Several years ago the Valley of the Moon Children’s Foundation formed a public-private partnership with Sonoma County to raise funds and build a much needed new Children’s Home for the county’s abused, abandoned and neglected children. Budget restrictions led to the project being built in three Phases. In May 2005 Phase II, the housing units and full commercial kitchen and dining area, were completed and the kids moved in June 1, 2005.

In Spring 2006, the Board of Supervisors and the Valley of the Moon Children’s Foundation agreed to proceed with total completion of the project and to get started on building Phase III. Costs had risen substantially but all agreed to finish the job. Contracts were let in for construction in Summer 2007 and on October 1, 2007 we broke ground for Phase III, the final phase of the building project. Phase III is an integral part of the project that contains numerous support services for the Home.

The Foundation committed to raise $3 million towards the projected completion cost of Phase III. The Foundation gave the County $1 million when the contract was let in early July 2007 and an additional $1 million at groundbreaking October 1, 2007. We will contribute the final $1 million before completion of the project scheduled for December 2008. The final Phase (Phase III) of the project will include visiting and consulting areas, admissions, volunteer services, the Redwood Children’s Center for suspected sexually abused children, a fully equipped medical wing, and a specialized toddler area. The Foundation will concentrate its fund raising efforts specifically on the Redwood Children’s Center ($1 million), the Medical wing ($1 million) and the Toddler’s Center ($1 million).

For the past four years the Foundation has been studying programs to provide the kids. We have identified four key areas for expanded support: 1) continued support for the Home, 2) education, housing, and employment for emancipated (aging out) children, 3) children in foster care and foster parents, and 4) child abuse prevention. We have studied numerous programs to avoid overlap of resources and narrowed them down to specific programs for the Foundation. We also began our scholarship program June 2007 and awarded six scholarships to former foster youth.