The youth social advocacy group’s bright green Dream Center on Summerfield Road in Santa Rosa is as bright and pale as ever. The nonprofit organization has been serving Sonoma County’s transitionally homeless youth for 53 years, but without immediate cash assistance, closure is imminent.
If its doors close, 67 young people, including three young children, will be left homeless and an additional 400 will lose access to vital mental health services. In addition, Sonoma County youth will no longer have access to the only 24/7 youth crisis hotline, as well as youth-centered street outreach and emergency shelters. In total, SAY serves her 3,000 youth and families throughout Sonoma County.
“This is and always will be about kids,” SAY Board of Directors Chairman Ted Patchett said at a Jan. 8 press conference. “When young people come here, we just help them.”
The organization is working with county supervisors this week on a Hail Mary call for financial support from the community to continue providing emergency shelter, mental health, career services and more.
But they know they can’t do that at the Dream Center. SAY 2.0’s plan calls for selling the Dream Center and using the proceeds to fund programs and lease smaller properties for emergency shelters. The property was last appraised in 2018, with an appraised value of $12.5 million.
The ideal plan, Patchett explained, would be to sell the Dream Center building while SAY restructures its business. That would allow SAY to move its emergency shelter and housing operations to smaller rental venues. SAY will also evaluate ways to restructure the counseling and career functions into an appropriately sustainable scale of operation that meets the county’s needs, according to a press release.
The goal is to raise $1 million by the end of this week so they can sell the Dream Center. Revenue from the Dream Center allows the organization to continue funding its programs in the future.
SAY’s budget shortfall is the result of a myriad of issues, none of which are unique to the organization, said Dennis Agnos, SAY’s chief development and operations officer.
“SAY is facing some of the same factors that have impacted many nonprofits over the past several years, including the pandemic, inflation, labor shortages, and a highly turbulent economy,” Agnos said. said.
What makes the organization unique, Agnos said, is that the population it serves requires a significant increase in service needs.
“In 2022, there was a 70% increase in youth homelessness among transition-age youth. Mental health needs have been exacerbated by, among other things, has increased rapidly over the past five years due to factors such as instability in
Additionally, since 2017, the organization has been hobbled by federal regulations that limit the number of youth Dream Centers can serve. Seven years ago, Continuum of Care rules limited the number of young people allowed to live and receive services in congregate care facilities like Dream Center to just 20 people.
The plan to house just 20 youth was not the original plan, nor would it have been financially sustainable.
“Had we known 12 years ago that state and federal regulations were coming into effect that would reduce the number of young people allowed to live in a building to 20, SAY would never have begun acquiring and building the Dream Center. Deaf,” Suan Burns said. Former SAY director.
Over the past five years, the organization has tried to stem the financial hemorrhage with a $400,000 line of credit and a $1.13 million bridge loan. The company also laid off staff and reorganized its organization to reduce operating costs. That effort is not enough, especially as organizations face infrastructure repairs and rising inflation, ballooning program operating costs.
Additionally, the organization, like many nonprofits in the county, has fallen victim to donor fatigue, failing to meet fundraising goals to fund programs and operating expenses.
It’s unclear how the organization plans to attract donors and maintain sustainable funding. The organization has also outlined plans to downsize its shelters to smaller sizes, although it is unclear exactly where those shelters will be located.
“I would ask the same question,” said District 1 Supervisor Susan Golin. “where?”
Golin said SAY will work with the city of Santa Rosa and the government to determine where the 67 residents SAY currently houses should the nonprofit fail to raise enough funds to continue operating. He said he is working with Sonoma County.
“We don’t have much [of space] People can move in there,” Golin said.
What is clear is the impact SAY will have on the community if it closes its doors to local youth and their families.
“SAY gives hope to those who need it most,” said Jasmine Riley, who once received SAY services as a youth. “I found myself alone and homeless for a while. SAY found me and gave me time to catch my breath. SAY gave me a sense of belonging.”
Now, Riley is proud to be the mother of a child who graduated high school and graduated from college.
“If SAY doesn’t continue its mission, where will our children go?” Riley asked.