Santa Rosa is organizing for Y2K, and for stronger neighborhood ties as well! We need your help!

A group of people have gotten together to form Santa Rosa Neighborhoods. Our objectives are fourfold:

1) Assist interested people to form neighborhood groups with the objective of getting to know one another, strengthening feelings of community, identifying skills and needs within neighborhoods, and doing disaster preparedness for earthquakes and Y2K. 2) Identify the skills and resources we have which could be of service to neighborhoods and the community. One way these could be shared is through a speakers bureau. 2) Form relationships with community organizations and city and county governments in order to facilitate this process of community awareness on a city-wide level. 3) Identify vulnerable people such as the sick, the elderly, the homeless, and those dependent on government assistance, etc., both in neighborhoods and in organized settings such as nursing homes, senior citizens mobile home parks, homeless shelters, etc., to help them and those working with them make preparations for a possible interruption of food, water, electricity, communications, and government financial assistance.

The government and the media have succeeded in defusing a sense of urgency about the seriousness of Y2K. Nevertheless, we believe that a possibility of serious disruptions does exist. In addition, Sonoma County is earthquake country, which raises the possibility that we could have an earthquake and Y2K disruptions at the same time. In the event of substantial Y2K disruptions, Federal and state governments would be likely to have their hands full trying to meet needs everywhere at once, and local communities might find themselves forced to rely mostly or completely on their own resources. Were an earthquake to happen at the same time, we could be left to our own resources for a substantial period of time. The city of Santa Rosa has done an excellent job of preparing for an earthquake, but it's preparations assume that state and Federal assistance would be forthcoming quickly, and it is far less prepared for an emergency of long duration, whether caused byY2K or an earthquake.

In the light of these circumstances, we believe it is prudent for citizens to make whatever preparations they are able for themselves and their families, for their neighborhoods, and for the vulnerable members of our communities. Many people, or the people in their neighborhoods, are not currently receptive to the possibility of earthquake or Y2K disruptions, so we often suggest to them that they organize their neighborhoods around social events, block parties, house sales, etc. This helps foster community, a worthy end in itself, and also creates personal ties that can be drawn on in a state of emergency or if Y2K heats up as a concern later in the year.

We have prepared and gathered a number of materials to support people wishing to organize their neighborhoods, which are available to those interested. In addition, we have written a one page flyer called Santa Rosa Neighborhoods, complete with contact names in various neighborhoods. This will be posted immediately after this message so that people can e-mail it or print it out and distribute it to anyone interested. The same can be done with this posting - please share it with your neighbors and friends.

The time is short and the work to be done is great. We need all the help we can muster to meet our objectives - organizing neighborhoods, providing resources based on our individual skills, contacting local governments and community organizations, and helping to prepare the vulnerable members of our community.

If you can help with any of these things in any way, please e-mail me at alandonnaj@aol.com or call me at (707) 527-8509. Again, please share this message with anyone else you think might be interested.

Alan Jones Santa Rosa Neighborhoods

-- Alan Jones (alandonnaj@aol.com), August 13, 1999