The phrase “racial equity” possibly raises hackles or hopes — a divide that was apparent throughout community remark at the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Six organizations in Santa Barbara County received grants totaling just considerably less than a quarter million bucks to elevate the profile of minority communities, even further civic management and participation, and change the results remaining by histories of slavery and racism — a significant elevate for a somewhat smaller volume of cash.
In Andy Caldwell’s look at, “The gauge of achievements is the skill to increase funds from the non-public sector,” he mentioned, not patronage from taxpayer money disbursed by “woke” supervisors. “Hold a fundraiser, contact your donor list,” advised Caldwell, who heads the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture & Company, primarily based in Santa Maria, introducing that the people’s cash should be saved for the people’s business at significant.
Steve Lavagnino, supervisor for the district anchored by Santa Maria, thought it was vital “to give quantity to some of the voices that have been silenced in the past.” He reported he was happy to see North County businesses integrated between the 6 recipients, which had been vetted out of a group of 16 by a volunteer grant-building group at the Fund for Santa Barbara.
Rachel Johnson, who writes and distributes grants for Santa Barbara Town College or university, is a member of the Fund’s grant volunteers. She mentioned the grant get the job done started in the slide when they produced pointers — that were accepted by county workers, county counsel, and the supervisors — that involved requirements that effective candidates be largely centered on anti-racism get the job done and have been led by folks from traditionally underrepresented groups. “It led to some difficult conversations,” Johnson admitted, these as: Is a homosexual white man in an underrepresented team? What about white females? “But it arrived down the main mission of the groups and their observe record in accomplishing this function in the group by now,” she stated.
Recipients in the North County integrated the NAACP of Lompoc and Santa Maria, which gained $25,000, and the Comité Guelaguetza, based in Santa Maria and the only awardee that is not an African-American-targeted team. Guelaguetza is an Indigenous holiday celebrated in Oaxaca, and the Santa Maria version acquired $35,000 to use towards logistics in organizing the meals, dance, and songs pageant, and in pursuing “self-determination decolonizing workshops” between the Oaxaqueños in the area.
The MLK committee in Santa Barbara gained a complete of $35,000 toward expenses of selecting an executive director and grant writer, for protection and venues for situations countywide, and to increase systems and relations among cultures to get the job done toward systemic improve. Gateway Academic Expert services been given $35,000 to engage learners and moms and dads in two meetings geared towards equality in education for African Americans.
The premier grantee was Healing Justice Santa Barbara, which had spurred the county to fund a Black cultural middle with $500,000 in seed revenue in 2021. The county had now set aside that amount for an interior seem at fairness and set $270,000 of it into the grant method. Healing Justice been given $100,000 to assist pay out the salaries that preserve its systems likely, together with its heritage task, online dialogue classes, children’s tale time, and advocacy work. The remaining $40,000 will go to the Fund for its administrative work controlling the grants and their mid-yr reporting prerequisites.
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