Celebrating women everywhere is important, but being able to give back to the women in your own community can be a beautiful and rewarding experience. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate our recent Women’s History Month than to go out and support women experiencing homelessness, specifically in the Santa Barbara community.
Access to basic needs is a human right, yet there are many women in the Santa Barbara area who do not even have access to feminine hygiene products, childcare support, or basic housing. The homeless population in Santa Barbara county increased by 4% from 2020 to 2022, according to the 2022 Santa Barbara County Homeless Point-In-Time Count & Survey. In 2022, 36% of the homeless population in Santa Barbara was composed of female-identifying persons.
There are organizations in Santa Barbara that you can volunteer at, donate to, or educate yourself in to give back to the community and support other women to celebrate women this month.
Domestic Violence Solutions
Donate or participate in fundraisers that bring awareness to and raise money for Domestic Violence Solutions in Santa Barbara. Domestic Violence Solutions is an organization that provides confidential and safe emergency housing for women and families undergoing domestic violence. One of the biggest ways to support Domestic Violence Solutions is by donating money to tabling events that fundraise for them. Many campus and community organizations hold tabling events to raise money for this cause: For example, Her Campus UCSB and Alpha Chi Omega are two organizations that have held tabling events on UCSB’s campus for Domestic Violence Solutions.
Transition House
Transition House is an organization in downtown Santa Barbara that provides housing to homeless and impoverished families, as well as other programs that support the financial success of the families being housed. According to their mission statement, they “take a holistic approach to ending the cycle of poverty and homelessness for Santa Barbara families,” and offer “emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, homelessness prevention services, and comprehensive programs for children.” Because of the many services offered, they provide many volunteer opportunities.
Volunteering at Transition House is a great way to support women, specifically by volunteering to help with their child services (tutoring, evening childcare, etc). By helping the children that are being housed at Transition House, you are in turn supporting their mothers who can then allocate their time to finding work opportunities. Women being able to have economic independence contributes greatly to their ability to succeed—and this month can be a perfect time to begin supporting many in the community by volunteering at Transition House.
Hold a Feminine Products Drive
Feminine hygiene products are an indisputable need for women, but unfortunately they do cost money. Many women facing homelessness and poverty do not have access to these supplies. There are many organizations, and even high school and college groups, that often set up drives to collect and then distribute feminine hygiene products to women and people who experience menstruation.
This can be organized by one person or a small group of people who band together for this extremely important cause. You can begin by spreading the word on social media and making flyers to advertise the cause. Have people purchase and donate any sort of feminine hygiene product or basic need product for women, and contact you when doing so. Then, schedule a time to collect these products and pick them up, or alternatively, contact local coffee shops, restaurants, or supermarkets to set up drop-off points where the donated products can be left and then collected at the end of the donation period. After collecting every donation, organize the products and donate them to a local homeless or domestic violence shelter.
It is an amazing time to begin or continue helping and supporting a deserving community that often goes unnoticed by the housed citizens: the homeless women population. By supporting women who are experiencing this hardship, including women seeking emergency shelter due to domestic violence, you are taking a step to better the lives of women all around you and taking initiative to truly impact their lives.