Sylvia Barnard (third from the left, first row) and the Good Samaritan Shelter Team. Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA — The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara (HACSB) honored Good Samaritan Shelter as its 2022 Outstanding Community Partner of the Year. The Housing Authority created its annual partner award as a way of recognizing and thanking organizations and businesses that help change lives for the better. The supportive services provided to clients through partners such as Good Samaritan Shelter are an essential part of the Housing Authority’s holistic service delivery approach.
Good Samaritan is a key partner in HACSB’s efforts to ensure the community’s most vulnerable clients who are homeless, obtain a safe place to call home. While the Housing Authority provides the housing or rental subsidy with landlords to these individuals or families, Good Samaritan provides the initial services to connect them with HACSB and to further ensure they have services to remain stably housed.
“This partnership has proven so successful that our agency was one of the first Public Housing Authorities to achieve full utilization of the Emergency Housing Vouchers throughout the nation,” said Rob Fredericks, HACSB Executive Director and CEO. “We look forward to crafting further solutions together so that we can locally address homeless issues throughout Santa Barbara.”
Good Samaritan Shelter originally started as a temporary evening shelter for the homeless in various churches in the local community. Established in 1987, its mission is to provide emergency, transitional and affordable housing with support services to the homeless and those in recovery throughout the Central Coast.
“They have been terrific and really helped us with meeting the needs of our most vulnerable community members,” said Fredericks.
Good Samaritan Shelter provides the community with many programs addressing homelessness as well as alcohol and substance abuse. The nonprofit offers shelter, affordable housing, clean & sober living, drug & alcohol treatment, outreach and education to the local community.
The award was presented by HACSB Executive Director and CEO, Rob Fredericks, to Sylvia Barnard, Executive Director of Good Samaritan, who accepted the award on behalf of the organization.The event took place on Monday, January 23, 2023 at the HACSB headquarters located at 808 Laguna Street in Santa Barbara.
“Good Samaritan Shelter is so proud to partner with HACSB, who provides housing opportunities for the most vulnerable and understands that in order to sustain housing, additional support services are needed,” said Barnard. “Good Samaritan Shelter is so honored to receive this award.”
About Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara — The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara is a local public agency created for the purpose of providing safe, decent, and quality affordable housing and supportive services to eligible persons with limited incomes, through a variety of federal, state, local and private resources. Since 1969, the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara has developed and/or secured over 4,000 units of affordable rental housing for Santa Barbara through a variety of federal, state, local and private funding sources. For more information, please visit hacsb.org.
About Good Samaritan Shelter — For approximately 30 years, Good Samaritan Shelter has focused on its commitment to provide emergency, transitional and affordable housing with support services to the homeless and those in recovery throughout the Central Coast. The nonprofit facilitates assistance in countless ways – providing shelter, affordable housing, clean & sober living, drug & alcohol treatment, outreach and education within the local community. For more information, please visit goodsamaritanshelter.org.