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- Written by: Janine Smith-Citron
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Hospice Services of Lake County has announced the retirement of Executive Director Cindy Sobel after seven years of dedicated service to the agency and community.
“Since she joined Hospice Services in 2015, Sobel has demonstrated strong, genuine leadership,” said Don Hubbard, president of the Hospice Services of Lake County Board of Directors. “Under her leadership, Hospice Services has made tremendous strides in building a talented clinical team serving patients and families with skill and compassion. Cindy’s leadership maintained our role as an anchor health care provider in the community; and successfully navigated the remarkable challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“It’s been my personal mission to care for people who are transitioning into the next phase of their life,” said Sobel. “I feel so fortunate to have been part of the hospice industry which provides medical, emotional, and spiritual support to those facing the challenges associated with a serious health condition. I am leaving an extraordinary team of professionals to carry on this sacred calling.”
Hubbard added, “On behalf of the entire board of directors, we are incredibly grateful for the time Cindy has devoted to Hospice Services, and we wish her the very best in retirement. The board is deeply committed to conducting a thoughtful, extensive search and selecting an executive director that will continue to position Hospice Services as a regionally recognized, community-oriented health organization providing quality care for Lake County residents.”
As the board conducts the search process for the next executive director, Hospice Services, under a competent leadership team, will continue to deliver on its mission to provide high quality, patient-centered care to its diverse community members.
Hospice Services is a nonprofit health care organization serving Lake County residents for over 44 years.
The core of hospice service is to provide patient-and family-centered symptom management ensuring the highest level of comfort.
Services are available for individuals with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less and their caregivers wherever they call home.
Services are paid for 100% by Medicare, Medi-Cal and the Veterans Administration. Many private health insurances also cover hospice care.
Community members are encouraged to learn how our compassionate team can assist you and your loved ones … sooner is better.
Call 707-263-6222 or visit Hospice Services at 1862 Parallel Drive, Lakeport.
Additional information is also available on Hospice Services of Lake County’s website, www.lakecountyhospice.org.
Janine Smith-Citron is director of development for Hospice Services of Lake County .
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- Written by: North Coast Opportunities
Apply online by Sept. 15.
Formerly Building Homes, Building Lives, BUILD is a three-month course providing work experience and job readiness in this growing industry.
In this “earn and learn” format, participants receive hands on-education and mentorship directly from professionals in the field.
Participants are expected to commit to 30 hours a week of training at various locations across Lake County and are compensated at $16 an hour.
At the end of the program, each graduating participant receives a letter of recommendation, a certificate of completion, job placement opportunities and on-the-job equipment.
Of the participants that have graduated from BUILD, 87% have secured stable employment.
“BUILD is designed to take on basic training on behalf of employers so they will have an incoming workforce that is skilled and ready,” said Lead Project Coordinator Derek Fiedler-Riddle. “In turn, local residents have a stepping stone into their careers and will show up on the job equipped with the experience and confidence to be successful.”
Labor challenges are pervasive across many industries in Lake County. While unemployment on a national scale has returned to pre-pandemic levels, the need for skilled and dependable workers remains a local challenge.
For the last three years, Building Homes, Building Lives has been providing paid foundational training in the construction and building trades for low-income community members to promote economic security and help fill local workforce gaps in the industry. Under its new branding and program design, BUILD will be able to expand its scope to provide job training in a variety of fields beyond building and construction.
“We realize there is a need to fill experience and hiring gaps in many sectors,” said Fiedler-Riddle. “The new name and design will allow us to develop projects to respond to various workforce needs in the community.”
This program is possible due to collaborations with several local organizations including Bridges Construction, NCO New Digs, Woodland Community College, Mendocino College, CareerPoint Lake, and many others devoted to housing support and workforce development in Lake County.
NCO BUILD will be launching a new website in the coming weeks.
To apply for the upcoming BUILD class, visit bit.ly/BUILD-apply or call 707-998-8650 for more information.
Applications close Sept. 15 and spaces are limited. Participants accepted to the program will receive a tool belt sign-on bonus valued at $200.
NCO is the Community Action Agency that serves Lake and Mendocino counties, as well as parts of Humboldt, Sonoma, Del Norte and Solano counties.
NCO reacts and adjusts to community needs, including disaster response and recovery.
For more information visit www.ncoinc.org or call 707-467-3200.
