wine industry is also adding to the challenges of farmworkers in the resource center’s coverage area, says Ocón. “Farmworkers didn’t have as much work [in 2025],” she says.
Early Childhood Landscape report, which ranks 1 in 3 children (about 37,000) living in poverty. The 2025 federal poverty level for a four-person family is $32,150 per year. “In a county where nearly one in three residents relies on Medi-Cal, even a small rise in the uninsured will mean more preventable emergency room visits and crushing medical debt,” says Karissa Moreno, executive director of the Center for Well Being. She continues: “When families are forced to choose between paying medical bills and paying for food, rent or utilities—especially for Sonoma County renters who are already deeply rent-burdened—they are pushed closer to homelessness and hardship.” In Sonoma County, just over half of occupants in tenant households are considered “rent burdened,” defined as paying 30% or more of their monthly income on rent. Moreno suggests the One Big Beautiful Bill “will push more of our neighbors” into poverty, hunger and medical crisis. She predicts 30% of Medi-Cal recipients will lose their medical coverage. “This is something that’s going to have a ripple effect on every member of society. Most people think it will only affect the low-income and undocumented, but it will affect all when people can’t have access to primary care,” Moreno says. g
Moreover, immigration crackdowns have stoked
fear among members of the undocumented community who may refrain from seeking professional medical help. Ocón refers to the resulting trend as a shadow society. “If wages have kept pace, that’s one thing—but they haven’t,” she says. “These things are going to have a major effect. As we’re going into the next year with cuts to Medicaid, it’s not looking like a pretty picture,” Ocón says. Ocón indicates the one silver lining lies with how much organizations and groups care and are willing to put up a proactive fight. This includes the Catholic
Church. Shortly after the H.R. 1’s July 4 passage, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services predicted the legislation “will cause the greatest harm to those who are especially vulnerable in our society.” Broglio labeled the cuts as
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“unconscionable” for health care and food assistance and tax breaks to the wealthy as methods to “increase inequality.” Broglio’s line of thinking was joined by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which offers $1.7 billion in aid to more than 5 million every year seeking food pantries, among other services. John Berry, the national president, claimed the cuts inserted in the 244- page bill will have “a staggering impact on the poor,” the Catholic Review reported. Like most lengthy pieces of legislation, the average American won’t read the bill and, therefore, will be caught off guard by its consequences, Georgetown Center for Poverty and Inequality Executive Director Lelaine Bigelow said in the Catholic Review. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 35.9 million Americans lived in poverty in 2024, representing over 10% of the population. Founded in 1994 with a goal of achieving a healthier community through clinical services and community programs that empower people, the Center for Well Being of Santa Rosa cites data from First 5 in Sonoma County’s
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