January 2023

A Word From AHHA’s Cofounder and President

Nezzie Wade

Dear AHHA Supporters and all of our valued community members,

So much happened in November and December 2022 that we never truly launched our donor drive! We didn’t get out an email or newsletter. We ended the year in a tornado of activities and emotions. We focused a lot of our attention on National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week mid-November and the Annual Day of Remembrance or Homeless Persons Memorial Day on Winter Solstice, December 21, winding down our agreements, services and operations for the mobile shower Care-A-Van in 10 sites countywide, grant writing, donations and fundraising, inventory and data recording, volunteer orientations, communications and assignments, preparing for the holidays, and scheduling for travel and early vacations.

We do want to thank all who shared their resources with us at year’s end as well as everyone who has supported AHHA efforts and services throughout the year.

2022 was a very challenging and traumatic year for the most vulnerable in our communities. So many have died. On December 21st, AHHA, along with our partners, Old Town Community Alliance (OTCA) and Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction (HACHR), held a community memorial for all of those we lost this year due to the systems in place that keep folks unhoused. Community members gathered for an evening candlelight vigil for those who died while living outside on the streets in Humboldt. Their names were read and they were remembered. Each year, we see more and more death on the streets, the staggering loss of life amongst people with no place to go. We need safe places for people to be. We are convinced that tiny home villages can make for a very easy way to shelter one with few resources and substantial issues to work on and resolve. Side by side, with our community, we are ready to propel AHHA forward with our purpose to create and implement community-centered alternative housing models.

AHHA Board and co-founders also had a traumatic year with injury, loss of loved ones, lack of organizational capacity and inability to retain paid staff in our part-time, low paying, unstable, employment opportunities with no benefits. We were always looking for someone who could just take the basics of what we do as AHHA and run with it. All almost did but there was not enough supervision for those creative methods and minds to thrive, and not enough money to survive. COVID had big impacts through all of this, of course, and AHHA overall experienced a lot of growing pains. We understand that we are among many other non-profits experiencing the struggle to retain paid staff and find aligned board members who have the time and want to do the work. It does take work.

AHHA started over 10 years ago, and many dedicated people contributed so much to making good things happen. We hope to hold a large event this year, probably late spring or early summer, to honor all of you.

In December, AHHA’s co-founder Debra Thomas resigned from the Board. It is with much respect and gratitude for all the time and talents she has given and shared with the people of Humboldt, especially her compassionate and loving heart. We see you; we feel your heart, Debra. It has been beating at the core of AHHA since our beginning. We will miss your presence on the board. And we know you will be having great times with your grand babies!

In January, Board Treasurer Winchell Dillenbeck, another heartbeat of AHHA, is terming out. He will not be pursing another term. He will continue to help AHHA with the transition of his role as treasurer to a new Volunteer. Winchell will be putting more of his attention and volunteerism into Health Care for All, and will sit on a statewide committee. Both Debra and Winchell are excited about their new year and the renaissance that only that can bring. Our hearts will always be with them, or most likely, they will always be in the heart and soul of AHHA.

Exciting news! We have just installed two new board members, so watch our webpage for more information on both of them. Thank you, David Domike and Elias Curlee-Strauss, for stepping into your new roles. We are excited and look forward to all the amazing good fortune this can bring to our communities and AHHA. Both of these folks have been volunteers for AHHA in our Mobile Shower Care-A-Van program, so they are not new to AHHA or to our guests. We will feature these new board members in the next newsletter along with other good news!

Life Without Housing in Humboldt and Ways to Support Community Members and AHHA. See the Youtube video here.

This is a must-view program If you’ve ever wondered why the Tiny Home Village Solution for homelessness, advanced by AHHA, is urgently needed now to fill the gap which leaves so many of our neighbors outside with no place to go that is safe, warm, or dry. With heart and specifics, AHHA co-founders Nezzie Wade and Debra Thomas compellingly describe the role it will uniquely play in providing a transition for people from the streets to more permanent housing – in a village modeled on Opportunity Village (which provides stability and a supportive community based on the principles of dignity, equality, and sustainability).

