JULY 2021
2021 MIDYEAR
NEWSLETTER
Much has been packed into the first half of 2021. We continue to navigate through truly transformational times headlined by a global pandemic, rising threats to Democracy, the fight for economic justice and protection of essential workers, the struggle for racial justice and Black Lives Matter, and the urgency of protecting the Environment and combating Climate Change— just to name a few. While we know that much work lies ahead, we draw inspiration from the palpable growing awareness of our mutual responsibility to creating something better— an awareness that is being put into action. We understand that the path to reimagining a world where power is distributed equitably, a world that is truly just, begins at home in our own communities and the actions we take individually and collectively. It is in the aim of building a better future that we at the FUND work to advance progressive change by strengthening movements for social, political, economic, and environmental justice. We appreciate our role as a progressive community foundation during these transformative times and hold ourselves accountable to helping build a more just and equitable Central Coast region. Our work is only made possible by our talented staff, the leadership of our Board of Directors, our activist-led Grant Making Committee, our trailblazing Youth Making Change cohorts, the enduring support of our donors and the foundations that sustain us, and the critical work of our grantees and partner organizations. Below I invite you to explore the work that we have carried out in the first half of 2021. In Solidarity,
Marcos Vargas, PhD Executive Director
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Grant Making Committee's Grant Making Our process continued to be
Spring 2021 - $95,000
conducted entirely online.
Blue Sky Center Sustainable Living Center - Cuyama Valley Victory Gardens - $7,000 Funding for Blue Sky Center staff time, honorariums paid to community members serving as project leaders, and travel expenses for supply trips, garden installations, and home visits. CAUSE Action Fund - CAUSE Action Fund General Support - $5,000 Funding to support staffing for the Just Leadership Institute, ensuring that a representative redistricting process happens, and convening the North County Coalition. Corazón del Pueblo: The Cultural and Creative Arts Center of the Santa Maria Valley - Arts for the People: Santa Maria - $10,000 Funds to support the capacity building to organize for artistic opportunities and capacity in the Santa Maria region, focusing on Latinx and Indigenous communities. Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area Office (CAIR-LA) - Empowering the AMEMSA Community of Santa Barbara - $5,000 The funds to support capacity building efforts to support the AMEMSA community in Santa Barbara County and cover costs related to staffing and other needs. Food Not Bombs Isla Vista - Food Not Bombs Isla Vista Operational Relief - $3,000 Funds to pay for free meals per week for one year in Isla Vista, supporting advocacy for the houseless community. Freedom 4 Youth - Youth-led Justice Magazine - $9,000 Funds to pay for staff labor hours, printing costs, overhead costs, and youth stipends to create/release four issues of youth-led justice magazine. 2
Future Leaders of America - Padres Para La Justicia Educativa (Parents for Educational Equity) - $5,000 Funds to pay a portion of our Santa Barbara Parent Organizer salary. Healing Justice Santa Barbara (HJSB) - “We keep us safe” Advocating for Accountability and Transparency in Policing - $10,000 HJSB is building a coalition to advocate for police reform including a citizens review committee, transparency in policing, and sharing of police offenses publicly. Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force (LIMCR Task Force): Language Justice Team - Language Justice Team Support of LIMCR Task Force - $10,000 Providing Mixteco interpretation support for the Farmworker and Wellness Working Groups monthly meetings, and for Mixteco interpreter consulting to strengthen language justice capacity and resources. NC FRESA - North County Food Resiliency Equity Sustainability and Action - $6,000 Work group/staff time to support the expansion of EBT and Market Match at Farmers Markets in Santa Maria. People's Justice Project, Inc. - People’s Justice Project: “Homeless Rights Project” - $10,000 Funding will pay for costs associated with advocacy, community organizing, negotiation, and law reform representation pertaining to policy changes that benefit unhoused families and individuals. Santa Barbara Friends Meeting/Truth in Recruitment - Truth in Recruitment - $5,000 Funding will pay for staffing, literature printing costs, meeting expenses such as: language interpretation, zoom fees, childcare, publicity, venues, and advocacy trainings. The Guadalupe Community Changers - Little House by the Park/FSA - Fair Housing Mobilization Project "Adelante Guadalupe!" - $10,000 Funding would support educational workshops around Fair Housing, Tenant Rights, Affordable Housing Advocacy, coordination, and parent-leadership stipends.
Spring Grants County Distribution
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In June we held a small Grant Awards Celebration to honor the work of our incredible 2021 Spring Grantees. While we had to restrict attendance numbers it felt wonderful to be TOGETHER in community, in person.
