Santa Cruz County Local News: Community Service & Support

Where do you go in this day and age if you are trans or queer where you will be accepted and not harassed? SubRosa, that's where. UCSC intern Maury Burnette-Cavoto takes us there for this portrait of an anarchist event space in Santa Cruz.

Staff of Life Natural Foods teamed up with Smart Chicken Wednesday to donate 2,639 pounds of high-quality chicken to Second Harvest Food Bank through the Smart Giving Program.

In Watsonville, we see the human cost of California's housing crisis every day. As homelessness rises, we face a critical choice: continue with inadequate approaches or embrace innovative solutions reflecting our values of compassion and dignity for all.

Liliana Agudo-García is one of about 1,000 Santa Cruz County residents protected from deportation through a federal policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. She came to the U.S. as a child, unauthorized by the law.

Community Bridges recently announced the promotion of Dana Wagner, who has been selected as senior program director for Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County, marking a full-circle moment in her distinguished career in nutrition and community service.

On KSQD's Talk of the Bay, Host PK Hattis speaks with Community Bridges' CEO Ray Cancino. Like so many nonprofits across the country, Community Bridges and Cancino were caught up in a world of chaos late last month when President Donald Trump's budget office issued a sweeping order that froze all federal grants and loans. The order was later rescinded, but Cancino will walk us through what the experience was like on the ground and just how high the stakes are moving forward.

Nearly a decade after two Santa Cruz County residents were killed by law enforcement officers during separate mental health crises, a Mobile Crisis Response Team now offers 24-hour, non-police response to mental health problems by calling 1-800-952-2335.

Every year, community organizations appear before Scotts Valley to share what they’ve been doing to bolster the social health of the local landscape and ask for a grant from the City toward their efforts.

The Santa Cruz County Supervisors Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to reaffirm the county’s support for its LGBTQ+ residents and for women.

INewly-formed Ben Lomond Village Alliance sets sights on revitalizing downtown with ambitious projects.