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Women United's Classic Storybook Luncheon is quickly approaching on Tuesday, March 3rd and tickets are selling fast! This year's theme book will be Little Women.

This year’s event will feature keynote speaker Michelle Branch, Vice-Chair of the Women United Global Leadership Council and Principal and Founder of the Branch Law Group. 

Michelle is an experienced advisor and board member to nonprofit arts, cultural and social justice organizations, and is a university faculty member who lectures in practical and theoretical courses in law, history, and cultural studies. She has earned a Ph.D. and an M.A in History from the University of California Berkeley, a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and an A.B in American Studies from Stanford University.

The proceeds from the Women United Luncheon will support United Way’s early education programming, which helps thousands of local students improve their literacy skills daily.

Volunteer tax assistance sites will open beginning February 1st. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program is a free tax preparation service for individuals and families in Santa Barbara County. Last year, our outstanding volunteer tax preparers helped prepare over 3,000 tax returns, helping return over $2.6 million in tax refunds that went back into the community and helped families build financial stability.

Did you know California has a tax credit for working families and individuals? It’s called the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) and it is modeled after the federal credit. It is now better! What is new?

With the combined federal and state credits eligible families can get up to $6,557 back after filing their taxes. What would you do with an extra $6,557 dollars? The average combined refund for both credits combined is $3,000. Families with young children under 6 may also qualify for an additional $1,000 from the State of California if they’re eligible for the CalEITC.

To get your cash back, simply file your state and federal tax returns for FREE. Search for a free tax preparation site, with IRS-certified tax preparers, or file online for free by clicking the button below!

Lama Dog Taproom + Bottle Shop has selected United Way of Santa Barbara County as its charity tap beneficiary for the months of January and February!

Be sure to visit their taproom in the Funk Zone (116 Santa Barbara Street) and order a #17, their Pilsner/Lager style line, to help support United Way's programs and partnerships.

Cheers!

The COVID-19 Joint Response Effort for Santa Barbara County has begun distributing much-needed relief funds to our county’s most vulnerable individuals and families, as well as the organizations actively assisting them, as they navigate the rapidly-evolving economic impacts of the pandemic. To date, 46 local nonprofit organizations have received grants totaling $695,468  to help them meet immediate community needs. This countywide collaborative led by United Way of Santa Barbara County, the Santa Barbara Foundation, and the Hutton Parker Foundation, and involving members of the Foundation Roundtable, allows us to coordinate funds and rapidly meet the needs of our community as they arise through collaborative decision-making.

Separate from the COVID-19 Joint Response Effort, United Way is also working in partnership with Jane and Paul Orfalea/the Audacious Foundation and the Natalie Orfalea Foundation, with Lou Buglioli through The Emergency Child Care Fund to provide needed child care for essential Santa Barbara County employees. In less than a week since the program began, child care services for up to 186 children have been expanded for Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, Lompoc Community Hospital in Lompoc, and Community Health Centers in Santa Maria. Three other programs are in the planning stages.

In addition, United Way is establishing a Critical Needs Fund in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Health Department (PHD) and the James S. Bower Foundation to meet specific health/medical related needs that have been identified by the PHD and other local senior medical leaders. These needs include: 1) accommodations for exposed or sick individuals who need but cannot afford a safe place to self-isolate away from others, 2) technical support for congregate care settings and providers working with high risk populations, and 3) essential sanitary supplies and personal protective equipment for health care providers, homeless street outreach workers, and congregate care settings at risk for COVID-19 outbreaks.

These response efforts are only made possible by the generous support of businesses, foundations, and community members like you. If you are able to support any of these efforts, please visit www.unitedwaysb.org/give.  Thank you for your continued partnership and for your trust in United Way of Santa Barbara County as we continue working to meet the needs of our community in this time of crisis.

For thousands of families in our community, the new school year has been top of mind. For many families, the stress of finding child care and an appropriate learning environment for their children has been overwhelming. In an effort to support local schools and students with their recent remote launch in August, United Way of Santa Barbara County and its community partners have created the Learning & Enrichment Centers Collaborative, a broad child care and learning/enrichment model to provide additional support for our most vulnerable local children and families during this time of distance learning. This collaborative involves dozens of partner schools and youth-serving agencies, and local leaders in philanthropy.

