 I'm your host, Martha Teter, and today we'll be talking about YOLO Community Care Continuum. It's more about it. There's been another episode on that. And today I have guests, Debbie Woodsford, who's the Director of Development for YCCC, and Roger Pelkey, who's a board member. Welcome to the studio. Thank you. And the reason we're talking today, there was a previous in the studio show on YOLO Community Care Continuum is that there is a fundraiser that comes up in the fall, and there'll be one coming up soon. We're going to talk about that. And we're going to be talking about the board and what the board does, why be on the board, and some of the exciting ideas you have for the board development. Yes. So welcome. Thank you. So first I wanted, as I said, to mention that there was a previous show, and in this previous show on YOLO Community Care Continuum, this is a brochure that the YOLO Community Care Continuum puts out, and one of the nice things about it has a picture of the farm, which was part of the program that was talked about, but only one part of it, the crisis residential treatment unit. So I wanted to hear from Roger about your experience on the board, how did you come to be on the board of YOLO Community Care Continuum, and what are some of the things you'd like to see. Sure. Well, thank you for inviting me today. I've been on the board for a couple of years. YOLO Community Care Continuum deals with people with mental illness who have no discernible source of income, and the reason I'm on the board is that they are an organization that has a very clear message. They've got a record, a track record of achievement since 1979. Wow. They put together programs that have meaningful results, and I'm just a real supporter. Great. One thing that's interesting about the title, which is a mouthful to say YOLO Community Care Continuum, one way to look at this is if you focus on the word continuum, there are kind of three different meanings to this. In recent psychiatric terms with the DSM manual, there's the evaluation and diagnostic manual that the psychiatrists use. There's been a movement away from black and white type of diagnosis toward being on a continuum, sliding between mood disorders to thinking disorders and so on. So there's a continuum from a medical aspect. It's also a continuum in terms of continuity of services. YCCC has over the years been able to work very much in concert with the County Mental Health Office, with service providers, hospitals, law enforcement, and so on. And then a third meaning is probably the most important is continuity or a continuum for the clients themselves, who mental illness is very, it interrupts one's life. And the community that YCCC creates for these folks allows them to have a continuation of their lifestyle and meaningful activity, relationships, and so on. So they really do fine work. Wow, yeah. And that's quite a long time that they've been in the community. I think a lot of people haven't heard about them. And so this is a great occasion to make it more known. Was there any personal reason, yourself, why this particular organization interests you? Sure. Well, I do have a family member with a mental illness. So that person has experienced both the short-term intervention treatment at Crisis Center at Safe Harbor. So that's the Safe Harbor facility. I believe there's a slide on the Safe Harbor. Sure. Facility, just a little picture of that, which is very inviting. And that's for a short-term crisis. Yeah, we have several programs. We have two short-term crisis intervention programs, Safe Harbor is one here in Yolo County. And then we have transitional housing, which is the farmhouse, which is what we were here to speak about back in June. And then we have five facilities that are permanent housing. So they can go there. They can still get some of the services that they need, but they're basically living independent on their own. So literally they're in the community. Literally. Yes. They have their community there, but they're really in the community. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Great. And I guess, go ahead. I was just going to say, our family member has been to the crisis intervention treatment at Safe Harbor a number of times. Because mental illness is cyclical. Folks get ill and they come back. Keeps them out of the jails and out of the hospitals. That's good. Also more of the transitional housing program. So this family member has been six months living in a transitional housing before getting back on his feet to have a job in his own apartment and so on. So it's really, I mean, it saves lives. Yes. Definitely. Yes. Well, I was surprised by the statistic of how common mental illness is. Yeah. 46 million people have been diagnosed with mental illness. So that's basically one in five people. One in five people. So if you have a family member of five, there's a good chance that one of them may have issues. Yes. Very good chance. That's pretty amazing. Well, you had some ideas about the board or other things you wanted to invite people to? Well, again, one of the reasons that I joined the board is that I like to support organizations that have, as I mentioned, a track record and excellent programs. But also where there's a need for some sort of outreach into the community where the community can influence the financial aspects of the, and as you mentioned, YCCC is not that well known. Yeah. So we are in the process now of building our base, building our database of supporters, expanding the sponsorship opportunities, and we're always actively looking