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FUND's Emerging Need Grants Emerging The Program responds to organizing efforts Needs Grants that need immediate financial assistance One Community Bridge Project / Ortega Park Mural Rescue Project - $5,000 Funds to support the administration and organizing for the Ortega Park Mural Rescue Project. Valley of the Flowers UCC / CAHOOTS in Lompoc Project - $5,000 Funds to support administrative costs and the hire and pay of a Community Organizer. Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund / Santa Barbara County Redistricting Coalition - $4,074 Funds to support the convening of a county-wide redistricting coalition to mobilize and advocate for a fair and transparent redistricting process in Santa Barbara County. Future Leaders of America / State of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Youth - $5,000 Funds to support hiring Indigenous language interpreters, survey incentives for BIPOC youth, and outreach to ensure diverse participation.
Sponsorships Just Communities / Social Equity Summit (May 2021) Environmental Defense Center / Green & Blue (May 2021) Future Leaders of America / Latino Legacy Awards (June 2021) Independent Living Resource Center / Disability Rights & Environmental Justice (June 2021) Healing Justice Santa Barbara / Juneteenth Santa Barbara (June 2021)
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Our 2020-21 North and South County Youth Making Change cohorts awarded $19,465 in grants to youth-led projects that impact young people in Santa Barbara County. The Grant cycle was conducted completely online. We are proud of the adaptability and creativity with which these cohorts engaged in the grant-making process!
North County YMC 2020-2021 Grants: $4,465 Ernest Righetti High School (ERHS) - Future Business Leaders of America / Founding a Nonprofit – $750 Seed funding for the startup of a nonprofit specifically aimed at improving the personal education of low-income students, providing a free website focused on teaching a career-based education not found at local high schools. Santa Maria Youth Abolitionists / Journalist Collective – $3,000 Funding to create an online journalist collective to elevate diverse youth voices and counter the lack of representation from traditional media in Santa Maria. Santa Ynez Valley Progressive Coalition / Voter Application Campaign – $715 Support for creating an early registration initiative in Santa Ynez Valley and educate youth about their power to elect representatives through civic engagement. Pictured: Santa Maria Youth Abolitionists
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North County Board:
Achante Smith, Facilitator Joelene Velasco, Facilitator Adan Garcia Alicia Vasquez Andres Ramirez-Enriquez Carlos Gonzalez Cristhy Olivera Demarie Diel Eduardo Salgado Graciela Lopez Harry Mullin Jamielynne Lomibao Jasmin Olivera Jesus Martinez Jimena Zepeda Zarate Katrina Rodriguez Mickayla Piñon Olivia Patterson Sean Knowlton-Moyers Tiffany Vuong Wendy Chavez
South County YMC 2020-2021 Grants: $15,000 Black Student Youth-Santa Barbara/Black Student Union / Elevating Youth Voice of Color in the Airwaves – $3,000 Funding for a youth radio show aimed at elevating youth voices of color to help organize campaigns that involve racial justice in SB county during Black History Month. Diversify Our Narrative Carpinteria / Fundraising for BIPOC Authored Books in CUSD – $3,000 Funding for books authored by Black Indigenous People of Color throughout Carpinteria USD, with the goal of having one of these books in every English Class. Just Communities Youth Leadership Council (YLC) / CAN DO! – $3,000 Support to have interpretations and translation for youth workshops that aim to help educate youth in the community about different types of social injustices and help develop leadership skills. SBPAL Youth Leadership Council / Teen Agricultural Internship – $3,000 Funding for a program to bring minority and low-income high school students to Fairview Gardens to learn about organic agriculture, develop leadership skills and support mental health.
South County Board:
Karissa Fields, Facilitator Roz Borah, Facilitator Alexandra Mora Alina Villa Angie Ramirez Raygoza Clare Schneider Evelyn Marino Halie Bissell Hanady Shaqur Kim Mendoza Isa Alarcon Madeline Gunderson Marco Gomez Margherita Scussat Shakira Mamalompong Sophie Borden Victoria Hernandez Victoria Leyva
UCSB’s Global Awareness Club (GAC) / Teen Global Awareness (GAC) Program – $3,000 Funding for an entrepreneurship program to raise global awareness through interactive workshops both in and out of schools filling in the gap of ethnic studies for students in Santa Barbara County. Here is a video put together by the 2020-21 YMC cohorts as part of the online YMC Grants Awards Celebration that took place in March, 2021
Pictured: Talia of Black Student Youth-Santa Barbara/Black Student Union
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Building Capacity
Regional Equity Study ONGOING! The study— a collaborative effort by the FUND, the UC Santa Barbara Blum Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy, and the USC Equity Research Institute— is designed to provide a regional equity analysis based on key social, economic, and environmental indicators and qualitative components designed to serve as an equity-centered road map for our region’s long-term recovery from, not only the pandemic and its economic impacts, but also the pre-existing structural inequities deeply rooted in our economy. A roll out of the study's findings is anticipated in the second half of 2021.
