Rob Fredericks, deputy executive director and chief administrative officer for the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara, and Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider, cheer on a young backpack recipient during the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara’s recent “Tools for School” event. Courtesy photo.
SANTA BARBARA — The Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara hosted the “Tools for School” kick-off event on Aug. 18 at the Presidio Springs Community Room. The event served as a resource for Housing Authority residents and the agency’s Family Self-Sufficiency program members, the agency reported in a media release. The Housing Authority provided backpacks and supplies for 300 school-age children to help ensure that local low-income youth have the tools and supplies necessary to be successful, confident, and prepared students.
Funding to purchase the backpacks and supplies was awarded through an invitation-only grant from the Change a Life Foundation, a statewide private foundation focused on enabling self-sufficiency. Because the Change a Life Foundation supports programs throughout California, the community also benefits from the 2nd Story Associates’ efforts to bring new outside funding into the community.
While the event was designed to assist families in preparing their children for school, it also helped families discover the Housing Authority’s youth enrichment programs and other local resources for youth and families. For each participating family, all family members from ages 5 through 17 chose from a range of age-appropriate backpacks filled with supplies.
About The Change a Life Foundation:
The Change a Life Foundation mission is to help individuals and families who have experienced an injury, illness, or catastrophic life event and are suffering financial hardship. They provide critically needed direct services that promote self-sufficiency and improve their quality of life for those families in need.
About 2nd Story Associates:
Second Story Associates is a nonprofit corporation created in 2007 for the purpose of funding and developing affordable housing and related social services for the benefit of low-income families, seniors and disabled members of the Santa Barbara community, including clients of the City of Santa Barbara Housing Authority. More information at http://www.2nd-story.org
About The 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 3,400 units of affordable rental housing for Santa Barbara through a variety of federal, state, local and private funding sources. Please visit the website at www.hacsb.org