A few weeks ago, while running holiday errands with my husband, I noticed a middle-aged woman who was using the entrance of a vacant building to shelter herself from the elements. She had a coat, some blankets, and a shopping cart filled with her belongings.  I asked my husband to stop by a drive through on our way back and we gave her some food. I remember feeling powerless and wanting to do more. I’ve been praying for her ever since. As I tuck myself in my cozy bed, I wonder if she is warm enough at night, I wonder when it was the last time she spoke with someone she cared about, but most of all, I wonder if she is safe.
As we began our VCLA session on Housing, Land Use, and Homelessness held on January 8th, I was eager to learn how I might be able to help those members of our community who are experiencing homelessness. The morning opened up with former VCLA member Tara Carruth, MSW, from Ventura County Continuum of Care at the County of Ventura. She shared the solution to homelessness is housing. Tara reminded us of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Housing is part of the basic needs of a person. When someone doesn’t have to worry about their basic needs, they can be empowered to seek help for any other conditions that may have led them to be without a home. These conditions may be substance abuse, mental or physical illness, or a natural disaster. Tara shared data on how our county is struggling to meet the needs of people who are experiencing homelessness.

The lack of affordable housing was a consistent message we heard from our speakers throughout our session. Which is one of the biggest reasons there is such a big gap between the number of people served, and people moved into either housing or temporary placements.
Nicholas Deitch, Founding Partner of Mainstreet Architects shared what are very promising plans to address the affordable housing shortage in our county. He shared plan renderings of mixed used buildings where people can access affordable housing, close to where they work, access to small shops, and beautiful rooftop lofts where residents can enjoy a sense of community. The challenge comes from residents who fear building multiple story apartment buildings, may change their neighborhood in a negative way. Traffic, safety, and property value are among the higher areas of concern. However, there is no data that supports those concerns.

We also had the privilege of hearing from Rafael Stoneman, Mobile Veteran Outreach from the Gold Coast Veterans Foundation. He shared his own anecdotes in his efforts to connect veterans who are experiencing homelessness with resources, services, and in the best-case scenarios, housing. It was very moving to hear from him and the stories he shared. They illustrated the different levels of challenges people are faced with when for example, their car which they are using as shelter, is taken to the pound leaving a person completely without resources. If they don’t have the money to pay the many fees to the pound and the city, the car eventually gets sold for scrap. It seems we should be able to provide some sort of leniency to those that are in dire need. Particularly, in these times of a pandemic where those who are most underserved are at such higher risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19.

Just as I was connecting the pieces and wondering how we can take action, as I am sure it was the case with all of my cohort, Max Ghenis, Co-founder & Co-lead of Ventura County YIMBY, shared ways in which YIMBY is organizing to support building plans to address the affordable housing shortage very much like those Mr. Deitch shared. When these plans are submitted to city councils for approval, it is more often you hear from those who are afraid these plans may compromise their community. Becoming more involved voicing our support for housing plans during these meetings, sharing the housing need, the positive effects it will have in the county as a whole, is extremely important to be able to help these plans move forward. Anyone who is interested can visit https://cayimby.org/ for more information.

A virtual tour to the River Haven tiny homes was one of the highlights of our session. Suki Sir virtually walked us through the site where 23 tiny houses are currently sheltering members of our community. Community members who are currently River Haven residents, are connected with services and resources including mental health, rehab centers, job placement, etc. Because, as we mentioned at the beginning of this blog, once a person has the basic needs, they can move forward with the other conditions that contributed to their inability to secure a home.

During our session, we also heard from; Eric Harrison, President & CEO of United Way of Ventura County, Barton Stern, President of Ventura Investment Co., and Tim Gallagher, Vistage Advisory Group Chair and President of The 20/20 Network. All of our speakers were informative and inspirational. I know I share the feeling with my entire cohort of giving ourselves a call to action to collaborate with each other and the entire VCLA Alumni to support our efforts to address the high need for affordable housing in our county. I very much look forward for opportunities to make a difference and a positive impact not only for that one woman I encountered, but for the many who are experiencing homelessness. 

