SITS News January 22, 2026

Published Jan. 22, 2026

President Paula opened today’s meeting at the Lisa Maloff Center.

Our Invocation from Lydia was a short review of Martin Luther King, Junior’s life and service. She encouraged us to honor his sacrifices and commit to kindness to those who suffer injustices.

Sunshine: Sending Sunshine to Jen Gurecki who is battling cancer. And to Lois: we miss you.

The Middle School Projects Committee is sending some sunshine in the form of a note and bagel certificate to the members of the School Board to thank them for the work they do for our kids and community.

We had two speakers from St. Joseph’s Community Land Trust. Jean Diaz, Executive Director Jean is the former Executive Director of San Diego Community Land Trust. He is recipient of the 2023 Lake Spirit Award. He is also a Founding Board Member and member of the Policy Committee and Public Lands Working Group of the California Community Land Trust Network. Jean has extensive finance, public/private real estate experience and non-profit leadership experience including Chair of the San Marcos School District Prop K Oversight Committee, founding member of the San Marcos Promise and member of the Foundation for Senior Wellbeing. Jean obtained his MBA in Finance from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and MPA in Public Administration, California State University Fullerton.

And Lyn Barnett, President of the Board. He is a Founding

Member and creator of the steering committee for the formation of St Joseph Community Land Trust. Lyn is the co-founder of Wells Barnett and Associates and is a member of the American Institute of certified planners. He has extensive public and private sector planning and environment review experience in California and Nevada. Lyn is a long time resident of the Tahoe Basin with a broad resume of volunteer activities for Tahoe organizations. Lyn holds an Associate’s degree in Mathematics from LTCC and a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation from Humboldt State University.

Saint Joseph Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, that was founded in 2002 in response to rising housing costs and the negative impacts of these costs to the broad social fabric, well-being, and sustainability of communities around Lake Tahoe. ​SJCLT is a community land trust. The foundations of the CLT model include:​

• Dual ownership: CLT retains ownership of land and sells homes to income-qualified homebuyer, subject to a 99-year ground lease
• Perpetual affordability: resale restrictions in the ground lease preserve affordability
• Stewardship: programs and support to preserve assets for future generations
• Community participation: board of directors include CLT low and moderate-income beneficiaries and community representatives

SJCLT Projects include:

Sierra Garden Apartments include 76 one and two-bedroom apartments for the Tahoe Basin’s low-income workforce & residents. SJCLT is a general partner with the Pacific Development Group. The project underwent a complete $10 million plus rehab in 2017 and is listed on the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Exceptional Properties list.

SJCLT is a general partner in Sugar Pine Village with the Related Company. When the 4 phases are complete, Sugar Pine Village will provide 248 units including studio, 1, 2, & 3 bedroom apartments for Tahoe Basin’s low- & moderate-income workforce and families. Sugar Pine Village also envisions a Community Hub building that will provide social services for the community using the Hub Navigator model. The Community Building will also provide a Resiliency Center for the community. The 69-unit phase 1 grand opening was held in October of 2024 and Phase 2 opening is expected in the fall of 2025. Financing for Phase 3 will close in January of 2025.

The Riverside Avenue project includes two 2-bedroom and one 3-bedroom ownership homes for Tahoe Basin moderate-income families. These three families own their homes subject to a 99-year renewable & inheritable ground lease from SJCLT. The resale provision in the ground lease provides the homeowners with equity growth but ensures that the homes will remain permanently affordable for moderate-income households.The Riverside Avenue Project has been awarded the Tahoe Regional Planning Agencies “Best in the Basin” award for affordable housing and community revitalization.

The Tallac House was the first moderate-income ownership home constructed by Saint Joseph Community Land Trust. This 3-bedroom home was developed and is stewarded using the Community Land Trust Model. The home is owned by an income-qualified family, subject to a 99-year ground lease from SJCLT. Like the Riverside Avenue homes, the homeowners can realize appreciation based on changes in Area Median Income, but the resale restriction in the ground lease ensures that the home will be permanently affordable to moderate-income families. 

TAHOE (Tahoe Affordable Home Ownership Enabling Program) on Osborne Street

 This first purchase under the TAHOE Program has allowed an income-qualified family to avoid displacement from the home they have been living in for over 11 years. Through the program SJCLT contributed funds toward the purchase and necessary repair costs.  SJCLT will own the land and the income-qualified tenant/purchasers will own the home subject to the standard 99-year Community Land Trust ground lease. Ground lease provisions include property maintenance of the home, owner occupancy, and resale price limits ensuring that the home will remain affordable for subsequent generation of owners. This model may allow SJCLT to rehabilitate older rental housing into permanent full time housing.

