A Holiday Guide to Nonprofit Giving

This is a complete list of 40 groups we’re raising money for in this year’s Santa Cruz Gives holiday giving campaign. Go to santacruzgives.org to donate to a number of of this yr’s contributors. — Editor

Massive Brothers Massive Sisters of Santa Cruz County

Group Mission: We create and assist one-on-one mentoring relationships that ignite the facility and promise of youth. We have now served greater than 7,000 native at-risk youngsters, offering a vital basis at a crucial time of their lives. Mentors make Santa Cruz County a safer and more healthy place by serving to youngsters make higher selections, which will increase their probabilities of staying at school and reduces their challenges with substance abuse, teen being pregnant, and the legal justice system.

Massive Thought: Digital and In-Particular person Mentoring

Multiple-third of youth in Massive Brothers Massive Sisters have develop into caretakers, breadwinners and tutors because the pandemic started. Covid-19 disproportionately impacts the households we serve.

All of our providers can be found nearly now, and one constructive end result is that this opens up mentoring for extra volunteers, together with seniors and others who additionally could also be experiencing isolation. We’re uniquely positioned to supply constant out-of-school and digital assist if wanted, and our mentors proceed to function a significant supply of consistency and connection.

Hen College

Group Mission: The Hen College Challenge makes use of out of doors experiential studying to encourage and equip college students and lecturers to like, research, and steward their native atmosphere. We offer out of doors schooling about birds to college students instantly on their schoolyards, making nature and a little bit of wilderness simply revisited.

Massive Thought: Serving to faculties reopen with out of doors studying!

The Hen College Challenge goals to relaunch our fashionable schoolyard program to assist faculties use out of doors areas on campuses to welcome college students again to high school. College students construct expertise in focus, direct remark, meaning-making, arguing from proof, and collaborating with friends—and profit farther from the research-based therapeutic results of time spent outdoor. Our essential program dietary supplements center college life science lessons. 4 weeks of college visits embrace guided, on-campus chicken walks; use of binoculars; shut examination of museum specimens; and using a discipline journal wherein college students study to document their observations creatively.

Camp Krem 

Group Mission: We offer respite providers to households of kids and adults with mental and developmental disabilities. A variety of program alternatives are supplied year-round to our households in single-day, three-day, five-day and 10-day periods that present respite from the calls for of each day care and supervision. Our applications foster independence, nurture accountability, develop competence and construct lifelong friendships in a heat, supportive environment of deliberate permissiveness.

Massive Thought: Rebuild Camp Krem After Wildfire

Camp Krem’s full facility was misplaced within the CZU hearth. Over the previous 63 years the volunteers, workers and households of Camp Krem constructed greater than 27 buildings and constructions, which are actually gone and in determined want of rebuilding. In 2019, we supplied our providers to greater than 600 households and served 1,250 campers. They proceed to want our assist. The purpose is to rebuild rapidly and return to serving our neighborhood.

CASA of Santa Cruz County

Group Mission: CASA of Santa Cruz County advocates for youngsters, offering court-appointed volunteers so every baby within the Dependency Courtroom system feels cared for and linked with the individuals, households, and assets they should heal and flourish into maturity.

Massive Thought: Advocating for Foster Youth in Santa Cruz County

Covid-19 is affecting all of us, however youngsters in foster care are particularly weak to abuse and neglect. CASA volunteers make sure that these youngsters are shielded from the isolation that comes with this pandemic. Kids in foster care depend on members of their neighborhood to make sure they aren’t left behind because the world shelters in place.

CASA recruits, screens, trains, and supervises Volunteer Advocates to work one-on-one with youngsters and their households to assist reunification or everlasting placement right into a protected and wholesome residence. Advocates get to know their baby’s scenario and wishes, assist caregivers entry assets to satisfy these wants, and advocate for the kid’s greatest pursuits in courtroom, neighborhood, and college settings.

California Licensed Natural Farmers Basis

Group Mission: CCOF advances natural agriculture for a wholesome world via natural certification, schooling, advocacy, and promotion. We envision a world the place natural is the norm. Headquartered in Santa Cruz, CCOF co-founded the natural motion within the U.S. with allies throughout the nation. CCOF’s experience is a key cause that greater than 30% of the agriculture in Santa Cruz is licensed natural.

Massive Thought: Bricmont Hardship Help Fund

This fund provides grants to natural companies affected by hardship, together with wildfires, pure disasters, and the Covid-19 pandemic. All {dollars} raised via this fund go instantly into the natural farming neighborhood with no administrative charge.

Since 2007, the CCOF Basis has distributed $250,000 to farmers via our Bricmont Hardship Help program. We have now already had a four-fold improve in functions for monetary help on this difficult yr.

