Our committees are the heart and soul of the Coalition. Through them, we advocate for change and provide a unique forum for inter-agency collaboration. Each Coalition member is required to serve on at least one committee and many serve on several.

Current Coalition committees, and their chairs, mission statements and meeting times, are as follows:

Behavioral Health Committee
Chair: Rob Weiss
Vice Chair: Mark Bontrager

The committee identifies behavioral health need in the community, prioritizes those needs and then advocates and collaborates to develop and implement strategies to meet those Mental Health/Behavioral Health needs in Napa County. Membership is open to nonprofit service providers, representatives from Napa County Health and Human Services and to related affiliated groups or organizations.

Meets on the 4th Thursday, every other month, at 2:00 - 4:00 PM at
Napa Valley Community Foundation, 3299 Claremont, Napa. Meeting dates scheduled for 2009: 5/28/09.

Community Development Block Grant Committee
Chair: Kasey Green

This committee works with the City of Napa CDBG Committee to prioritize and recommend capital improvement projects for funding that serve low-income and special need populations within the City of Napa.

This committee meets virtually.

Cultural Competency Committee
Co-Chairs:
Frances Ortiz-Chavez

Economic Self-Sufficiency Committee
Co-Chairs:
Donna Feingold
Sherry Tennyson

Our mission is to ensure the economic self sufficiency of all Napa county families and individuals through education and advocacy.

GOALS:

1. Sponsor a forum to educate the community regarding the Family Self Sufficiency Standard and Elderly Self Sufficiency Standard in the fall.
2. Participate in the planning grant with United Way, Insight - and help gather data from employers and employees in the hospitality field.
3. Develop relationships and partnerships with public and private agencies to promote a strong and well-trained local workforce.

Meets the 4th Wednesday each month 10:00 AM at 1020 Clinton Street, Suite 210, Napa.

Health and Wellness Committee
Chair: P.J. LoDuca
Co-Chair

Our mission is to produce a long term impact on physical health improvement in our community.

Meets the 3rd Thursday each month from 9:00 to 10:30 AM at First 5 Napa, 5 Financial Plaza #228, Napa.

Homeless Services Planning Council (The Continuum of Care Committee)
Chair: Chuck Mottern
Co-Chair: Debbie Peecook

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM (Gasser Foundation Board Room, 433 Soscol Avenue, #A120, Napa ), 1st Thursday of every month.

Our purpose is to assure that necessary and appropriate services are available to Napa’s homeless and potential homeless persons and that, as much as possible, services are unduplicated and well coordinated/integrated.

We have developed Napa’s county-wide plan to end homelessness in 10 years (called the 10 Year Plan) and, in partnership with the new Homeless Policy Council, (an outcome of the 10 Year Plan) are the stewards of the plan. The plan has been endorsed by every municipal government within the County. We also take the lead on the annual application for the HUD Supernofa for McKinney Vento Funds through HUD including the implementation of a semi-annual count of Napa’s homeless and various surveys as required by other funders as well as HUD.

Housing Committee
Co-Chairs:
Kathleen Dreessen
Roberta Goodin

The goal of the Housing Committee is to advocate for the development and preservation of low-income and special needs housing. The committee proposes policy changes at the local government level and strategies to ensure that positive changes occur. The committee encourages and promotes housing developments that assist this targeted population.

Meets the last Wednesday of each month from 12:00 to 1:30 pm at Pecan Court, 2020 Clay Street, Napa.

Napa County Organizations Ready For Disaster (NCORD)
Co-Chairs:
Chris Piper
Frank Lucier

Statement of Purpose

Napa County’s nonprofit and community-based organizations (CBOs) provide a myriad of essential services to disaster-affected individuals, families and communities throughout mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. NCORD (Napa County Organizations Ready for Disaster), a working committee of the Napa Valley Coalition of Nonprofits:

• Identifies the different services that agencies provide before, during and after a disaster;

• Determines in which phase(s) of the emergency management cycle each service typically occurs;

• Establishes which NCORD member agencies perform each service and how those agencies may be contacted in an emergency; and

• Maintains the above referenced information at a current level (i.e. not more than six-months between updates).

• In addition, NCORD facilitates the integration of all participating agencies into City and County emergency response plans, participate as requested by local governments in disaster exercises and drills and disseminate information regarding disaster preparedness and response “best practices” to all Coalition members.

Safety Net Food Committee
Chair: Shirley King

• Hands Across the Valley is a nonprofit organization whose primary role is to facilitate the actual HAV event, and with the proceeds, to benefit feeding programs in Napa County.
  
  
• Some agencies do not serve only the indigent. There are seniors (Senior Nutrition Program), AIDS patients, chronically ill (Queen of the Valley Community Outreach) and those marginalized by domestic violence (NEWS) who may not be impoverished, merely victims of their circumstances.
  
  
• Additional agencies include the Salvation Army, Napa Valley Food Bank, COPE, Area Agency on Aging……
  
  
• There is no one organization functioning as The Sunday Feeding Program anymore. Several churches and individuals have been alternating having food available (sack lunches) on weekends for the homeless.
  
  
• Meets the second Monday of the month at 9:00 AM at the Gasser Foundation. During part of the spring and summer, meets every other month.