 You're tuned into the COVID-19 Community Report here on KDRT 95.7 FM in Davis, California. I'm Audemars Labbe Renaud and today is Tuesday, May 19th. We're sharing local news and resources focusing on what's impacting Davis and nearby cities in Yolo County during the COVID-19 pandemic. The show airs live at noon on Tuesdays and Fridays and repeats at 5 p.m. both days and at noon on Sundays. You can also listen online at kdrt.org. My guests today are Anne-Marie Flynn with Mutual Housing California and Gina DeLyden of Yolo First 5 and we will get to those interviews in just a few minutes. We are expected to surpass 100,000 deaths nationwide from the COVID-19 virus and it's going to be very interesting to watch numbers spike even as counties and states are reopening I'm willing to bet we'll have a clearer idea of that impact in roughly two weeks. So if it is within your ability to not mingle to remain sheltered in place as much as possible please do that and continue with wearing a mask and washing your hands and practicing distancing and this does remain the standing public health order until further notice. I have been getting questions about what's happening in the Lake Berryessa area so here are some updates and this information is largely from LakeBerryessaNews.com online. On May 16th Lake Berryessa reopened access to its boat launches located at Markley Cove, Pleasure Cove, Steel Canyon, Spanish Flat and Puda Canyon Recreation Areas. Cable Cove will reopen today May 19th and boaters will be required to have boats inspected for invasive species before launching. And yesterday May 18th access was opened for self-contained RV only camping at Pleasure Cove, Steel Canyon, Spanish Flat and Puda Canyon Recreation Areas. The following facilities and activities remain closed until further notice. Oak Shores Day Use Area, Smiddle Creek Day Use Area, the Administrative Office and Visitor Center and Tent Camping and Lodging is not yet allowed because while RVs have self-contained bathrooms, porta-potties are not on the approved for use list yet. You can call your favorite campground for details. You can also get more information by calling the field office and do-for-point visitor center that's on the Napa side area code 707-966-2111 and in case you were curious as of this weekend the lake level dropped to 430.6 feet which is about 9.5 feet below the glory hole and light rain brought the total for the season at Monticello down to just under 11 inches. Interestingly that's the lowest level in more than 22 years so I have to wonder what that says about our coming summer and fall. Elsewhere in Yolo County the following parks have reopened Cache Creek Regional Parks Upper and Lower Sites as well as Camp Haswell, Cape Pay Open Space Park, Esparto Community Park, Tulimem Park on the Lawn and Walking Path only, Valley Vista Regional Park, Vernon Nichols Park and Wild Wings Park. The opening of these parks and the ability to keep them open is, you guessed it, dependent on visitors following social distancing requirements and wearing a face covering when coming within six feet of other visitors. Please note all picnic areas, tables, playground equipment and sports courts remain closed for the foreseeable future. On another note Arts Alliance Davis meets via Zoom this Thursday, May 21st at 10 a.m. You can get the Zoom link at Arts Alliance Davis on Facebook or you can email me info at davismedia.org. I chair this group of artists and arts advocates and let me tell you this sector has been hard hit without the ability to run programs, services and classes through facilities and without the income from exhibitions, concerts and special events, etc. Most of us have spent the last two weeks pivoting, retooling, etc. and it's left little time to actually connect and learn from each other. So this meeting is important for that reason. You can also get more info at artsalliance.org. Let's take a minute for music before our first call and we'll be right back. The mission of Mutual Housing California is to develop, operate and advocate for sustainable housing that also builds strong communities through resident participation and leadership development. And here to tell us more is Ann-Marie Flynn, Community Development Officer for the organization. Hey there Ann-Marie, how are you? I'm great, how are you? I'm good. It's good to hear your voice. You too. Nice to be on with you. So I wanted to talk to you, there are a number of organizations devoted to providing housing for lower income individuals and families, but I've always felt Mutual Housing puts a really interesting spin on that. So let's start in kind of broad strokes with what you do. So we do feel like we have a little bit of a unique approach to our housing. It's reflected in our mission actually, I know you just read our mission and it has those two parts. And one is about the housing, but the second part is about building strong communities and the ways that we do that, right, and it says in our mission through resident engagement and leadership development. And those are the pieces that I feel like really differentiate us, is our very strong dedication to building community both on site at our Mutual Housing communities, but also the surrounding community. So we're really working with our residents to foster a sense of connection and to have people develop a sense of belonging where they live and in their broader community. And then work with them on what their own skills are that they already have and their strengths and their hopes and dreams and figure out how they can elevate those and strengthen them and bring them to the larger community to impact change. So it's going to be