Coastal Watershed Council

Group Mission: The San Lorenzo River is forgotten by too many residents who could not understand our ingesting water depends on it. The Coastal Watershed Council is the one group solely targeted on revitalizing this river that was the explanation Santa Cruz was based within the first place. Our small however mighty group strives each day to understand Santa Cruz’s imaginative and prescient of a wholesome, welcoming and enjoyable river that connects our various neighborhood to nature, and is a fascinating vacation spot for recreation and reflection. 

Massive Thought: Getting Youngsters Again Exterior

The San Lorenzo River is the first ingesting water supply for practically 100,000 individuals and is designated as crucial habitat for threatened and endangered species of fish. Most locals agree that our neighborhood deserves a wholesome river ecosystem surrounded by protected and alluring parks. An important factor we will do for the river, in the present day and tomorrow, is introduce children to nature on the Riverwalk. We’d like your assist to present lecturers, college students and hardworking mother and father actions that they will do each on-line and offline—exterior, enjoying and studying in nature. CWC’s Watershed Ranger program helps lecturers do their job by together with classes that align with the Subsequent Technology Science Requirements and Frequent Core Requirements.

Group Bridges

Group Mission: Collectively, our household of 10 applications delivers important providers, gives equitable entry to assets and advocates for well being and dignity throughout each stage of life. Our applications serve 20 websites and meet the wants of greater than 17,000 native youngsters, households, and seniors annually.

Massive Thought: Catastrophe Useful resource Reduction for Impacted Households

Your donation will make sure that Group Bridges’ Household Useful resource Collective can proceed to supply direct monetary and useful resource reduction to households and people impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the CZU Lightning Advanced Fireplace. The 4 useful resource facilities positioned in Reside Oak, Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and the San Lorenzo Valley present money assist for rental help and groceries, and help with accessing public advantages, FEMA catastrophe reduction, and inexpensive authorized providers. These providers are supplied at no cost to low-income and undocumented households ineligible for presidency reduction, and mid-low revenue households affected by the hearth.

Dientes Group Dental Care

Group Mission: Dientes is on a mission to create lasting oral well being for underserved youngsters and adults. As the biggest dental care supplier in Santa Cruz County, Dientes gives preventative dental care and inexpensive therapy for over 10,000 individuals dwelling in poverty. For practically 30 years, Dientes has labored laborious to make sure that price, insurance coverage, revenue, language, and transportation don’t stop individuals from visiting the dentist.

Massive Thought: Dientes Cares

Dientes is dedicated to offering entry to important dental take care of sufferers dwelling in poverty so that everybody can have a wholesome smile, even amid a pandemic. Covid-19 has elevated demand for our care with larger unemployment and extra uninsured all through Santa Cruz County. To maintain our sufferers and workers protected, Dientes has carried out intensive protocols. Nevertheless, these new protocols are labor-intensive and cost-intensive. Your assist of Dientes Cares is crucial to assist uninsured sufferers who’re most in want obtain free dental care, so that they have the dignity that comes with a wholesome smile.

Ecology Motion

Group Mission: We assist individuals, companies and communities act now to cut back carbon emissions at scale for a wholesome, thriving future. Ecology Motion was based in Santa Cruz in 1970 and has helped to start out and run applications that assist our area lead the nation in environmental sustainability. Our initiatives embrace Earth Day Santa Cruz, Bike to Work Day/Bike Problem, Secure Routes to Colleges/BikeSmart/WalkSmart, Electrical Automobile Incentive Applications/Nationwide Drive Electrical Day, and Monterey Bay Pleasant Landscaping/Inexperienced Gardener Applications.

Massive Thought: Bike Abilities are Life Abilities

In our lowest revenue neighborhoods, youngsters stroll and bike to high school on the dust shoulder of roads the place huge rigs roll by lower than 20 ft away. A method Ecology Motion achieves transportation justice is to make sure all of our kids have equal entry to ability growth coaching for safely biking and strolling by offering free, on-line classroom coaching. We assist each lecturers and college students in low-income areas. We search neighborhood assist (donations, volunteers, and sponsors) to make sure each fifth-grader rides safely on their bikes and each second-grader can cross a road safely in visitors. There are 109 lessons within the county and we search funds for coaching the final 25 lessons in Reside Oak, Bonny Doon, San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley, Watsonville, and Completely satisfied Valley.

Exploring New Horizons Out of doors College

Group Mission: Exploring New Horizons empowers college students, builds environmental literacy, and strengthens communities via out of doors schooling. Each scholar within the U.S. will need to have equal entry to out of doors schooling, but fewer than 10% of fourth-to-sixth grade California college students attend such applications and few faculties embrace out of doors studying of their curriculum. Our skilled naturalists have interaction greater than 7,000 college students annually outdoor, with a give attention to ecology, environmental stewardship, social emotional studying, and the humanities.

