Guest editorial by Angela Ryan, Cary Snowden, Tony Passantino, and Susie Galllo —
We work with Sonoma Valley’s children and youth every day, and we’re here to tell you that the lack of decent homes at an affordable price is harming Sonoma Valley kids.
Middle-income and lower-income families are leaving the Valley because they can’t afford to live here. This means fewer kids live here, which is a sad loss for our community. Who will be our future if we can’t be welcoming for families at all income levels?
Parents sacrifice so much to pay the rent that more kids show up to school without having eaten enough, without getting medical care, without having rain jackets or warm clothes, without a good night’s sleep. When parents suffer extreme stress, not knowing if they’ll be able to keep their living situation, or not being able to ask the landlord to repair a leaking roof for fear of eviction, the children suffer too. And we see this in rising levels of anxiety and depression at school.
We found out during the remote-learning months of COVID that many children have no place to do their homework, because their families are packed in so tight to the small living spaces they can afford. Routinely we learn of families of six living in one trailer, or a family of five in a one-bedroom apartment. According to the census, Sonoma Valley is home to the most overcrowded households in the County.
As a higher proportion of the Valley’s housing gets more expensive, families who can afford those prices increasingly send their kids to private schools. This widens the opportunity gap between kids from secure versus struggling families, and fewer public school graduates can afford to stay in their hometown.
Teens tell us that they love living in this beautiful place, but that it doesn’t feel like it’s run for them or people like them. They see no viable future for themselves here, because who can pay the rent with the jobs that are available? And just forget about buying a house.
Our organizations are members of Sonoma Valley Collaborative. We’ve banded together with many other groups and organizations to improve housing affordability in Sonoma Valley, because that is the most pressing issue for the widest range of people in the Valley, and we can’t fix it alone.
We ask decision-makers at the City of Sonoma and the County of Sonoma to make sure that their Housing Elements, now being updated, actively create new affordable homes for our kids and their families, protect renters, and preserve existing affordable housing units. We ask residents to show your care for Sonoma Valley’s children by telling your representatives that housing in Sonoma Valley needs a transformation.
Sonoma Valley’s children are in crisis, and a secure home is the foundation of stability.
By Angela Ryan, Executive Director, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation; Cary Snowden, CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley/Teen Services; Tony Passantino, Education Program Manager, Sonoma Ecology Center; Susie Gallo, Executive Director, Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance
For the reasons given here, Sonoma Valley Collaborative members lobbied for more proactive policies and programs in the City Housing Element. Some gains were made, but not enough. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. In order to counteract a suburban demographic shift here that will further concentrate older, white, baby boomer property owners, and exclude youth, renters, and BIPOC people, will and determination have to be shown to create the needed housing. Look to the coming General Plan’s Land Use Element update process for where we can add rezoning of the 65% single family-zoned areas in the City, and higher building heights along Hwy 12, so as to create more space for the increasingly excluded.