To date, UWSBC has secured $520,000 for these Learning & Enrichment Centers. With secured funds, United Way has already created 342 spaces for 12-weeks (3months/ fall semester) in partnership with six school districts (Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Goleta, Hope, Guadalupe, and Santa Maria Bonita) and eight non-profit organizations. More spaces are in development. Students will be selected by a school district referral process developed by United Way and district representatives following the targeted priority list.

The pandemic has highlighted the precarious financial situation and extreme stress many of our friends and neighbors are experiencing. Every day we hear from local individuals who cannot pay their rent due to significantly reduced or eliminated income, who cannot afford food or necessary medicines, who are struggling with large medical bills, who don’t have access to paid sick leave to safely quarantine, or who are dealing with other issues created by the current health crisis. This is why United Way is happy to inform you that the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) has made available additional emergency funds for our community to address needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. United Way of Santa Barbara County has been awarded three new contracts by the County of Santa Barbara, the City of Santa Barbara and the City of Goleta totaling $2.6 million to manage and provide emergency rental assistance grants and other disaster response funding to our county’s most vulnerable individuals and families.

Finally, the countywide COVID-19 Joint Response Effort for Santa Barbara County led by United Way of Santa Barbara County, the Santa Barbara Foundation, and the Hutton Parker Foundation, has raised over $4.6 million and continues providing relief to thousands. From these funds, more than $1.9 million has been secured to provide ongoing relief grants for individuals and families in need. To date, 2,100 households (representing more than 10,000 individuals) have received grants to help meet basic needs. United Way and Family Service Agency (our case management agency) continue to review and approve grants on a rolling basis. The COVID-19 Joint Response Effort has also provided $1.95 million to 127 local nonprofit organizations to help meet additional community needs.

An infographic detailing these updates can be found HERE.

Just six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to see evolving effects. The generous support of hundreds of partners and caring community members like you has made it possible for United Way to develop new and innovative collaborative efforts to meet the needs of our most vulnerable residents. As this pandemic continues and additional needs become apparent, additional funding is still needed. If you are able to support us in these many efforts, we ask that you consider a making a donation today by visiting www.unitedwaysb.org/give. 

We are excited to let you know that there will be an opportunity to engage in a virtual and unique Red Feather Campaign: United | Together later this summer that will raise funds to ensure that thousands of students have access to high quality learning experiences through Fun in the Sun and United for Literacy programs for the 2020-21 school year. Details about this online campaign will be released in the coming weeks. You can also visit www.unitedwaysb.org/rfb for more information and a sneak peek.

Given the long-term nature of this pandemic and its devastating economic impacts, we anticipate that community members will soon face longer-term unmet needs. Additional funds are needed for United Way to continue deploying critical services and for us to continue leading collaborative efforts to address the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are able to support us in these many efforts, we ask that you consider a making a donation today by visiting www.unitedwaysb.org/give. 

For more information about the United Learning Center, please visit www.unitedwaysb.org/united-learning-center. 

In partnership with the County of Santa Barbara and the City of Santa Barbara, United Way is offering rental assistance grants to eligible individuals and families living in unincorporated County areas and the City of Santa Barbara, but the deadline to apply for these funds is fast approaching on November 15th! Eligible applicants must meet specific requirements. The funds were made possible by the County of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City Council through federal grants received from the CARES Act.

Families or individuals seeking the assistance must have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, live in eligible areas, and meet certain income thresholds. To check eligibility requirements and to apply, visit www.unitedwaysb.org/rental-assistance. Applications must be received by November 15th to be eligible!

United Way of Santa Barbara County has seen a steep increase in visits to the legacy and estate planning website during 2020 as donors take this time to plan for their futures and for the futures of the people and organizations they hold close to their hearts. Visits doubled January – September 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019, with 4,200 pages viewed in 2020 through mid-September.

If we can be of any support as you make your Legacy and Estate Plans, please contact us.

United Way of Santa Barbara County and Procore employees invited local media to join them at Franklin Elementary School on February 26th for a Brick by Brick building competition.

Last fall, after a demonstration of Procore''s Brick by Brick game-like training software used by its employees, UWSBC and Procore saw potential for a new application of this program to help students at local schools develop problem-solving, critical thinking, and other important educational skills. For the month of February, UWSBC recruited 4 partner schools in Santa Barbara County to pilot a competition involving 220 students in 9 school classrooms competing to build a replica of the Procore headquarters through the Brick by Brick software.