Massive Thought: Out of doors Academic Fairness for College students

Out of doors schooling is crucial to alleviate among the strain that distance studying places on lecturers, college students, and their households, and for college kids who could not study as properly on a display. Nevertheless, the elevated demand will create additional inequity between mother and father who can afford them and people who can’t. We search your assist for Santa Cruz faculties and households by participating small Ok-5 teams in out of doors curricula that concentrate on guided nature exploration, mountain climbing, and remark; nature writing, drawing, mapping, and knowledge assortment; and artwork, music, and imaginary play.

Farm Discovery at Reside Earth

Group Mission: Farm Discovery at Reside Earth empowers youth and households to construct and maintain wholesome meals, farming, social and pure methods. On our natural farm, youth study to develop and put together wholesome, plant-based meals from the sphere to the desk. We offer year-round alternatives for individuals of all ages to study and to take part in a sustainable meals system.

Massive Thought: Covid-19 Reduction By way of Natural Produce Distribution 

Farm Discovery remains to be offering out of doors schooling to youngsters in response to the pandemic and fire-related hardship, and we’re distributing natural produce to areas throughout the county. We hope to help different farms as properly in lowering starvation, well being issues associated to weight loss program, and meals waste in our neighborhood. We have now donated 24,000 kilos (12 tons) of produce for twenty-four weeks since April and are persevering with each week. A mean of 25 kilos of produce feeds a household of 4 for one week—due to this fact, we feed about 40 households per week. Along with your assist, we will proceed and develop this into 2021, holding our price to solely $1.30/lb. of produce, which covers the produce and all labor to maintain the undertaking going.

Meals What

Group Mission: “Meals, What?!” is a youth empowerment and meals justice group. At FoodWhat, youth domesticate their well-being, liberation and energy by participating in relationships with land, meals and one another. Youth from Watsonville to Santa Cruz be a part of the FoodWhat Crew via our Spring Internship, Summer season Job Coaching and Fall Challenge Administration applications. Throughout the supportive area of FoodWhat, youth develop, cook dinner, eat and distribute farm-fresh, natural meals whereas addressing native meals justice points.

Massive Thought: Youth Empowerment, Meals Justice

As financial, well being and meals insecurity deepens in our neighborhood, youth of colour proceed to battle in these areas with disproportionate problem. That’s why at FoodWhat, we are going to proceed to get recent, wholesome meals to marginalized youth and their households—it doesn’t matter what. Whether or not from rising their very own meals on the farm, or receiving recent CSAs at their doorsteps, FoodWhat households could have a meals entry level that’s stabilizing, nourishing and community-driven.

Ladies Inc.

Group Mission: To encourage all ladies to be robust, sensible, and daring, and to respect themselves and the world round them. Ladies Inc. serves 1,700 ladies in 41 faculties with skilled professionals (usually older teenagers) who mentor them in a protected atmosphere. Ladies are impressed to pursue secondary schooling, develop management and decision-making expertise, serve their communities, and purchase the flexibility and knowledge to steer wholesome life.

Massive Thought: Digital Management Mentoring Program for Excessive College Ladies

The overriding purpose of our new digital program is that ladies will study to set and obtain objectives, boldly confront challenges, resist peer strain, see faculty as attainable, and discover nontraditional fields. The digital setting eliminates transportation points and can enable ladies all through Santa Cruz County to take part extra simply. Contributors will meet twice a month for 12 interactive, digital periods.

Gray Bears

Group Mission: Gray Bears improves the well being and well-being of seniors and our neighborhood via meals distribution, volunteerism, useful resource conservation and recycling. Seniors caught on the fringe of poverty usually reside alone and lease. As a result of Santa Cruz County is among the least inexpensive areas within the U.S., an estimated 40% of seniors should not have the revenue to satisfy their primary wants.

Massive Thought: Shifting Ahead at Each Age

What does it imply to age properly? Native, important and multifaceted, Gray Bears believes that good diet, exercise and social connection are the proper recipe for wholesome ageing. We ship recent greens, fruits, and wholesome staples to 4,200 seniors weekly together with 1,300 who’re homebound. Our kitchen will even ship 1,600 wholesome meals to seniors this vacation season.

Homeless Backyard Challenge

Group Mission: Within the soil of our city, natural farm and backyard, individuals discover the instruments they should construct a house on this planet.

Massive Thought: Transitional Employment Program

HGP has continued to supply important providers for the neighborhood, each in human providers and rising meals for the neighborhood. In a destabilized world, these experiencing homelessness stay weak and HGP’s yearlong program stays a crucial alternative to get of us again on their ft. Now in its thirtieth yr, this system has been honed to be as efficient as attainable for getting individuals into secure housing and employment. A brand new precedence has been to assist our alum as soon as they’ve obtained employment and housing. The strengthening of our graduate assist and to develop and deepen the affect of our work is the main focus for the instant future.

