Trying Times

Santa Barbara charity The Unity Shoppe is undergoing one of the most devastating chapters in its 100-year history.

The number of people requiring help during the coronavirus pandemic has tripled to more than 3,500 families of four who need food services twice a month, compared to 1,000 families normally.

“It used to be people living paycheck to paycheck, but they are now struggling to live paycheck to no paycheck because of all the layoffs,” says executive director Tom Reed, who says Unity Shoppe’s whole operation has been completely shifted to focus on food during the crisis.

“Donors are freaked out by the economy so financial contributions plummet as the demand has skyrocketed. Purchasing food in bulk like we do speeds up the process.

“Moreover, low-income families with children are home all day without the benefit of breakfast, lunch, and snacks provided to their K-12th graders while at school.”

Tom expects this to continue through March, 2021, with an increase in costs of food inventories and other necessary supplies, while the Unity Gift Shoppe and Furniture Annex on State Street, which generate income of around $17,000 a month, have had to close.

Another fundraiser, a production of Oliver with Janet Adderley‘s Youth Ensemble Theatre, which was expected to generate $25,000, has also been cancelled.

“Our community’s needs are soaring in a way we’ve not seen in our lifetimes,” adds Tom. “And the worst part is that many of these newly jobless are our friends, the people we encounter in our everyday lives – hotel workers, valets, waiters, teachers’ aides, nurses, hairdressers, cleaning people, gardeners, among so many others.”