Sonoma Land Trust

Change, SDC’s Future

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June 15, 2015:

A great article from the Valley of the Moon Magazine describes the Sonoma Developmental Center, capturing the struggles the Center continues to face and the obvious fact that change will happen in the near future.

“400 severely disabled human beings,
1,300 jobs, 945 acres of priceless open space.
What will the future hold?”

Please take a few minutes to read this insightful article below.

Inside Outside SDC

Provided courtesy of the Valley of the Moon Magazine, with stories and photos by David Bolling.

One of SDC’s Crafts

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June 8, 2015:

Working as a cobbler for the Sonoma Developmental Center, Lisa Glover has crafted shoes to fit those whose feet are contorted. She enables the residents to move around pain-free because of these shoes; propelling themselves in their wheelchairs, and protected their feet from bruises.

Please click on the link provided below to read more of this article or visit the website here to view the article at its source.

An anachronism, a cobbler and Alice

Provided courtesy of The Sacramento Bee website, by Dan Morain.

Update on Sonoma Developmental Center’s Southern California Counterpart

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

June 8, 2015:

With the recent closure of Lanterman Developmental Center, it has been decided that the land will be transferred to Cal Poly Pomona, despite that city’s desire to have a role in planning the reuse of the land. Due to the property’s size as well as the location of the center, if could have offered the ability for the city and the region to carry out pioneering projects that they would have benefited from for many years to come.

Please take a look at the article in the link below.

Closed SoCal developmental center will go to university, not private developers

Provided courtesy of the Sonoma Valley Sun website. The article first appeared in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, by Jason Henry and Monica Rodriguez.

Sonoma Developmental Center, Sonoma Land Trust Update

/ Sonoma Land Trust / 2 Comments

June 5, 2015:

Following on the heels of our Transform SDC public workshop, we learned that the Governor’s budget calls for an expedited closure plan of the Sonoma Development Center.

Ultimately, the plan for Sonoma Development Center needs to represent a public-private partnership which creates durable solutions that are derived from the ideas and interests of the community.

Please take a couple of minutes to read the SDC update provided in the link below.

Sonoma Developmental Center, Sonoma Land Trust Update

DDS Announces Closure and Stakeholder Outreach Plan for SDC

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June 5, 2015:

On behalf of the Department of Developmental Services Director Santi Rogers, the following letter, addressed to residents, family members, employees, regional centers, and other interested parties explains the efforts being put forth and the plan moving forward for the Sonoma Developmental Center since the announcement of SDC’s proposed closure by 2018.

“The state is attempting to negotiate a settlement with the federal government to continue….”

Please click on the link below to read the rest of this letter.

DDS Announces Closure and Stakeholder Outreach Plan for SDC

SDC Fact Sheet For Our Legislative Effort

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June 1, 2015:

Sonoma County, Parent Hospital Association, Sonoma Ecology Center and the Sonoma Land Trust have produced a two page “fact sheet” for use in our legislative effort to ensure that the closure process for SDC includes meaningful and significant public participation, and that the residents, employees and resources of SDC are honored and protected during this process.  The fact sheet is in direct response to many of the concerns and criticisms that we heard in the Legislature this past year about the quality of care at SDC, and a general lack of knowledge about its many benefits and resources.

Please take a look at the fact sheet provided in the link below.

SDC Fact Sheet

Continuing Talks About SDC Closure

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June 1, 2015:

The desire to close the Sonoma Developmental Center in three years, as previously stated is too soon. But with this timeline in place, the coalition has been working extra hard to find a way to extend it and create a plan based off the feedback received at the first workshop to delay these closure plans imposed by Governor Brown’s office.

For the latest article on SDC, please click on the link below.

Governor wants to close SDC in three years

Provided courtesy of The Kenwood Press website, by Jay Gamel.

A Historical Perspective of the Sonoma Developmental Center

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May 28, 2015:

Beginning in 1891, SDC has contained a rich history as a ‘community within a community.’ With the State’s desire to close the Sonoma Developmental Center by 2018, this all may change. The following article provides a brief personal historical perspective of Eldridge and how SDC has shaped the community into what it is today.

Click on the link below to read this insightful article.

Musings of a Sonoma son: When Eldridge was a real community

Provided courtesy of the Sonoma Index-Tribune website.

Questioning the Value of Small Group Homes For All

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May 27, 2015:

The following article offers evidence that for some developmentally disabled people, large campuses and farmsteads are better than small group homes.

Click on the link below to read about these insightful findings, where new state laws could infringe on big facilities ability to survive.

Who Decides Where Autistic Adults Live?

Provided courtesy of The Atlantic website, by Amy S.F. Lutz.

SDC Closure Letter From Assemblymember Marc Levine

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May 21, 2015:

The following is an additional letter that has been submitted to the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees from Assemblymember Marc Levine regarding the Governor’s recent budget proposal to close SDC by 2018 along with the trailer bill language requiring that the Department of Developmental Services provide a closure plan to the Legislature by October 1st of this year.

“Therefore, I respectfully request that if closure of SDC remains in the budget, that the appropriate Senate and Assembly Budget Subcommittees consider the following changes in adopting budget language relative to closure of SDC…”

Click on the link below to read the entirety of the letter.

SDC Closure Letter From Assemblymember Marc Levine