Faith of a Child Foundation
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 21, 2025

Just over a dozen years ago, the Sonrise Baby Home in Uganda was started by a young woman named Damali Mirembe. She was one of many orphans raised by an American Vietnam War veteran on disability who had, years ago, moved to Uganda to help the orphaned children there. When they grew he put them […]

Not Just One-a-Year for One805
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 11, 2025

For the past three years, the nonprofit One805 has staged a big boisterous benefit bash in late summer at Kevin Costner’s surfside Summerland spread to raise a big percentage of its funds. The money is earmarked for all the first responder organizations throughout Santa Barbara County to help with equipment, mental health services and more. […]

 

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YouthWell
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 4, 2025

There was no doubt that top staff at the nonprofit YouthWell would show up at the sold-out Arlington Theatre last week to hear social psychologist Jonathan Haidt talk about The Anxious Generation, his new book that examines why, after more than a decade of stability and improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the […]

The Importance of Mental Health for First Responders: And How One805 Is Coming to the Rescue
By Deann Zampelli   |   March 4, 2025

“911. What is your emergency?” The phrase we so commonly hear in TV shows and movies and yet hope to never hear ourselves.  Until we make the call. Until we need the reassurance of the voice on the other end telling us that help is on the way.  With the recent fires down in Los […]

Serving Hearts for Lunch
By Richard Mineards   |   February 25, 2025

It was quite a week for the local charity Hearts Aligned which helps critically ill children and their families. The nonprofit threw its third annual Hearts to Hearts Valentine’s lunch emceed by radio host Catherine Remak at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara for 250 guests raising an impressive $200,000 for the cause. Just 48 hours later Catherine […]

Edmondson on Council
By Richard Mineards   |   February 25, 2025

Mike Edmondson, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Vice President of performance optimization at Amgen, has joined the advisory council of Dream Foundation’s Dreams for Veterans program. Edmondson is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and served in the U.S. Marine Corps for six years. He has since worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 25 years, including […]

Freedom to Choose
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 18, 2025

Last Sunday night, actor Clarence Maclin spoke to a sold-out Arlington Theatre audience at SBIFF’s Virtuosos Awards about why he had spent years co-writing and then acting in Sing Sing, the feature film up for Best Picture at next month’s Academy Awards. The movie depicts his earlier life, when he was sentenced to 17 years […]

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  • White Buffalo’s Roots of the Future: Celebrating the Culture in Agriculture
    By Steven Libowitz   |   February 11, 2025

    Eighteen months ago, White Buffalo Land Trust (WBLT) celebrated the culmination of its year-long pilot of the organization’s Artist in Residence program. The program represents the dipping of a toe into expressing – through fine art – the Trust’s work to restore the ecosystem by practicing, promoting, and developing systems of regenerative agriculture at Jalama […]

    Storyteller
    By Steven Libowitz   |   January 21, 2025

    Thirty-seven years after its founding in the parking lot at Transition House – where the goal was simply to create safe play spaces for children experiencing homelessness – the nonprofit now known as Storyteller has gone through some transitions of its own in the last year. All of that is represented in the organization’s name, […]

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    One805’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Firehose
    By Jeff Wing   |   January 21, 2025

    Richard Weston-Smith is a co-founder & COO of One805 – alongside cofounder/CEO Kirsten Cavendish Weston-Smith and cofounder/CFO John J. Thyne III. What exactly did these folks cofound? It’s a fair question. The nearly indescribable One805 can rightly be called First Responder to our First Responders. Like many nouns in the English language, though, First Responder […]

    CADA’s 2025 Summit for Danny in New Zealand Seeking Funding
    By Montecito Journal   |   January 14, 2025

    Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA) has scheduled its annual Summit for Danny Fundraiser, this year hiking New Zealand’s summits from Christchurch to Queenstown, March 24 to April 1. Members of the community are welcome and encouraged to participate. Climbs are uniquely designed for all skill levels. At this time, CADA is asking for […]

    National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
    By Steven Libowitz   |   December 24, 2024

    Thirty years ago this coming April, FEMA-Certified Canine Search Specialist Wilma Melville and her black lab Murphy spent a week rummaging through the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma. What stood out was just how few other rescue dogs were on site to search for survivors. When Melville realized only […]

    Mission Scholars
    By Steven Libowitz   |   December 17, 2024

    Nonprofits understandably like to make a big deal about anniversaries, noting with pride and gratitude how long they have been a part of the community and the ways in which they’ve adjusted their services to meet evolving needs. On the other hand, Mission Scholars hasn’t been around long enough to trumpet their decades of service, […]

    Mothers’ Helpers: Helping Mothers this Holiday Season and Beyond
    By Clarissa Rios   |   December 17, 2024

    For the past 15 years, the nonprofit organization Mothers’ Helpers has supported low-income families in Santa Barbara county by providing them access to essential baby items. This holiday season, the organization is hosting a Christmas program that allows community sponsors to purchase and wrap gifts for selected families, bringing a bit of magic and cheer […]

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