Our Response to COVID-19

UPDATE: 3/26/20: CVNL’s Marin County, Napa County, Sonoma County, and Solano County offices are following the requirement to “shelter in place” and will be closed until it is lifted. Many of our staff are working remotely and email responses might be delayed. Thank you for your patience and understanding during these unprecedented times.

How you can help through volunteering

At CVNL + Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, our number one priority is the health and safety of all the members of our community. As second responders, we take emergency and disaster situations seriously. As such, we are in close and frequent communication with local, regional, and national health and disaster agencies, and will do our best to update our stakeholders as the situation develops. Please take a few minutes to read our statement from CEO Linda Jacobs.

We recommend everyone stay connected:

  • Sign up for your local Nixle as an efficient way to receive up-to-date information.
  • The CDC is the most reliable resource for updates on the situation: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/index.html.
  • Regularly check the California Department of Public Health’s website here.
  • The most recent directive from Gavin Newsom’s office for the state of California can be found here.
  • Stay connected with your local Department of Public Health or Health and Human Services

Here’s how CVNL + Volunteer Center events, programs, and services are being affected

Major events:

  • The Heart of Napa Awards has been postponed. Please refer to this messaging for specifics.
  • At CVNL + Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, our number one priority is the health and safety of all the members of our community. As a leader in disaster preparedness and response we take emergency situations seriously. As such, we have made the difficult yet necessary decision to cancel the 2020 Sonoma County Human Race, which was scheduled for Sunday, May 2, in Santa Rosa. We are sorry that we will not be able to continue the 39-year tradition of celebrating our community together. We are grateful for the support of our sponsors and community members and look forward to coming together for the 2021 Human Race. You can read our press release here.

If people have specific questions, they can contact Dawn Bell, Sonoma Human Race & Membership Coordinator, at dbell@cvnl.org.

Workshops, round tables, and training:

  • Scheduled workshops, round tables, and training have been canceled, postponed, or moved from in-person to webinars or video conferencing for the month of March and the majority of April.
  • The website is currently being edited to reflect these changes.
  • If people have specific questions about workshops, they can contact Melissa Hersh, Director, Learning & Leadership: mhersh@cvnl.org.

Done in A Day, Days of Service, or Corporate Projects

  • We are dealing with these projects on a case-by-case basis.
  • Decisions about the status of these projects will be made among staff leadership, based on current health and safety recommendations, and those involved will be communicated with.

Meeting room rentals in Marin and Sonoma Counties

  • We are suspending the use of all of our meeting rooms for March and April and have communicated with those who have rented our spaces about this change.
  • Questions can be directed to Membership & Human Race Coordinator (dbell@cvnl.org) in Marin County and Jessica Grace Gallagher, Sonoma County Volunteer Manager (jgrace-gallagher@cvnl.org) in Sonoma County

GrantSpace/Nonprofit Library

  • We are suspending the use of GrantSpace in our Marin County and Sonoma County Offices through March and April. Members are encouraged to use their discount benefit to purchase GrantStation.
  • Our Nonprofit Library in Marin County will not be open to the public March through April.