Hope Providers

Group Mission: Hope’s mission is to enhance the standard of life for individuals with developmental disabilities and psychological well being wants. We serve greater than 350 adults and youths in Santa Cruz County yearly. Our seven applications emphasize vocational growth and neighborhood participation. From a cellular work group for purchasers taken with engaged on crews, to job coaching and placement, to a psychological well being program providing case administration and psychiatric providers, Hope Providers is a frontrunner in offering revolutionary programming to native purchasers.

Massive Thought: From Hope to House

To maintain our purchasers linked to programming that has needed to shut in the course of the pandemic, Hope Providers is transitioning to our new distant studying service: From Hope to House. We’re requesting funds to equip 50 purchasers with laptops and tablets to entry reside, interactive, each day on-line programming with our workers in order that this weak inhabitants is not going to expertise isolation. It is important to supply applications wherein people with disabilities can develop social connections, study, develop their pursuits, and discover significant engagement via employment and different endeavors, similar to the overall inhabitants.

Hopes Closet

Group Mission: To offer gently used clothes, gear, blankets, footwear, books and toys (Bundles of Hope) to youngsters in want in Santa Cruz County. Everybody who wants assist will get it. There are not any eligibility necessities to obtain providers.

Massive Thought: Naked Requirements

There’s nothing like the texture of latest socks and underwear to make you be ok with your self (think about what it will really feel wish to placed on another person’s used socks and underwear on daily basis). Sadly, these naked requirements should not one thing a household in want is ready to spend treasured {dollars} on. At Hopes Closet we imagine that each baby is deserving of that particular feeling and our Naked Requirements undertaking will make sure that each baby we assistance will obtain a brand new pair of underwear and socks of their “Bundle of Hope” bag. Along with financial donations that assist us purchase new undergarments, we are going to enlist neighborhood assist and native youth teams for a “children serving to children” focus to complement our present endeavors.

Housing Issues

Group Mission: Housing Issues companions with people and households to create pathways out of their homelessness into everlasting housing. Housing Issues case managers assist greater than 500 unhoused neighbors in Santa Cruz County on their pathway to secure housing on any given day. This consists of 200 adults and youngsters sleeping in shelter applications on our campus, receiving three nutritious meals a day, plus constant assist in getting again residence from professional workers and compassionate volunteers. Final yr, Housing Issues linked greater than 300 adults and youngsters experiencing homelessness in our neighborhood with secure, everlasting housing, thus ending their homelessness.

Massive Thought: Pathways House Toolkit

Practically 1,000 properties have been misplaced within the fires in Santa Cruz County. Shedding a house is a universally traumatic expertise, and no individual ought to need to navigate that have on their very own. Housing Issues case managers are consultants at serving to your neighbors transfer via the expertise of homelessness and get again into housing. Many stepped as much as assist their unhoused neighbors in navigating the disaster of homelessness. Our expert-informed toolkit will assist these volunteer “case managers,” lots of whom are serving to these newly displaced by the fires. This interactive toolkit will embrace data on trauma-informed care, case administration fundamentals, setting manageable objectives, working with somebody in disaster, self-care, boundaries, and extra.

Jacob’s Coronary heart

Group Mission: Jacob’s Coronary heart exists to enhance the standard of life for youngsters with most cancers and different life-threatening sicknesses by supporting their households within the challenges they face. We offer emotional, sensible, monetary and peer assist to tons of of native youngsters with most cancers and hundreds of their members of the family. We envision a neighborhood the place each baby with a severe or life-threatening situation has a robust, supported and knowledgeable household empowered to totally take part of their care.

Massive Thought: Medically Fragile Kids

Caring for a medically fragile baby is at all times rife with concern and uncertainty. Monetary stress compounds when your baby is significantly sick. Siblings are confused and scared. A easy journey to the grocery retailer is at all times a threat when caring for an immunocompromised baby. Early in 2020, nobody might have imagined the challenges that have been about to befall the kids and households we take care of at Jacob’s Coronary heart. We search assist for our new laser-focused emergency reduction plan to deal with the instant bodily and emotional wants of households of medically fragile youngsters in the course of the pandemic: protected housing, meals, transportation to therapy and disaster counseling.

Reside Like Coco

Group Mission: We assist children within the Santa Cruz County space to develop up wholesome and with alternatives to pursue their goals. Our basis is impressed by Coco Lazenby, who was killed in a automobile accident in 2015 at age 12. We work to supply native youngsters with alternatives that made a distinction in her life.