People have no where to go. We must do better, Humboldt, and we will with your help. The recent horrifying death of unhoused Jestine Green in a recycling bin leaves no doubt that lives will not only be restored but saved if we can join with AHHA to create the village together by demonstrating its viability as a county-wide affordable alternative to our unhoused neighbors being subjected to harsh and lethal conditions. View the news story here.

You’ll also learn about recent transformations in Humboldt County ordinances encouraged and advocated for by AHHA, which provide a window of opportunity to create other innovative affordable practical shelter alternatives and to develop an affordable continuum of care. With KMUD host Tanya Horlick, the program captures the heartache addressed and hope inspired by AHHA’s progress in creating solutions through their direct advocacy, services, policy development, and visionary moral leadership. A warm-hearted invitation is extended to all of us to contribute what we can to their efforts.

Here is another inspiring video of an AHHA Tiny Home Building (now in search of land)!

Mobile Showers and Care-A-Van Update:

It is with great sadness (but with a look towards the future!) that we announced the completion of the AHHA Mobile Showers and Care-A-Van services. These services were officially ended on December 27th, 2022 with the last day of our mobile shower under the Samoa Bridge in Eureka.

It is extremely difficult to stop the shower services when we have continually seen the demand for these services increase, and with the recent earthquake and storms more so. We have experienced those needing our services nearly double in almost all of our sites within the last few months of operation. AHHA has continued shower services for years under great pressure and challenges, especially during the COVID pandemic. We thank all of YOU who supported the CARE-A-Van operations in the past three years. We hope you will continue to support the efforts we are undertaking now.

We know that many people from the service sector, and the community at large, have felt that our mobile showers being taken out of service would mean that those without a roof would no longer have an opportunity to shower. However, we are pleased to see more and more shower services popping up across the community (details below!). AHHA anticipates using the mobile restrooms and showers in a future tiny house village or other stable sheltering opportunity for unhoused folks.

AHHA is grateful to the Humboldt Community for your support for our neighbors living outside. All our service locations will have new options for showers as indicated by our conversations with many providers in the communities we have served. We couldn't be happier that these communities are moving forward to provide such an essential service.

Here are the options for shower services that we see so far:

• McKinleyville Family Resource Center is going to be opening their showers to community members in January and we are working with them as they implement this vital service.

• Arcata House Partnership, according to Darlene Spoor, plans to open the Annex for showers as soon as the City of Arcata provides an alternate facility for operating the pantry, which now operates out of the Annex.

• In the city of Eureka, Betty Chinn is opening her showers at St. Vincent de Paul Dining facility 5 days a week, instead of just three, Monday through Friday. She offers breakfast with the current services and hopes to offer breakfast with the expanded services as well.

• In Redway, Redwoods Rural is working with the local community to provide showers at least once per month for our unhoused neighbors.

We expect all of this and more to come to fruition for our houseless neighbors and friends. Meanwhile, AHHA is getting the mobile shower unit in great shape for becoming the infrastructure in a future village setting. And the organization itself is undergoing a transformation, with the primary focus now getting back to the purpose for which it was created — alternative affordable places for folks to live and thrive in community.

AHHA has finally revived our General Assemblies, which will take place on the first Saturday of each month. They are held at the Eureka Labor Temple from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Food and refreshments are provided. We are so excited our assemblies are back and are eager to get going! All are welcome to attend. We invite you to become engaged in our mission, join one of our committees that suits your skill sets or inspires your interests, and help move Humboldt toward housing for all.

We hope to see you in this new year!

Best Wishes from AHHA,

Nezzie

Safe, Warm, Dry First!!!

Ways to Support:

• Come to a AHHA General Assembly meeting on the first Saturday of each month. Meetings are held from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Eureka Labor Temple, 840 E St, Eureka, CA 95501

• Contribute to our winter gear drive by providing financial support, survival gear, laundry vouchers, and bus passes. We can distribute these through our community outreach efforts!

