SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – Up to 10,000 Sacramento households affected by the pandemic, particularly low-income households with children and seniors, will receive free broadband access this fall through a new pilot program launched by the City of Sacramento and United Way California Capital Region. Funded through the federal CARES Act, the Digital Equity program also will provide free computers to up to 1,000 households as well as digital literacy training on how to use the technology. To qualify, an applicant must be a City of Sacramento resident and eligible for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Medicaid or WIC. To apply and learn more, call 211 or visit sacramentocovidrelief.org/digital.
The Digital Equity program aims to address unequal access to technology, known as the digital divide, which has expanded during the pandemic.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected our low-income communities and made it even more crucial that we close the digital divide,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “Providing reliable Internet access to families in Sacramento means more children can learn and more adults can work or take advantage of education and retraining that will help them succeed in today’s job market.”
Participating households will receive broadband at no cost through December and will be offered service through the Comcast Internet Essentials program at a discounted rate after that. Households receiving computers will be offered refurbished Dell Chromebooks. The program will contract with community-based nonprofits and school districts to provide outreach, identify households in need and house “digital champions” who will work on outreach, case management and training in targeted geographic areas. Digital champions are community residents with technology skill sets who are trained to help households with broadband application and provide basic digital literacy education.
“The pandemic has brought the digital inequities in our community to the forefront, and I am happy to see our city working to provide residents with access to Internet and computers to be able to learn, work and stay connected with others,” said Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby. “This program will help close these digital gaps by providing equipment, connection and digital literacy to those most in need.”
Of the more than 24 million unconnected households nationwide, the digital divide disproportionately affects minority and low-income populations. According to the Federal Communications Commission, 35 percent of adults who do not use broadband at home are older, poorer, less educated, more likely to be a racial or ethnic minority, and more likely to have a disability than those with a home connection.
“We are honored to partner with the city to provide Sacramento residents in need with equal access to the technology necessary to succeed during the pandemic,” said Stephanie Bray, president and CEO, United Way California Capital Region. “This project is an important element of United Way’s Square One Project that is working to make sure families have the tools and resources they need so kids can graduate from high school ready for success in college or career. There is no doubt that Internet access and technology will play an increasingly vital role in kids’ success in school.”
For nearly 100 years, United Way California Capital Region has brought local people together to make community change happen. Today, the nonprofit is bringing people together across Amador, El Dorado, Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties for its Square One Project, a 20-year promise to significantly increase the number of students in our region who graduate from high school ready for success in college and beyond. United Way believes ending poverty starts in school and is working to ensure kids meet important milestones and their families receive support and resources. To learn more and make a donation, visit YourLocalUnitedWay.org.
Changing Children’s Futures
Lilliput Families Gets Halloween Goodies from Women’s Club
CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - “Change a child’s life, so they can change the future.” This is the motto of Lilliput Families, now a part of Wayfinder Family Services.
During their first in-person meeting in months, women of the Citrus Heights Women’s Club (General Federation of Women’s Clubs), met under the trees at Rusch Park in Citrus Heights on October 7, to help brighten the lives of many of those children here in Citrus Heights.
Club members assembled sixty colorful Halloween goodie bags full of candy and other prizes for Lilliput families. A Venmo fundraising challenge provided funds to make this special project possible.
The Halloween bags were delivered to the main office in Citrus Heights to the delight of staff. Anything that can brighten the day or fill a need of a child blesses their foster and adoptive parents as well.
This is not the first collaboration between women club ladies and Lilliput. Mandy Buechner, president of this club and of Sutter District (comprised of 11 clubs), adopted Lilliput as the district’s project for her term of office as president. Since 2018 district clubs have contributed to Lilliput.
After Lilliput’s main office relocated to Citrus Heights one club invited Doni DeBolt, Director of Community Relations, to speak to its members about what they do to serve families and how members can help. Passing this information on to other clubs, district members were ready to answer the call when a disaster affected Lilliput families.
After the Paradise fire in November of 2018, Lilliput worked with their offices in Redding and Chico as Sutter District members responded to the need with clothes, toiletries, blankets and toys when 20 of their family’s homes were destroyed. One father, a handyman lost all his tools in the fire but they were quickly replaced by club members.
Since Lilliput’s inception in 2000 more than 54,000 children have found forever homes in 400 cities throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.
On July 1, Lilliput merged with Los Angeles based Wayfinder whose resources include five group homes for children and adults.
Lilliput is a private, non-profit agency licensed by the state of California. They offer foster, adoption and kinship care community-based programs serving 250 to 300 families in the larger Sacramento Area and 13 offices servicing multiple counties throughout California.
