The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) is among recipients of Stop the Hate Program Funding (STH) for fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Civil Rights, Accessibility & Racial Equity (CARE) Office has announced.

The CDSS allocated $91.4 million in funding. A total of 168 organizations are awarded Program Service Provider funding for the service period of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026.

The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) was awarded $200,000 to produce cultural awareness, safety planning, and outreach programs over the next two years. The funding builds upon the organization’s work to preserve and share the cultures and histories of the Asian American communities that lived in and around the Santa Barbara Presidio Neighborhood.

Supported by the work of its Asian American Affinity Group, SBTHP produces two annual public programs, the Asian American Film Series and the Asian American Neighborhood Festival, now in their 14th years.

SBTHP also offers Nihonmachi Revisited, an exhibit about Santa Barbara’s Japanese community that is open daily at El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park, and has recently completed a display about the Chung family and their business inside the former Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens building, 123 E. Canon Perdido St.

The Stop the Hate Program services include the following:

  • Direct services for victims and survivors of hate incidents and their families, including legal services; navigation and case management; mental and complementary health services; and wellness and community healing;
  • Prevention activities, including arts and cultural work, youth development, senior safety and escort programs, safety planning training; and cross-racial alliance work;

  • Interventions, including outreach, training, restorative justice, and coordination with local government and institutional partners.

Founded in 1963 by Pearl Chase, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation stewards the past and present of the Presidio Neighborhood and inspires preservation advocacy throughout the county to create a more vibrant community.

SBTHP operates El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park, Santa Barbara’s 18th century birthplace, under an agreement with California State Parks. In addition to portions of the Spanish fort, El Presidio SHP includes the Alhecama Theatre (1925) and the campus of the Santa Barbara School of the Arts, and Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens (1947) the last visible connection to Santa Barbara’s Chinatown

The organization also operates Casa de la Guerra, the 1820’s adobe home of Presidio Comandante José de la Guerra, and the Santa Inés Mission Mills near Solvang.

SBTHP is 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; learn more at sbthp.org.