The Brick by Brick competition was developed to turn the modern construction management experience into an innovative and engaging competition. To get started, teams of three to four players are formed to take on the roles of a project manager, superintendent, and tradesperson. Each team will have a goal to build a replica of Procore’s headquarters out of lego building materials over the course of seven eight-minute days, teaching students how to juggle responsibilities including financial management, daily activity reporting, and more. 

United Way of Santa Barbara County and Procore have recently entered into a formal partnership with UWSBC serving as Procore''s charitable partner nationwide. United Way of Santa Barbara County is proud to partner with Procore headquarters in Carpinteria as a first step in providing opportunities for Procore employees around the world to give, advocate, and volunteer in their local community through their local United Way. For over a year now, Procore has been partnering with United Way through donations, event participation, group and individual volunteering, and strategic collaborations such as the implementation of Procore’s Brick-by-Brick STEM challenge at 4 local Santa Barbara County schools. Together, Procore and United Way are preparing students for educational success.

Volunteer tax assistance sites are open and ready to assist through April 15th. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program is a free tax preparation service for individuals and families in Santa Barbara County. Last year, our outstanding volunteer tax preparers helped prepare over 3,000 tax returns, helping return over $2.6 million in tax refunds that went back into the community and helped families build financial stability.

Did you know California has a tax credit for working families and individuals? It’s called the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) and it is modeled after the federal credit. It is now better! What is new?

With the combined federal and state credits eligible families can get up to $6,557 back after filing their taxes. What would you do with an extra $6,557 dollars? The average combined refund for both credits combined is $3,000. Families with young children under 6 may also qualify for an additional $1,000 from the State of California if they’re eligible for the CalEITC.

To get your cash back, simply file your state and federal tax returns for FREE. Search for a free tax preparation site, with IRS-certified tax preparers, or file online for free by clicking the button below!

We are happy to announce that thanks to our generous supporters, the COVID-19 Joint Response Effort for Santa Barbara County, has secured more than $1.2 million to provide ongoing support for individuals and families in need through Individual Assistance Grants. To date, more than 800 households (representing 2,600 individuals) have received much-needed relief funds. With Family Service Agency serving as our case management agency, individual assistance grants will continue to be reviewed and approved on a rolling basis as funds remain available. Paying rent and covering basic needs remain the top concerns for the thousands of residents who have lost employment. In addition, 94 local nonprofit organizations have received grants totaling more than $1.3 million to help them meet immediate and near-term community needs. Overall, this countywide collaborative led by United Way of Santa Barbara County, the Santa Barbara Foundation, and the Hutton Parker Foundation, has raised over $3 million to respond to community needs. 

Through the Emergency Child Care Initiative, United Way and its founding partners, Jane and Paul Orfalea/the Audacious Foundation and the Natalie Orfalea Foundation with Lou Buglioli, have expanded to provide needed child care for essential Santa Barbara County employees. Child care services are now available for up to 278 children at 4 sites in Santa Barbara (for Cottage Health and Sansum Clinic employees), Lompoc (for Lompoc Community Hospital employees) and Santa Maria (for Community Health Centers employees). To date, this fund has raised $735,000.

Additionally, United Way and leaders in philanthropy have established a new Public Health Critical Needs Fund (CNF) that can quickly deploy resources to help leaders from the Public Health Department and other medical/health care leaders reduce the rate of viral transmission and assist with the process of safely reopening Santa Barbara County’s economy by filling key gaps in the fight against COVID-19. To date, this fund has raised $347,500. Specifically, the CNF focuses on two strategies that are among the most critical of California’s six indicators for modifying the stay-at-home order: 

To further assist and help steer the safe reopening process, United Way has also served in an advisory capacity on Santa Barbara County’s Reopening In Safe Environment (RISE) Guide (click here for the full guide). The drafting of these guidelines involved 350 stakeholders/leaders from local communities, businesses, faith organizations, education institutions, nonprofits, philanthropy, and more. The group played a critical role in generating insights, inputs, and strategies for how businesses and society can safely operate in the phased reopening of our economy.

Through United Way’s School Supply Drive, generous donors are helping provide supplies children need to continue learning at home during school closures. With the pandemic’s resulting economic downturn, many families are in need of extra help to get supplies for their kids. United Way is partnering with local Family Resource Centers, the Santa Barbara Public Library, and other organizations to begin distributing donated school supplies this month. To date, over 250 local children have received learning supplies such as pencils, paper, rulers, crayons, scissors and much more! 

