EWA Accepting Nominations for Board Positions

Joining a County employee resource group in a leadership role is a great way to develop skills, implement your passions, expand your County professional network, and serve your fellow County employees.

Apply now for the 2023-2024 board term with the Emerging Workforce Association ERG! Applications are due by Dec. 28.

Help EWA achieve its mission to bridge the generational gap through education, enhancement of work culture and networking while promoting County initiatives.

Learn more about EWA. For questions, email  ewa@sdcounty.ca.gov.

County Employees Needed to Help Count People Experiencing Homelessness

Our County is doing more than ever before to address homelessness—and we could use your help.

County employees are needed to volunteer for the annual Point-in-Time Count, scheduled to take place from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 26.

Each year, the Point in Time Count begins our region’s effort to count the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night of the year—to talk with them, collect information to help us understand the scope of the homeless problem, people’s circumstances and their needs. This count also helps our region apply for federal and state funding to help serve this vulnerable population and measure our efforts to reduce homelessness.

You can be part of that effort by volunteering a few hours of your time—paid for and on the clock, thanks to approval by the County Board of Supervisors.

The deadline to sign up is 5 p.m., Monday, Jan. 23. However, employees who receive the OK to take part from their supervisors are encouraged to register as soon as possible because deployment sites fill up quickly. You can review the FAQs and then obtain approval from your supervisor via the supervisor approval form if you are interested in participating.

Once you get approval, please sign up here.

After you have signed up, you will receive an email receipt for this event. In the email there will be a link to a training for you to review from The Regional Task Force on Homelessness, which is leading the local point-in-time effort with the WeALLCount campaign.

Volunteers will be asked to arrive at their deployment locations by 3:45 a.m. to give themselves time to become familiar with a mobile counting app that helps us conduct a more accurate count and receive your count area map.

The 2023 count, as directed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will again entail an “engaged” survey-based approach, where people on the streets will be surveyed as they are encountered, rather than just an observational count.

This will be the ninth year that County employees have volunteered to take part in the count. The Regional Task Force on Homelessness reported last year that the 2022 count found 8,427 people experiencing homelessness—a number they said should be considered a minimum—across the county, a 10% increase from the 2020 count. No count was taken in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the 2022 count, roughly 150 County employees helped out, and are again encouraged to take part in this important effort. Members of the public can also join the count. If you know family or friends who would like to participate, they can sign up to volunteer.

So, if you’d like to help make a difference in addressing this important issue, please volunteer.

The Many Ways and Days to Support CECO

With Thanksgiving behind us, it is time to really get into the holiday spirit with the San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization (CECO). Shop Cyber Monday deals while supporting CECO or consider a donation on Giving Tuesday, a day focused on charitable giving.

Here’s how to support CECO this holiday season:

1. Make a one-time donation.

2. Become a CECO contributor or increase your payroll contributions and get a CECO canvas bag as a thank you. Please see CECO pledge instructions.

3. Select CECO as your charity of choice through AmazonSmile and 0.5% of eligible purchases will be donated to the nonprofit. AmazonSmile is a way customers can support their favorite charitable organization every time they shop with Amazon, at no additional cost. See instructions.

Your generosity can have a big impact. Through County employee and retirees’ donations, CECO has distributed more than $7 million to local nonprofit organizations and employees in crisis since its founding in 1956. And it stands apart from other charitable organizations because it is run by County employees and 100% of money donated benefits the people and organizations in our area.

To learn more about CECO, visit sdceco.org.

How Fit Are You?

This fit test involves no exertion. Employees who may be in situations where airborne safety measures to prevent transmission is warranted are required to wear tight-fitting respirators. They must be fit tested initially and annually.

In this photo, submitted by County staff nurse Takisha “Shaun” Murry, she and her coworker Mischa Joy Denton are getting a fit test by Crystal Delgado. Murry is in the Public Health Residency program.

