Children’s Home completes construction

The general feeling around the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home these days is elation. Following months of construction, the third and final phase of construction is complete and the moving and unpacking can commence.
Meg Easter-Dawson, the volunteer coordinator and community program manager is ecstatic. “The completion of this final phase is very exciting for all of us,” she said. “It greatly expands our ability to provide holistic services for the children in our care.”
The $25.2-million project has been ten years in the making, the culmination of a huge collaborative effort between Sonoma County and the VOM Children’s Foundation. The foundation, a private nonprofit established to provide supportive and educational services for the abandoned, neglected and abused children of Sonoma County, raised roughly $5.8 million for the project. The remaining funds came through bond measures and county funds, among other sources. The home is run through Sonoma County’s human services department, and the VOM Children’s Foundation supports the facility through its philanthropic efforts.
Groundbreaking for Phase III began in October 2007. The approximately 22,500 sq. ft. of additional space allows for vital support services. Included in the new construction is the Redwood Children’s Center for children in situations of suspected sexual abuse, as well as a fully equipped medical and dental wing that will enable the home to handle almost any situation it encounters. A specialized infant and toddler wing will make accommodating even the youngest of guests much easier. Also part of the new construction is a visitation and consultation section, as well as a designated admissions area. There is even a spot for volunteer services.
Several years earlier, Phase II of the project saw the creation of a desperately needed new home for the children. Originally constructed in 1975, what was a state-of-the-art structure at the time had become timeworn and obsolete. Phase II included construction of new housing units and dining and kitchen facilities. Dedication of this phase and occupation by the children took place on June 1, 2005.
Richard Van Anda is the manager for the project. As the associate architect for Sonoma County, he had a substantial role to play in getting the project off the ground.
“All three phases of the Children’s Home are a terrific example of how well the joint private/public effort between the VOM Children’s Foundation and the County of Sonoma has worked,” said Van Anda. “We started working together on the project in 1998. It’s been ten years in the making from raising funds, planning and construction. To everyone’s credit, it has turned out to be a truly successful project that will serve our community well for many years to come.”
In another example of true collaborative effort, Patrick Sullivan of Patrick Sullivan Associates in Claremont, Calif. provided the initial design for Phase III. The county then hired Santa Rosa-based GCCI who teamed with Architerra to convert the design and architectural drawings to construction documents.
“Our team worked seamlessly together. It was perfect,” said Van Anda.
Van Anda pointed out that the home will be the county’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certified building, demonstrating the county’s continuing efforts to provide sustainable buildings that meet certain environmental, energy and resource conservation standards.
Today, the home can accommodate up to 72 children, with roughly 30 children there on any given day. Typically, ages range from six to 18, with an infant or toddler on premise once in a while. The newly outfitted infant and toddler wing will cater specifically to that age group.
Now that Phase III is complete, Easter-Dawson said that the VOM Children’s Foundation will turn its attention to expanded support services for the children. The focus will be upon four key areas: continued supplemental support in the home, support of emancipated children, including education, housing and employment guidance, support of children in foster care and foster parents and community child abuse prevention.
“Our goal is to provide a safe environment for children,” said Easter-Dawson. “Completing this last phase of construction makes it easier to accomplish that goal.”
There will be an opening ceremony for the facility in March, as well as open house events on Saturday, March 14 and Saturday, March 21.