The Santa Barbara Public Library is also working with United Way to identify students in need of age appropriate books and has helped get books in the hands of over 1,000 children so far. More supplies and books are still needed. If you are able to support this effort, please visit www.unitedwaysb.org/news/school-supply-drive. 

This summer, United Way will continue supporting over 350 students and families through its national award-winning Fun in the Sun summer learning program; however, this year’s program is being adapted to a virtual format to comply with social distancing guidelines. The learning program, originally designed to address summer learning loss, will be especially important with this year’s prolonged school closures. Five virtual sites will serve students from Carpinteria Unified School District, Santa Barbara Unified School District, Goleta Union School District, and school districts throughout the Santa Ynez Valley. In this virtual setting, scholars will engage in hands-on STEAM activities, have access to FITS’s signature literacy programs, participate in virtual field trips, and receive all the individualized materials they need for virtual learning on a weekly basis.

Our generous partnering school districts will provide our FITS scholars with the technological devices necessary for virtual participation. UWSBC and its school-based partners will also deliver mobile hot spots for scholars experiencing connectivity issues. In addition, United Way will partner with the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County to ensure that scholars are provided with a free, nutritious lunch and snacks every day. UWSBC staff and volunteers will help distribute food to all Fun in the Sun scholars, their families and anyone in the community 18 and younger who needs nutritional support. To learn more about the Virtual FITS program plan, please visit www.unitedwaysb.org/virtual-fits. 

I am so proud of, and thankful for, the excellent and dedicated team of United Way staff, volunteers, and donors like you who have made it possible for us to play such diverse and important roles together in meeting the extraordinary needs that so many local residents are experiencing. The need for help already well exceeds total funding available at this time. Additional funds are needed for United Way to continue deploying critical services and for us to continue leading collaborative efforts to address the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are able to support us in these many efforts, we ask that you consider a making a donation today by visiting www.unitedwaysb.org/give.  

COVID-19 Joint Response Effort for Santa Barbara County, a countywide collaborative also including some members of the Foundation Roundtable. This response effort will help individuals and families, as well as the organizations actively assisting them, as they navigate the economic effects of the pandemic. 

Calling upon our experience and partnerships that were put in place in the aftermath of the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flows, United Way and its partners are working as quickly and efficiently as possible to begin providing much-needed resources to families, individuals, and community organizations. Thank you for your trust in United Way of Santa Barbara County and your support as we continue working to meet the needs of our community in this time of crisis.

Separate from the COVID-19 Joint Response Effort, to meet the urgent need to provide safe child care for essential Santa Barbara County employees, United Way is also working in partnership with Jane and Paul Orfalea/the Audacious Foundation and the Natalie Orfalea Foundation, with Lou Buglioli through The Emergency Child Care Fund. This incubator fund will initiate a quick and nimble response to the growing need for child care for Santa Barbara County employees working in professions that are essential to our community’s collective response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Eileen Monahan, a local expert in child care, is helping lead the project. In less than a week since the program first started, two programs (in Lompoc and Santa Barbara) have already opened. A third program is in development in Santa Maria and more programs are planned.

United for Literacy: Local educators are relying heavily on our online literacy improvement software, Lexia and Reading Plus, which can be accessed 24/7 from anywhere with an internet connection, as schools migrate to a virtual classroom setting. Hope Elementary School Principal, Liz Barnitz, shared with us, “Reading Plus and Lexia are great tools for the times we face.” Students love the programs, too. Annet, a local third grader, loves Lexia because she said, “It helped me read more and faster.” 5th grader Crystal likes Reading Plus “because you can choose the stories you like and that interest you.”

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA): To help tax filers in need access the tax refunds and federal stimulus checks that they may be eligible for (and need now more than ever), our traditionally in-person tax assistance program has now moved to a remote preparation model. Clients can drop off their return paperwork for volunteers to prepare and file returns remotely. More information about locations and hours can be found at www.unitedwaysb.org/vita. 

Fun in the Sun: Planning for United Way''s award winning summer learning program has continued. To date, we have received confirmations that five of our six sites plan to open their facilities for summer programming. Fun in the Sun is needed now more than ever with students’ academic and social emotional growth suffering during school closures. Of course, these local school agreements and timelines may change depending on local, regional, and national ordinances. 