All of these housing options comply with the California Fair Housing Act and require a qualifying income level to apply.

They also have emergency and supportive housing, although they are not a homeless shelter. In 2020 they worked with the schools to move families out of substandard motels into rental housing, including 36 children.

SJCLT provides Community Education on Fraud and Cyber Security, Financial Literacy, homeownership and computer literacy. Every Year the have a FREE Spaghetti dinner to celebrate their progress with the community.

We want to thank Lyn and Jean for providing an informative program to our club and also for their hard work and dedication to providing housing to all of Tahoe’s residents. For more information check out SJCLT website.

SITS Social Committee Invites Members to Breakfast at Elements

Community Safety Tidbit: South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue is linked into a program purchased by El Dorado County. It’s the SMART911 program. Go https://ready.edso.org and create an account. Emergency services can gain important information on your home and who is in it as they are responding. You can provide as much or as little information as you want. Things like an elderly parent, pets, family members, Oxygen tanks in the home, etc., help first responders help you. Please take the time to check it out and SHARE.

COMMITTEE HAPPENINGS

We’re a busy group!

• The Awards committee is asking for Ruby Award nominees. If you know of a woman who is a superior volunteer that works to support women or youth, and is not a Soroptimist member, please let Nancy Muller know about her before the end of January. As a club, we will then vote on the prospective recipients.
• Fundraising/ONLINE AUCTION is key to the funds we provide back into our community through scholarships, books, life essentials, and so much more. Members who requested specific donors were given their hard copy letters. We have more donation requests that need a member for follow up, so please contact. [email protected] to help out!
• Fundraising/VaCa Stay Raffle! Thanks to the Bergners, Prestellas, and Rorks, we again have the opportunity to sell vacation stay raffle tickets as a big part of our fundraising. Tickets will be $50 each and only 200 will be sold for either an “Anywhere in the World” timeshare (thanks Jeanne), or a beautiful condo on Maui (thanks Cookie and Jean). Selling all tickets can net our club $20,000 for the work that we do in the community. In Person sales begin on Feb. 12, as do a person’s ability to contact us via email to secure a ticket. Two lucky winners will be drawn at our Mad Hatter event at Valhalla on May 17!.
• Donations are already coming in! Go to Sits2026.org to view or donate items.
• HWHW (Healthy Women/Healthy World) is organizing a Monthly Movement series. Each will take place following our business meetings around 9 am. Join us and bring a friend! Save the dates and let’s move! Feb. 12 at 9 AM is Gentle yoga and a sound bath, cost of approx. $25 at OMNI Yoga. Reservations required. Contact Kim V. Mar. 12 is Ski with a Ranger at Heavenly. Apr. 9, May 14, and June 11….activities will be announced.
• HWHW will once again host Bread & Broth for our community on Monday, March 2, 2026. If you’d like to be one of the 5 volunteers, contact Kim V. now!
• Technology Committee continues to be available to our ladies to learn more about our google account, our mail, and whatever else you need to help you be more efficient. Technology isn’t a fad, so get the amazing assistance that you need! Get a hold of one of the ladies at [email protected]

SITS Member Reminders

Quarterly Member Dues for Jan-March and Happy Dollars: These funds are how we pay for our overhead expenses, so they are very important. Thanks to our Tech team and Treasurers, we continue to evolve into the most efficient payment and accounting methods. Use THIS LINK or QR Code to PAY YOUR WEEKLY, QUARTERLY, or YEARLY DUES AND HAPPY DOLLARS! *Be sure to use the drop down menu on the service charge and click “Other”, then type in “0”. You will not pay a service fee in doing this.

SITS Committee Signups~ Go to our signup listing site for this year of fun committee options here!

NEWS team signups are here!

Our Soroptimist apparel line is ready for purchase! Liz Prestella’s Torq’d clothing line for women is our supporter of this endeavor. Members and appreciators of SITS are now able to purchase apparel and items from her website. See what items are offered and to order go here. Thank you to the SITS team and to Torq’d for all of the hard work.

SOROPTIMIST CONFERENCES!

• District 5 Winter Forum Leadership Summit, hosted by SI Sierra Reno is February 27th! Details here.
• SNR conference celebrating 50 years from June 5-7, 2026, in Reno.
• Biennial Soroptimist International conference will be held in Incheon, South Korea from July 22-25, 2026.