We started the day with a presentation by Matthew Fienup from California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research and Forecasting. Every time I hear him speak, I wish I had studied economy instead of music and psychology. Ok, maybe not instead of; perhaps in addition to.
The news was unsurprisingly concerning. The County’s pre-COVID economy was lagging and we are now working our way through a world-wide pandemic with economic impacts that dwarf the 2008 recession. Eventually, we will come out the other side, but the recovery is not projected to be as robust, as fast, or as complete we may wish.
Matthew shared a slide of his adorable puppy and asked a simple question: “whose eyes do you see this crisis through?”. For his new puppy, coming into his home slightly before the onset of the pandemic, sheltering in place probably seemed like the greatest idea ever. Everyone in the family was home 24/7 which translated into frequent walks and a non-stop stream of affection and human companionship – a dog’s dream.
Some of us are experiencing something similar to the puppy. Those who can easily work remotely remain employed safely at home and are less likely to contract the disease. Sometimes, the results of sheltering in place can even feel like blessings. For example, I traded my minimum 65-minute round trip commute for a very long walk through my neighborhood in the mornings and some parts of life seemed to slow down, a relief from the constant movement of life before. I was in a unique position to be able to support my daughter as she embarked on the strange journey that is distance learning but even more than that, I am suddenly a part of her kindergarten experience in a way that I never would have been had she started in 2019 instead of 2020. For this group, some things are better than they were before. This group is fortunate.
Unfortunately, this way of experiencing the pandemic is not universal. The pandemic is disproportionately impacting some groups more than others. Matthew stressed in his presentation that there are families who did not recover economically from the 2008 recession and there are those who will not recover economically from this most recent crisis. Job loss, illness, reduced hours and sudden and prolonged unemployment will have long-lasting impacts for many families in our community. I think it is important to note as well that this presentation was focused on economy – it didn’t delve into the physical and emotional impacts of this crisis, which will also disproportionately impact some members and groups in our community more than others.
We are in for rough times, but the impacts have not been and will not be felt equally. There is concern of a K shaped recovery, in which people in higher paying, technical and remote sectors recover strongly while lower-paying, non-remote industries decline and fail to recover as quickly or as fully. Two separate, side-by-side recoveries with significant and lasting repercussions which would exacerbate existing inequalities in our community.
One would expect, based upon the lack of pre-pandemic local economic growth followed by pandemic fueled job losses, that the housing market would soften. Ventura County consistently defies these expectations. Pre-pandemic, rent and home prices continued to increase while incomes since 2000, after adjusting for inflation, decreased . Stranger still, home prices and rent continue to increase even in the wake of the pandemic. It is staggering and almost incomprehensible; but 15 years of working in the housing industry have frequently caused me to pause and wonder if housing here will ever be attainable for all members of our community.
After the seriousness of the morning presentations, the drum circle was a welcome respite. There is something about the rhythm and resonance of a drum circle that speaks to our soul. It’s an external, shared heartbeat. A community.
We came together in the courtyard of the Museum of Ventura County, masked and distanced in a large circle. Instantly dubbed “The VCLA Cohort 26 Percussion Ensemble”, John Lacques from Drumtime led us in call and response and then randomly called on each of us to play a solo – a connected series of short performances by VCLA’s finest and truest drum amateurs (well at least most of us were amateurs – I have my suspicions about a few of you!). I was nervous. I like to be prepared. Even as a musician I was not an improviser; I diligently practiced so that I would be ready for every performance. As I anxiously waited for my turn to solo (have I mentioned that the primary factor that ended my musical career was chronic and debilitating stage fright?), I placed my hands on my drumhead so that I was ready to go when I was called. It was then that something magical happened. My drum wasn’t sitting idle. It was immediately clear that it wasn’t tensely waiting, worried about what would happen when it was our turn (traitor!). It was engaged, vibrating sympathetically with the current soloist, quietly understanding what was being said and singing along.
We are connected, it softly reminded me. Even when we are socially distanced, even if we seem completely detached, alone and disconnected. We are part of a bigger whole.
Shortly after this realization, I managed to mess up my very short solo. Somehow, I got off beat. As a former musician, it was humbling. I don’t exercise my creative muscles often enough anymore. I am pulled in so many exhausting directions every day as I multi-task my roles as a wife, parent, friend, employee and concerned local citizen. I am out of practice and out of touch with my own creativity. I have felt it before, and I felt it again, calling to me to return. One day, I will find a way to answer that call.
Live music exists in the moment. It dawned on me that even as I had stumbled, the other drums (and drummers) had been there, quietly beating in support. Once again, I placed my hands on the drumhead, noting that my drum was already actively responding to the beat of the next drummer. We are connected.
As I looked around the circle, I reflected that sitting in community with people outside of my household has become a novel experience. Something I used to take for granted was suddenly a profound and specific joy. One of the most impactful consequences of prolonged orders to shelter in place is that we are isolated from family and friends. Less often, we think about how isolated we are from our community as a whole. Interacting with acquaintances and strangers is an important and under-rated part of our social fabric. The arts are critical in connecting us, before, during and after this pandemic finally ends. For a brief time, music brought shared experience and community to our cohort. 