These programs and partnerships are only possible through the generous support of dedicated community members like you. Thank you for your continued partnership during this time. If you would like to support any of these efforts, please visit www.unitedwaysb.org/give. 

United Way is working in partnership with Family Service Agency (FSA) to distribute grants to individuals and families in need on a rolling basis for as long as funds are available. Those in need are encouraged to submit an application for funding as soon as possible. Applicants must be Santa Barbara County residents and must be able to demonstrate need. Undocumented individuals are eligible to apply for funding. Click here to apply today.

Given the extraordinary demand from our community for help, which already well exceeds the total funding available at this time, support from the community is still needed to help our neighbors in need. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to give are encouraged to generously support these COVID-19 response partnerships. Donations can be made at unitedwaysb.org/covid19.

No matter if you are just starting to get your estate planning ducks in a row, or you want a little refresher, United Way of Santa Barbara County''s FREE 2020 Estate Planning Workbook will provide helpful information.

To request a copy today, click on the "Learn more" button below.

Taxpayers who won''t be itemizing for 2020 can still take advantage of the special $300 charitable-giving deduction authorized by Congress in the CARES Act this spring. According to the IRS, nearly 9 in 10 taxpayers currently take the standard deduction and could potentially qualify for this new deduction. The "above-the-line" deduction for cash donations, up to $300 to qualifying non-profits, is a special 2020 IRS incentive for taxpayers to support the work of non-profits during the pandemic. The deduction lowers both adjusted gross income and taxable income. 

A 2020 cash gift to United Way of Santa Barbara County improves the lives of children, families and seniors, and can be made using the electronic Give Now link or by phone or mail.

Throughout 2020 United Way of Santa Barbara County helped lead numerous collaborative efforts with many partners, funders, and supporters to address a variety of often urgent issues and challenges that emerged during the pandemic. Those efforts are very briefly summarized in our 2020 Pandemic Response fact sheet. We are proud to have been a part of these collaborative models to address critical community needs last year. While we are hopeful about the future, many people still need help and there remains much work to be done to ensure that members of our community are not left behind.

Overall, UWSBC has raised or is managing more than $27 million for COVID-19 response efforts. Click here for an infographic summarizing these recent updates.

The Vaccination Equity Project is pooling philanthropic resources through United Way’s Critical Needs Fund and provide grants to nonprofits that have a proven ability to engage directly with underserved, hard-to-serve, and vulnerable populations so they can convince them to get vaccinated, schedule their appointment, and follow-up and support them to make sure they actually get the shot. The key driver is equity. We have established a grant review process and committee of subject matter experts, such as Public Health Department representatives and medical providers, to assist in the review of applications. To date, United Way has raised $284,000 in philanthropic support for the VEP and $689,000 overall for the Critical Needs Fund. To learn more, click here: https://www.unitedwaysb.org/criticalneedsfund

The most recent rental and utilities assistance program funded by the County of Santa Barbara, through United Way, allows funds to be applied toward, current, upcoming, or past-due rent and utilities back to March 2020. Applicants can re-apply every 3 months up to maximum of 15 months. There are strict eligibility requirements for this funding opportunity. More information about rental assistance programs is available online at www.unitedwaysb.org/rent. 

United Way is currently accepting applications from student participants and staff members. Click here for more information about participating in the program as a student. Those interested in applying to be part of the staff team can learn more here: https://www.unitedwaysb.org/employment-opportunities.

In addition, we are excited to announce that there will once-again be volunteer opportunities in the FITS program through Lunch Bunch and Meal Distribution for interested community members. Click here to sign up to volunteer for: Lunch Bunch or Meal Distribution.

Early Learning Success Institutes (ELSI) programming will take place beginning summer 2021 at Carpinteria Unified School District, Hope Elementary School District, Goleta Union School District, Santa Barbara Unified School District, and College School District. Distance learning has caused significant disruptions in the learning and social emotional development of students, particularly young students in grades K-2 who have had little, if any, previous in-person learning. United Way has expanded its early educational programming to address the learning needs of our county''s youngest students through the Early Learning Success Institutes (formerly Kindergarten Success Institutes).

We deeply appreciate your continued partnership in these crisis response and recovery efforts. The generous support of hundreds of partners and caring community members like you has made it possible for United Way to develop new and innovative collaborative efforts to meet the needs of our most vulnerable residents. If you are able to support United Way’s community programs and partnerships, we ask that you consider a making a donation today by visiting www.unitedwaysb.org/give.