Reaching out to the community

Mixed-use pre-school, transitional housing project will
offer stable site for Windsor’s youngest
By PETE MORTENSEN, News Editor
For the last several years, the Community Action Partnership of
Sonoma County Head Start Program has been without a home. The
pre-school program has operated out of a classroom on the campus of
Cali Calmécac Charter School off-and-on for some time, at one point
having to give up the room for an entire year.
&#8220They’ve been very gracious in holding on and allowing
us to stay when they initially needed the classroom,” said Ofelia
Ochoa-Morris, director of the Head Start program. &#8220They
let us stay until we got our own home.”
A Windsor project will soon offer a home to not only Head Start
and pre-school programs operated by the Town but also six families
in transition. On a piece of property adjacent to Town Hall at the
intersection of Joe Rodota Drive and Windsor Road, the Town will
build a permanent two-story facility of more than 12,000 square
feet offering pre-school classes to dozens of young children on the
ground floor and six residential units on the second floor. The
building is modeled on the old Windsor hotel, with a design by
Orrin Thiessen.
David Kelley, serving as Windsor’s interim Economic Development
and Community Services Director, said the residential units will
likely be leased to the Windsor Service Alliance, which would
select tenants and manage the residential space. He said the
project, which is out for bid through April 13, is designed, with a
few minor plan revisions coming soon.
&#8220There will be an outdoor play yard for the pre-school,
and the majority if not all the oak trees are going to be preserved
on-site,” he said. &#8220The project involves upgrading the
infrastructure that will serve Town Hall.”
Maintaining the natural environment will let children learn and
play in a way that’s increasingly uncommon, said Patricia Morandi,
Windsor’s Community Services Supervisor, who oversees the Town’s
pre-school programming.
&#8220It will also have a wild oak habitat,” she said.
&#8220That’s part of the play area we’re going to leave in a
natural condition. We’re so excited about it – it has those oaks
and a little ephemeral creek, things kids don’t get an opportunity
to play in much these days.”
The project was begun as part of First 5 Sonoma County’s
Regional Child Care Initiative in 2001-02. First 5 was established
by 1998’s California Children and Families Act, which uses a
tobacco tax to generate revenue to support California’s youngest
residents, from prenatal age to 5. For the child care initiative,
Sonoma County was divided into seven regions. The planning group
including Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville and Cloverdale concluded
the region was in need of more sites for early childhood
development. The Windsor project was identified as a way to offer
two such sites.
&#8220We were thrilled with the resourcefulness of the
Windsor planning team,” said Jennie Tasheff, the executive director
of Sonoma County First 5.
Former Windsor Economic Development and Community Services Marla
Young was instrumental in developing the plan, Tasheff said.
&#8220I think she worked very hard with not only the
planning group but also people in your area and the Town of Windsor
to come up with all this blended funding that supported the
realization of that building,” she said. &#8220She came and
gave a really nice presentation to the commission on it. We were
very impressed with her and impressed with the fact the planning
group in that area chose to support that, so we’re just thrilled.
We can’t wait for this building to become a reality.”
Ochoa-Morris said Head Start currently serves 40 children
between the ages of 3-5 in Windsor. With their new facility, the
program will be able to serve as many children as they currently
to, with an option to add a session serving toddlers as well.
&#8220The Town was being very innovative in looking at this
project, and at the same time, we were on a very tenuous basis of
being able to stay in Cali,” she said. &#8220It’s one of those
magical things.”
The $1.6 million project is funded by a forgivable loan of
$225,000 from First 5, $250,000 in Community Development Block
Grants, $1.084 million in redevelopment agency funding and a
contribution from Head Start. The Town pre-school program will
serve 48 students in two sessions. Presently, the Town offers four
pre-school programs, two each in Huerta Gym and the community
center. Morandi said programming will continue at the community
center, while the gym will be free for other uses.
&#8220This will be a stable space we don’t have to change
every day,” she said. &#8220Because of all our programming, the
buildings are used so heavily that we take down and put up all the
equipment every day.”
Music programs for children might be started in Huerta as a
result.
&#8220We will pack the gym with other classes,” Morandi
said.
The project, combining childhood development with affordable
housing, is innovative, Ochoa-Morris said.
&#8220In making sure those two things can complement each
other without any kind of safety issues for the people, they’ve
done a great job,” she said. &#8220We’re very excited. We want
it tomorrow.”
Mullinax resigns from Town position
Windsor Economic Development and Community Services Director
resigned her position with the Town recently, Town Manager Matt
Mullan confirmed Monday. David Kelley has been named her interim
replacement, but Mullan said it’s impossible to guess when a
permanent staff member would be found.
&#8220Typically, it takes several months to do any
recruitment at his level,” he said.