• In fiscal year 2003-2004, food pantries in the Santa Barbara County of Santa Barbara Region distributed more than 1,000,000 pounds of food to low-income individuals and families. In addition to this and other “safety net” services (food distribution, fuel assistance and rental assistance), the agency offered a variety of special services, such as providing new winter coats to over 1,400 individuals in Santa Maria, Guadalupe, New Cuyama and Sisquoc.
• The Region provided services to about 25,000 different people; 87.36% (23,672) of their clients have incomes under $13,000 per year. While the demand for services varied from month to month and from place to place, Community Services in Lompoc and Santa Maria were consistently the busiest, each serving an average of 670 people per month.
• Cuyama Valley Community Services refers people in need of dental care to the Healthy Start program. In collaboration with the New Cuyama Fire Department, Catholic Charities provides smoke detectors to families. The agency also offers car seats and proper safety training, gives diapers and formula to young families, and organizes smoking cessation classes.
• Santa Barbara Community Services hosted a Preventive Stroke Screening day for over 90 individuals. In addition, through the generosity of a benefactor, Catholic Charities in Santa Barbara County was able to provide twenty eye exams and twenty pairs of glasses for individuals and families who could not afford this help.
• Lompoc Community Services has the Merg/Erg program which deals with immediate repair needs of residences of low income, disabled or senior citizens. Potential threats to the health and safety of residents are removed by repairing leaks in roofs, replacing leaky windows, and fixing problems with piping and plumbing.
The mascot of the Santa Barbara Fire Department, Sparky, entertained children during a Car Seat Safety Awareness Program that was held by Catholic Charities and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department in New Cuyama. The program provides car seats along with training to help assure children are secured safely when traveling.
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Offices of Catholic Charities’ Santa Barbara Community Services provide many types of assistance to the homeless and needy residents of the county: aging services, case management, child care, financial assistance, a food pantry, a thrift store, immigration/refugee services and psychological services.
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English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, offered by Santa Barbara City College, are available five days a week at Catholic Charities’ Community Services Center.
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Catholic Charities’ staff cook hot dogs for the families they serve. Despite the seeming affluence of Santa Barbara County, there are 3-4,000 homeless each night. Almost 14% of all residents live in poverty (about 56,000), that figure includes 17% of all children and almost 20% of the elderly, age 70 and over.
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Dorothy Parr, a client since July 2002 and a happy owner of Muffin, a 13-month old Shih-tsu, participates in the Wagging Dog Tales Project that provides free veterinary services for pets of the elderly. This project is a part of the Older Adults Services program. |
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