Response to COVID-19
A MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANNE MORKILL

We are in an unprecedented period of uncertainty with regard to the coronavirus (COV-19) pandemic that is affecting families, workplaces, schools, businesses, and all other facets of life in communities from Sonoma County to across the world. Here at the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, we are adjusting our operations to ensure the health and safety of our employees, volunteers, service vendors, and visitors.

Please continue to check our website for updates. Thank you for your continuing support for the Foundation’s work, and we greatly appreciate your patience and understanding.

August 10, 2020	It’s hard to believe it has been more than 4 months since our communities began sheltering in place to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, and apologies that it has been almost that long since we provided an update on our response! These weeks and months have flown by amidst the chaos of the global pandemic and economic uncertainty, and the overdue attention on race and social justice reforms. Although our primary operations have continued to be done remotely from our homes, the Laguna team has been hard at work restoring riparian habitats, conserving vernal pools, and training young children to become junior naturalists, which you can learn more about in our summer issue of Meanderings. Our response to COVID-19 continues to be one that prioritizes the safety of our staff and our communities. Our office and visitor facilities at the Laguna Environmental Center remain closed for the foreseeable future. We have been able to welcome back small numbers of dedicated volunteers to help revive our native plant garden, following safety guidelines in the county’s health order for community gardens. We continue to assess the safety and feasibility of hosting in-person community education programs but for now we will continue to offer those virtually, so stay tuned for upcoming programs. Through it all, we miss seeing each other and all of you! Take care, stay healthy, and enjoy the bright days of summer!
April 23, 2020	Greetings all! Please know that I and all the Laguna staff are thinking of you and wish you and your families all the very best during this difficult and scary time. We have made great progress in adapting our community education programs from in-person to on-line platforms to continue sharing the natural wonders and beauty of the Laguna de Santa Rosa. Make sure to sign up for our new series of webinars and virtual garden tour on our webpage. We have also launched a new Educational Resources webpage where you can find recordings of past webinars and other materials to download for your use and enjoyment. I hope you've also been seeing our daily posts this week on Facebook and Instagram celebrating Earth Day, but if not, you can find those on the Educational Resources webpage as well. Our May e-news will include more information and highlight our ongoing restoration and education work during shelter-in-place. Spring is a wonderful season to remind us of the strength and resiliency of nature in good times and bad. I hope you can find some solace and refreshment by watching spring unfold - whether just outside your window, in your yards or surrounding neighborhood, or even virtually through our webinars. As all of us are cloistered in our homes, many trying to juggle work remotely and take care of young families, let's all remember to take a little time out to step outside and breath in the fresh spring air. Gaze up at the clear blue skies, notice the young vibrant green leaves emerging on the trees, listen for the bees buzzing around new flower blooms, and look for the birds busily gathering materials to build their nests. We will see you again soon. It's very humbling to me to know that you are all out there, patiently waiting for the day when we can come together again. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.” Be well.
April 9, 2020	Hello Laguna friends! We hope everyone is safe and healthy and managing as well as can be during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place. Our team is working hard every day to advance our mission even under these extraordinary circumstances. We are excited to share that we are adapting several outings and events to offer as on-line webinars, and providing materials and resources for you to download and use at home, like our new 3-part Learning Laguna Magnified series. Additionally, we have extended the art exhibit in Heron Hall through August and are working with featured artist, Jerry Dodrill, to provide an on-line art show and to re-schedule his photography workshop in the fall. We will continue to provide updates on our activities though our e-news, Facebook and Instagram feeds, and website. If you would like to receive our e-news, please click here to sign up. Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you soon. Feel free to contact us by email if you have any questions. Best wishes to all!
March 30, 2020	As we're all adapting to social distancing and sheltering in place, we hope to connect deeper with you by continuing to share stories about the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed. Although our office is physically closed, our whole team is still working to restore and conserve natural biodiversity and inspire local stewardship to ensure a healthy and resilient watershed into the future, serving as a safe haven for wildlife and people alike in times of change and uncertainty. We adapted our operations quickly in order to work remotely and communicate virtually, and we are using this time to explore new ways of delivering our programs, re-connect with our stakeholders, and maintain our priority restoration projects as safely and effectively as possible within this current reality. We are grateful for your support and look forward to continuing our journey with you!
March 16, 2020	We have canceled all outings and events, volunteer activities, closed the Laguna Environmental Center to the public, and have reduced office operations - effective immediately through at least April 5, 2020. We will continue to monitor the evolving circumstances and notify you as soon as feasible if we need to suspend or postpone events and activities beyond then. Our mission to restore and conserve the Laguna de Santa Rosa and inspire public appreciation for this Wetland of International Importance continues to be vital. Perhaps even more so in these uncertain times as the health of our environment is critical to the health and well-being of our communities. Spending time outdoors in nature is widely recognized as the best treatment for a growing list of ailments, from anxiety to obesity to attention-deficit disorder to high blood pressure. As local officials implement increasingly restrictive precautions against indoor social gatherings and closing schools and businesses, we encourage you to enjoy some fresh air and take a walk along your local Laguna trails to recharge your spirit.

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