The Santa Barbara Foundation partnered with the County of Santa Barbara to co-host a three-day Housing Loss Prevention Training Series in Goleta, Santa Maria, and Solvang, reaching more than 115 service providers from over 40 organizations, including homelessness service providers, local food banks, schools, mental health providers, and youth-serving organizations.
Housing loss prevention focuses on identifying and supporting households at risk of losing their homes before they fall into homelessness. Intervention can be most effective during those critical early moments of housing insecurity, when timely action can prevent a temporary hardship from becoming a housing crisis. Examples of such early intervention include working with landlords to resolve disputes or providing short-term financial assistance, such as covering an unexpected medical expense that might otherwise lead to missed rent payments.
Despite the immense challenges of the region’s housing affordability crisis, Santa Barbara County’s homelessness service providers continue to do exceptional work helping individuals transition into permanent housing. Still, many community members are falling into homelessness for the first time, particularly older adults and families with young children, highlighting the urgent need for stronger prevention and diversion efforts.
The training series also featured an advanced “Prevention Champions” day, which equipped self-selected attendees to bring these tools back to their organizations and strengthen on-the-ground prevention capacity. Through interactive role-play scenarios, eviction insights, and cross-agency collaboration, participants gained practical skills to identify risk factors and intervene effectively.
This prevention initiative reflects the Santa Barbara Foundation’s broader commitment to addressing the region’s housing and homelessness challenges. By working alongside a cross-sector network of partners, SBF is helping to advance prevention and diversion strategies, critical tools for keeping individuals and families safely housed.
While formal fundraising for this initiative is still underway, early support is essential. Contributions directed to our Community Engagement Fund or unrestricted giving can help accelerate this work, expand training opportunities, and ensure that community organizations have the resources they need to keep families in our county housed.
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