The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on April 4 unanimously approved the Racial Equity Fund recommendations made by The Fund for Santa Barbara.
The Racial Equity Fund of the County of Santa Barbara is an initiative that came directly from grassroots organizing by Black female leaders in Santa Barbara County, who demanded the county invest in the Black community in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, and the ongoing racial justice movement.
The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis, made a commitment to racial justice, and pledged $500,000 to begin to address local equity issues.
Roughly half of the funds were allocated to internal/institutional county equity development, with the remaining money distributed through the Fund for Santa Barbara’s participatory grant-making process in collaboration with the county.
Through its grant-making program, the fund supports historically marginalized communities to be full participants in the region’s social, civic and economic life.
The funding program aims to build capacity, expand, and/or stabilize historically marginalized organizations in Santa Barbara County.
In 2022, the Board of Supervisors allocated an additional $275,000 to fund a second cycle of the program.
Funding recipients are:
C4 Lompoc Collective Cultures Creating Change – Self Healing Communities — $78,473. Supports the implementation and stabilization of the Self Healing Communities project to engage community, build leadership and self-determination, and begin to address the unrecognized and untreated trauma in the Lompoc community. Visit www.c4lompoc.org.
Madi’s Treasure Box – Madi’s Treasure Box (World Changer Initiative) — $13,000 (year 1), $13,000 (year 2): Supports the World Changer School Ambassadorship Program, which provides multicultural tools to K-5 teachers, and the Santa Ynez Valley Juneteenth Celebration.
Visit www.MadisTreasureBox.com.
NAACP Santa Maria Lompoc 1072 – Santa Maria-Lompoc NAACP Racial Equity Projects – Black History Celebration, Juneteenth Celebration, and addressing systemic Racism in Schools in northern Santa Barbara County – $32,500.00 (year 1), $32,500.00 (year 2): Funding to continue dismantling systems of racism, oppression and discrimination by addressing systems that perpetuate racism, discrimination and hatred. Funding will support an annual gathering celebrating Black History, Juneteenth Celebration and work in schools addressing racism including the “the N word.”
www.santamarialompocnaacp.org.
The Regents of the University of California, Santa Barbara – The Healing Space — $32,138.50 (year 1), $32,138.50 (year 2): Supports the Healing Space in closing the service gap for Black community members seeking mental-health care by reducing the cost of therapy services, improving the overall wellness of those seeking care by connecting clients to social services, and building the Black mental-health workforce by providing a culturally affirming training environment for Black psychologists in training.
visit www.sbhealing.org.
The Fund for Santa Barbara congratulates the organizations receiving funding and celebrates the work they are carrying out to build a more equitable, just and inclusive region.
The fund also thanks all who contributed time to the extensive process, and applauds the county for taking concrete steps to address racial inequity in the region.
The Fund for Santa Barbara’s mission is to invest in and strengthen organizations that address anti-racism through systems-change strategies in Santa Barbara County.
It aims to effect the culture and policy for systemic change necessary to advance racial equity and justice, and reverse the legacy of slavery and effects of racism in the county.
For more, contact Patricia Solorio, associate director, aat grants@fundforsantabarbara.org or call 805-962-9164.