Massive Thought: Enhancing E book Range

This yr, we’re stepping up efforts to enhance language range and to signify a greater variety of ethnicities, household backgrounds and talents for our literacy program. Our program gives books to college students at native public faculties, at little free libraries we’ve positioned all through the neighborhood, and to native organizations that attain our most weak communities. We additionally sponsor a forest and neighborhood backyard, pay for scholarships, and manage seashore cleanups and discipline journeys, amongst different efforts to enhance the lives of native children, with a give attention to these in low-income communities.

MENtors

Group Mission: MENtors helps boys, males and fathers to attain more healthy social and emotional growth that can enrich their consciousness, engagement and connection, and assist every to construct lasting relationships with one’s self, interpersonally, with their households and the higher neighborhood.

Massive Thought: 100 MENtors Who Care Initiative

This yr, we want to create a group of 100 males in Santa Cruz County to serve and assist native boys, younger males, males, and fathers. Your donation will assist us to recruit, have interaction, prepare and assist these males who will coach and mentor boys and males. At the moment, we offer weekly applications to boys and younger males in 4 center faculties and one highschool. We host 4 father involvement and co-parenting lessons to reinforce fatherhood roles, strengthen parent-child relationships, and promote group parenting.

Pajaro Valley Shelter Providers

Group Mission: PVSS gives households with a path to secure, self-sufficient futures via short-term and longer-term housing and supportive providers. In 2019-2020, PVSS served 204 people. 87% of PVSS households exited to everlasting housing, 67% exited with financial savings for housing; and 71% of adults exited efficiently with employment. We run structured, drug- and alcohol-free applications inside a heat, safe atmosphere.

Massive Thought: Financial Empowerment for Households Experiencing Homelessness

Households in PVSS applications actually work their method out of homelessness and monetary vulnerability. On the onset of shelter-in-place, 50% of PVSS households skilled job loss or employment interruption. PVSS is launching Coordinated Financial Improvement to supply households with monetary literacy coaching, tuition help for job coaching assets, and help with discovering and retaining employment. Monetary resilience makes the distinction between sustaining progress towards everlasting housing and returning to homelessness—throughout and past the pandemic.

Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes

Group Mission: Our imaginative and prescient is a Pajaro Valley neighborhood wherein all individuals have entry to wholesome meals and primary requirements. Our mission is to supply wholesome, hearty meals, groceries and recent produce, and connections with different companies to assist our neighbors improve their well being and well-being.

Massive Thought: Enhance Our Outreach, Scale back Our Carbon Footprint

For the previous 30 years, we’ve been a frontline, boot-strapping meals pantry and lunch program touching hundreds of lives annually with a restricted finances and environment friendly operations carried out by tons of of devoted volunteers and a small-but-nimble workers. As we serve over 26,000 sizzling meals annually, we’re devoted to serving our purchasers in probably the most nutritious and environmentally-friendly method attainable. Our on-site, free-to-all-who-are-hungry lunch program was 100% waste free, pre-Covid. We are actually challenged to supply the identical wholesome meals in to-go packaging. To regulate to the brand new method of serving our purchasers, we’ve been utilizing extra disposable merchandise and are properly conscious of the pressure this has on the environment. Please assist us make our operation—receiving, storing and distributing greater than 500,000 kilos of meals annually—greener.

Regeneración — Pajaro Valley Local weather Motion 

Group Mission: We work with neighborhood companions to encourage everybody within the Pájaro Valley to reply regionally to the worldwide problem of a altering local weather.

Massive Thought: Ladies, Ladies and Local weather Justice

Ladies know an ideal deal about constructing relationships and nurturing life. This information is crucial for spreading consciousness and taking swift motion to guard a livable world as our neighborhood faces a troublesome restoration from unprecedented wildfires fueled by drought and excessive warmth. We are going to convene our third neighborhood discussion board and social media awareness-raising marketing campaign in 2021 with a give attention to Ladies and Local weather Change. We’ll plan, host, and promote a digital Local weather of Hope discussion board that includes a variety of feminine voices and focusing on a various viewers from our tri-county space. Highschool and faculty college students will achieve expertise in organizing, communications, efficient outreach, and engagement as they assist to develop and promote a web based occasion that evokes others to take significant motion and spur new initiatives to reverse world warming. We’ll give attention to how ladies, particularly low-income ladies of colour, are disproportionately affected by local weather impacts and are wanted in management.

Useful resource Heart for Nonviolence

Group Mission: The Useful resource Heart for Nonviolence promotes the acutely aware follow of nonviolence and antiracism as dynamic forces essential to attain private, institutional and societal modifications for the creation of a simply, peaceable and sustainable future.  

