Event emcee Janet “Rosie the Riveter” Garufis, left, Montecito Bank & Trust’s chairwoman and CEO, with Lady Leslie Ridley-Tree and Santa Barbara Rescue Mission President Rolf Geyling. 
We Can Do It! Committee members, from left, Mary Given, Priscilla Fossek, Joyce McCullough, Julie Willig and Jeanne Heckman. 
Featured speaker and Rescue Mission client Karla Lara. 
Santa Barbara Police Chief Lori Ludlow with Lori Gentles. 
Gerd Jordano, left, Penny Jenkins and Sabina White. 
“Rosie the Riveter” Kim Schuck with her mother, Pat Thomas. 
The volunteer crew from Montecito Bank & Trust, from left, Brianna Aguilar, Jamie Perez and Taylor Fraker. 
Themed signage at the We Can Do It! luncheon to benefit the Rescue Mission’s new women’s shelter. 
The women’s shelter is framed and under construction at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. 
Entrance to the expansion under construction at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission.
The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission showed that “We Can Do It!” at a recent benefit event to raise funds for the new 32-bed women’s shelter under construction at the organization’s 535 E. Yanonali St. location.
Surrounded by newly framed walls and studs, as well as construction equipment, the all-women attendees sat along long tables at which the typical linen tablecloths were replaced by canvas drop cloths decorated with red polka-dotted placemats and gift boxes.
The red polka-dot theme was a nod to the strong, bandana-clad Rosie the Riveter icon, who was based in part on a real-life woman munitions worker. The Rosie the Riveter campaign became one of the most successful recruitment tools in American history and a symbolic image of working women in the World War II era.
The clever theme was created by a small committee of the Women’s Auxiliary at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission: Mary Given, Priscilla Fossek, Joyce McCullough (chairwoman of the board of directors), Julie Willig and Jeanne Heckman with the assistance of President Rolf Geyling and communications director Rebecca Weber.
Event emcee Janet Garufis, chairwoman and CEO of Montecito Bank & Trust, donned the classic red bandana and denim overalls to orchestrate the paddle raise for garnering pledges for the new women’s dormitory. Nearly $100,000 was raised at the lunchtime fete, moving the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission closer to its $10 million goal to expand and remodel the original campus.
The capital campaign, “A Mission of Hope,” includes much-needed facilities enhancement and expansion, including accommodations for fixed beds for every shelter guest, returning the chapel to a place of meeting, prayer and quiet contemplation, creation of gender-specific bathroom and shower facilities for 125 guests a night, seismic reinforcement, and replacement of major systems (mechanical, electrical and plumbing), many that were created in 1986 when the shelter opened. Specifically, the number of women who can be sheltered will increase from 18 to 32.
“A Mission of Hope capital campaign has raised $8.4 million towards its $10 million goal,” Geyling said. “Thank you for joining us today and showing compassion for women in need.”
Rescue Mission graduate Karla Long talked about her personal story.
“My name is Karla, but I was called ‘Gypsy’ because I moved around so much,” she said. “In 2006, I was an addict and lived under a freeway ramp, not far from here. I dug a 6-foot hole in the ground and slept there. It somewhat protected me from assault, rape and theft, which is common when you are living on the streets.
“Then I found out about the Rescue Mission. I was lucky enough to get a space at the Rescue Mission and later at the Bethel House shelter for women. I graduated from the 12-month residential recovery program for women. What is most important is that they never turned me away. They never gave up on me. They loved me. And I loved to have a warm bed.
“After years of being homeless and in and out of jail, I was given a chance to heal, and I have never been offered that in my life. I am happy to say that now I am clean and sober. I learned skills at the Rescue Mission.
“I now have a job at the county architectural archives department. I file and distribute architectural plans and archives to the public and staff. We have helped a lot of Montecito people lately who lost their homes. I also got my kids back and am proud to say that I am a grandma. I come back to the mission and volunteer six to eight hours per week.”
The Rescue Mission’s $2.5 million annual budget receives no government funding. It is sustained by individuals, foundations, churches and local businesses, as well as many in-kind donations of food, clothing, equipment and vehicles.
Click here for more information about the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, or contact Weber at 805.966.1316 or rweber@sbrm.org.
— Noozhawk contributing writer Rochelle Rose can be reached at rrose@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkSociety, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Become a fan of Noozhawk on Facebook.