LAKE COUNTY
Konocti Senior Support offers free peer counselor training
Volunteers are being sought to participate in the 8 week training program to become senior peer counselors serving Lake County’s seniors who may be struggling with depression, anxiety and loneliness. Senior Peer Counseling is an older adult outreach program administered through Konocti Senior Support, Inc.
A peer counselor provides a special connection, giving emotional support, by listening and guiding a person through a difficult time. This may be a person grieving the loss of a loved one, or a person who returns home after receiving medical care and needs to commence with daily living. Peer counseling can help someone recognize that help is needed, and that there are ways to cope with symptoms.
After training, the peer counselor will be assigned a client. They will reach out to that person weekly and meet with other peer counselors each week for professional supervision. Senior counselors can reassure a client, perhaps they have “walked in their shoes.” Counselors and clients must be at least 55 years of age.
This program is funded through Mental Health Services Act Outreach and Prevention funds in alliance with Lake County Behavioral Health.
Contact Konocti Senior Support to register for this training. Call 707 995-1417. Visit our webpage lcspc@att.net to learn more and sign up.
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LAKE COUNTY
Cobb Mt. Watershed Education and Restoration project update at Sierra Club Lake Group’s Community Forum
The Sierra Club Lake Group will host Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association Director and Cobb Area Council Forest Stewardship Committee Chair, Eliot Hurwitz, at their next community meeting on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 6 PM. The discussion will be held via Zoom video conference and live-streamed on Facebook. The meeting is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required to attend via Zoom.
Hurwitz, who is also the newest member of the Sierra Club Lake Group executive committee, will discuss an innovative program to restore Cobb Mountain and its watershed. The Cobb Mt. Watershed Education and Restoration project has assembled a multi-disciplinary team to focus on restoring the headwaters of key creeks that feed Clear Lake. This unique, tribal-centric program combines the best riparian science, traditional ecological knowledge, landowner experience, and community process to facilitate long-term stewardship partnerships between tribal members and current landowners. The program is funded by the Blue Ribbon Committee for Clear Lake and the PG&E Nature Positive Innovations Fund.
“This is an exciting collaborative approach that exhibits a model for other groups looking to address climate and community related needs,” noted Sierra Club Lake Group President, Deb Sally.
To register for the event, visit the Lake Group’s online calendar at: www.sierraclub.org/redwood/lake. Registrants will receive access information upon registration and a confirmation reminder the morning of the event. Zoom space is limited, so the event will also be live-streamed via the Lake Group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sierraclublake.
The Sierra Club Lake Group represents more than 400 Sierra Club members living in Lake County and is part of the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club that represents the northwest region of California. The group works to preserve Lake County’s wild heritage; protect and restore Clear Lake and its watershed; and promote smart growth, sustainable practices and environmentally friendly development. It also fosters a meaningful connection to the environment for the community to value and enjoy through guided hikes and community events. (Note: guided hikes are on hold while the group secures hike leaders. Those interested, contact Chair Deb Sally at enviracat1@gmail.com.) For more information about the Sierra Club Lake Group, visit www.sierraclub.org/redwood/lake or call 707-994-1931.
Founded in 1892, the Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. With more than three and a half million members and supporters, their charge is to defend everyone’s right to a healthy world. Through activism, education and outdoor activities, the Sierra Club plays an important role in influencing conservation policy and environmental history. For more information on the Sierra Club, visit www.sierraclub.org.
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LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles’ women leaders to convene and share actionable insights towards gender equity
Mount Saint Mary’s University will release the 2023 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California™ on March 22 at the Skirball Cultural Center. The event will feature Los Angeles-area women leaders and experts, including LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Maria S. Salinas, and incoming CEO of LAHSA Va Lecia Adams Kellum, among others.
For the past 12 years, the Center for the Advancement of Women at Mount Saint Mary’s has produced the most authoritative collection of current research and data on issues affecting California’s women and girls. This year’s Report, Advancing Equity: Leading with Meaning and Purpose, shines a light on a wide range of issues, from educational attainment and occupational disparities to earnings and wealth gaps, health and wellness, and work-life balance.
2023 Report Data Highlights
Some key findings from this year’s research reveal that:
- In 2020 and 2021, 13% of California women lost a job. Roughly 1 in 4 experienced income loss due to reduced work hours.
- The median earnings of California women working full-time increased 14% from 2019 to 2021. Earnings for women working part-time rose 9%.
- The flexibility to work remotely appears here to stay. In 2019, 1 in 14 women worked from the home. In 2021, 1 in 3 worked remotely.
- Overall, 9% of California’s family households experience poverty. But for households headed by women, with no spouse or partner present, the poverty rate more than doubles to 21%. The rate increases to 29% for women-headed households with children.
- Our state is home to the largest number of women-owned businesses in the United States — 1.5 million. California women own or co-own 36% of the state’s privately-owned businesses with paid employees.
- COVID-19 has impacted our very life expectancy, women and men. Life expectancy for all Californians shortened from 80.9 years in 2019 to 79.0 in 2020 — an almost two-year drop in a single year.
An estimated 38.2% of women have been plagued by Long COVID statewide compared with 20.8% of men.
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