great for themselves, but also for other people who are their friends and neighbors. Well, it sounds like they really have a voice in how these communities develop, too. I mean, I know this is a fallacy, at least here in Yolo County. I interviewed Lisa Baker from the Housing Authority recently, and the fallacy is that low income housing is poor housing. It's poorly constructed, it's poorly maintained, and it's not well developed. And I don't think that's the case here in Yolo County, certainly. Definitely not. So what kinds of communities, because I know there are different types, does Mutual Housing California operate? Yeah, so we have over our whole portfolio right now, we have 19 housing communities, and those are in Sacramento and Yolo County. But five of them are actually in Davis, and one is in Woodland, and then the remainder are in Sacramento County. Our housing in Davis are five different communities. They're very in size from about 35 units up to 69, I think it's the largest one. And they're all family housing, right? So they're primarily families, some individuals, but a lot of families who are just like the rest of our community, but have much lower income, less revenue, and are finding it harder to find a place that they can afford to live in our pretty expensive housing in Davis. And then the community in Woodland is pretty special actually. It is a community that's specifically for agricultural workers. So there's a hundred apartments and townhomes. All of our housing is rental housing. So in Woodland we have a hundred apartment and townhomes, and it's a hundred percent agricultural worker housing. It's actually the only housing in all of Yolo County that's permanent housing for agricultural workers, which is pretty amazing considering our big agricultural emphasis in this area. That is remarkable actually, and I didn't know that. And this is why I like interviewing people because I learn something new every day. So with all this, you know, relationship building and community building that Mutual Housing does. How have you had to use a tired word now, pivot during the pandemic? How have you had to adjust and how are you making that work? Yeah. Well, just like everyone, of course, we're having to make pretty big adjustments to adapt to shelter-in-place guidelines and social distancing, but my team in particular is a very relationship-based team. I work with 16 staff that are out in the communities all the time in normal times working with people, meeting with them, holding community events, planning things, and having one-to-one conversations. So now that they're working from home, we've had to really switch it up. It's amazing both what our staff has been able to do and our residents in terms of adapting to this new normal of Zoom meetings, phone calls, texts, and so some of the big things that we've done are over the last month, we're really focusing on what do people most need, so two things that have come out big for us, well, three. One is that people really need food. That's one thing that we're hearing from our residents over and over again. We've been super fortunate to be able to partner with the Food Bank in Yolo County, which was a partner before this crisis and is stepping up even bigger, as we all know in Yolo County, and the mutual housing's been able to bring food to the doorsteps of our residents in our community. So it's delivered by the Food Bank, and then we take it and package it up and bag it and then make appointments with families and actually drop it off on their doorstep. So that's a pretty amazing thing that we're doing, and we're doing that throughout Sacramento as well. So in the month of May, we're doing 900 doorstop deliveries in the month of May with food. So that's one piece. The other piece that we're focusing on is like resource and referral. So if you go on our website, right on that website, there's a link there, and we keep it updated all the time for our residents of live links to resources out in the community that they can get to help them, right? So we're kind of doing that work of gathering resources together in one place for them, and we shared electronically, but we're also out there putting flyers and information on their doors in a no contact way so that we can connect with them directly. And then the third piece that's really actually the most important for me is that we're just doing that human to human connection. So we've had to switch up and do that by phone and zoom and text, but we're continuing to call our residents on a regular basis and check in with them and let them know, you know, we're here for you. What do you need? Sometimes it's just being able to hear another person and have a live voice that says, yeah, I care about you and how can I help you? Yeah, isolation has been real for so many during this process. And as I've talked to a lot of nonprofits, I've heard that over and over again. We want to make sure people don't feel isolated. They don't feel alone. We want to be able to gauge what they need. So. And of course, as a housing organization, we're just making sure that people can stay housed during this time. It's pretty precarious for people who are very low income to be able to figure out how are you going to stay in your housing and and pay your rent. And so we're busy, you know, making those arrangements with people who are not able to pay their rent at this time, really focusing on creating a sense of continuing that sense of belonging and community, but calm and information sharing and support for people that they don't feel that their housing and their families are at risk. Yeah. And of course, they have some renters have some