Share your fabulous photos! If you see a coworker getting the job done, a beautiful sunset over your office or a wonderful County program being offered—snap a pic and submit it to communications@sdcounty.ca.gov. Be sure to include information about the photo and your name. One image will be posted to InSite every week and may be shared on social media.

See more of Your View photos.

Volunteer To Be a Book in BIPOC Human Library

The African American Association of County Employees is seeking living “books” for a human library. The employee resource group will present “You Can Read Me Like a Book! Exploring a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Human Library” at the Live Well Advance next month and is looking for volunteers.

Here’s how it works. BIPOC individuals represent books in a library that session participants can “check out.” Participants choose which “book” they would like to “read” and then listen to their unique stories.

AAACE President Dr. Keisha Clark, the session moderator, said the BIPOC Human Library helps to address unconscious bias and creates a brave space for dialogue between non-BIPOC individuals and BIPOC individuals.

If you are interested and available to tell your story, please volunteer to be a book. Email interest to aaace@sdcounty.ca.gov by Nov. 29. The Live Well Advance session will take place from 3 to 4 p.m., Dec. 7 at the San Diego Convention Center.

Support Wreaths Across America

Show your support for the fallen and honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country and way of life. VALOR employee resource group invites you to sponsor a wreath for this year’s Wreaths Across America ceremony at Miramar National Cemetery. The annual wreath-laying event takes place at hundreds of locations across the U.S., at sea and abroad on Dec. 17.

The event is an opportunity to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and their families, and to teach future generations about the value of freedom, said VALOR President Rea Alvarez.

VALOR has helped lay thousands of wreaths in the past few years. This year, with all the volunteer slots filled, they will be joining virtually. When sponsoring a wreath, disregard the VALOR participation notice and click on the link to sponsor wreaths. Sponsor a wreath now.

Stream the ceremony. Get details on Facebook.

CAO Message: Counting Our Blessings

Message from Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer:

If someone asked me to count my blessings this Thanksgiving, I’d quickly get to about 19,000 – roughly our number of employees these days.

I’m so thankful for each one of you. The scope of County services is immense. It takes everyone giving their all, in their part, to make it all happen.  

The public’s expectations of what we need to do only rise. Our Board has set new visions for us to realize. I never stop talking about raising the bar.

It’s a lot. And you keep doing it. Again and again and again.

And I understand in many areas of the County, you’re managing it shorthanded. We are trying to expand our workforce to take on new challenges, right in the middle of an extremely competitive labor market. Bringing on help is a huge priority for the organization, and as we work at it, I want everyone stretching to get us through to know how much I appreciate it.  

Each year, I see new things the County accomplishes through your work. As the years stack up, my gratitude keeps growing – especially when I think about the positive impact you are making as you touch individual lives. What you do matters. And Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the blessings your work brings to our residents. THANK YOU!

I hope you all have a restful Thanksgiving, filled with good food and good company. And thank you so much to staff working over the holiday! Your special sacrifices do not go unnoticed.

Honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance

The County Administration Center was lit Sunday night to honor Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Recognizing National Injury Prevention Day

The County Administration Centerwas lit Friday night for National Injury Prevention Day.

Your View: Sunshine and Roses at Gillespie

Gillespie Field Assistant Airport Manager Louise Dragman-Renz said the airport operations team often sees the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets while keeping the airport safe for everyone.

Dragman-Renz recently snapped this picture that shows a sunrise over the compass rose painted near the runway by the Ninety-Nines—a women’s pilot group. Founded by Amelia Earhart and 98 other female aviators, the Ninety-Nines would paint these compass roses to help pilots navigate in the 1930s and 1940s.

Share your fabulous photos! If you see a coworker getting the job done, a beautiful sunset over your office or a wonderful County program being offered—snap a pic and submit it to communications@sdcounty.ca.gov. Be sure to include information about the photo and your name. One image will be posted to InSite every week and may be shared on social media.

See more of Your View photos.