Feel Good News

People’s Self-Help Housing staff and students left on a three-day tour of colleges and universities all throughout the state of California. 

Ten local nonprofit agencies were awarded grants totaling $750,000 from a record-breaking pool of member donations collected by the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara during 2020.

Students in the Orcutt Union School District summer gardening program received free potting soil from Engel & Gray and seedlings from Plantel Nursery to commemorate Earth Day.

Clark Bushnell, a long-time People’s Self-Help Housing resident, marked his 101th birthday this week with a very special celebration.

Alycia Rasmussen, a student from the People’s Self-Help Housing Camino Scholars program, has accepted admission to University of California, Davis to pursue a Ph.D in Microbiology.

The SBCC Foundation and Explore Ecology received a $100,000 EPA Grant to create the Santa Barbara Ecological and Edible Garden Project.

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper's Watershed Brigade will host a dispersed clean-up event April 24-25 to complement local Earth Day celebrations.

The United Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County has launched a series of new programs to help students get back on track.

The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara honored the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County as their 2020 Outstanding Community Partner of the Year.

The Los Padres Forest Association has continued the quest to reopen the North Cold Spring and Blue Canyon Trails located on the backside of the Santa Ynez Mtns directly behind Santa Barbara.

Volunteers with the Los Padres Forest Association helped clear forty trees on the remote Madulce Trail within the Dick Smith Wilderness.

Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network's 52nd patient was a great horned owl who came from a ranch in Santa Ynez. 

Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network’s 205th patient of 2021 is a Western meadowlark that was discovered in the streets of Carpinteria. This small songbird wasn’t flying, so a citizen rescuer brought it into the Center to receive care. 

Last month, 99.9 KTYD Morning Mojo's Lin Aubuchon and Bill Pesso fundraised over $30,000 to support local school music programs. 

The Los Padres Forest Association Trail Crew has been deep in the backcountry this drier than normal winter working on some of the more remote Los Padres trails.

Local nonprofit representatives joined Montecito Bank & Trust associates for a twist on the bank’s annual event as the 29th Anniversary Grants event was held virtually for the second year in a row.

Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria is sponsoring Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture's "Santa Barbara County Child Wellness Initiative."

Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network said a special farewell to Northern fulmar patient #94.

United Way of Santa Barbara County has more than $13 million in rental and utility assistance funds generously allocated for eligible residents that have experienced a loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

People’s Self-Help Housing has opened a new affordable housing property for formerly homeless women in Santa Barbara: Heath House.

The SBCC Foundation announced that anonymous donors have made a major gift of $375,000 to support the Santa Barbara City College Music Department’s Jazz and Symphony programs. 

Kiwanis Santa Barbara has donated $5,000 to Downtown Santa Barbara for student internships.

The Santa Barbara Education Foundation partnered with the Junior League of Santa Barbara and local Rotary clubs to help students excerise remotely.

Ethel T Uyehara and Bethel Lutheran Church were recognized this month at the Sierra Madre Cottages by People’s Self-Help Housing for their commitment and vision for senior housing.

Next month, nearly 1,100 members of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara will vote to distribute $750,000 to local nonprofits, its largest annual grants pool since the organization began 17 years ago.   

Eagle Scout Troop 26 completed a project at a favorite camping spot, Horseshoe Bend on the Manzana River.

Community Partners in Caring is a Volunteer Caregiving organization that coordinates volunteers for the purpose of providing free and direct volunteer services to seniors living in Santa Barbara County. 

Twenty-two student artists have been named winners of the 2021 Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara Art Scholarship Competition.

Downtown Santa Barbara, working with the City of Santa Barbara’s Community Services Section and the Santa Barbara Youth Council, announces that applications are being accepted for the 2020 Harriet Miller Youth Leadership Award Scholarship.

Local brothers set up a fundraising effort to help Santa Barbara students gain access to wi-fi to continue remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.