In the May issue:

• Women’s Fund Unites to Award $1.275 Million to 10 Grantees!
• From Trauma to Hope: Stories of Foster Care
• Membership Corner: It’s Not Too Early to Renew!
• Opportunity is Knocking (and Offering Free Rosé)

On May 13th, the Women’s Fund held its 22^nd Annual Celebration of Grants (COG) at a festive gathering at the Lobero Theatre. We awarded an unprecedented $1,275,000 to 10 local nonprofits focusing on programs benefiting women, children and families serving south Santa Barbara County.

More than 500 members, guests, sponsors, and community supporters gathered to applaud the hard work of our volunteers throughout the year and to learn first-hand how our grants will help the agencies change the lives of their clients.

The audience waits to learn who will receive grants this year.

Board Chair Carolyn Jabs welcomed attendees and noted that “this year Women’s Fund set a new record with 1,451 members, making us the largest giving circle in the U.S. by membership. Our combined contributions resulted in a grants pool of $1,375,000.”

We awarded $1,275,000 last week; Jabs further explained “that $100,000 of the grants pool has been set aside to fund a new Pilot Program for Small Grants” to benefit local nonprofits with annual revenues under $500,000 whose work aligns with our community priorities.

“The initiative will launch in June,” Vice Chair Lauren Trujillo later explained. “These one-year grants of $10,000 or $25,000 are intended to provide flexible operating support where it can make a meaningful difference.”

Since its founding in 2004, the Women’s Fund has awarded nearly $14 million to 173 nonprofits serving south Santa Barbara County. A complete list of agencies can be found in the Impact Report and on the Women’s Fund website. The list demonstrates the power of giving when resources are pooled for the common good. 

Hats off to the hardworking Research Committee! Jabs acknowledged that this was an unusually challenging year “because many of our local non-profits face rapid and, sometimes devastating, changes in funding” with a larger number requesting gap funding to sustain their work. 

Supporting the work of local nonprofits is the heart and soul of why the Women’s Fund exists. On May 13^th, we once again brought to the stage the leaders of recipient agencies to share the impact of their critical work on the lives of those they serve – with our help.

As Jabs said, “For me, hearing directly from the people who lead these agencies is one of the very best things about being a Women’s Fund member.”  No doubt, we all agree.

New Grantee Agencies (from left to right):
AHA, Roxana Petty; Angels Foster Care, Dr. Jacqueline McDonough; Community Partners in Caring, Hilda Zacarias; Family Service Agency, Lisa Brabo; Friendship Adult Day Care Center, Kathryn Westland; SB Meals on Wheels, Tracy Pfautch-Block; Mission Scholars, Cassie Lancaster; Planned Parenthood, Jenna Tosh; SB Rescue Mission, Rolf Geyling; Veggie Rescue, Eryn Shugart

Read all about the current grantees here.

• AHA Attitude, Harmony, Achievement - $150,000 for two years of gap funding to provide in-school social-emotional learning programs led by facilitators to help teens build emotional management, deep listening, and social skills.
• Angels Foster Care - $60,000 to replace an aging vehicle with a new hybrid SUV to transport foster children to medical appointments, court hearings, and family visitations.
• Community Partners in Caring - $62,500 to support staff to recruit and train volunteers who will provide door-to-door transportation and social interaction for local low-income seniors and adults with disabilities.
• Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County - $200,000 for two years of funding for a full-time in-school therapist to provide mental health screenings, crisis response, and counseling to local junior high and high school students.
• Friendship Adult Day Care Center - $82,500 to hire a Transportation Coordinator and part-time driver to provide safe, reliable transport to the Center for clients living with dementia.
• Mission Scholars - $150,000 for two years to partially fund a staff position for one-on-one mentorship, career coaching, and leadership workshops to help low-income, first-generation students apply for and graduate from college, and to secure employment.
• Planned Parenthood California Central Coast - $200,000 for two years of gap funding to keep its Santa Barbara Health Center open and provide essential reproductive healthcare to its patients.
• Santa Barbara Meals on Wheels - $100,000 for two years of gap funding to sustain existing affordable food delivery services and wellness checks for homebound seniors living in the city of Santa Barbara.
• Santa Barbara Rescue Mission - $150,000 to remodel an existing storage space into an eight-bed dormitory to provide stabilization and trauma-informed care for women awaiting addiction treatment.
• Veggie Rescue - $120,000 to purchase a refrigerated truck to safely transport and deliver surplus fresh and packaged food to its nonprofit partners.

