This Week on the Central Coast…
Several cities offered help to storm-ravaged communities, SVMHS started working on The Rose River Memorial Project to honor COVID victims, and Santa Cruz County named its 2023 Artist of the Year.
Monterey
MPUSD got a $500k grant to help homeless students
In October, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District received a $500k grant from the state Department of Education for their work on student homelessness. The grant will allow the district to further support students and their families who are experiencing homelessness.
MPUSD is currently still planning how to best use the funding. However, the district has already implemented a huge pool of resources to help students, including a partnership with Motel 6 for short-term emergency housing. Other resources include a “Family Resource Center that provides students and families with access to clothing and personal hygiene products, as well as information on where they can access food and shelter”, access to counselors, and help with financial aid.
One partnership, with the National Center for Youth Law, began about five years ago and has grown to include a dedicated program manager who will expand into the rest of the county.
The overall goal of the district is to develop a toolkit which it can then share with other school districts across the state and, eventually, the country.
New Museum / Hotel approved in Pacific Grove
Casa Museo is a new museum / hotel mashup that will begin construction this summer. Located across the street from Happy Girl Kitchen at the corner of Central and Dewey in PG, owner Job Kramer hopes to have the project built and ready to open in about two years.
“The one-time geology-major-turned-businessman plans to include interactive geology exhibits inside each hotel room.” The unique business will include four hotel rooms, a museum space with fossils and other artifacts, and a small store. The outside will be decorated with boulders from various regions of the country.
Kramer hopes “It would be like spending a night in a museum”.
SPCA rescuing large number of red phalaropes
“Red phalaropes are small pelagic shorebirds that spend most of their lives at sea. They weigh less than 2 ounces and are approximately the size of a robin.” Usually, the SPCA Monterey County rescues an average of six per year. This year, they have already rescued seventeen.
The birds have been found all over the peninsula and as far inland as Cachagua. They appear weak, cold, and lethargic, which has led the SPCA to believe that the recent storms are the culprit behind their distress.
Anyone who sees a phalarope in need of care should “gently capture it using a towel, place it in a box, and bring it to the center.”
“To report wildlife in need of rescue, call (831)264-5427”.
Santa Cruz
Recovery fund set up to help Seacliff State Beach
Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, a partner of California State Parks, is an organization that works “to ensure our cherished local parks and beaches are thriving and available to all.” The Seacliff State Beach Recovery Fund was set up to help make repairs to the popular beach. All funds will first provide short term support for things like cleanup and recovery planning, then go towards long-term recovery to ensure that any future storms have a minimal impact on infrastructure.
SC Animal Shelter helped to keep pets with owners during evacuations
Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter (SCCAS) has been working with temporary shelters, like the one set up by the Red Cross at the fairgrounds, to find ways to keep pets with their owners during evacuations. “Unlike other shelters, pets are welcome to join people indoors by their cots. Technically, all pets must be kept in crates, but most seem alright if that rule is overlooked.”
Being separated from their pets is a deal-breaker to many seeking shelter. One evacuee expressed his gratitude for being able to keep his pet with him. “‘If she wasn’t allowed, I wouldn’t be here,’ he says as the puppy pulls at his sweatshirt strings. ‘She’s my everything.’”
SCCAS wants to remind everyone to have an emergency plan for your pets, which would include a “week’s supply of food, water, medication (if needed), a crate and a litter box with litter. If your pets can’t join you and friends or family can’t assist, the shelter will house and care for your animal(s) for free.” More information can be found on their website.
Stephen Kessler named 2023 Artist of the Year
The Santa Cruz County Arts Commission named writer Stephen Kessler its 2023 Artist of the Year. The award is given to “local artists for performing visual or literary arts achievement.” Nominees need to be a resident of Santa Cruz County and have at least a national reputation. Some of their work needs to be from Santa Cruz County and “contributed to the cultural enrichment of the local community.”
Kessler has written in just about every format one could imagine, from novels and essays, to dozens of volumes of poetry. He’s been an editor and translator, a journalist, and community organizer for Santa Cruz poets. Most recently, he is a columnist for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Despite all his achievements, Kessler remains humble. “At this stage, it doesn’t matter too much to me who likes my work or the prizes I receive—writing is something I’m doing no matter what.”
Salinas
SVMHS participating in The Rose River Memorial project
On Saturday, Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System began a rose-making project, called The Rose River Memorial Project, which is “part of a larger national art installation launched in August 2020 by Southern California artist Marcos Lutyens.”
Participants made roses using red eco felt and, once finished, are attached to recycled fishing nets to create a river which represents the more than 800 people who have lost their lives to COVID in Monterey County.
“The Rose River Memorial is not just about grief for what we’ve lost, but a poignant reminder in the present that we have safe and effective vaccines that can significantly reduce the number of future roses added to this ongoing national remembrance.”
If you are interested in helping, you can contact Dr. Nadine Semer at roserivermemorial@svmh.com
Future rose-making events will be scheduled and take-home kits are available.