Santa Barbara Unity Shoppe provides essential help to unemployed workers
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Everyday around 1 p.m. crowds gather in line at the Unity Shoppe.
“This is the storm and Unity is the calm in the storm,” warehouse manager Vincent Romero said. “We want to provide a sense of normalcy as much as we can.”
The organization is now focused primarily on offering free food to locals who are unemployed due to the spread of the coronavirus.
Despite difficult circumstances, the staff has stepped up to the plate when it matters most.
“Our staff is working day-in and day-out,” administrative director Elvira Avina said. “They’re basically at the front lines with what we do everyday.”
“As soon as we heard that there were lockdowns and the need was going to be great, our staff didn’t hesitate to come to work to fill those needs,” Romero added.
As a result of widespread layoffs throughout Santa Barbara, Unity Shoppe is serving more than three times the number of families they normally serve during this time of year.
“We’ve had a great surge of folks come in,” Avina said.
“I would say eighty percent are new clients,” Romero commented. “They are either hotel workers, restaurant workers or people in the service industry who had never heard of us until now.”
Those in need are grateful for the assistance being provided.
“I’m very thankful for the Unity Shoppe for providing this service,” Santa Barbara resident Lamont Payne said. “It’s something that’s really helped me.”
The nonprofit has adapted its workspace in order to enforce social distancing.
“We’ve marked our sidewalk with tape to indicate what is safe distancing,” Avina said. “So while folks wait in line, they can do that.”
“We have the social distancing now, I think it’s reasonable and smart,” Payne assessed.
As the community struggles with these uncertain times, the Unity Shoppe continues to present an essential helping hand to those in need.
“We are helping the most vulnerable in the community,” Avina said. “Those who don’t have any other way of getting groceries or their basic needs for their family.”
“We were here for the fires, mudslide and now for the coronavirus,” Romero concluded. “We will continue to be here for the public no matter what.”
For those looking to help through donations, you can visit the Unity Shoppe’s website.
