IN HONOR of JEREMIAH CHASS...

[nurturetruth]

Blessings to ALL ! :

For the past week, like many, I have been on these hudge waves of emotions since the unfortunate events surrounding Jeremiah Chass.

I have gone back and forth from meditating/prayer to moarning/sadness/releasing to the NEED to understand HOW something like this could happen (( i have since stopped analyzing!! )))

....... and even got in tune with the awareness that ..Jeremiah DID fulfill his Divine Purpose.

This experience has plenty to teach ALL of us! (( internal & externally))

Jeremiah was truly a Da-LIGHT-ful Be-ing who was honored, respected, admired and loved by many. He was a great soul! :

His essence and light WILL live on and he will continue to radiate his light!! :thoughtsoflove:

Yesterday, as i sat in the Sebastopol Courtyard..meditating and getting in tune with "what did i want from this experience? what were my needs/requests".... ....
I was approached my a family member of the Chass family...asking if it would be ok if Jeremiah's younger brother ..could have the Buddha statue I had gifted Jeremiah's memorial site...because it reminded him of Jeremiah. Of course , I said..."YES!"

And while I was engaging in conversation with this particular family member , I felt as if Jeremiah was speaking through her because there was a sense of validation, confirmation of my emotions.

Yet it did not help me reach to a feeling /sensation of feeling resolved.

I don't think I will feel completely resolved until there are Crisis Intervention PROGRAMS in this county established in honor of Jeremiah Chass!! (( or Kundalini Crisis intervention program established in Sebastopo community!! ))

This was what I concluded yesterday with my needs/wants and requests.

This morning, I wake up and scan the Press Democrat for any updates and I read the below posted article...regarding Sonoma County Sheriff Bill Cogbill feelings with actually attempting to START a Crisis intervention program . He states that due to the funding and the vast area of Sonoma county, help WOULD be limited. ((( basically..it leaves the community of Sebastopol in a place of forming their own Crisis Intervention program for teens/parents. IT ALL GOES BACK to community resources! ))))

But AT LEAST Mr. Cogbill is open to the idea and has thought about forming such a program in the past!! That was encouraging to read!

How DA-LIGHT-ful it would be to hold such a program in Jeremia's honor! (((( OR ANY PROGRAMS that can contribute to healing and dealing with crisis intervention!) )))

Please, if you feel strongly about developing other alternatives to what took place with Jeremiah... or perhaps initiating a Program in His Honor.. please either make phone calls/letters/faxes to either Mental Health Dept of Sonoma county or perhaps the Sonoma County Sheriff Dept (leave a message with receptionist of course!) or perhaps even attend one of the "mental health crisis intervention " meetings as described in todays paper... one is in petaluma. the other in Guerneville.

We as a community , DO hold the mindfulness, awareness, consciousness and sense of CHOICE to know "what we want and don't want and how to express it in a productive , healthy, healing way."

~~In honor of the " DA-LIGHTful " and Beautiful Jeremiah Chass~~

Thank you Jeremiah for choosing to be born into this lifetime, so that you could help with the "OPENING" and Healing of consciousness !!!

Thank you for teaching us!

"BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD!" :
"Compassion is revolution"
"Love is the desire to do good to others."
"why kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong?"

[Sara S]

I think crisis intervention would be a great idea for the police.

[tommy]

Hello,

I attended the Sonoma County Mental Health meeting in Petaluma yesterday afternoon. There were about 75 people crammed into 2 small adjoining rooms and some were in a nearby patio. Many of the people were there as a result of the tragic killing by police of Jeremiah Chass, a week ago, in Sebastopol. Art Ewart, Mike Kennedy and others from SCMH led the meeting, which was intended to be devoted to the MHSA funding increase of $1.5 M (next year) I think from around $3 M this year. It was clear that more than half of those attending had come in response to Jeremiah's death, and articles in the Press Democrat mentioning the Mental Health meeting in articles about Jeremiah. The relationship between the two is that if SCMH had a "Crisis Intervention Program" which could have responded with or in place of the police, Jeremiah would likely have been cared for more appropriately.