Their Kinship program works with grandparents and other extended family members to help children remain with their families and to keep siblings together. Early intervention for youth at risk, including older teenagers, also provides services to teach parents the skills they need to help their children avoid entering the foster care system.
Unique special needs of families are met, such as an air purifier needed for a child whose asthma from birth was exasperated following the recent fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties. An air purifier and surface disinfecting machine was located and donated by Nina Daya Consulting with naturespurityhealth.com.
November is National Adoption Month and National Adoption Day is Saturday, November 21.
Life has been especially challenging for Lilliput family members during Covid-19. Having all family members within their homes 24/7 has been hard but resources to help families cope have been made available while maintaining all Covid-19 safety precautions.
Community members can help make life easier for these families by participating in Lilliput’s 2020 ‘Spare One for the Kids’ (virtual) 13th annual bowling fundraiser on November 12, from 6:00 – 6:45 p.m. All money raised will help fund foster and kinship programs.
For more information visit Lilliput.org; or call (916) 678-7254. Visit chwomensclub.com or on Facebook at GFWC Citrus Heights Women’s Club
Source: awarenessdays.com; Lilliput/Wayfinder.
SMUD Personnel X-Ray High-Voltage Lines while Suspended from a Helicopter
EL DORADO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - SMUD’s high-voltage transmission lines that traverse the Sierra deliver large amounts of power from SMUD’s hydroelectric facilities to SMUD customers in the valley. Critical to the lines’ capability are the splices that enable the lines to be continuous. As transmission lines are strung or repaired over time, the splices—tubular metal sleeves that connect long sections of conductor—can degrade and fail. A fault can significantly impact the electrical system, potentially leaving thousands of customers without power. Failure of splices can also lead to unsafe situations especially if a line would separate and fall.
To find potential faults, a SMUD lineworker suspended in a chair connected by a long tether to a helicopter uses state-of-the-art portable X-ray photography to inspect these major transmission lines that feed the SMUD grid. Simultaneously on the ground, a crew looks at the live X-ray pictures and data being collected and can identify any potential problem immediately and assign it for prompt repair to prevent future failure. SMUD has been using the technology for several years. This year’s work covered a huge section of transmission lines from Folsom to Pollock Pines.
"This work is part of our ongoing year-in, year-out maintenance to harden the SMUD grid,” said SMUD Chief Energy Delivery Officer Frankie McDermott. “This tool enables us to see issues that could lead to line failure and power outages, or worse, a compromise in the safety of our infrastructure which we dutifully work to prevent.”
These high-voltage lines are strung atop high lattice-style towers. Maintenance and repairs on them can involve a lot of work, sometimes more than one hundred feet above the ground.
The work is part of many ongoing SMUD grid projects to improve and enhance safe and reliable power delivery. The transmission lines in El Dorado County deliver power from the SMUD’s Upper American River Project (UARP), the huge system of hydroelectric power plants in the Sierra. The UARP’s nearly 700 megawatts of clean power can provide about 20 percent of SMUD’s power in a normal water year, which can be crucial especially in summer months when market power is more expensive.
Reliability is a core value of SMUD, a policy set by the SMUD Board of Directors who is elected by SMUD customers. To fulfill that policy, SMUD continues to bolster the infrastructure that comprises SMUD’s grid. For more information about SMUD, visit SMUD.org.
SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – The 2020 California wildfire season may go down as one of the most destructive in history and while nearly 70% of Americans say they are concerned about weather-related disasters, less than half have a disaster plan, and 44% say they’re not sure how to prepare for wildfires.1
Preparing for wildfires is especially relevant for California residents as the state is listed as number one on the top 10 “Most Wildfire-Prone States” list, according to the Insurance Information Institute’s, with over 2 million properties at risk.
“Although it might be the last thing on your mind, a disaster could occur in any community at any time in California,” said Allstate community relations manager, Kyla O’Brien. “Allstate is here to help California communities prepare and be less vulnerable in the event of a sudden disaster. Creating an emergency kit for you and your family is step one.”
From Oct. 5 – 9, 2020, Allstate agents throughout California provided 10,000 free disaster preparedness kits. While supplies last, to residents who wish to take that first step in preparing for wildfires. Residents can visit one of the participating Allstate agents and must adhere to social distancing guidelines, ie. wear a mask, when picking up a kit
In recognition of their volunteerism The Allstate Foundation will donate a $100,000 grant to the California Fire Foundation, on behalf of the participating agents. The grant will fund their wildfire disaster relief program, providing funding to smaller nonprofits to help with local community wildfire disaster relief efforts across the state. You can learn more about the California Fire Foundation and their programs here.
