Redwood Times
Participants in Southern Humboldt Working Together’s monthly open meeting last Wednesday heard reports on a variety of programs and projects as well as an update on WISH, the Women’s Crisis Shelter in Southern Humboldt. (See related story in this issue.)
Much of the news came from the Family Resource Center in Redway. AmeriCorps AFACTR worker Amy Termeer announced several new programs and updated the group on continuing ones.
A new free monthly produce market begins today, Tuesday, May 8, at the Redway Baptist Church from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Produce direct from farms in California’s Central Valley and "other large agricultural producers" will be available at no cost to low-income households.
Produce will be distributed on the second Tuesday of each month from today through Tuesday, Oct. 9.
The Humboldt County outreach bus will also be at the Redway Baptist Church today from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and every second Tuesday of the month from now on, so that people have to make only one trip to town to use its services and to get free produce.
Starting today, the bus will also stop in Phillipsville in the morning before coming to Redway so that people in Phillipsville and Miranda can have access to services without having to drive to Redway.
Services offered on the bus include mental health assessments and referrals to counseling and other mental health services, as well as help with applications for Medi-Cal, County Medical Services Program (CMSP), CalFresh (food stamps), and the CalWorks Welfare to Work program.
Today free garden kits with vegetable seeds are also available from the bus through the CalFresh program.
Youth Alive! has posted its Outdoor Adventures program for the coming summer. The program includes two or three activities for young people ages 12 to 19 each month.
Tomorrow, May 9, YA! will feature mountain biking at the Southern Humboldt Community Park, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Kimtu entrance.
During the summer, activities will include sea kayaking on Humboldt Bay, tide pooling in Shelter Cove, a three-day backpacking trip in the King Range, and more.
For more information and a complete schedule, contact YA! at youthaliveoutdooradventures@gmail.com, or call 986-5415. Registration forms are available from the Family Resource Center on the Redway Elementary School campus or can be downloaded from www.sohumyouthalive.org.
YA! is also looking for volunteers to work the drinks booth at the Summer Arts and Music Festival on June 2 and 3. Volunteers will work six-hour shifts, either from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and they will be given a free pass to the festival.
Youth volunteers will need permission from their parents and will work in the booth with an adult volunteer and the coordinators.
For more information or to volunteer contact Amy Termeer at the FRC, 923-1147.
First 5 Activities has scheduled weekly play dates for children up to age 5 and their families at Redway, Casterlin, and Ettersburg Schools, in Miranda at South Fork High School, and at the Shelter Cover Community Center. An infant and toddler group for children up to two years old will also meet on the first Friday of each month at the Early Head Start building at Redway Elementary School. For more information, call Termeer at the FRC, 923-1147.
Additionally, Termeer is organizing a "kinship caregiver" group for grandparents and other family members other than parents who have young children living in their homes. The group will meet on Thursdays at 11 a.m. Childcare and snacks will be provided. Again, call Termeer at 923-1147 or email her atatermeer@rcaa.org for more information or if this schedule does not work for you.
Termeer also announced that AmeriCorps AFACTR is recruiting for her replacement when her tour ends on September 30 of this year. The program offers young people 18 years and older with an opportunity to serve in community-building and family support programs. Termeer would be happy to explain the program to anyone who is interested. More information is also available online at www.my.americorps.gov or on RCAA’s website, www.rcaa.org.
The newest member of the FRC team is Grace Riley, who was born and raised in SoHum, and who has returned after five years in Massachusetts. As part of the Redwood Community Action Agency’s Youth Services Bureau, Riley will be a youth outreach caseworker based at the FRC in Redway and Osprey School in Miranda.
Riley will be helping with resources and summer programs for youth until September, but she also hopes to stay on, taking over the HIV prevention program now handled by county health education specialist Beth Wells.
Riley also plans to teach workshops on healthy relationships to groups of high school students.
The Garberville-Redway Public Restroom Working Group, part of the Homeless Task Force, continues to gather support from local organizations and businesses to pursue establishment of permanent public restrooms in the area, Cheri Porter reported.
The group is also working with the Humboldt Transit Authority to develop a permanent shaded bus shelter that will serve travelers on Greyhound and Amtrak buses as well as the local HTA buses.
Porter also talked about the possibility of creating a "homeless court" in Garberville, where the cases of local homeless persons can be heard. Those found guilty of infractions could be assigned to community service in SoHum. Both 2nd district supervisor Clif Clendenen and superior court judge John Feeney have been supportive of this idea, Porter said.
SHWT holds its monthly general meetings, which are opened to all interested persons, on the first Wednesday of the month at noon at the Civic Club on Maple Lane in Garberville. The next meeting is scheduled for June 6.
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