Her quiet efforts to provide homes and medical care for orphaned children in rural South Africa have brought international recognition to a 75-year old nurse, as well as a visit to northern California.

 

Perhaps because she was 14 by the time she was able to start school, Sister Abigail knew that she wanted to be a nurse, a career path she says was based on two sorts of inspiration.

 Today, Sister Abigail is lauded and loved for her dual community based projects, Clouds of Hope, a home for orphaned children, and  The Khuphuka Project, which provides heath care services for adults, especially those who are HIV-positive.

It's a long, long way from the mountains of South Africa to Sonoma County and San Francisco, a journey that Sister Abigail recalls began with a whim, and took flight with a big surprise.

 

Some creative new measures have helped Sebastopol's Palm Drive hospital climb back out of bankruptcy.

 

Providing outpatient medical services to the inmates of San Quentin prison has become a helpful additional source of revenue for Palm Drive. Getting that program started with the California Department of Corrections (CDC) mostly required a little extra entreprenurial initiative, according to hospital CEO Jim Russel (below).

 

Palm Drive is also  trying something new by having psychologist Dr. David J. Murphy (below) on call to assist with mental health crises in the hospital emergency room.

By assisting and intervening as the individuals are admitted, he is often able diffuse volatile situations,and avoid the involvement of law enforcement personnel.This both reduces costs at county facilities, and enables the patients to receive treatment closer to home. 

Mary Lightfine's first foreign nursing experience was in a decaying hospital in an African war zone. It inspired her to found her own international immersion agency, Volunteers without Boundaries.

Lightfine will talk about her personal history and her organization in the Cooperage at Sonoma State University, on Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 pm. 

Mary has also written this memoir about her experiences during that tumultuous first year in Somalia, which she says is intended in part as a cautionary tale for others heading abroad to do volunteer work.

 

One personal encounter was the turning point that brought a Petaluma man into his present role, leading one of the county's largest provider of services to the homeless.

For a big picture look at homelessness across the United States today, listen to the Homelessness Marathon overnight tonight on KRCB, beginning at 10 pm.

 John Records, Executive Director, Committee on the Shelterless.

In the second part of this report on the ways in which COTS is responding to the upturn in demand for their services, Records defines what are being called th "new homeless," and outlines some of the measures being developed to serve them.

The history of COTS is a tapestry of many individual stories, some of which have been compiled in a book recently published by the agency. Invitation to Service:  Stories from COTS relates the stories of clients, families volunteers and friends and their experiences through COTS. Tours of their facilities in Petaluma and Rohnert Park are offered monthly. You'll find dates and other information here.