The success of The Village shows in the faces of the 24 children (almost all sibling groups) who live there in four large houses. Dedicated Village Parents nurture the children twenty-four hours a day, and four Village Grandparents live on site and spend quality time with all the kids. The Village is searching for two more special seniors to move into apartments in the two triplexes. Soon, The Village hopes to be able to build four more large homes on the property, and looks forward to welcoming 24 more children and sibling groups.

History

The Children's Village of Sonoma County was founded by Lia Rowley, a professional child care consultant with 30 years experience. Following the death of 12-year-old Georgia Moses who was found murdered, Lia was moved to act on her vision to create a village that would provide a stable, nurturing environment for children and sibling groups in foster care. The Village was dedicated to Georgia's memory. In 1999, with a small group of volunteers led by Lia, The Children's Village was granted non-profit status. During the subsequent years, the work to get the village built and licensed proceeded at a steady pace with two staff members and over one-hundred volunteers working in more than a dozen committees.

In 2001, a $100,000 grant was received from the William Donner Foundation and a gift of a parcel of land was sold for $220,000 in 2002. These two major donations enabled The Children's Village to enter escrow to purchase the site at Kawana Springs Terrace for The Village.

In the summer of 2005, construction of The Village began and the work toward getting licensed accelerated. In the spring of 2006, additional staff including the first Village Parents, was hired in preparation for the opening of The Village. The Children's Village was licensed and celebrated its grand opening August 24, 2006. At the celebration a check for $1,000,000 was presented to Lia from the estate of G.K. Hardt, to be used to build The Village Community Center.