“We are extremely thankful for Allstate's generous donation to our Foundation," said Rick Martinez, Executive Director of the California Fire Foundation. "As the need for the California Fire Foundation’s programs continues to grow, especially given the recent unprecedented wildfires, their support and generosity make a tremendous difference to California firefighters, their families, and the communities they protect."
To help protect people from wildfire danger, Allstate is also sharing simple preparation tips you can put in place immediately.
Allstate Wildfire Disaster Planning Tips:
(1) Build a Disaster Kit: It should contain basic supplies to last a few days without water or electricity. Essentials include water bottles, first-aid kits, flashlights, emergency blankets, hand sanitizer, and rain ponchos;
(2) Take a Home Inventory: Make a detailed list of your assets in case you need to file an insurance claim. Using a mobile app can be an easy and effective way to keep the list and take photos. Allstate offers its Digital Locker for customers to take a home inventory and securely store their information;
(3) Create a Household Emergency Evacuation Plan: It should include a family meeting place in your neighborhood that’s safe during and after the pandemic;
(4) Protect Your Home from a Wildfire: Keep flammable materials away from your home and create buffers using landscaping.
The California Fire Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, provides emotional and financial assistance to families of fallen firefighters, firefighters and the communities they protect. Formed in 1987 by California
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) – Natural disasters whether forecasted or having the element of surprise can leave areas devastated for long periods. As the 2017 floods showed, rebounding can be costly and time consuming. It is possible to reduce that impact before disaster strikes, but to do that requires having a well-developed Hazard Mitigation Plan in place. That plan provides guidance before anything occurs, as well as a roadmap to help get people back on their feet.
Sacramento County is updating its 2021 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) to develop a long-term strategy for reducing disaster losses. The County is teaming with cities and several special districts to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requirements to ensure eligibility for FEMA pre- and post-disaster grant funding along with receiving lower costs of flood insurance to residents through the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS).
The County is looking for residents to take an active role in developing the 2021 LHMP. No specific background is required. Residents would attend community meetings, and review a draft plan to provide important feedback. Their knowledge of the needs of area neighborhoods will provide the County and its partners with a better vision of potential issues that might occur if a natural disaster strikes.
The 2016 LHMP was vital in the County receiving FEMA funding to assist with Sacramento County residents living in flood prone areas to receive discounts of up to 40% off their flooding insurance. The County plan also helped secure money for the Sacramento County Home Elevation Program for residents in flood prone areas to raise their homes above the flood elevation level in which FEMA would pay 75% of the cost. To date, two homes are in the process of being elevated above the flood plain.
This preparation for unforeseen disasters will lay the groundwork for successfully coming through them if they strike. The County will be hosting online public meetings about the 2021 LHMP. For more information, and to obtain the Zoom link for the meetings, please visit our Local Hazard Mitigation Plan webpage at www.StormReady.org.
Meals to Seniors during COVID in Sacramento County
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - Sacramento County established a new program during COVID-19 to bring meals to seniors who are facing food scarcity. Dine At Home Sacramento, a partnership between Sacramento County, local restaurants and the Area 4 Agency on Aging (A4AA), is proud to announce that as of Sep. 11, 15 participating restaurants have served 62,911 meals to 819 seniors across Sacramento County.
“All involved in Dine At Home Sacramento have worked incredibly hard and have been creative and adaptive in meeting challenges along the way,” said Michelle Callejas, Sacramento County Director of Child, Family and Adult Services. “This program has allowed our seniors to quarantine at home while receiving nutritional meals and has also provided economic stimulation to at least a few of our many local restaurants.”
Sacramento County Adult Protective Services offers access to programs such as Meals on Wheels, CalFresh, and the Brown Bag Food Program where eligible seniors are provided hot meals, canned foods, fresh vegetables and bread. However, earlier this year when calls increased related to food needs from seniors in our community, A4AA began coordinating with a restaurant to fulfill orders to seniors who were in process for receiving Meals on Wheels. A4AA has expertise in operationalizing meal delivery programs and the agency utilizes a dietician to work with restaurants to establish nutritional menus for seniors.
The approach led to the new program of getting food to more seniors faster and boosting the restaurant industry. Sacramento County Child, Family and Adult Services is proud to have implemented this innovative new program with A4AA. Dine At Home Sacramento partners with restaurants in unincorporated areas and the cities of Galt, Folsom and Isleton that expressed interest in a meals program partnership. Through the partnership, the restaurants have received more than $1,572,775 of revenue ($25 a meal for preparation and delivery).
