Santa Ynez Valley Community Outreach Center moves to new location with more room for services

BUELLTON, Calif. - The Santa Ynez Valley Community Outreach (SYVCO) center has opened its doors at a new location in the old Buellton Library building.

The site is off Highway 246 near the Sheriff's substation where the services had been provided in an older converted building that was overworked for years with all that was taking place.

That included Meals on Wheels, and services for Veterans along with a full working kitchen.

SYVCO CEO, Pam Gnekow, said to a welcoming crowd at the ribbon cutting, "I so appreciate this and I can't wait to show you this building. Be ready to be amazed!" 

She was flanked by board members and Mayor Dave King who presented a resolution. "They always had a little small area, and this is going to expand it quite a bit so they will have a lot more area to do their  activities."

The Buellton library is in the process of moving to a new location nearby and opening in 2025.

The community members checked out the redesigned space for meetings, meals, senior activities, and private services being offered here including domestic violence assistance.

This is the first time they have had separate and confidential rooms if they need them.

The organizers put the pieces together to get the property with the help of city, county, and community supporters.

"Because as soon as it became a possibility, we swooped in, started coming to meetings, started getting our seniors to say how important it was," sakd Gnekow.

They will now not only be able to have their daily lunches here, but the once-a-month senior meals for about 80 people.

Gnekow said, "they've missed us dining in, meeting, having coffee, doing all those things." Once all the paperwork was approved, "we completed it in 12 weeks. We were hanging the signs last night at 8pm."

A full turkey lunch with all the trimmings was served up to community members, volunteers, and government leaders who were either part of the plan or will use the building every week.

Donald Chan said he benefitted from the Meals on Wheels program, "where they do help me with meals during the week which is a great help. Also being a person with disabilities, I hope to be involved with them on other things too."

A volunteer, Finn Runge said, "we pack about a hundred bags and about 50-60 of them they get passed out, the rest of them they go on a route."

One of the main stay services will be the daily lunches where friends and neighbors share time and in some cases it's their only personal contact of the day.

Gnekow said, "every day we will do we doing senior meals. We're open to the community and Veterans and anybody who is in the community, we will be there for them."