Zoom meeting that has come to be the standard for group meetings these days, let me tell you it did not disappoint. We were guided through a beautiful history of leadership by the knowledgeable and thought provoking Genevieve Evans Taylor (VCLA Cohort XVI), Chief of Staff to the President at CSU Channel Islands. We examined the evolution of leadership throughout the years and began on a deeper dive into the journey of relational leadership. We each explored the concepts of being inclusive and ensuring diversity is at the table, sharing our power to empower others, as well as the importance of leadership being purposeful, ethical, and process oriented. We leaned into and celebrated the idea that anyone can be a leader, being reminded it is a choice one makes and does not happen by accident. 

Next up, we were headed to our very first on-site meeting as a cohort at The Search Dog Rescue Foundation in one of the most beautiful facilities I’ve experienced in our county. With lots of open space, we were each given our own chair, doused with hand sanitizer, and told to pick a space on the grass of what seemed like the size of a football field. We are the FIRST VCLA Cohort to meet in-person in the midst of a pandemic and we handled it well...socially distanced, masked, and hand sanitizer flowin’! As VCLA Director Pattie Braga gave us the rundown, it became evidently clear that the opportunities abound for our group and the importance of taking advantage of connecting with and learning from the leaders around us.

Thanks to Dr. Tiffany Morse (VCLA Cohort XVII), Superintendent of Ojai Unified School District, we got to know our fellow cohorts real quick! Who knew a group could have so much fun and learn so much about what another through “socially distanced icebreakers?!” We so appreciated Dr. Morse’s approach to facilitating this and going the extra mile to ensure just the perfect mix of fun and seriousness to begin forming the bonds that will carry us through this year. 

Throughout the day we had multiple sessions that were nothing short of engaging and thought-provoking as well as welcomed by various county leaders. Brad “Brick” Conners, City Manager of Port Hueneme and President & CEO Pharos Leadership joined us and shared his excitement and admiration for our group and what we are doing. Chiany Dri, Anti-racism Educator and Consultant spent some time leading us through a series of Bias exercises and a very meaningful discussion around diversity. Rhett Mauck, Director of Development at The Search Dog Foundation gave us a tour and history of their work--simply amazing--I encourage you to reach out for a tour and learn more! Last but not least, Herb Gooch, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science (Ret) at California Lutheran University gave us a crash course in local and state politics. 

Although I enjoyed and learned from many aspects of the program; our visit to Sacramento & meeting with our representatives, visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Situation Room, touring the Waste Management Recycling Plant and the Colleagues Municipal Water District, it was being invited to attend the California Lutheran University’s Center for Economic Research & Forecasting (CERF) luncheon in 2019 that helped sparked my recent run for office.  It was at this luncheon where I realized for the first time that Ventura County is experiencing negative population growth.  Additionally, the city in which I reside (Santa Paula), is in the second year of population loss.  I asked myself how this could be, as I see Ventura County as a gem on the coast, so beautiful that we are a tourist destination, with amenities that would attract anyone to want to live here.  That is when I decided that while I may not be able to help the county at large, I can be more involved on a local level and work to shine a light on all the wonderful things Santa Paula is and can be.  The VCLA program gave me mountains of great information which I learned from the guest speakers and presenters that were experts in their fields.  This knowledge gave me the confidence to sit and have breakfast with the City Manager, ask probing questions and learn more about local issues impacting my community. I decided to get more involved and was soon appointed to the Measure T Commission, then eventually deciding to run for City Council, hoping to be that next generation leader and voice in our community.

I believe that I am qualified to serve on Santa Paula's city council not only because of my roots in the Santa Paula community, my experience in the nonprofit sector, but because I completed the VCLA program. It has taught me about the issues impacting in not only my own city, but throughout the county.  I’ve built lasting connections with my cohort, many of VCLA’s over 600 other alumni, and I believe it has allowed me to build relationships with people that I can partner and collaborate with to make our community a better place.  Thank you VCLA for staying true to your mission and supporting existing and emerging leaders like myself and giving me tools to go out and make a difference in my community.