MIXER FUNDRAISES FOR THE VILLAGE OF HOPE
>> The North Shore Business Association held its Saint Patrick's Day Mixer on Saturday at the Nice Event Center fundraising for the Vision of Hope Village, a nonprofit organization working to create a living and learning space for adults with developmental disabilities.
Founded by Tracy Martinazzi and Robin Aceves almost three years ago, the Vision of Hope Village is a passion project inspired by their sons Gaylin and Milo with a goal of creating a community for adults living with developmental disabilities like autism. Martinazzi shared “There are good programs here, but not enough and the housing component is missing.” Beginning at the local Farmers Markets selling plants and succulent arrangements, Aceves and Martinazzi elaborated on their mission, as it is divided into three parts with the next phase being the start of their culinary training program and ending with providing safe and sustainable housing with all-inclusive facilities. Currently the VOHV offers weekly exercise classes, a monthly game night, and will be starting a Wednesday night market soon.
Many of the evening's dinner guests were partners of the VOHV including members of the Ability Road organization in Kelseyville who work with the VOHV in finding internships that provide valuable work and life skills.
The highlight of the evening was a traditional three course holiday meal comprised of corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes and followed by pistachio pudding and shamrock cookies prepared by Chef Mike Tsarnas, owner of Waterloo Catering and Events, alongside his team of trainees. Tsarnas recently joined the VOHV organization this past September and has worked a variety of restaurant types throughout his career including running a food truck. He now hopes to pass on his life long food industry skills to individuals looking to gain culinary and restaurant work experience in order to obtain employment and live more independently. Tsarnas shared “The VOHV is the most wonderful thing tat I could be doing because I get to teach my trade to the most wonderful people in the world.”
District 3 Supervisor Eddie Crandell made a few opening comments, including a land acknowledgment stating, “The land that we would be on currently would be called Ben No Ha, it actually stands for mountain by the water.” After Crandell the President of the NSBA Deb Clarke shared “We made a lot of money tonight for the village.” She added, “My goal as president is to bring the community together, not just here but around the whole lake.” Clarke also extended her gratitude by thanking the community for all of their involvement including Lynn Kary, the owner of the Nice Events Center and Kitchen, for all of her ongoing support.
Guest speaker Stephen Dilly, Project Coordinator for California Jobs First / North Coast Opportunities, detailed the Redwood Regional Rise program and how it could impact the county. NCO is another partner of the VOHV and often works together in helping to fund the VOHV startup, noting that the group has helped raise over 10,000 dollars in grant funding for the VOHV.
The RISE (resilient inclusive sustainable economy) program creates a regional collective of over 650 diverse members in an attempt to gain the best perspective in developing high quality regional jobs that uplift marginalized communities while growing sustainable industries. Dilly noted, “There is a desire to lift up the voices in our community that are not
“We made a lot of money tonight for the village. My goal as president is to bring the community together, not just here but around the whole lake.”
— Deb Clarke, president of the North Shore Business Association
heard.” Dilly explained that there is 600 million in funding available across 13 regions in the Lake, Mendocino, Del Norte and Humboldt counties for the RISE program and at the moment NCO is working in collaboration with the VOHV to conduct “community interviews” which according to Dilly are “a series of questions asked to an individual on a one on one basis that gets an idea of what your aspirations were, what road blocks were there or what support did you have?”
These in-depth questions give the group people that could help them direct the funding and ultimately appropriate jobs and economic development for the area. With a goal of completing 40 interviews for this project, only about 13 have been completed in three months, as Dilly has asked those interested in participating to reach out and inquire about a seat at the sector table.