Massive Thought: Racial Fairness Management Coaching

We are going to conduct trainings for leaders in firms, nonprofit organizations, and authorities companies in Santa Cruz County, utilizing the most recent fashions for instructing antiracism transformational management expertise and views, helping leaders to create new insurance policies supporting racial fairness and to vary insurance policies inside establishments. This program will study racial disparities in Santa Cruz County and can draw from native experience to create a extra holistic and collaborative method to the sphere of range, fairness and inclusion. Your donations will assist growth of this program and scholarships for participation.

Santa Cruz Museum of Pure Historical past

Group Mission: Connecting individuals with nature and science to encourage stewardship of the pure world.

Massive Thought: Museum At Your Facet

The Museum hopes to have interaction lifelong learners, college students, and lecturers with our new undertaking, the Museum At Your Facet, a group of hands-on actions, informative articles, and fascinating movies to attach you (sure, you and your whole neighbors) with nature and science wherever you’re! The Museum affords a wide range of downloadable actions and assets comparable to discipline guides and scavenger hunts, and extra. Customers can join with different nature lovers via interactive applications that convey collectively individuals with a shared curiosity and entry our collections and reveals in methods by no means earlier than attainable.

Save Our Shores

Group Mission: To steward clear shores, wholesome habitats, and dwelling waters, which can foster thriving marine ecosystems throughout our California Central Coast and defend the assets that make our neighborhood a most fascinating place to reside and go to.

Massive Thought: 3D Digital Actuality Marine Ecosystem Studying Modules for Underserved Youth

Our undertaking takes underserved youth in center college on an experiential 3D digital actuality dive into our superb marine protected areas, full with an animated wildlife character and tutorial information. The animated character explains why marine protected areas have been established, defines the several types of areas, and tells tales concerning the crops and animals that reside in them. We acquired a grant to create the 3D VR expertise and a lesson plan, and to pilot it in six faculties. We’re in search of funding to increase supply of this program to many extra faculties throughout our neighborhood. There might be a 2D model so we will ship this system by way of distance studying. If we elevate $25,000, we will convey it to 100 lecture rooms all through the county.

Santa Cruz SPCA

Group Mission: The Santa Cruz SPCA gives protected harbor for animals in want and promotes an energetic humane neighborhood via adoption, advocacy, and schooling.

Massive Thought: Maintaining Pets and Individuals Collectively

What if we might preserve pets with loving guardians and forestall the trauma of pricey shelter stays, even throughout tumultuous occasions? The Santa Cruz SPCA helps animals whose households are in misery or affected by the disasters of 2020 with new and expanded applications, together with weekly pet meals pantries that gave out 11,000 kilos of meals and pet provides in 2019. After the 2020 fires, they’ve been open each day to satisfy elevated demand. “Ask the Canine Coach” periods assist dozens of guardians remedy conduct points to stop pet give up. A brand new “Emergency Housing Toolkit” at our Pet Meals Pantries would present how you can discover pet-friendly rental housing, checklist native residence complexes that settle for pets, and provide functions for one-time grants of as much as $500 for pet deposit and rental charges.   

Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Basis

Group Mission: The first group safeguarding and bettering the lives of home animals is the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. With an consumption exceeding 5,000 animals a yr, SCCAS has a bedrock of municipal funding for core providers comparable to animal management, licensing, rabies vaccinations, housing for strays and surrenders, and intervention in animal abuse instances. Impartial funding is required for SCCAS’s key preventive initiatives: spay/neuter clinics, coaching lessons, humane schooling, neighborhood outreach, and talent to reply to emergency circumstances.

Massive Thought: Restoration and Preparedness

The affect of the virus and hearth has underscored the significance of growing a Restoration and Preparedness Plan to deal with a double and even triple catastrophe. In response to this yr’s financial hardship, shelter workers and volunteers joined with different companies to supply catastrophe service employees, and ship wanted pet meals and primary veterinary providers countywide. Throughout the hearth, SCCAS workers cared for practically 4,500 pets, together with animals left at residence who have been fed, watered and sorted by the Shelter’s Animal Management officers with permission from the Sheriff’s workplace. For the reason that pandemic, many organizations shut down, however SCCAS has remained open, offering important core providers, taking in surrenders, receiving strays, retrieving misplaced pets, offering adoption providers and making pet meals accessible to house owners struggling financially.  

Second Harvest Meals Financial institution

Group Mission: Second Harvest Meals Financial institution Santa Cruz County’s mission is for our county to be a neighborhood working collectively to finish starvation via wholesome meals, schooling and management. By way of our community of companion companies, we offer nutritious meals and CalFresh utility help for households, seniors, the unemployed, farmworkers, immigrants, veterans, homeless, sheltered homeless, the disabled, and people affected by psychological sickness. 

