One805LIVE! Returns to Help First Responders With Mental Health Needs

CARPINTERIA, Calif. (KEYT) - Since 2018, after the deadly Montecito mudflow, support for the first responders in Santa Barbara County has had one of the most unique fundraising efforts in the country.

One805 Live! has brought musicians together with multiple police, fire, and sheriff's personnel and those that answer the 911 calls to make sure there are mental wellness services to process all they do on the front lines.

Kirsten Cavendish Weston-Smith is the Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO. She says, "we are all served by  the first responders and this has given us an opportunity to serve them."

Along with her husband and one805 Co-Founder Richard Weston-Smith these events have united first responders and from there an endowment plan has been created to have funds ready now and for future firefighters who need the best services for themselves and their families.

There is an advisory group that includes past chiefs and law enforcement leaders.

The event this year is back at Kevin Costner's Field of Dreams property over looking the ocean where Carpinteria and Summerland come together.

As the large performance stage and facilities were coming together Wednesday, he said there was a community value to having this site available for this vital cause and hear the One805 message.

"We get to commune as a community. There are two days of it and the money goes to the people that are asked to go first in front of us. They are the ones that are going to work all night in the rain. The ones that are going to work next to a raging ocean," said Costner who was very aware of the community challenges during the Montecito event and the Thomas Fire that proceeded it.

Supporters throughout the year have heard from those who use the services first hand. 

Many have attended events to keep the cause in the forefront of the community.

In a video message, Santa Barbara City Police Chief Kelly Gordon said, "I can tell you that when officers and firefighters have a bad day, having access to these services, having the wellness plans that they need, do in fact make a difference."

Lt.  Jarrett Morris with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said, "I needed to take hold of therapeutic services to talk some of these things out." 

He said it helped him be skilled to help younger deputies facing some of the toughest challenges. 

Morris has worked in the Coroner's Bureau, as a Patrol Sergeant, and Chief of Police duties for the Sheriff's substation in Goleta.

In addition to the music and magnitude of this event, the two-day concert gives the public a chance to interact with the first responders at a time when there isn't an emergency going on.

First responders will be honored on the stage and they will talk about long-term wellness services.

Cavendish Weston-Smith said, "ONE805 really evolved out of that concept and with the chiefs working together." 

She said the organizers have been able to hear from them and what they wanted in the way of services.       

This year's two-day event will have performers including George Thorogood, Pat Benatar and Neil Gerardo, Alan Parsons, Slightly Stoopid, the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Fray, Plastic Harpoons and many special guests.

Cavendish Weston-Smith said most of them, "have a connection to a first responder. They are either related or they had an incident." 

She said some live nearby in the Montecito, Carpinteria and Santa Barbara communities and connect with their first responders regularly.

Costner will be on stage with his band Modern West for a set during the event as he did two years ago. "Enough people said to me that they wished I could play." He will perform on Saturday evening.

In recent years those appearing on stage have included, Kenny Loggins, Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Rob Lowe, Trishia Yearwood, John Fogerty, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Ellen DeGeneres, Michael Keaton, Jeff Bridges, Maria Schriver, Good Charlotte, Pink and Dallas Green, Joe Bonamassa, Glen Phillips and the Santa Barbara Symphony. Numerous other performers and entertainers along with community leaders have taken the stage in a united front both at this event and other special shows throughout the years at locations including the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara.

The event has collaborated with non-profits assisting the first responders including Adam's Angels, the Bucket Brigade and Santa Barbara Humane, which provides K-9 vet services.

Some additional General Admission tickets for the event have been released and are available at ONE805.org.