Selected as one of 10 local nonprofits awarded grants this year through the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara, New Beginnings has received $75,000 to support the expansion of its Safe Parking Program.
The program currently provides overnight shelter to about 150 individuals and families living in their vehicles in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and unincorporated areas in between the two cities.
The grant will support the expansion within south Santa Barbara County and enable New Beginnings to house clients more quickly and efficiently. Visit www.sbnbcc.org.
Since 2004, New Beginnings has operated the Safe Parking Program, which has served as a model for communities looking to implement programs of their own throughout the country.
Today, about 50% of community members living in unsheltered settings are sleeping in vehicles. In addition to providing shelter for this population, New Beginnings offers case management, temporary financial assistance, and other wrap-around services to help program participants move back into permanent housing.
“Support from the Women’s Fund is enabling us to increase staffing so that we can help additional people, and those with more complex situations needing more in-depth case management,” said Kristine Schwarz, New Beginnings executive director.
“We are grateful to the Women’s Fund members for their commitment to strengthening our community,” she said.
“We are providing services for an increasing number of older adults as well as community members who have been displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic and have become homeless for the first time,” said Jacqueline Kurta, president of New Beginnings Board of Directors.
“The Women’s Fund grant will empower us to connect these people to permanent housing and to other services,” she said.
The Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara is a volunteer-led collective donor organization that enables women to combine charitable dollars into significant grants addressing the critical needs of women, children and families in south Santa Barbara County.
Members have distributed $8.6 million in grants since 2004, and distributed $750,000 during this year’s cycle to 10 local nonprofits.
New Beginnings provides quality, affordable counseling, shelter, case management and education, designed strengthen the community and provide clients with the ability to lead healthy, productive lives. New Beginnings, 324 E. Carrillo St., Ste. C, Santa Barbara, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
For more, call 805-963-7777 ext.112 or email development@sbnbcc.org.