Using restaurants in these locations allows Sacramento County to reach more seniors in need of food while helping restaurants hire back employees and generate revenue.
Currently, this program has reached capacity. If the program is able to accept new applicants in the future, Sacramento County will share an update on how to apply.
“There are several benefits to our program, which is why we chose to pursue it,” said Michelle Callejas, Sacramento County Director of Child, Family and Adult Services. “The county was able to be more flexible with eligibility criteria, so we can serve more seniors facing food insecurity who might not be eligible for the state’s new delivery program or our other programs. Through our partnership with A4AA, the goal is to expand the number and types of local restaurants participating to serve more meals by the end of the year.”
“The program used roughly $3.5 million of CARES Act funding the county received to serve seniors,” said Ruth MacKenzie, Senior and Adult Services Division Manager for the Department of Child, Family and Adult Services. “Sacramento County, Child Family and Adult Services went to the Board of Supervisors on September 22 requesting authority to expand the contract with A4AA by $3.4 million, this will allow us to increase the number of recipients and continue providing meals to our seniors through the holidays.”
Visit the County’s Senior and Adult Services webpage to learn more about their programs, provider services, volunteer opportunities and resources.
Agency on Aging/Area 4 is a seven-county planning and service area for senior services, funded under the Older Americans Act. One of 33 area agencies in California, designated by the State to develop, coordinate, and fund programs designed to help older persons maintain their health and independence. Agency on Aging/Area 4 (AAA4) is in a Joint Powers Agreement with the counties of Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba to provide a comprehensive and coordinated system of services for persons 60 years of age and over. As an area agency, AAA4 is the focal point for services for older individuals. As a funding agency, AAA4 awards contractual grants for nutrition, supportive services, caregiver programs, health promotion, elder abuse prevention, and other programs designed to meet specific needs of older persons within the community. As an administrative agency, they monitor, evaluate, and document the program and fiscal performance of every contracted service provider. As a planning agency, AAA4 conducts needs assessments, determines priorities, and develops a four year Area Plan. And as an advocacy agency, they conduct public hearings, provide testimony before local and State governmental commissions, committees, and legislative bodies, and collaborate with other agencies/organizations to develop and expand services to meet local needs.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - Sacramento County residents, like so many others, are experiencing increased levels of anxiety and worry. In recognition of Mental Illness Awareness Week (Oct. 4-10, 2020), a national observance sponsored by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Sacramento County’s “Mental Illness: It’s not always what you think” project is encouraging our community to stay connected with loved ones and be an ally to colleagues, friends and family members that live with mental illness as we continue to navigate through the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic and a long-overdue social justice movement.
Mental illness can happen to anyone, no matter your age, ethnicity or gender. During these times of uncertainty, individuals already living with a mental health condition may be facing heightened symptoms as a result of the emotionally-charged environment we are living in.
It is just as important as ever to support the mental health and well-being of others by reaching out and maintaining a connection with individuals who may be struggling – not only to support them but also for your own mental health. Sending a thoughtful text, making a phone call, or setting up a video chat could make all the difference.
Here are a few ways you can get involved in this important health observance:
Mark your calendars! The “Mental Illness: It’s not always what you think” project will co-host a Twitter chat with This is My Brave on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. PT to help dispel myths and assumptions about mental illness, change attitudes and inspire hope. We would love to see you participate using the hashtag #BraveChat;
Check out our new Instagram account, as well as our new website, designed to support our community members in need of mental illness support and guidance. Informed by extensive community research and collaboration, our new messaging and materials have been individually tailored for each of our community audiences. And, the new website includes a list of resources, helplines, online communities and tips to help us get through this together;
Try some of our conversation starters! Find ways to have a meaningful discussion with family, friends or neighbors about how their feeling – remind them they’re not alone;
Invite the Stop Stigma Sacramento Speakers Bureau to speak at an upcoming virtual meeting or virtual event;
Check out online resources from our friends at National Alliance on Mental Illness, Each Mind Matters and Mental Health America for ways to improve mental health and increase resiliency.
If you are feeling stressed, anxious, worried, or overwhelmed seek live support by texting or calling 916-SUPPORT (787-7678). For more information, visit the Source website.
For more information about Mental Illness Awareness Week or the Mental Illness: It’s not always what you think project, please contact: info@stopstigmasacramento.org.
This program is funded by the Division of Behavioral Health Services through the voter-approved Proposition 63, Mental Health Services Act (MHSA).