Sonoma’s overnight shelter to celebrate end of winter with candles

1,000 bed nights for homeless at Alliance Church on Watmaugh over the past 4 months to be recognized with ‘candlelight ceremony.’|

As the days become warmer and drier, the need for a winter homeless shelter program diminishes, and the county-sponsored program in Sonoma comes to an end on Sunday, March 31.

To mark the close of this year’s program, Sonoma Overnight Support – the nonprofit which operates the shelter – will hold a candlelight ceremony at the 125 Watmaugh Road location of the shelter, the Sonoma Alliance Church.

Kathy King, executive director of Sonoma Overnight Support (SOS), said the ceremony is designed to “thank the Sonoma Alliance Church for their generosity in giving people a warm place to sleep throughout the winter months.”

The Sonoma Valley Interfaith Ministerial Association is encouraging its member congregations to attend as a unified show of support for the shelter, according to the association’s director Rev. Curran Reichert of the First Congregational Church on Wes Spain Street. Curran is also the new president of the SOS board, elected in January to succeed the late Cynthia Vrooman.

Curran said “it’s only fitting” to recognize Goerzen and the church for their dedication to the homeless.

“Pastor Rob and his congregation have been selfless in their willingness to host the shelter these past three years and we are all indebted to them for their generosity,” said Curran.

There are two homeless shelters in Sonoma, both operated by SOS. The Haven, located near the police department on First Street West, is open year-round. The Alliance Church shelter is open December through March, funded under a contract with the Sonoma County Community Development Commission, to accommodate overflow when there isn’t enough space at the Haven. Sonoma Overnight Support has a $500,000 annual budget, largely funded by the city and private foundations.

“We’re hoping to have a good turnout to show solidarity and unity,” said Goerzen of the Alliance Church, which has been offering winter overnight shelter for the past three years.

The church encountered turbulence in December when a neighbor threatened to sue the church because it didn’t have a permit to operate as a shelter. “The church doesn’t have the right to host a homeless shelter,” Rick Deringer told the Index-Tribune at the time. “It should have gotten a permit, which it never got.”

Goerzen acknowledged that he hadn’t applied for a permit, but said he thought providing shelter for the homeless – “the least and the last” – was covered under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2011. “I thought under the Religious Land Use Act, if a church is doing something that is central to their mission and ministry, oftentimes there’s latitude given.”

Following Deringer’s warning, which was first reported in the Index-Tribune, Goerzen said he was working with the county to apply for the proper permits so they will be fully legal next winter. “We certainly want to be good neighbors and good citizens, we’re not asking for special dispensation,” he said.

But he added that the news reports on the threatened suit helped create interest in his mission. “After the article in December, we’ve seen a lot of support for what we do,” he said.

Deringer last week clarified that while he is still considering litigation against the church for alleged code violations, the shelter would not be the target of any legal action. He referred inquiries about his concerns to his attorney, Ron Foreman of San Francisco.

Goerzen said the church would probably reach “1,000 nights this season of people being safe and warm and dry.” As of the first week of March, the church had provided 802 bed nights for 45 different individuals, between 10 and 12 a night, he said.

“We have a very real social problem in Sonoma County,” said Goerzen, who has been on the pastoral staff at the Sonoma Alliance Church for 20 years. “We have people that simply can’t afford housing. It’s not due to life choices, or being criminals, it’s simply a matter of people can’t afford to live here.”

The pastor said he himself “lived in my car for three year so I could finish college,” which gave him empathy for those who have no place they can go, especially during cold winter months.

He said they had many who were of retirement age and people who have jobs but no place to live. One person who was a shelter regular died of apparent organ failure a few weeks ago.

“Two weeks ago we had a resident who we didn’t think was sick, but he didn’t look right,” said King. “We sent him to Sonoma Valley Hospital but he got sicker, so he was sent to Queen of the Valley in Napa, where he died.”

The 52-year-old man was a local Sonoma Valley resident but estranged from his family, according to King. There was no plan to bury him, so SOS paid for his cremation.

“This is what’s going to happen, this is my prediction,” said King. “It’s going to happen again.”

The shelter program had a rough start during the 2018-19 winter, first being denied county funds before Supervisor Susan Gorin and the City of Sonoma came to the rescue with additional funds. But King thinks the controversy over the program’s funding, and its clear success, have made things easier for next year.

“The good news on next year is that we applied to the county for $94,000, the whole thing,” said King. A decision the 2019-20 funding will be made on March 22.

Despite the struggles that Sonoma Valley homeless face, King was empathetic with the plight of residents and homeless in the Russian River area near Guerneville, hit hard by flooding recently. “It’s a mess,” she said. “I used to be more optimistic, but…”

The Candlelight Ceremony at Sonoma Alliance Church, 125 E. Watmaugh Road, will be on the last night of this year’s shelter program, Sunday, March 31, starting at 7 p.m. The Christian rock band the Gathering will perform following a candlelight ceremony. For information call 939-6777.

Email Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.