COTS’ Mission and Role in the Community

The mission of COTS is to offer help and hope to homeless persons, and to persons at risk for being homeless, in Southern Sonoma County by providng them safe shelter and helping them attain a home of their own.

COTS is an expression of the people in Petaluma who are taking responsibility for helping homeless people in Petaluma and in the south County. Helping homeless people is a responsibility of the community, and COTS is one of the most visible ways that the community fulfills this responsibility. We are entrusted as stewards of community resources to do this important work. Ideally, there is no "us" and "them" here: people who are homeless, COTS, the people who care and the people who don't care all have a place in the community.

There are several implications of this perspective. One is that COTS serves the community as a whole by serving the homeless. Another is that the needs of the homeless people are not elevated by COTS over the needs of those with homes (nor, of course, should the converse be true); we seek solutions that benefit everyone. Finally, we do not see ourselves as having an adversarial relationship with others in the community. Instead, we work with other community institutions, including law enforcement and local government, as well as other social service providers and groups, as allies with the community as a whole and together build a healthy community which supports, respects and cares about all of its members.

By regarding homeless people as members of the community, we recognize that they have obligations to the community as well as rights and expectations. In general terms, we call these obligations "giving back." Virtually everyone, including people who are homeless for most reasons, have something to give. That may be at a place in their lives where they very much need to take, but still they should give what they can. For example, they can pull their own weight in programs by washing the dishes they use and keeping their living quarters clean (unless prevented from doing this by a disability). If not encumbered with children or jobs, many can give back to the community that supports them by performing some service to the community each week, provided that this does not interfere with their efforts to improve their situation. Apart from benefiting the community, this perspective shows people that they have worth and builds self-esteem.

Another element of COTS' success is focus. We have had opportunities to expand our work to other communities in the County, which already are served by organizations with a role like ours. By recognizing that our strength comes from being community-based, and by not getting overextended geographically, we have enjoyed healthy and (we hope) sustainable growth in Petaluma and, recently, Rohnert Park.