Massive Thought: Meals Entry for Santa Cruz County

Our county’s excessive price of dwelling and the pandemic has led to 90,000 individuals a month needing meals help. One-third of our county seeks assist from the meals financial institution and our companion companies as a consequence of job loss, excessive lease and low wages. We companion with a broad community of native nonprofits and security web providers comparable to meals pantries, shelters, and group properties that permits your assist to succeed in deep into neighborhoods. Assist us reply to the elevated want by supporting our Vacation Meals and Fund Drive, which permits us to supply 100 nonprofit companies with meals all year long, in addition to provide much-needed nourishment to native residents via our personal distributions.

Senderos

Group Mission: Senderos is a volunteer-based group that forges pathways to success for Latino youth via free conventional music and dance applications, and fosters instructional alternatives. Senderos has established cultural pleasure within the face of racism and gang involvement, and has grown from serving seven youth in 2001 to greater than 150 youth and younger adults annually.

Massive Thought: Fairness in Training and Arts for Latino Youth

In 2021, we are going to give attention to tutorial and cultural arts fairness for Latino youth. Senderos will present homework assist, tutoring, and mentoring for youth, and pc literacy coaching for fogeys. Distance studying has illuminated the disparities for low-income, immigrant households. The place attainable, improved connectivity, headsets, and quiet studying areas might make a distinction. Senderos additionally seeks to construct our scholarship fund to encourage first-generation college students on their pathway to larger schooling. Lastly, we purpose to reinforce strategies to have interaction youth in our free, now digital, music and dance lessons.

Shakespeare Play On

Group Mission: Impressed by Shakespeare, we create and strengthen neighborhood by bringing audiences and theater artists collectively to have fun tales about our collective humanity. Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s out of doors theatre pageant is a treasured 40-year custom.

Massive Thought: Pupil Transportation Fund

Santa Cruz Shakespeare extends its public summer time season into September annually to supply student-only matinees for regional excessive faculties. However many colleges run up in opposition to a frequent drawback: the shortage of transportation to and from the Grove. Resulting from lack of funding for bus transportation, and the mother and father’ lack of autos or incapability to overlook work, transporting college students as a gaggle shouldn’t be an possibility for a lot of faculties. Donations will go to Santa Cruz County faculties in want solely, and can enable SC Shakespeare to increase its present matinee alternatives to extra college students.

Shared Adventures

Group Mission: Shared Adventures is devoted to bettering high quality of life for these with disabilities. Within the perception that recreation, enjoyable, problem, and entry to the outside are important to well being and success, we get individuals outdoor and transferring past imagined limitations. Roughly 2,000 people with bodily and mental disabilities participate in Shared Adventures actions annually, benefiting people, households, and the broader neighborhood.

Massive Thought: Make Santa Cruz a Vacation spot for Guests with Disabilities

Shared Adventures organizes many accessible actions. We want to promote the alternatives for disabled guests to take pleasure in native actions by updating our 15-year-old Santa Cruz County Entry Information, a useful resource information with “straightforward go to” plans for disabled vacationers and the native disabled neighborhood alike. We are going to work with Go to Santa Cruz County to publicize assets comparable to transportation, seashore accessibility, lodging, and extra. A full calendar of occasions can be supplied via Zoom, comparable to adaptive yoga and train lessons, dance events, bingo, guide membership, and humanities and crafts—with sturdy participation.

Teen Kitchen Challenge

Group Mission: The Teen Kitchen Challenge builds more healthy communities by cooking meals. Cooks and nutritionists assist volunteer teenagers cook dinner nourishing meals which can be delivered to people and households in disaster as a consequence of extreme sickness all through Santa Cruz County.

Massive Thought: Assist the Critically Sick with House Delivered Meals

Assist us improve delivered meals by 200% to assist those that are remoted as a consequence of sickness in the course of the pandemic. Your assist will present uninterrupted meal supply service to 500 Santa Cruz County people and households who’re impacted by a life-threatening sickness. We’ll additionally proceed to have interaction teenagers as a paid, secure workforce to be able to ship a complete of 97,000 meals in 2020, representing a rise in manufacturing of 140% as we reply to the evolving affect of the pandemic.

UnChained

Group Mission: UnChained fosters empathy, respect, and accountability in youth via the human-animal bond. For 12 years, UnChained has served greater than 350 youth who’ve helped prepare, socialize, and discover properties for over 170 canines—unleashing the youth’s potential one canine at a time.

Massive Thought: Youth-Canine Studying Group

UnChained works with two weak populations in Santa Cruz County: homeless canines and at-risk youth. To broaden the affect of our revolutionary animal-assisted remedy applications, we’re piloting a Humane Training program to construct a studying neighborhood for Santa Cruz County youth via canine-themed matters, canine coaching, and community-service studying initiatives. Our program consists of 25 lessons, 90-minutes every (to adapt with lockdown restrictions; digital as wanted) protecting canine coaching, the biology/science of canines, relationship expertise, civic expertise, and extra.