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- Written by: OFFICE OF SEN. BILL DODD
“We know that clearing combustible vegetation around our homes minimizes potential damage and the chances for wildfire to spread,” Sen. Dodd said. “We must take steps to protect ourselves as we’re seeing multiple infernos threaten communities across our state. I thank the governor for signing this bill, which will help measure how well we’re creating defensible space and decide on potential life-saving investments to keep our families safe.”
In a report last fall, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office cited the creation of defensible space around homes and other structures as among the most valuable steps that can be taken to reduce the destructiveness of wildfires.
Under existing law, homeowners in certain areas are required to create these fire-safe spaces. However, because of a number of factors, compliance and inspections are inconsistent from region to region, the LAO found.
Senate Bill 896 responds to the agency’s recommendations for increasing compliance and reducing future losses. It includes provisions to gather more information on defensible space inspections through improved data collection and to take initial steps to address other barriers to state and local defensible space efforts.
It also supports additional research to identify effective strategies to improve defensible space compliance and to conduct oversight activities to learn from and inform future policy decisions.
SB 896 was signed by the governor today after receiving overwhelming support in the Legislature.
“I very much appreciate the governor’s recognition of this important issue,” said Yana Valachovic, forest advisor and county director for the University of California Cooperative Extension-Humboldt and Del Norte counties. “It will contribute to helping communities track progress toward adoption of this important practice.”
Defensible space — and wildfire protection in general — has been a top priority for Sen. Dodd for several years, beginning in 2019 with his authorship of SB 190 which directed the state fire marshal to develop model defensive space standards that local governments could voluntarily use as part of their zoning codes.
Dodd represents the Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Sacramento counties.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Senate Bill 914 — The HELP (“Homeless Equity for Left Behind Populations”) Act — would improve California’s response to homelessness by requiring cities, counties, and continuums of care that receive state funding to address homelessness to include domestic violence survivors and unaccompanied women within the vulnerable populations for whom specific system supports are developed.
The bill also requires the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to set and measure progress towards goals to prevent and end homelessness for these vulnerable populations.
“Unsheltered women and unsheltered transgender individuals report shockingly high numbers of domestic violence,” said Sen. Rubio. “I want to thank my co-sponsors for their amazing work in serving our most vulnerable populations, and my colleagues for supporting this landmark bill. As our state and local governments continue to work toward ending the homeless crisis, we must make sure that we do not leave any part of the homeless population behind. Domestic violence services for individuals experiencing homelessness have been grossly underfunded, and the HELP Act is needed to help these vulnerable populations and focus on their unique needs.”
“We’re grateful to the Senate and the Assembly for recognizing the inextricable link between domestic violence and homelessness,” said Christine Smith, public policy coordinator for the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence. “We are excited to see SB 914 move next to the Governor’s Desk. This important bill will ensure state and local governments will be one step closer to creating a gender-inclusive and intersectional homelessness system that will support survivors as they heal. This is one important element of the Partnership's economic justice work.”
“The Downtown Women’s Center applauds the California State Legislature for voting to pass the HELP Act. This is an important step in addressing the longstanding gaps in our current homeless response system,” said Amy Turk, C.E.O. of the Downtown Women's Center. “As a co-sponsor of the bill, and the only organization in Los Angeles focused exclusively on serving and empowering women experiencing homelessness, we are grateful to Senator Rubio for raising awareness of the specific issues facing unaccompanied women and victims of domestic violence. DWC looks forward to this legislation becoming law and California becoming the national leader on combating women’s homelessness.”
“Rainbow Services is grateful for the overwhelming support of SB 914,” said Tatiana Doorman, director of community engagement for Rainbow Services. “We look forward to the day when survivors and unaccompanied women are no longer left behind in any community plan to end homelessness, and we are proud to be co-sponsoring this groundbreaking legislation.”
Since joining the State Senate, Sen. Rubio has prioritized addressing the state’s affordable housing shortage and homelessness crisis.
A member of the Senate Housing Production Working Group, she has authored several affordable housing bills over the past two years.
In 2022, Sen. Rubio authored Senate Resolution 61 declaring the month of March 2022 as Unaccompanied Women Experiencing Homelessness Awareness Month in California.
In 2019, Sen. Rubio authored SB 751 to create the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust for local communities to collaborate regionally and support affordable housing projects and homeless shelter programs.