DignityMoves: Montecito Parish Raises Funds to Help Areas Homeless

Montecito’s Episcopal Parish, All Saints by-the-Sea, has donated $50,000 to help provide temporary shelter to Santa Barbara County’s homeless community. The grant will go to San Francisco-based Interim Housing, a nonprofit that touts an innovative model to end homelessness by taking underutilized or vacant land to build temporary communities using prefabricated materials for mobile housing units.

The organization currently operates three housing communities in the county – serving those who would otherwise be taking shelter in encampments or vehicles. Current sites include downtown Santa Barbara, serving 34 residents; La Posada with beds for 90 residents, and Hope Village in Santa Maria which can serve over 350 residents annually. According to DignityMoves over 3,500 people in Santa Barbara County experience homelessness each year. 

The $50,000 financial gift from All Saints, combines funds raised at a charity dinner and a $20,000 budgeted allocation designated for community outreach. “We’re very focused on the homeless, on children and families,” says Don Johnston Sutton, a realtor with Sotheby’s International Realty in Montecito who serves as the co-chair of the parish’s Outreach Committee. “We used to take extra food to the cabins downtown, that’s when we first became really aware that we could help out.” 

According to Jack Lorenz, Dignity’s Regional Advancement Director, the donation will go to establish additional housing units in Santa Barbara. Construction for the project – entitled “Family Village” – will start in the spring of 2025 and will create 30 two-bedroom/one-bathroom housing units – including a kitchen and living space. According to DignityMoves’ website, the project is estimated to cost $7 million. A specific location will not be announced until further outreach is conducted. Fundraising for the Family Village site – and one projected for the city of Goleta – is ongoing. The addition of the two projects will bring a total of nearly 300 homes to the county in less than three years.