for board members. Okay. And so sponsorship opportunities, that could be hot, what? Well, you know, it could be any one of a number of things. We do have the two events that we do each year, but our programs still need support as well. So, you know, it takes a whole slew of services not to provide to the folks that are in any of our facilities. So... Yeah. And as one can understand in this climate, any kind of federal funding goes up and down. So to have a base is really very helpful, very important. So there, I guess there's some opportunities for sponsorship with the event coming up. That's an annual event this fall. Yes. So on October 6th of this year, we will be hosting... So we have a little slide on that. We will be hosting our second annual, actually, gala dinner event. We will be at the California Agricultural Museum. Okay. And... And where is that? It's in Woodland. In Woodland, okay, great. Yeah, just right off of I-5. Okay. And this year we are very pleased to say that we are going to be honoring Dignity Health as a partner with YCCC. Okay. We have had a long-time partnership with them, and so they will be receiving our Daryl Steinberg Changemaker Award this year. Oh, great. And we're very pleased about that. Yeah, and I guess Daryl Steinberg was the speaker or recipient of this last year. Yes, Daryl Steinberg, yes, was the inaugural recipient of our award. And after he accepted the award last year, we let him know that going forward, the award would be called the Daryl Steinberg Changemaker Award. That's great. And he's a real innovator in Sacramento as mayor in both mental health and homelessness issues. Yes, he is. That's great. Yeah. Well, tell me a little bit more about the event. So the event, yeah, the event will kick off at about 5.30 with cocktails. Okay. And the folks can choose to look at our auction items that we have available, or they can choose to tour the museum. The museum will be open to the guests that evening. That's great. Yeah, so they can have a little bit of fun before dinner starts. Okay. Then Bob Dunning will emcee the evening for us. Oh, great. A good feature of Davis. Yes, yes, he is. And so he will kind of take us through the evening, and the evening will highlight the award. It will also highlight a couple of client presentations. Oh, really? Yes. Now, what's that like? Well, we will have clients from our programs that will be there, and they will present cardboard testimonies, which are basically, one side of the cardboard will show kind of where they were at a low point in their lives. And once they got the help that they needed from YCCC, where they're at now, and how it's changed for them. That's great. That's great. And I understand, is there a board member that's also a client, a former client? Is that correct? Well, one of the things over the years that YCCC has always done is to include people with a mental illness on the board. That's terrific. So, you know, no better person than somebody who's lived through it to understand what the issues are. Really? Really. That's very important. Yeah, that's great. Okay. And so, yeah, we will have a board member who is also a client speak at the event and give us her story when she first was diagnosed and then how she received the help from YCCC. And she's basically been through most of the programs that we offer. And she's living independently and doing very well. Wow. That's a very visible testimony to the success, isn't it? Yes, it is. Yeah. And I guess there's some exciting auction, live auction items. There are. So, this year's live auction, our feature this year is a six-day African safari. Oh, okay. Yes. You can see giraffes and... Yes. You can go out on a tour twice a day while you're there for the six days. Wow. And look at the wildlife that's out there and possibly interact with some of it while you're at the facilities. That's great. And you've got some other trips, too? We do have a couple of other trips. We have a San Francisco Day trip. Okay. For folks. And then we also have a Disneyland trip. Okay. Great. And then how do people find out more about this or actually sign up for the event or sponsorship? Sure. The first way to find us is at our website, which is www.y3c.org. Okay. And under events, they can open up that tab and you'll see an evening of inspiration. And then all the information regarding the event is on that page. The details about the African trip, sponsorship details, ticket details, even volunteer opportunities because it takes a lot of volunteers to make an evening like this. Yes. Come on. Okay. So then on the website, you can actually click to buy your ticket now? Yes. Or if you wanted to be. And I guess you have some corporate sponsors, too. We do have corporate sponsors this year. Davis Food Co-op has sponsored this year, which is very nice. Dignity Health is a sponsor. Hospital Council of Northern and Central California is a sponsor this year. And Sierra Health Foundation. That's terrific. We're very thankful for those this year. That's great. Okay. Great. Well, this is very exciting. So this will happen every year. So we can look forward to another evening of inspiration and hope next year and really see what has, how this program has transformed people. I think that's very exciting. It's exciting to think of welcoming other people. Also, Davis people from onto the board. As well as coming to this event. And I want to thank you so much for coming and speaking about this and telling our audience about this program, because it's a terrific program. And thank you for joining us today on In the Studio.