Vets 4 Vets Santa Cruz

Group Mission: Vets 4 Vets is a nonprofit by and for native veterans together with supportive mates who create neighborhood and help our brothers and sisters in want. Our work is to supply funding to fill the gaps left by authorities and different organizations, together with emergency meals, transportation, residence repairs and emergency housing. We additionally present actions and providers designed to interrupt the isolation of veteran contributors.

Massive Thought: Filling the Gaps

We’re asking for assist for our huge concept, which is to supply funding to veterans and their households who’re in an emergency scenario. Funds will go towards primary wants, and to satisfy the elevated demand. The best precedence for help is veterans who’re affected by Covid-19 and/or fire-related evacuations and different losses. We have now no paid workers and function with 50 volunteers, in order that your donation might be used effectively.

Warming Heart

Group Mission: To scale back the expertise of hypothermia and the prevalence of demise inside the inhabitants of people that sleep exterior; to determine the essential unmet wants of homelessness; and to create and function applications to satisfy these wants. Warming Heart applications not supplied by funding sources comparable to authorities and different organizations embrace day and night time storage holding private belongings protected, weekly laundry and Bathe Sunday—the longest and hottest bathe for individuals who sleep exterior.

Massive Thought: Footbridge Homeless Providers Heart

After a number of years of providing a homeless shelter, the Warming Heart Program requested, “What are different unmet wants of homelessness?” A listing of wants grew to become clear: storage for homeless individuals’ belongings; a laundry and bathe program; electrical machine charging bays; and a strong donation program the place individuals can entry blankets, clothes and hygiene provides. We’re lastly bringing all of this collectively and finding it alongside a nexus of homeless foot and bike visitors close to different service applications. Our work advantages the person and the neighborhood by lowering crime and environmental degradation, and affords individuals a better path in the direction of normalcy.

Watsonville Wetlands Watch

Group Mission: Watsonville Wetlands Watch works to protect, restore, and foster appreciation of the wetlands of the Pajaro Valley, and contain the Watsonville neighborhood. Our teaching programs attain over 4,000 college students with out of doors studying that helps to develop the following technology of environmental leaders.

Massive Thought: Local weather Change Management Institute, Increasing City Forest

In response to Covid-19 and to assist our initiative Wetlands Motion for Local weather Change, we launched a paid job coaching program that helps Watsonville teenagers increase their management expertise and take native actions to curb local weather change and handle environmental justice points. Funds raised from Santa Cruz Offers will allow the event of the Local weather Corps Management Institute, a multi-year paid internship for teenagers, and also will assist the growth of city tree plantings in Watsonville. Teenagers will plant timber on streets, parks, faculties, and neighborhoods and can develop small group motion initiatives to have an effect on huge modifications associated to local weather change resilience and concrete forests in Watsonville.

Wings Homeless Advocacy

Group Mission: We’re dedicated to working with our neighborhood to finish continual homelessness in Santa Cruz County. We reside out our values of compassion, dignity and respect for all individuals by uniting our neighborhood to be volunteer advocates for these transferring out of homelessness and onto a path of therapeutic.

Massive Thought: Cellular Providers to Double Outreach

Wings’ purpose is to assist individuals get into housing and to stay in everlasting housing. With no constructing bills, solely three part-time workers and 40 volunteers, we offer crucial home items, beds and bedding, furnishings, free haircuts, important paperwork—and far more. Our Massive Thought is to lift funds for a much-needed car which can enable for cellular providers to be supplied to these experiencing homelessness and can greater than double our outreach capabilities. This car will enable for important doc providers to be supplied instantly the place our purchasers are, in addition to provide further transferring capability of furnishings, beds and welcome baskets that comprise important home items.

Youth N.O.W.

Group Mission: Youth N.O.W. is dedicated to participating youth in a nurturing neighborhood the place every particular person can develop personally and academically via individualized applications that domesticate success. By offering no-cost tutorial assist to people who most want it, Youth N.O.W. helps our youth to thrive and in flip contribute to the success of their neighborhood.

Massive Thought: No-Value Tutoring for Distance-Studying College students

The affect of distance studying on our weak populations is leaving some college students with out the assist essential for them to succeed. Youth N.O.W. is addressing the inequity by including extra tutors and rising digital and on-site appointments for caring, skilled adults (each paid and volunteers) to help college students 1:1 with teachers. We hope to stop youth from falling behind of their studying throughout this difficult time. For 10 years now we have been supporting college students so they might achieve confidence at school and in life, broaden their artistic pursuits, and really feel linked to a spot of nurturance.