protection. You know, they can't be evicted right now. But that still doesn't help them get caught up with the bills or, you know, pay the bills that come do later. So it doesn't. And I think it's a lot about tone and communication as well. Like saying that there's an addiction moratorium is one thing in all that legal language, but having explained to you, for example, in a language that you can understand if your language is in English, having it explained to you in a way that makes sense to you and then actually having someone broker that those arrangements with you in a caring and supportive way makes, I think, all the difference. Right. I wanted to touch make sure we touch on one other thing as I was preparing and reading on the website. You know, it's it's one thing to say that, OK, we're an organization that adds to the local supply of safe and affordable housing. But I think you folks are really going the extra distance. I'm reading a lot about, you know, green certification and development of really forward looking communities. Can can you speak to that aspect? I can. But before I do, what I don't want to leave off is that we're actually adding to the supply of housing right now, even during this time of crisis, and I don't want to let that go because we have a goal to double the size of our housing portfolio over the next five years. And we're actually able to start construction this fall on two new housing communities and one of them is in Davis. Excellent. So that's going to be 38 new units of housing that we're breaking ground on in Davis this fall. So that's following through on this really real commitment that we have to increasing housing supply. And you're right in all of our communities, we have this really strong focus on green and sustainable housing. Our community in Woodland was the first zero net energy rental housing community in the nation. That's right. Certified. Yeah, in the nation, not just affordable, but of all rental housing, it was the first certified zero net energy. And then what we're doing is we build that into all of our housing communities. And then we're educating our residents about how they can incorporate green practices in the things that they're doing while they're living on site. All everything from our landscapes to our paint, our materials, our water heaters, our appliances are all putting that green, green and sustainable land on everything that we add into a housing community. That's that's very Yolo County in a way. I know you operate in Sacramento County as well, too, but it's really good to hear. All right. So where can people get more info, both from the perspective if they just want to check out your organization and see the work you do and also if there's someone who needs, you know, might be in need of housing. Right. Couple places. Our website is www.mutualhousing.com. And that is a very good place to go for starters. We also are on social media, both Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. So you can check out Mutual Housing on all of those sites and give lots of information and stories. And on the website itself, you can see there's a link that says find housing and there's actually information on there about how to get in touch with our property managers and actually apply for housing. And then there's also a link on there that says the mutual blog and has our blog posts regularly and there's some really both informative, interesting, touching and heartwarming stories and powerful stories of things that are going on in our organization. So both of the two places that I would really send people. Excellent. Well, thanks so much for making time to talk with us. I enjoyed learning more about Mutual Housing, California. Great. Thanks for having me, Otto. Take good care. Thanks. Bye. That was Anne Marie Flynn, Community Development Officer for Mutual Housing, California, and we will be back with our second interview in just a minute. All right. First five YOLOs mission is to assist our community to raise children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn, ensuring that public resources are effectively used and that all community voices are heard. Joining us now is First Five's Executive Director, Gina Delight. And hi there, Gina. Hi, Autumn. Thank you for having me. You bet. Great to hear from you. So your organization runs a whole lot of programs geared at meeting those objectives I just read off, raising children who are healthy, safe and ready to learn. And you do so in partnership with quite a number of other organizations. Could you highlight just a few of your key projects for us? Sure. Can I just start by saying that First Five YOLO is itself a funder investing in programs that we're about to talk about. And we're also sort of the program architect in many cases. And we work with our direct service partners who implement our programs on a continual basis for quality improvement and evaluation and really in a very collaborative way. OK. So our two largest programs right now are really systems change initiatives seeking to transform the system for vulnerable families with very young children, prenatal to five. And we're thinking about, you know, how does the system of care, whether it's health or safety or early learning and hope? And those usually all interact with each other, right? They intersect for families. How do they work for our families? Are there ways that we can better identify families and children who need support early because that's when support is most effective? And then how do we open access to programs that are best suited to those families and children? So our two largest systems initiatives are called the first one is