Racial Equity Fund of Santa Barbara County announces approved recommendations Tuesday

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Racial Equity Fund of the County of Santa Barbara (REFCSB) announced unanimous approval for funding recommendations by the County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The County Board of Supervisors acknowledged racism as a public health crisis after George Floyd's death and distributed $500,000 towards equity issues in the county.

Several organizations received various funding amounts for their respective contributions towards this initiative:

• C4 Lompoc Collective Cultures Creating Change - Self Healing Communities -  $54,570: Continued funding to support the stabilization of the Self Healing Communities project, to engage the community, build leadership and self-determination, and begin to address the unrecognized and untreated trauma in the Lompoc community.
• Gateway Educational Services - Parent Empowerment for Equitable Education - $15,000: Continued funding to expand the Parents of Black Students Advocacy Council (PBSAC) and other parent engagement initiatives to activate Black/African American parent advocates in influencing the local educational policy system to be more equitable for BIPOC students.
• Healing Justice Santa Barbara (HJSB) - Preservation of Black Legacy; General Operations for Healing Justice SB - $60,000: Continued support of Healing Justice SB’s (HJSB) operating costs and salaries for organizers, to ensure the sustainability of HJSB’s anti-racism through systems change work to uplift all Black/African-Americans to affirm safety, love, equity, respect, and joy.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee, Santa Barbara - MLKSB Racial Equity Initiative - $48,300: Funding will support the Healing Space in closing the service gap for Black community members seeking mental healthcare by reducing the cost of therapy services, improving the overall wellness of those seeking care by connecting clients to social services, and building the Black mental health workforce by providing a culturally-affirming training environment for Black psychologists-in-training.
• NAACP Santa Barbara - Black Women's Health Equity Conference and Non-Violence Response Training for Youth - $7,500: Funding will support the first Black Women’s Health Conference on April 20th, 2024, and the creation of nonviolence response training for youth ages 10-20. The nonviolence response training will begin on August 17, 2024, during the Black Youth Leadership Development Summit at SBCC.
• One Community Action of Santa Maria Valley - Stop the Hate: Santa Maria 4 All - $30,000: Funding to support OCA’s Stop the Hate Program in engaging community members who have been victims and survivors of hate incidents and hate crimes to create an inclusive city for all.
• Santa Barbara Asian American Pacific Islander Solidarity Network (SBAAPISN) - Lunar New Year Celebration/Chinatown Lost - $18,380: Funding will support the AAPI community cultural celebration to combat the invisibility of the AAPI community along with education and community outreach about how the original Chinatown in Santa Barbara was dismantled to make way for a cohesive Spanish Colonial Revival style plan.

All donations were made thanks to the FUND who partnered with the county for similar financial contributions across the community.

The FUND is also announcing a Movement Building Grant Request for Proposals, a spring and fall grant program toward systemic change, now open until April 15.

The Multi-year Movement Building Grant facilitated through the FUND will take place where applications for multi-year grants of $30,000 will be available over three years.

For more information on the FUND organization visit its website and any questions about the grant cycle process can be submitted via email to grants@fundforsantabarbara.org