Using a new technique, this year's census of the homeless in Sonoma County found far more of them than prior surveys. But improved methodology is being cited as the reason for the higher count, rather than a surge in the homeless population.

 

In the 2007 Homeless Census, explains Jenny Helbraun Abramson, the process depended on inviting homeless people into community centers to be counted. This time, the outreach was more direct and more comprehensive.

Read the full report here: 

 Or go here for a history of the homeless counts in Sonoma County.

As the US economy struggles to climb out of the current downturn, there's a new emphasis on creating "green-collar" jobs which could be especially beneficial to California.

 

Ian Kim (left) works at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights as Director of the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign. He advocates for policies in the city of Oakland and statewide in California to create "green-collar" jobs (quality, career-track, manual labor jobs in industries like renewable energy, water and energy efficiency, and green building), especially for low-income young adults and those with barriers to employment.  Ian holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He will be one of the keynote speakers at this year's Sustainable Enterprise Conference May 8 at Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park. 

 

Tickets are still available for event, using this  downloadable registration form.

The availability of funding for green jobs is a tremendous opportunity, says Ian Kim, but with that comes a new set of challenges.

 

The Oakland-based  Ella Baker Center for Human Rights runs cutting-edge, solutions-driven campaigns for justice, peace and opportunity in our cities. The nationally-renowned Green-Collar Jobs Campaign works to leverage the explosive growth of the new green economy to create meaningful career opportunities for poor people and people of color.  Statewide, the Campaign advocates for green-collar policy solutions for California, in partnership with major labor, environmental, business, and education institutions, that can create many thousands of good jobs as well as a strong infrastructure for green workforce development.

Nationally, the Campaign played a central role in the passage of the federal Green Jobs Act of 2007, which authorizes 5 million annually for green job training, with million specifically allocated to "pathways out of poverty" programs.

 

It worked in Napa. Now a youth-led service center for young people aging out of foster care has launched a second outlet in Santa Rosa.

Mitch Findley helps move office furniture into the new V.O.I.C.E.S. office in Santa Rosa.

Only recently have the needs of youth aging out of Foster Care gotten much public attention. But the high rates of homelessness, unemployment and early parenthood create additional demand on public social service systems that are already overburdened. So proactive alternatives such as V.O.I.C.E.S. are garnering widespread attention.

When V.O.I.C.E.S first opened their doors in Napa, Mitch Findley (left)  says they had to learn how to define and explain themselves to the community around them. By now, they've gotten pretty good at it.

Learn more about Voices here.

 

V.O.I.C.E.S. Sonoma County 

335 College Ave

Santa Rosa, CA 94509 

Phone: 707-579-4327

 

There's more to the story of pirates along the Somali coast than just bad guys in boats. In today's report, John Reid, President of the Conservation Strategy Fund in Sebastopol, looks past recent headlines to the root causes of this outbreak of nautical lawlessness.

 

Because natural resources are essential to the survival of millions of residents of undeveloped nations, CFS President John Reid (right) predicts that, in order to help preserve them, climate change will soon become a major factor in shaping US foreign policy.

 

 Michael Winship, senior writer for the weekly PBS public affairs program "Bill Moyers Journal," has additional background on this issue here.