Community Building

We believe in the advancement of all individuals, regardless of circumstances.  We use the power of philanthropy to bridge those social and economic gaps to support the health and wellbeing of all. 

• Lompoc Community Track:  Lompoc has been identified as an underserved community with no parks, trails or green space for recreational activity. Further, there are very few philanthropic dollars that find their way into this community. We partnered with The Lompoc Community Health Organization to help rehabilitate and remodel the Huyck Stadium and track at the local high school to make it an accessible place for safe outdoor activity for all residents, and Physical Education and sporting events for Lompoc students, their families and the community.

• Showers of Blessing:  Surprisingly, Santa Barbara County is ranked #3 in terms of poverty in the entire state of CA.  The fallout of this statistic is in increasing numbers of unhoused community members throughout the county.  Showers of Blessing provides a humanitarian solution to hygiene and wellbeing with a mobile shower unit that offers people a chance for a shower, to receive hygiene products, clean socks , underwear and food, and in short, restore human dignity. 

Disasters are largely out of our control, however, how a community prepares for disasters isn’t. We believe that communities are only as strong as their efforts to prevent when possible, and to respond quickly and effectively in the midst of disasters.

• Partnership for Resilient Communities is a dynamic private/public partnership that mobilized quickly and efficiently after the Thomas Fire and subsequent mud flows that crippled our community. They used private channels to research, design, permit and expedite the installation of GeoBrugg Steel Nets in high risk canyons across Montecito in significant debris flow areas. NOF Supported this important partnership and is Also working together with the Partnership to identify areas for ALERT Wildfire cameras to be installed to help provide early fire warnings throughout the county.

• Emergency Child Care Initiative At the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic NOF co-launched the Emergency Child Care Initiative in Santa Barbara to enable critical front line health care workers and essential employees to continue to offer health care services in the community knowing their own children are being cared for in clean, safe and nurturing child care centers, adhering to all county and state health directives during the crisis. 

We believe in cultivating strong community leaders and investing in their development, and see civic engagement as a path to community building.

• Leading From Within offers leadership development tools, trainings and a deep network of support through three signature programs; Courage to Lead for seasoned nonprofit executives to continue to build their craft, Katherine Harvey Fellows allows young business leaders to take a deep dive into meaningful coalition building in support of nonprofit causes and Emerging Leaders, which brings cohorts together to strengthen skill sets in order to meet the growing demand for nonprofit leaders.

Gwendolyn Strong Foundation

Gwendolyn's Playground will provide long-overdue equitable play to all of our citizens, and will be a model for what public spaces can actually achieve. Innovative, sensory-rich, multi-generational, Gwendolyn’s Playground will transform the outdated playground of the past to a new level of community engagement and inclusivity.