CommUnify hosts Upward Mobility Summit to address poverty in Santa Barbara County

‍SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Visitors across the county came together at Santa Barbara City College for the annual Upward Mobility Summit.

Santa Barbara County has the second highest rate of poverty across all 58 counties in the California, says representatives of CommUnify.

"And so this effort is kick off the two year initiative  … to address poverty by creating pathways to upward mobility for all residents in our community," said chief development officer Julie Weiner of CommUnify.

"It's important to be here to hear from all sectors of the community and be with so many different people coming together is gonna lift us out of poverty," said executive irector Wendy Sims-Moten of First Five.

Organizers say even if you weren’t able to attend this summit they’re hoping everyone will take part in this initiative.

“My hope is we can come together across the county and start working on specific issues that create this complex environment and make change," said Weiner.

The summit featured panel discussions with several nonprofit groups including the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County and the Santa Barbara Foundation.

"14 different partners at this point already and we’ve bee working together to start making changes so far it’s going really well," said senior director Stacie Furia of the Santa Barbara Foundation.

Leaders of the coalition hope this summit will ultimately inspire locals to create a county that offers better futures for every resident.

The summit team spent over a year gathering information to make this upward mobility initiative possible. Back to you.