There were moving comments by friends of the Chass family, and professionals:

- There was concern about Press Democrat reporting, as it was not a "hostage" situation, as Jeremiah had released his younger brother, and was evidently alone in the van when he was killed.
- Jeremiah was afro-american, although his mother and stepfather are anglo-saxon.
- Jeremiah's mother tried to stop a 2nd police officer from entering the property, because she wanted the 1st officer who arrived to handle the situation by himself, but was not successful
- It was the concensus of those attending that police did not handle the situation appropriately, that no weapons should have been fired, that the police were not experienced with this kind of situation, and that a more appropriate response would have been to slow the situation down, defuse it, and get the parents to help lead Jeremiah to mental health professionals
- Jeremiah had been seeing a counselor at Analy
- Jeremiah evidently had his first-ever "psychotic break" a day or so before the incident
- Jeremiah's parents had tried to get him to an emergency clinic at Memorial Hospital the day before the incident, but were told they'd have to sit with him in the waiting room for 4 hours before an intake was possible. He apparently needed to be on medication, which he was not
- Art and others spoke of the "Crisis Intervention Program" model they are familar with, in San Francisco and other N CA counties, which evidently trains police how to deal more appropriately with a situation like this. $10,000 is allocated to this training program, although Art said that this incident demonstrates the need for more funding and attention to crisis intervention. Due to the disperse nature of Sonoma County's population, it's unlikely there will be a "Crisis Intervention Program" just for mental health clients.
- Others at the meeting spoke of the need to train telephone dispatch people, so that they can alert police to delicate nature of a situation like this.

I was surprised, concerned, and renewed after attending this meeting. In California, as large old Mental Hospitals were closed, beginning in the 1970s, mental health has fallen into the arms of local communities, non profits, and people like you and I.

I'm the Board Chair of Community Support Network, which was started over 30 years ago by Sonoma State Psychology students, to provide housing and rehabilitation services for mentally ill and homeless adults. CSN has 11 homes which range from homeless centers, to transitional housing, to permanent housing. I'd like to invite anyone interested in serving on a Mental Health board, to attend our next Board Meeting, on Thursday, March 29th, at 6:00 pm, at our office at 1430 Guerneville Rd, Suite 1, Santa Rosa. It's 1 block west of Cottingtown, between the Kelly Moore Paint Store and the Exchange Bank, next to the Laser Eye Clinic. It is a great opportunity to make a positive contribution to our community with a few hours of your time each month. You can email me at [email protected], or call me at 707 235 2200 for information..

[paultous]

I think we need to think about alternatives to the police and therefore alternatives to crisis intervention by those who monopolize fatal force, who are not trained in non-violent conflict resolution and who otherwise have authority to use fatal force with both impunity and immunity. Additionally, we also need to think about the topic of racism and law enforcement in Sonoma County. And last but hardly least, we need to consider that the investigation of the Sheriff's Dept action against Chass by the Santa Rosa PD is a bit like the White Citizens Council investigating the KKK (or the CIA investigating itself).
ed

I think crisis intervention would be a great idea for the police.

[nurturetruth]

THANK YOU very much "tommy" for expressing your voice/insight as to how the Petaluma meeting went.

I feel very grateful to live in a community where people hold the consciousness for deep concern regarding this matter and the obvious desperate need for a CHANGE!

Perhaps we as a community can start by coming up with creative ways to release and send a blessing/find joy in what has occurred.

Perhaps a music gathering in Jeremiah's honor geared towards encouraging/promoting/educating non violent alternatives ? OR perhaps.. GROWING A TREE IN RAGLE PARK or having his name ON A BENCH in RAGLE or some other place?
(((I gotta say.. I have been listening alot to YELLFIRE by spearhead since his memorial. Track 13&14.. as if i understand and am celebrating the blessing of the lesson)))

AGAIN, the community of SEBASTOPOL, may be capable of becoming independent and pulling off their own center geared towards a collaboration of professionals/therapists/mediators, IF they so choose to and are able. . . it would be a blessing to be independent!! (((but already, the community is about to loose their hospital... so... not sure how well received or appropriate this vision would be for Sebastopol)))

WEST county could work with Sonoma County mental Health. That may help me have my need of "feeling safe" met. "Since Sonoma County is TOO LARGE to really be able to get a grip on helping "out of control" situations in a proper manner..."

