, sadly, the rebuilding of the home they shared, which burned to the ground in the Tubbs fire. Now in her early 80’s and active as ever, Jeannie sees life as a continuum. “Everything builds on the past,” she says. She’s currently revisiting—and finding new meaning—in her husband’s work.
She loves seeing how relevant and timeless his characters and messages are through the eyes of young museum visitors. “He made it all look so easy that I took it for granted” she says. “Now I recognize how carefully crafted it all was.”
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2021 Impact Grant Nominations
Thank you for your nominations for the 2021 Impact Grant! 29 nonprofit organizations were nominated. Invitations to apply have been sent to the following nominees, and those interested have until July 2nd to submit a Letter of Intent.
- Becoming Independent
- Burbank Housing
- Circuit Rider
- Conservation Corp North Bay
- Corazon Healdsburg
- Council on Aging
- Daily Acts
- La Plaza: Nuestra Cultura Cura
- Laguna De Santa Rosa Foundation
- Latino Service Providers
- Legal Aid of Sonoma County
- McDonald Ranch
- NAMI Sonoma County
- North Bay Jobs with Justice
- North Coast Builders Exchange Community Fund
- Petaluma Blacks for Community Development
- Petaluma People Services Center
- Santa Rosa Community Health
- Santa Rosa Junior College, Student Outreach
- Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation/SRJC Fire Academy
- Sebastopol Center for the Arts
- Senior Advocacy Services
- Social Advocates for Youth
- SOS Community Counseling
- Team for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity
- The Santa Rosa Players DBA 6th Street Playhouse
- The LIME Foundation
- The Living Room Center, Inc
- YWCA of Sonoma County
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As we start planning ahead for our much-anticipated return to In-person gatherings later this year, the Events Committee is in need of additional members to help make a successful transition. In addition to planning and hosting in-person events, we need members who are comfortable working with technology to manage electronic communications, the event registration system and Google Drive. Training provided. Please join us! Contact Jennifer Girvin and Maria Nersesian at Impact100events@gmail.com. |
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News from 4Cs, our Newest Impact Grant Winner
4Cs offers a full range of training for potential day care providers. So far this year they have offered 35 men and women the opportunity for training for licensure as providers. The training sessions are offered in both English and Spanish. They occur throughout Sonoma County including Rohnert Park, Healdsburg and Sonoma Valley. So far this year there has been less than normal participation. That may be partially due to Covid, as most trainings have been held virtually. However, they hope to provide in person classes at La Luz in Sonoma and through the JC Adult Ed in Petaluma in the Spring. They also expect that there will be a large influx of registration in the fall for the Santa Rosa adult education program.
In regard to matriculation, Ashley Chavez at 4Cs told the Liaison Committee that more BIPOC individuals enroll in the training but less complete it. She explained that more BIPOC families have trouble meeting the strict licensing requirements that require that all persons in the home can pass security checks as well as other criteria designed to make sure their homes are safe for children. The 4Cs trainers coach students to help them pass these checks. They check in with students to see if they need help along the way to making their licensing application. They make a pre-licensing visit to help prepare them for official visits from the state licensing agency.
As a result of the Impact Grant award, 4Cs is now able to employ 3 full time trainers. They are offering additional training to day care providers in Disaster Preparedness, Preventative Health and Safety, and creating Emergency Backpacks.
4Cs have their next round of child care training beginning in the fall. Your Liaison Committee has offered to inform our membership if and when the need for volunteer help arises.
In Other News...
Forget Me Not Farm has received a donation of a charming little book written by one of their board members. The book is called, Farm Animal Secrets, Vol 1. With clever illustrations, it informs the reader of various facts about farm animals. For example, did you know, “Pigs are very intelligent! Piglets learn their names at just three weeks old and can learn tricks faster than dogs!” The book is not yet available for purchase, but should be coming out soon.
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DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) |
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BUSTING BIAS III – Come on in!
“I feel like I’m learning a new language. I can feel the gears in my brain turning.”
“I can’t look at anything the same way!”
“This has put many things into an historical perspective - what’s been going on for a long time. It’s really about power and economics, and I have a bigger picture as to how history figured into things.”
“This group is important because we can do all the reading we want, but the discussion is the power! That’s the different experience.”
These “Busting Bias” comments show that exploring discrimination with curiosity, inquiry, generous listening and reflection can result in transforming our awareness and actions – and it helps sharpen our thinking about the role of community philanthropy.
About an hour of articles and videos each week sparks free and respectful discussion to understand the shift from equality to equity, the consequence of implicit bias, and the urgency of demands for change. This invigorating experience puts a new lens on civil rights, and can move us from compassionate observers to participants in creating more just and peaceful communities for all.
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