‘If something catastrophic happens, I don’t have any buffer.’ “I believe there’s something that happens to your psyche when you’re being taken care of,â€? she says, describing how she “spiraledâ€? down ďŹ nancially after the economic downturn left her out of work. “It makes you feel weaker. I know I don’t like the feeling.â€? Her saving grace, she says, is that the whole process has been easier than she ďŹ rst anticipated. “I expected it to be slow and arduous, but it wasn’t,â€? says Caroline. “The employees make it very courteous, and it’s handled in a respectful way. The process is as speedy as they can make it, considering how overloaded they are.â€? Pedro Toledo, director of community and governmental relations at the Redwood Community Health Coalition, says changes enacted by AB 6 might encourage more people to apply. But he says for many families, especially those with language barriers or nonlegal status, the process can be daunting.
“It’s a pretty complicated application,â€? says Toledo. “If someone’s never ďŹ lled out a public-assistance application before, it can be difficult.â€? Joelle Brignoli says that myths still persist, despite efforts to educate the public. “There’s still inaccurate information out there—particularly in the Spanishspeaking population—that CalFresh is a public charge, and applying for beneďŹ ts will jeopardize their chance of citizenship down the road,â€? she says. In addition, those who are homeless can qualify, despite beliefs to the contrary, and some of the elderly and disabled might think that “it’s too much work for not enough beneďŹ ts.â€? Toledo’s organization has seen a positive upswing since combining health insurance screenings for children with CalFresh applications; they’ve successfully screened 2,000 applications in Sonoma County alone. In Napa County, where only about one-third of those eligible actually receive beneďŹ ts, enrollment workers have screened 14,000 kids for CalFresh; about 4,000 of those have been deemed eligible. “If someone submits their own application,â€? says Toledo, “the chance of it being accepted is about 30 percent, but if it’s submitted through our program, it’s about a 70 to 90 percent approval rating. “The fact that so many people are eligible and are not enrolled is pretty tragic when so many kids have health issues related to malnutrition,â€? adds Toledo. Keeping the beneďŹ ts rolling can be overwhelming for working parents. Richard came up against this recently when, after just three months, his $100 in beneďŹ ts got cut off. He’d missed the deadline on an important piece of paperwork. After calls to his case worker, he’s still waiting to hear back. “This was my ďŹ rst time doing it, and I didn’t realize the gravity of the deadline,â€? he says. “I made one clerical error, and that cut them off. It’s frustrating.â€?
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On Feb. 7, registered nurses at Sutter Santa Rosa Medical Center voted for a new 30-month collective-bargaining agreement. Initially, the hospital administration intended to implement reductions in beneďŹ ts and working conditions, or “takeaways,â€? as reported in these pages (“Hospital Heartbeat,â€? Oct. 26, 2011). After continued negotiations, the hospital withdrew these demands and the 350 RNs accepted the new contracts.
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“We are proud to have won a contract that preserves the patient-care standards and working conditions that Sutter Santa Rosa RNs deserve, including affordable healthcare for nurses and our families,� said Nancy Anderson, an RN in the neonatal intensive care unit and part of the CNA nurse negotiating team. The signing caps a tumultuous year of one-day strikes and back-andforth bargaining between the administration and the California Nurses Association.
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Trail Blazers As the number of bicycle and walking enthusiasts in the North Bay grows, so does the need for bike trails, especially ones that connect cities. On Feb. 8, the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition (SCBC) announced fundraising efforts for the PetalumaSebastopol Trail, an 11-mile, paved, multi-use trail that will link the two towns. “The trail will offer a safe, dedicated route for transportation and recreation by people who walk, bike, use wheelchairs, ride horses and use other nonmotorized modes,� according to Sandra Lupien, outreach director for the SCBC. To that end, the SCBC is spearheading a six-week campaign to raise $19,000 in matching funds; the goal is to help support a $190,000 Community Based Transportation Grant to fund a feasibility study on the planned trail project. Matching funds must be collected by March 15. For more info., or to donate, go to www.bikesonoma.org or call 707.545.0153.—Leilani Clark
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three-month quarterly paperwork turn-around. This move has made online and telephone applications easier. Yet for some, all the streamlining in the world won’t make the issue of pride go away. On a Friday afternoon in January, “Carolineâ€? ďŹ lled out paperwork at the Human Services office in Santa Rosa. Caroline, willing to talk on the condition of anonymity, is in her 40s with a college-aged daughter. She says that she waited two years to apply.