Looking Back and Looking Ahead

March & April have proved to be quite busy for the Exploitation Prevention crew! We have been filling our time with Trainings & Conferences, as well as Community Collaborative Meetings & Fundraisers. As we look back on what we have done in this period thus far, and as we look ahead and close out April, we can confidently say that these two months were both full and exciting. Let’s recap:

Looking Back:   Our March Community Collaborative Meeting was the best one yet. We had a large group and we were able to get right to it and meet some immediate needs of survivors in our community. This was our third Community Collaborative meeting, and this time around it felt like the Community Collaborative was functioning as we intended for it to function. Because we had a number of people spanning sectors and spaces across Santa Barbara County, by the end of the hour-long meeting we had (1) located a spare iPhone to give to a newly recovered survivor and (2) began setting up a partnership with a local plastic surgeon to perform tattoo removals. This is the best of collaboration and we were thrilled to experience a piece of it at our last meeting. Cheers to the team!

Looking Ahead: On April 28th we will close our this busy season with a Fundraiser to continue to raise the necessary funds to rent a transitional housing unit for survivors over the age of 18 in our community. This project has been in the works since November, and we are very close to meeting our goal. We are excited to host Art Market Santa Barbara at Christ Presbyterian Church on April 28th from 6-8pm, and hopefully through it we will raise the remaining funds! The evening will include wine and pizza courtesy of local vendors, as well as art donated by local artists. Our intern Jacob has done the bulk of the work to make this night happen and we are eagerly anticipating its arrival. If you don’t yet have plans for April 28th, do consider joining us! Follow this link for ticket information: https://nightout.com/events/art-market-santa-barbara/tickets.

In reflecting upon this season, looking back and looking ahead, there is much to be thankful for. Thank you for helping us to continue this good work through your support!