A writer doesn’t usually become a farmer. A one-time literature professor doesn’t often spend his mornings working rows of lettuce, tomatoes, and squash destined for local shelters. Yet for Teddy Macker, Whole Harvest Farm isn’t a career change so much as the natural extension of a lifelong belief that caring for people also involves tending [...more...]
Currently gun violence is the #1 cause of death for children in the United States. Read that again if you have to. Speaking plainly, the scourge of gun violence takes our kids first in the [...more...]
Giving List Matching Challenges
Youth Development
Nature's Advocates
For one survivor, escaping domestic violence wasn’t the end of the story. It was the beginning of building a new […more…]
The Gulf of California holds more than a third of all the marine mammal species on earth. UNESCO calls it […more…]
From the Los Padres National Forest to the Channel Islands, the Central Coast of California contains some of the most […more…]
Homelessness & Housing
The phone calls all ended the same way. Older adults who desperately needed to move would ask about the cost, […more…]
On a vacant parking lot in downtown Santa Barbara, a village of small, private rooms rose during the pandemic, built […more…]
It has been a perfect storm. Santa Barbara County’s unsheltered count has been rising. Santa Barbara County’s public health department […more…]
Homelessness
Health & Wellness
Joan was a 78-year-old woman in Santa Barbara County living on the street. Joan’s medical condition made unsupported independent living […more…]
Going to the doctor can quickly become going to several doctors, several offices, and several appointments. Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics […more…]
For more than 80 years, Hillside has been home to 59 adults with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities, the only […more…]
For the Environment
For the Children
DL spent her formative years living on the streets and spending time in and out of juvenile hall. She and […more…]
A writer doesn’t usually become a farmer. A one-time literature professor doesn’t often spend his mornings working rows of lettuce, […more…]
The grandmother started crying almost as soon as she walked into Storyteller’s pantry. She had recently gained full custody of […more…]
For the Arts
For the Animals
At the county animal shelter, the chart for a cat named “Callie Sue” told a grim story: she was afflicted […more…]
Roughly 85,000 wild horses and burros roam public rangelands across 10 Western states. But their existence is threatened by encroaching […more…]
Bowie had been in a rescue’s care for five months when dog trainer Anthony Sorosky got the call. The German […more…]
Emergency Services
Education
Connor was only eight months old when he had his first debilitating seizure. His mother rushed him to the emergency […more…]
If you ask Sue Eisaguirre what NatureTrack is really about, she won’t begin by talking about trails or field trips. […more…]
It is not a classroom moved outdoors. No conventional lesson plan just transplanted onto a patch of grass. At Hope […more…]
Earth First
In 1926, philanthropist Anna Dorinda Blaksley Bliss bought 13 acres of Mission Canyon as a memorial for her father, Henry […more…]
Most people picture plastic pollution as floating islands of trash in the ocean or sea turtles tangled in six-pack rings. […more…]
Heal the Ocean built its reputation by going after the sources of ocean pollution: failing septic systems, leaking oil wells, […more…]
Critical Response & International Impact
When disasters strike, power is often the first thing communities lose — and one of the most important things they […more…]
On New Year’s Day, an elderly man wandered away from his Santa Maria home. Lost and alone in a cold, […more…]
Kerri Murray keeps a photograph that has stayed with her. It’s the face of Esther, a young Nigerian woman whose […more…]
Creative Endeavors
For 85 years, Santa Barbara Museum of Art has united people of all ages through inspiring art experiences. Located in […more…]
“Anytime anybody voices a concern about the quality of life that we’re going to be leading, we’re called environmentalists. And […more…]
Every year, UCSB Arts & Lectures brings some of the world’s most celebrated artists and speakers to Santa Barbara, creating […more…]
Community Resilience
Bright Futures
In 1969, a young father in Santa Barbara, unequipped and overwhelmed with his new parental role, shook his six-week-old child […more…]
Sometimes the problem isn’t a shortage of well-meaning nonprofits. It’s that those nonprofits tackling the same problem don’t have the […more…]
Advocacy
In 2012, Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen launched a fundraiser that they called Hilarity for Charity (HFC). The memorable […more…]
Currently gun violence is the #1 cause of death for children in the United States. Read that again if you […more…]
There is a particular kind of loneliness that comes from believing the most essential thing about you must be explained […more…]