• Prepare and deliver food to outreach sites. Reach out to AHHA for more information on this!

• Open any restrooms you control to the unhoused

• Pay for porta-potties and manage them in or near your area

• Assist us with grant-writing and networking for building capacity and villages

• Advocate for AHHA’s Affordable Alternative Housing Models at City and County or other public meetings

• Commit to finding land or locations and partners to build tiny home villages

• Participate in building a Tiny Home Village Community

• Be an advisor. Help AHHA Create an Advisory Council

• Become an AHHA Board Member. Application available on our website: ahha-humco.org

• Join an AHHA Working Group: Media and PR; Fund Development; Projects and Proposals; Site Selection; Finance; and More

We want to hear from you! Together, we have made progress with these alternative models and see now they can become a reality. Please let us know how you would like to participate. We are grateful for your input and participation as we chart this ambitious course and hopeful next chapter.

Call for more information 707-298-1466 or 707-267-4035, or email us at ahha.humco@gmail.com

Upcoming: Know Your Rights Workshop

Donor Spotlight

SAFE PARKING – SAFE SHELTER

PILOT PROGRAM

If you are a government agency, non-profit, or religious organization, or if you can partner with one,

AND

If you have a parcel of developable land that is:

- Not in the Coastal Zone

- Zoned C-1, C-2, C-3, ML, R-3, MU-1 or MU-2, or zoned AG and within 1 mile of services needed for living*

You may be able to host a Safe Parking or Safe Shelter Pilot Site.

*Parcels that are the site of a church in other zones may be eligible with a Use Permit, except that TPZ and prime agricultural lands are not eligible.

PROVIDERS MUST BE ABLE TO:

- Develop a management plan (three types are provided)

- Provide basic services for participants like toilets and hand-washing, access to showers, trash collection, security, and on-site staffing during open hours

- Do basic record-keeping and reporting

- Organize intake, exit, and written agreements with participants.

For more detailed information see the County’s Safe Parking-Safe Shelter web page here.

View the Safe Parking-Safe Shelter Pilot Program Presentation on YouTube here.

Watch for the County’s Tiny House Village Ordinance coming soon! Follow AHHA for updates; we will be sure to let folks know when the Planning Department has a draft available.

Little Free Pantry Locations Brought to you by Cooperation Humboldt, Pantry Stewards, and Generous Community Donors

Eureka

3318 Harrison Ave, Eureka, CA 95503 / 1522 3rd St, Eureka, CA 95501 / 2433 Fairfield St, Eureka, CA 95501 / 840 E St, Eureka, CA 95501 / 1522 3rd St, Eureka, CA 95501 / 3291 18th St, Eureka, CA 95501 / 3515 Highland Pl, Eureka, CA 95503 / Hodgson St & H St, Eureka, CA 95503 / 6018 Walnut Dr, Eureka, CA 95503 / 4050 D St, Eureka, CA 95503 / 3438 Middlefield Ln, Eureka, CA 95501 / 406 14th St, Eureka, CA 95501 / 1428 McFarlan St, Eureka, CA 95501

Bayside

24 Fellowship Way, Bayside, CA 95524 / 4163 Jacoby Creek Rd, Bayside, CA 95524 / 2297 Jacoby Creek Rd, Bayside, CA 95524

Arcata

1788 Charles Ave, Arcata, CA 95521 / 1139 Buttermilk Ln, Arcata, CA 95521 / 1661 Peninsula Dr, Arcata, CA 95521 1321 Grant Ave, Arcata, CA 95521 / 1890 Haeger Ave, Arcata, CA 95521

McKinleyville

1944 Central Ave, McKinleyville, CA 95519 / 1165 Perini Rd, McKinleyville, CA 95519

Fortuna

1637 Ronald Ave, Fortuna, CA 95540