Policy/Neighborhood Wins
Oxnard High School District commits to align graduation standards with courses needed to attend a 4-year college. (FLA)
Santa Barbara County approves funding for Crisis Intervention Training of law enforcement officers to de-escalate interactions with individuals with mental illness. (Families ACT!)
Affordable housing for farm workers approved in Guadalupe. (Peoples’ Self-Help Housing, Little House by the Park)
City of Santa Barbara hires a Spanish Language Outreach position after language access challenges during the Thomas Fire. (Just Communities)
Activists help shape Ventura County’s Farm Worker Resource Program’s staffing and location to best serve farm workers. (Líderes Campesinas, MICOP, CAUSE)
City of Santa Paula opens new youth center. (CAUSE)
Grassroots Mobilization
Rally held in Santa Maria on Cesar Chavez Day to demand protections for farm workers from hazardous pesticides. (Californians for Pesticide Reform)
More than 100 residents attend hearing to oppose proposal to dump oilfield wastewater into Fillmore aquifer. (Food & Water Watch, One Step a La Vez)
Dozens of local activists join the Climate Action March in San Francisco. (CAUSE, Food & Water Watch)
Youth conduct voter registration drives and register more than 1,000 new voters. (FLA, Council on American-Islamic Relations)
150 Fillmore students join the March for Our Lives School Walk Out to protest gun violence. (One Step a La Vez)
Civic Engagement
Farm workers from Ventura County and Santa Maria attend the National Convening of Farm Worker Women and Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. (Líderes Campesinas)
Nearly 100 residents attend bilingual City Council Candidates Forum in Oxnard. (CAUSE, FLA, MICOP)
Two Latina leaders push for appointment onto new Advisory Committee focused on groundwater sustainability. (Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center)
Resident input shapes Goleta’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Masterplan. (Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition)
Individuals with disabilities join Transportation Commission committees and the planning committee for the Ventura County Family Justice Center. (ARC of Ventura County)
Twenty-five residents attend Safe Streets training to identify priorities to make walking and biking on Santa Barbara’s Westside safer. (COAST)
Raising Awareness
Longest Night Vigil held to honor those who died on the streets without shelter in Santa Maria. (Transitions-Mental Health Association)
Developed curriculum and conducted LGBTQ+ sensitivity training for teachers. (One Step a La Vez, Diversity Collective)
Fifty residents attend forum to raise visibility of the low rate of Santa Maria students graduating with coursework needed to apply to a 4-year college. (FLA)
Immigrant rights trainings held throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. (IMPORTA, Buen Vecino, La Hermandad, MICOP)
Forty parents, teachers, and youth attend Military Recruiters on Campus forum to discuss concerns about military recruitment at Santa Maria High School. (Truth in Recruitment, MICOP, IMPORTA)
LGBTQ sensitivity trainings provided to police officers, schools, nursing homes, and other agencies. (Pacific Pride Foundation)