If you missed the event, catch up on photos here and watch a video here.

The month of May is recognized as National Foster Care Month, so it seems fitting that the Women’s Fund highlights an extraordinary “Learn & Connect” event, “From Trauma to Hope: Stories of Foster Care,” featuring CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Santa Barbara County.

Held at three times over two days in April, the CASA program offered a “ground-breaking exhibit by young artists who share their personal stories of growing up in foster care in Santa Barbara County.” Linda Burrows, Emcee, and Carolyn Jabs, Board Chair, welcomed a capacity crowd on all three occasions to the pop-up space at La Cumbre Plaza that CASA had reconfigured as an art gallery.

Kim Colby Davis, CASA Executive Director, described the organization’s efforts to capture their annual work with more than 500 abandoned, abused or neglected children. CASA’s highly trained volunteers mentor these children and help ensure safe, permanent, and nurturing homes for them. Davis invited attendees to tour the exhibit in silence in order to respect the human toll represented by the assembled artifacts. Attendees could engage in informal conversations with the two artists/storytellers, graduates of the CASA program, when they completed the tour.

The art exhibit, the first of its kind put on by CASA, was organized into two large rooms. In the first room, the photos, drawings, and written memorials provided often gut-wrenching evidence of the toll taken by child abuse and/or neglect that led to children’s placement in foster homes. In the second room, the exhibit displayed artifacts showcasing the support of the special advocates in mentoring foster children, helping build resilience and allowing them to achieve their life goals. Together these two rooms provided concrete evidence of the many pathways from “trauma to hope” secured by the CASA program.

Concluding the program, Kim and CASA Community Engagement Director Kira Cosio, explained all that CASA has learned from its upgraded data management system, underwritten by the Women’s Fund grant. Their 10-year findings include just a few statistics that reinforce the very fine work being done in this county:

As attendees exited the space, they were encouraged to pick up cards from local groups such as “Standing Together to End Sexual Assault” (sbstesa.org) and “Domestic Violence Solutions” (dvsolutions.org) to consider additional opportunities for learning more about these groups.

Although the trauma on display in the first room of the exhibit was difficult to view, the stories of hope, resilience and positive life outcomes displayed in the second room, along with the two stories by CASA graduates shared at the end of the program, emphatically delivered on the exhibit’s promise of hope.

The CASA art exhibit beautifully and poignantly enhanced attendees’ understanding of this community’s needs as well as the role played by the Women’s Fund in addressing them.

- Contributed by Margaret Crocco

Last week’s Celebration of Grants was an amazing testament to the power we have when we pool our resources to help others in our community. And now is a great time to renew for the 2027 Women’s Fund grant year. I will be the first to admit that I waited until December of last year to renew, adding another thing to the hectic holiday season. This year, I’ll consider renewing right now, before being whisked away by summer plans.

It’s also a great time to reflect on your past year with the Women’s Fund. Is there something you would like to change? If you are interested in trying a new group, becoming an individual member (IM), or are currently an IM who would like to be part of a group, please contact membership@womensfundsb.org. We’ll be happy to help! And remember: we’ll keep reminding you by email until you have renewed.

It’s easy to renew!

Start by visiting womensfundsb.org/renew. (If you’re not a member and would like to join, that’s easy too. Just visit womensfundsb.org/join.)

• If you are an individual member (you contribute $2,750.00+ individually for one vote), please click Renew Your Individual Membership.
• If you are a member of a group, click Renew Your Group Membership. You are only renewing your own membership, and the other members of your group will renew separately.

Fill out all required information, including your payment info and group name, if applicable. 

Our Volunteer Engagement Committee has an opportunity for you! Please join us at La Lieff Winery in the Funk zone for an evening of connection and conversation. Rosé will be provided along with non-alcoholic beverages (a full selection of La Lieff wines will be available for purchase). Enjoy light snacks while you mingle and learn about our current volunteer opportunities.

Thank you to our sponsors and underwriters whose generosity support our education programs and operations.
Learn more about them here.

© 2022 Women's Fund of Santa Barbara
A tax-exempt nonprofit organization | Tax ID 82-5169678

Contact Us | Unsubscribe from this mailing |Unsubscribe from all mailings