Additional Collaborations: Central Coast Climate Justice Network Central Coast Immigration Network Foothills Forever Leadership Council Latinx & Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force Lompoc Prison Task Force Regional Capacity Building Collaborative Santa Barbara Foundation Roundtable Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties Funders Forum
FUND-Hosted Workshops January & February 2021 Grant Application Workshops: Ahead of our Spring Grant Cycle we hosted three free grant application workshops intended to help applicants navigate through the application process.
March 2021 Worry-Free Lobbying & Advocacy for Nonprofits
with Nona Randois, California Director Alliance for Justice Bolder Advocacy Project
Nona Randois, the nation’s leading legal expert with the Alliance for Justice Bolder Advocacy Program led this training on how nonprofits can bring the concerns of their communities to policy makers and elected officials. Shared was practical information about what you can and cannot do when engaging in electoral work, lobbying, and more.
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March 2021 Defeating the Puente Power Plant: Victory for People & Planet With Maricela Morales (CAUSE), Linda Krop (EDC), and Carmen Ramirez (Ventura County Supervisor & fmr. City of Oxnard Mayor Pro Tem)
In this workshop we heard from activists, organizers, legal experts, and elected officials who were at the heart of the three-year struggle to defeat the Puente Power plan in Oxnard in 2018. The defeat of the Puente Power plant was a victory for people and planet and involved direct action, local and statewide lobbying, years of advocacy, a legal approach, and public consciousness raising in this case study for environmental justice.
March 2021 Q&A on Grant Seeking & Proposal Writing for Social Change With Jennifer Navarro, Rachel Johnson, and Suzanne Valery
A session with our esteemed grant writing professionals and “Granted!” workshop series trainers
March 2021 2021 Direct Service Providers Convening on Immigration
Held in partnership with Santa Barbara Foundation, and Ventura County Community Foundation this convening covered topics including:
Updates on the legal state of undocumented community members & federal policies in light of the transition of power in Congress and the White House Updates on stimulus efforts and resources, vaccine distribution, and Census data An overview of local immigrant legal services and opportunity to network
May 2021 Grassroots Fundraising for Social Change With Rona Fernandez of Klein-Roth Consulting
We brought back one of the nation's leading experts on fundraising for social justice nonprofits and explored topics related to cultivating a culture of fundraising in your organization and developing tools to more effectively engage and grow your donor base.
Santa Maria & Lompoc Activist Brown Bag Lunches (online)
In the first half of 2021, we held 6 monthly Lompoc & Santa Maria Valley Activist Brown Bag Lunches— an open and informal space for activists, advocates and organizers to learn from one another and share about our work building more just communities locally while nurturing North County’s social change ecosystem.
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THANK YOU TO OUR TEAM!
Stay connected:
Board of Directors Rev. Julia Hamilton - President Kate Adams - Vice President David Landecker - Vice President Marsha Bailey - Treasurer Jennifer Hooten - Secretary Susan Wax - Board Liaison to GMC Suzanne Valery - GMC Liaison to Board Ruth Ackerman Maria Garcia-Cacique Eric Cardenas Diane Fujino Chelsea Lancaster LeeAnne McNulty Andrew Oman David Pellow Erica Reyes Ted Rhodes Gloria Soto
Grant Making Committee Rachel Johnson - Co-Chair Jennifer Navarro - Co-Chair
Suzanne Valery - GMC Liaison to Board Susan Wax - Board Liaison to GMC
1219 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Mailing: PO Box 90710 Santa Barbara, CA 93190-0710 120 E. Jones Street, Suite 110, Santa Maria, CA 93454 Santa Barbara: 805-962-9164 | Santa Maria: 805-922-1707
Feliciano Aguilar Lupita Cervantes Jessica Duarte JP Herrada Brian Hollander Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt Bailey Needham Juliana Neel Wendi Pacheco Lucerito Salgado Vickey Smith Bob Thiel Chuy Valle
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Staff Marcos Vargas - Executive Director Patricia Solorio - Associate Director Kristin Hsu - Development Associate Alina Rey Keswani - Development & Communications Manager Lennea Lopez - Administrative Assistant David Melendrez - YMC Coordinator Tania Reyes - Grants Associate Hugo Valdovinos - Operations Supervisor
Interns Rebecca Bogdanovic Cristhy Olivera Perez Lillian Perez