called the Child Project Road to Resilience, or we call it for short, R2R. And that's a child safety and wellness program that identifies families who are at risk or in need very early. Many of them identified at the Perinatal Clinics at Communicare. There are lead partner on that project and then high intensity home visiting services are offered. And those are offered through behavioral health at Communicare and also through Yolo County Children's Alliance and their Healthy Families America program. And then Yolo Crisis Nursery is also a partner on that project supplying a different type of specialty home visiting called Attachment Biobehavioral Ketchup or ABC. And so that is our countywide project of about a million dollars annually, co-funded by First 5 YOLO and by Office of Child Abuse Prevention at the state. And then our second largest project is called Help Me Grow. And it is an early childhood mental health program that also seeks early identification and intervention when a child shows the need for developmental support or when mothers show a need for maternal health support. Right. And when you when you say at risk, those are the kinds of things you're talking about, right? Identifying people who are at risk for either, you know, physical health issues, mental health issues. And I would imagine behavioral issues, hunger, all of that factor in. Exactly. Right. Exactly. And we use in the child project, we're using some administrative data to help sort of highlight where we might want to engage with families. And that is based on a predictive risk model that was developed by Children's Data Network. But remembering, of course, that a model is only predictive, it's certainly not deterministic. And I think really the idea, Autumn, is to identify families who might appreciate some additional support and then all services are purely voluntary. So it's about finding the families, engaging with them and then being able to offer the services. And then when we see that a particular program is having a very positive impact, then we start to think with our partner agencies and other local governments, sometimes private funders, to think about how do we bring a program that works or services that work to scale so that families who require those services are able to benefit. Right. So the question I'm asking everyone is during the pandemic, how have you, and I think what I'm hearing from you is that it's really your funded partners and I'll use the Northern California Children's Therapy Center as an example. That's one of your funded partnerships and help me grow YOLO. How have they had to pivot to move from doing things in, you know, in proximity with people to doing things remotely? Yes. Well, this is a great example because Children's Therapy Center was able to move very quickly to virtual platforms, to, you know, telephonic touch with clients and they have developed some playgroups, developmental playgroups, they're actually called, that are on a virtual platform and they are attended because so many people can log on or join upwards of 150 I think they had in one of their last classes and they have music therapy groups and other choices and those are available to all families, whether or not the child needs additional developmental support, but then they are linked to help me grow to talk about the schedule that would be most appropriate for developmental screening for a young child. Right. And there are several other screens, including for the parents and a home safety check and that sort of thing. So help me grow has done a really good job of moving very quickly as we really have all of our partners. All but one first slide funded program is still fully functional, operating in ways where, for instance, home visitors or coaches of parenting classes are in touch with their clients via a numerous platforms, we're trying to match the client with what works for them and doing drops of supplies at their home in no contact way. And we're actually seeing, interestingly enough, an increase in the number of families who are willing to engage in services like home visiting right now. And we think some of it has to do with the need for support and not wanting to be isolated with a very, very young child, in many cases, a brand new incident. Yeah. And some of it just may have to do with the ease of connecting online and the demographic that seems to be as you know, new families who seem to be much more comfortable using virtual platform. Yeah, not everyone has access to, you know, broadband or those or computers or whatever, but it's great that so many do and can avail and goodness we, you know, parenting a child through the first five years is hard enough without a pandemic going on or isolation. So it's wonderful that you provide so many resources. Where can people get more info about your organization? Definitely go to our website at www.firstfiveyellow.org. Say we all of our phone numbers are working and I have to say, though we're definitely always concerned about access and who may have a personal computer, especially now that everyone is mostly at home, we have found that a lot of our young parents or new parents do have cell phones. Yeah. And so that website is mobile friendly. Great. That's a good reminder. And access from a phone as well and all of our phone numbers are working. And then of course, if they, you know, if they knew of a particular partner that they wanted to reach, they could reach out to that partner as well. But all of the information about the program is on the first five websites. Thanks so much for coming on calling in and sharing a little bit about what you do. It's important work. I appreciate it.