ARPA Community Work Group
The ARPA Community Work Group supports the equitable distribution of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds by elevating the experiences and needs of the low income communities and communities of color most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
The federal government allocated $96 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to Sonoma County to:
- Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses;
- Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the unequal impact of the pandemic;
- Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control;
- And replace lost revenue for eligible state, local, territorial, and Tribal governments to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs.
Approximately $20 million have already been allocated to assist the County of Sonoma with ongoing COVID-19 response needs.
Composition
In alignment with the County of Sonoma's Racial Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan pillar, the county recognizes that meaningful and effective change can only occur when we co-create solutions with the communities most impacted, in this case, by COVID-19. Local COVID-19 data reveals that Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people have been most negatively impacted by the pandemic, and they are also the communities that have historically been the least engaged. Therefore, an explicit focus on these populations is reflected in the Work Group.
Members
The ARPA Community Work Group leads and guides the County to prioritize areas for funding to ensure an equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The ARPA Community Work Group facilitates the County of Sonoma's commitment to lead with racial justice and invest in partnerships and strategies that will lead us to achieve equitable outcomes under ARPA goals 1 and 2, as described above. The following are the members selected to participate in the work group:
- Chelsea Rose
- Daniela Bravo
- Evette Minor
- Faith Ross
- Grace Cheung-Schulman
- Gregory Fearon
- Hector Velazquez
- Herman J Hernandez
- Jon Wheeldin
- Mary Sandberg
- Patrick McDonell
- Rebekah Sammet
- Regina Brennan
- Sandra Uribe