Santa Cruz County Community Service & Support Digest

Most undocumented college students in California are not eligible for DACA anymore, creating new dilemmas for students and colleges around employment, financial aid and the threat of deportation.

The Double Up Food Bucks program—with its proven ability to connect food-insecure families and individuals to more fresh produce—officially debuted in Monterey County.

The Rotary Club of Freedom has assembled a group of local musicians to pay tribute to the beloved once-local folk singer while also raising funds for Pajaro flood victims.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Watsonville’s congresswoman, announced that the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County would distribute the funds to the Luna y Sol Familia Center and Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance Center.

Residents of Planada and Pajaro want state aid to help alleviate debt incurred from rebuilding after January floods. Local officials want some money to go elsewhere.

In the wake of approximately 24 families facing evictions from a Pajaro apartment complex as the property's owners prepare to work through violations cited by Monterey County, Watsonville-based nonprofit Community Bridges has intervened to assist those families.

Millions of people across the state struggle to pay electric bills as California regulators decide on proposed rate increases. PG&E wants a rate hike to bolster the safety and reliability of its services.

State law requires community colleges to spend at least half their general fund on instructors. But administrators say they want more flexibility to pay for the growing need for student services.

As the holidays quickly approach, lots of families wonder how they’re going to make ends meet. It’s time for Second Harvest Food Bank’s annual Holiday Food and Fund Drive, which nourishes local community members in need.

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

After years of planning a broadband system to bridge California’s digital divide, officials deprioritized some low-income areas due to unexpected costs. Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’s committed to funding the entire network, but advocates are skeptical.

Despite an influx of money to counter learning loss during the pandemic, English language arts and math test scores remain low.

With the growing use of AI, campus officials are trying to set clear guidelines for college application essays.

On Nov. 3, the people, organizations and businesses that make Aptos special will be honored at the Aptos Chamber Annual Awards Dinner and Auction.

The facts of climate change can lead to feelings of hopelessness and despair. Some California activists are creating communities for people to talk about those feelings.

The center has been helping families in Santa Cruz County since 1933 albeit originally as the YWCA.

The CPUC is considering a rule that would gut the payments that solar panels on apartment buildings receive, and many housing groups are blazing mad about it.

After a historic decline in community college enrollment during the pandemic, students are returning to school again, according to the state’s most recent data. But students between the ages of 20 and 30 are lagging behind.

Hundreds gathered in Watsonville Plaza to celebrate local nonprofit Grey Bears and its 50 years of serving seniors and the entire Santa Cruz County community.

Isai Pazos, a longtime Senderos volunteer and community organizer in Los Angeles, has been named the executive director of Senderos, a nonprofit aimed at ensuring equitable options for Latinos in Santa Cruz County.

Several anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers are advertising abortion pill reversal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the claims false advertising that mislead vulnerable patients.

The busy local volunteer was moved when she learned that she had been named the winner of the 2023 Santa Cruz County Heroes series.

A last-minute legislative deal would raise pay for California health care workers while giving medical providers a guarantee that they won’t have to battle local measures on employee compensation.

“We are like an Uber and Lyft for anyone in Santa Cruz County with a disability that requires an ADA-accessible vehicle,” said Community Bridges spokesperson Tony Nunez.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel, in a joint project with other newspapers in the California Newspaper Partnership, is asking its readers to nominate people for its first “Santa Cruz County Hero” feature.

Local housing leaders say they are pleased to see Santa Cruz County’s homelessness levels falling, but highlighted deep-rooted issues including food security, not enough shelters, and low wages.

A new law allows community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees, an option for students unable to attend a four-year institution. But California State University officials are objecting to many of those proposed programs.

Last year California began providing free school lunches to all TK-12 students, regardless of family income. Now, with an influx of state and federal money, school districts are revamping kitchens and training staff so they can provide freshly made, healthy meals.

Frustration runs deep among medical cannabis patients and advocates who say the commercial market created by Proposition 64 in 2016 isn’t meeting their needs.

Just over a month after the community gathered to restore a street art project with the help of the vandals convicted of damaging it, the downtown Black Lives Matter mural was defaced once again.

More than a decade of community development experience in different sectors both locally and abroad has brought Darren Daley back to the Central Coast, where he was named director of Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will spend $4.5 million on free legal services for undocumented workers involved in state investigations of wage theft or other labor violations. The lawyers can help with their immigration cases.