Personally, I don't feel SAFE living in a county that is SO BIG...that there appears to be a sense of incompetency when dealing with mental health crisis!! I had NO IDEA this was the case of Sonoma County!! I would have assumed the system of the mental health department and legal system would already have had a Crisis Intervention program established!!

I was quite shocked the county did not. Jeremiah's circumstances was the first I have ever heard about a major situation in Sonoma county where the COUNTY SYSTEM re-vealed where it needs MAJOR adjusting. WE ALL HAVE ALOT TO LEARN!!

(((( Since Jeremiah's passing, I have heard more people speak out about situations in which Sonoma Sheriff over-reacted or did not appear to meet the public's needs. ))))

Was The Chass Family out of Sebastopol city limits and less than 5 minutes away? I have to wonder how the Sebastopol Police may have responded.... ?? Perhaps Sebastopol city limits need to be re-considered and re-discussed.




~k

"be the change you wish to see in the world"

Hello,

I attended the Sonoma County Mental Health meeting in Petaluma yesterday afternoon. There were about 75 people crammed into 2 small adjoining rooms and some were in a nearby patio. Many of the people were there as a result of the tragic killing by police of Jeremiah Chass, a week ago, in Sebastopol. Art Ewart, Mike Kennedy and others from SCMH led the meeting, which was intended to be devoted to the MHSA funding increase of $1.5 M (next year) I think from around $3 M this year. It was clear that more than half of those attending had come in response to Jeremiah's death, and articles in the Press Democrat mentioning the Mental Health meeting in articles about Jeremiah. The relationship between the two is that if SCMH had a "Crisis Intervention Program" which could have responded with or in place of the police, Jeremiah would likely have been cared for more appropriately.

There were moving comments by friends of the Chass family, and professionals:

- There was concern about Press Democrat reporting, as it was not a "hostage" situation, as Jeremiah had released his younger brother, and was evidently alone in the van when he was killed.
- Jeremiah was afro-american, although his mother and stepfather are anglo-saxon.
- Jeremiah's mother tried to stop a 2nd police officer from entering the property, because she wanted the 1st officer who arrived to handle the situation by himself, but was not successful
- It was the concensus of those attending that police did not handle the situation appropriately, that no weapons should have been fired, that the police were not experienced with this kind of situation, and that a more appropriate response would have been to slow the situation down, defuse it, and get the parents to help lead Jeremiah to mental health professionals
- Jeremiah had been seeing a counselor at Analy
- Jeremiah evidently had his first-ever "psychotic break" a day or so before the incident
- Jeremiah's parents had tried to get him to an emergency clinic at Memorial Hospital the day before the incident, but were told they'd have to sit with him in the waiting room for 4 hours before an intake was possible. He apparently needed to be on medication, which he was not
- Art and others spoke of the "Crisis Intervention Program" model they are familar with, in San Francisco and other N CA counties, which evidently trains police how to deal more appropriately with a situation like this. $10,000 is allocated to this training program, although Art said that this incident demonstrates the need for more funding and attention to crisis intervention. Due to the disperse nature of Sonoma County's population, it's unlikely there will be a "Crisis Intervention Program" just for mental health clients.
- Others at the meeting spoke of the need to train telephone dispatch people, so that they can alert police to delicate nature of a situation like this.

I was surprised, concerned, and renewed after attending this meeting. In California, as large old Mental Hospitals were closed, beginning in the 1970s, mental health has fallen into the arms of local communities, non profits, and people like you and I.

I'm the Board Chair of Community Support Network, which was started over 30 years ago by Sonoma State Psychology students, to provide housing and rehabilitation services for mentally ill and homeless adults. CSN has 11 homes which range from homeless centers, to transitional housing, to permanent housing. I'd like to invite anyone interested in serving on a Mental Health board, to attend our next Board Meeting, on Thursday, March 29th, at 6:00 pm, at our office at 1430 Guerneville Rd, Suite 1, Santa Rosa. It's 1 block west of Cottingtown, between the Kelly Moore Paint Store and the Exchange Bank, next to the Laser Eye Clinic. It is a great opportunity to make a positive contribution to our community with a few hours of your time each month. You can email me at [email protected], or call me at 707 235 2200 for information..