Housing Authority City of Santa Barbara provides holiday hope for those in need

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Carol Turner has much to be thankful for this holiday season while living in the Gardens on Hope, a low-income senior housing facility. 

“Love it here, she said. “I can’t ask for a better place to live really.”

Turner has been living there since July and says that the 89-unit living community has been a huge help.

“They support you in every which way,” she said. “They stand right behind you and help you with everything.”

The Gardens on Hope staff is also working hard to ensure that all its residents feel like they’re part of a family.

“The majority of our residents have expressed to us that they haven’t had an opportunity to express holidays in many years,” Gardens on Hope executive director Charlene Fletcher said.

“A lot of people get lonesome during the holidays and get depressed,” Turner said. “I don’t think they let you get depressed here.”

The Gardens on Hope is a program through the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara.

Over the last year, the public agency has housed over 230 families, 50 of which were homeless before. 

“We haven’t just been sustaining, we’ve been thriving in our operations with what we do,” HACSB CEO Rob Fredericks said.

For those that have struggled throughout the past pandemic year, the Housing Authority has provided holiday hope.

“They’re looking at it as a true blessing at this time of year for them,” Fredericks said. “That they now have a place to call home.”

“A lot of these people instead of being lonely and depressed are walking up and down the hallways kind of singing holiday music and wishing everybody a merry Christmas,” Fletcher concluded. “That’s the best gift that we could ask for.”

To learn more about the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara, you can click here.