Contentious Merger Uniting SOS with Sonoma Family Meal

By David Bolling

A contentious plan to merge Sonoma Overnight Support (SOS) – and its Unity Kitchen – with Petaluma-based Sonoma Family Meal, has resulted in the resignation of longtime SOS Executive Director Kathy King, the resignation of at least one SOS Board member, and a veil of silence imposed on a negotiation that is reportedly still underway.

As virtually everyone involved in the murky merger has refused to speak on the record about reasons for the internal tensions and the motive for merging, a joint statement was released on the afternoon of July 15 with the following explanation:

“In early 2025, SOS Unity Kitchen approached Sonoma Family Meal (SFM) about engaging in a strategic partnership to address growing demand for meal services and the need for operational and financial sustainability.

“Negotiations are underway and are expected to conclude with an asset transfer from SOS to SFM by September. This transition preserves essential meal services while expanding into workforce training and food business incubation, supported by a sustainable model that blends philanthropy with social enterprise. Driven by a shared commitment from SOS and SFM leadership, the effort ensures service continuity and introduces an entrepreneurial approach to reduce costs and enhance impacts for Sonoma Valley’s most vulnerable residents.

SOS and SFM are currently in the due diligence phase and are adhering to a confidentiality agreement while the details of future services are still being determined.

This effort reaffirms the Valley’s unwavering commitment to unity, creative problem-solving, and caring for our most vulnerable neighbors.”

The statement was signed by Elena Alioto and Judith Walsh, interim co-executive directors of SOS, and Whitney Reuling, executive director of Sonoma Family Meal.

SOS–Unity Kitchen began life as Sonoma Overnight Support, with a single-family house on the edge of the parking lot by Sonoma’s Field of Dreams, a few hundred feet from the Sonoma Police Station. As SOS, the agency focused primarily on providing emergency housing, meals, showers and professional intervention to lead homeless residents to job and transportation services. 

Gradually, as food insecurity became a more acute problem in Sonoma Valley, SOS shifted its focus to providing hot meals, first at the Grange kitchen, then at a newly established, comprehensive Unity Kitchen facility further north on Highway 12 in the Springs. In 2024 Unity Kitchen served some 76,000 meals, and another 35,000 in the first half of 2025. The agency works with an extensive list of community partners, ranging from Sweetwater Spectrum to the Rotary Club, F.I.S.H., the First Congregational Church and numerous other nonprofits. It also provides bus passes, emergency gas vouchers, clothing vouchers, pet food and mail delivery.

Sonoma Family Meal was founded in 2017 by Santa Rosa Press Democrat food editor Heather Irwin in the aftermath of the Tubbs Fire that decimated Coffee Park and the Fountaingrove area. Irwin’s efforts to orchestrate meals with local restaurant partners led to creation of a restaurant-based model for generating emergency meals that took off during the pandemic. Ultimately, SFM opened a community kitchen in East Petaluma to combine locally-sourced ingredients, rescued perishables and a culinary career training program.

The merger of the two agencies was reportedly promoted and guided by Sonoma Valley’s Catalyst Fund, a major presence in Sonoma Valley philanthropy ever since the COVID pandemic hit. How conflict emerged from this process isn’t clear, but former Sonoma City Council member Madolyn Agrimonti, who had been a SOS board member, resigned amidst the merger negotiations, and released to the public a list of questions demanding answers that should be addressed before the merger is completed.

Agrmonti prefaced the questions with this statement: “Recently, the SOS Board began discussions with Sonoma Family Meal, a Petaluma-based organization, regarding a potential takeover of SOS’s operations. While we understand the complexities of such transitions, the lack of transparent communication surrounding this acquisition has raised significant concerns among those who rely on and support SOS’s vital work.” Agrimonti asked:

• Will the provision of no-cost meals to those currently served by SOS/SOS Unity Kitchen continue without interruption or alteration?
• Will the SOS Unity Kitchen maintain its current on-site services and established partnerships with critical organizations such as Sonoma County’s Keep People Housed (KPH), HomeFirst, and Sonoma County Transit?
• Will current staffing continue to facilitate and coordinate vital referrals with the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center and FISH.
• Will the Sonoma Valley organizations and hundreds of dedicated volunteers who currently provide invaluable support to SOS be able to continue their efforts and partnerships under the new structure?

Agrimonti did not respond to repeated requests for an interview, nor did any other principals in the merger effort.