NON-SITS

Fun and Opportunities in Tahoe

There’s actually so much going on so you’re going to want to check out the EVENTS tab on www.southtahoenow.com, but here’s a few to get you started!

Women’s Fund El Dorado Grant Applications Now Available! Due by Jan. 29th, 2026.

El Dorado County nonprofit agencies serving the western slope of the County are now invited to apply for grant funding from Women’s Fund El Dorado (WFED).

$112,000 is expected to be awarded in grants in 2026. Request for proposals (RFPs) must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on January 29th, 2026. For 2026, WFED’s Inspiration Grant will award a total of $52,000. By design, the Grant does not have a specific focus, thereby inspiring nonprofits to identify and address our community’s most pressing needs. Applicants may apply for up to $26,000. Click here for more info.

To qualify for funding, organizations must have nonprofit status and an established office on the western slope of El Dorado County (El Dorado Hills to Silver Fork).

This is the 39th Season of Tahoe Arts Project!

TAP performances include:

Push Physical Theater-Performances in our schools for our youth are Jan 26-30, 2026. This is going to be amazing! There is a Public Presentation on January 30th at LTCC’s Duke Theater. DETAILS HERE!

Katie Jane Band-March 2 – 6, 2026,

Living Voices-“Our Revolution” will be presented in our LTUSD schools March 23-27, 2026, with an evening Community Presentation at LTCC on Wednesday, March 25, 2025, hosted by the Lake Tahoe Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution in collaboration with TAP and LTCC.

Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids

TASK will be having a “Soul Shoppe Family Night on February 25th. Childcare and food will be provided for the parents. Volunteers appreciated. SITS Members, get ready to help out by baking cookies for the participants!

Drug Store Project: This year’s date is March 31st. Volunteers from the community are needed! Email Theresa at [email protected] if interested.

Encompass Youth will be the spotlighted organization at the Tahoe Knight Monsters Hockey Game on March 13th as they celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and earn a percentage of ticket sales. Scan the QR code to purchase your tickets. Then mark your calendars and get your green items out of your closet. Questions? Contact Karen at [email protected].

Vista Rise Collective (previously Live Violence Free) is always looking for volunteers. There are many opportunities, for both direct and indirect services. Cash donations are always welcome, but every Tuesday they accept non cash donations such as furniture, clothing, etc. For more information about volunteering, donations and/or services provided click here.

PETAL KINDNESS is a non-profit organization that rescues flowers to uplift others and helps divert green waste from landfills. They are in desperate need of vases. Drop them off at 2941 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Leave behind wooden pallet wall.

Petal Kindness rescues these flowers from the landfill and provides them to non-profits, hospitals, senior centers, and community-based organizations to bring comfort, joy, and healing to our local community members. Donations and volunteers are always needed!

Blood donations are desperately needed . Please see details here and make your appointment today!

Looking for up to date resources in our community? Barton Health has a list for all of us and it is actively updated! SHARE this link with others!

ALL YEAR LONG!

LTCC Basic Needs Center is looking for food donations. A variety of foods and basic need items are on the list. Click here for full list and drop off details

If you’d like to donate through our club, please bring your donations to the monthly business meeting and Lisa C. or Andie will make sure they are delivered to the college. Please include an estimate on the value as LTCC needs to keep records of that information.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue has a quarterly newsletter to keep us all updated on fire safety info. Their goal is to help people learn about the fuels reduction products they are working on, seasonal fire safety info and other fire dept related news. Click here to sign up for the newsletter

Saint Joseph Community Land Trust has changed their Motel to Home (MTH) program from a loan program to a grant program and we’re hoping this will attract families living in substandard housing, who would like to live in a more permanent and adequate home. Please click here for more details

Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless seeks community support in keeping people cared for.

Our South Shore community has been able to sleep better knowing that our homeless population has an indoor option. This winter season marked the 10th anniversary of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) providing warm beds to the most vulnerable in our community.

The office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-4 at the Red Lodge, 1137 Emerald Bay Rd.

More details here

Between Horses and Humans continues to grow! If you’re a lover of youth and a lover of horses, this is a program for you! You can keep up on their information by reading their newsletters here! Volunteers and donations are always needed. BHH Update-they are soon relocating to the Amacker Ranch!

Food Assistance Guide for So. Lake Tahoe. If you know of anyone in need, please share this information. Click and print!