Republished from Sonora Union Democrat Mother Lode Job Training, based in Sonora, has been awarded $250,000 in state grant funding to help more than 40 residents of the Resiliency Village program — for individuals trying to transition out of homelessness — to prepare for and secure quality jobs with self-sustaining wages of $18 an hour minimum. Karen Moore’s last job was driving for Courtesy Cab in Sonora and, even though she was employed, she ended up homeless for about a month in late 2020 and early 2021 because she couldn’t […]
Meet a Villager: Chris S.
There are many ways people come to live without a home of their own. Some literally grow into it and have few options to find an off-ramp on the road to homelessness. Chris Smith moved to Tuolumne County with his family when he was three years old. His childhood home was never safe. Drugs, alcohol, violence, and abuse were a part of daily life for him and his three siblings. “I was the youngest and it seemed like it came down on me the hardest.” Chris says “At 11 years […]
Meet a Villager: Steven S.
“My name is Steven Smith, and I’ve had four strokes.” This is how one long-time Resiliency Village resident often introduces himself. Steven’s story is one of great loss, resilience, and ultimately redemption. For five years before he came into shelter with the RoomKey program, and then moved to Resiliency Village, Steven lived in a series of vehicles while dealing with intense health concerns, and complicated legal struggles. “You can’t understand it” he explains “Unless you’ve lived it.” “I went through many vehicles,” Steven says “I’d do everything the cops would […]
Villagers help transform Sonora into ‘Christmas Town’
Reproduced from The Union Democrat Dec. 3, 2021 Resiliency Village residents join nonprofit groups to help transform Sonora into a ‘Christmas Town’ This Christmas will be the first that 31-year-old Resiliency Village resident Christopher Smith has celebrated with a roof over his head since he aged out of the foster care system at 18. Smith beamed with pride Wednesday morning at Courthouse Square in Sonora as he recounted his journey from life on the streets of Tuolumne County to becoming one of the first clients of the nonprofit organization’s live-in […]
Another Day in Paradise
“She calls out to the man on the street He can see she’s been crying She’s got blisters on the soles of her feet She can’t walk, but she’s trying…” — Phil Collins, Another Day in Paradise (1989) The concept for Resiliency Village started in a small room at the Jamestown Family Resource Center. Charts covered the walls, and on them, we scribbled our first conceptual drawings. Mark Dyken, Brenda Chapman, and I spent hours discussing how the “village” might look, how we might serve our unsheltered friends and neighbors, […]