Living in West Marin during last summer’s smoke and fire threats, Pam Osborn, the associate director at West Marin Senior Services, made it a top priority to get additional support for keeping Stockstill House residents safe. “I can’t sleep at night thinking about the possible fire threat and our residents,” she said.
The organization has been active in addressing disaster preparedness over the past five years. The care management staff is involved in disaster planning with local disaster councils. Recent fire seasons have demonstrated the unpredictable, devastating and deadly nature of wildfires adjacent to communities.
At Stockstill House, we are responsible for eight dependent residents, and we feel that responsibility keenly. The facility is on the Point Reyes Station mesa, where Highway 1 is the only route out and transport times to appropriate shelter are long. We have an emergency plan in compliance with Community Care licensing. Last year, during the Woodward Fire, we arranged with facilities and hotels over the hill to receive the residents in an evacuation emergency. The challenge was to get all residents evacuated and transported quickly, together with adequate staff.
And so began a dialogue with Skip Schwartz, our executive director, and Erick Villalobos, the general manager of Vivalon Rides. Vivalon, formerly known as Whistlestop, serves older adults and other vulnerable populations in Marin and beyond with transportation. Erick located a van in San Francisco that had not been used recently; it had the wheelchair lift and passenger size that we needed. He called a meeting with Nancy Geisse, the chief operating officer at Vivalon, and presented his request to donate the van to Stockstill House.
“We as nonprofits have to support each other, it’s what we do,” he told Nancy. “I felt this would benefit not only our organizations, but seniors in particular, where it could mean life or death.”
Nancy agreed it was a perfect fit, and the decision was made.
Erick contacted Skip to give him the good news. Erick remembers Skip saying, “Are you kidding? Really? This is outstanding! Can you see my smile through the phone?”
In early July, the van was delivered to Stockstill House by a team of Vivalon Rides staff. Natalia Meyerson, Stockstill House’s on-site administrator, learned how to operate the bus: “After one turn and then another, it was like she had always driven a vehicle this size on these roads,” Erick said.
Natalia is thrilled to have such a generous gift, and Pam says she can sleep again. “I was fearful each night that I would get a call and we would have to figure out how to get our residents to safety. Now I know we have the perfect bus to do this. Thanks to this generous gift from Vivalon,” she said.
Amena Hajjar is the Outreach and Communications Coordinator at West Marin Senior Services. To learn more about Stockstill House, visit wmss.org