Shelter & Safety Program Area 2021 Grant Guidelines

In 2021, the Foundation will continue to be intentional in supporting purposeful pathways to build stronger communities. Of particular importance is how critical the provision of food and shelter & safety is to life outcomes of individuals and how often this is beyond the control of those most impacted.

In 2020, the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the unemployment rate to hit the highest since 1948. With over 22.1 million jobs lost, many households were unable to pay their rent/mortgage. The Census ACS data reported in 2019 that 47.82% of households in Santa Barbara County were renters. Housing continues to be a huge challenge in the county. As far as affordability, an average two-bedroom apartment can easily cost a family over $2,000. Yet as of January 1, 2021, the minimum wage is $14 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees, and $13 per hour for employees with 25 or fewer employees. According to the M.I.T. Living Wage Calculator, the living wage for a single adult with no dependents in Santa Barbara County is $23.33. For a family of four and one working parent, the living wage is $45.80.

Even though homelessness is a nationwide crisis, the 2020 biennial Point in Time (PIT) Count of persons experiencing homelessness reported that 1,897 people were experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara County, with the largest number reported in the city of Santa Barbara. This count included 674 persons living in emergency shelters or transitional housing and 1,223 persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness. According to the City of Santa Barbara, the number of homeless individuals in the county surpasses the number of available shelter beds, transitional housing, or permanent supportive housing units.

In order to more adequately address the different approaches required by critical areas of human need, the Santa Barbara Foundation has established four separate program areas of funding: health care, behavioral health, food, and shelter & safety. Applicants will be required to select the program area that represents the central tenet of the mission of the organization that is applying for funding. Organizations are not eligible to apply to more than one program area.

 

Focus

Grants will be available to nonprofit organizations directly providing programs addressing emergency shelter & safety. Funding can be used for operating expenses and/or costs related to sustaining or expanding service delivery programs to meet demonstrated demand.

In summary, funded organizations will:

  • be providing direct services to address emergency shelter & safety
  • be well-managed, financially viable, and operate effective programs that primarily serve the needs of vulnerable populations
  • have developed short-term and long-term strategies for addressing identified organizational needs

 

Priorities

Priority will be given to organizations that:

  • are providing emergency shelter
  • demonstrate sustained and/or increased demand for shelter & safety services
  • are taking steps to sustain or expand organizational capacity to address demand for services
  • provide holistic approaches to serving clients, undertaken by the agency itself or in partnership with others
  • demonstrate cultural competence among volunteers, staff, and board members for the communities served
  • seek to dismantle language, cultural and other barriers that prevent low-income and marginalized populations from accessing services
  • are developing strategies to address the root causes of shelter & safety needs
  • are prioritizing the following vulnerable and underserved populations:
  • Families with children
  • Seniors
  • Individuals living in cars
  • Individuals with disabilities
  • Individuals fleeing domestic violence/sex trafficking
  • Youth who are homeless

 

Funding Amounts and Duration

The maximum award for Shelter & Safety grants is $50,000. The grant period is up to one year from the award date. As a final report for this work, we are planning on gathering data by hosting a convening with other recipients of the program area in 2022 and having grantees complete a pre-convening survey. 

 

Grant Limitations

Grants in the Shelter & Safety program areas are not intended for:

  • services and programs that are not directly providing services to address shelter & safety
  • solely behavioral health, food, or health care (in this grant cycle.)
  • clothing or transportation
  • individuals

Please visit the Eligibility Criteria & FAQs for a complete list of what the Foundation does not fund.

 

Eligibility Requirements

  • Grants are available to organizations serving all regions of Santa Barbara County.
  • Organizations must be certified as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or use a fiscal sponsor with 501(c)(3) tax status. Applications that do not contain a valid EIN (tax ID) number will not be considered. Organizations using a fiscal sponsor must review the Eligibility Criteria & FAQs for additional information and instructions.

 

ONLINE Application Process

Santa Barbara Foundation utilizes an online application. Please follow the instructions below to access, complete and submit your application to the Foundation.

  • To apply, go to sbfoundation.org/apply. If you do not already have a log-in for this platform, please proceed to the next steps.
  • On the Welcome to the Santa Barbara Foundation Grants Portal page, click on “Register” and complete the form to create an account for the Grants Portal. You will be asked to furnish an email address, create a password and state the name of your organization. We advise using a perpetual email address (such as info@orgname.com or grants@orgname.com) so that the organization’s profile is not exclusively linked to one individual’s email address.
  • IMPORTANT – You will receive an email confirming that your account is active, and you will then be able to complete and submit a grant application. Please take this timing into consideration when reviewing application deadlines as you must allow time for your account to be created prior to submitting an application before the deadline. (If you are establishing an account on Friday, the registration confirmation will occur on the following Monday.)
  • Once your account has been confirmed, you may log in and complete the grant application.
  • Save your work often and log out at any time.
  • To access the partially completed application again, you will need to log into the account you created to access the grant application.

 

Important Dates

August 16, 2021 Application Deadline
December, 2021 Funds Awarded

 

Contact Information

For questions regarding the Food program area and funding eligibility, please contact Deanna Vallejo, Community Grants Program Officer, at dvallejo@sbfoundation.org or (805) 963-1873.

For technical assistance, please contact our Community Engagement Team at (805) 963-1873 or CommunityEngagement@SBFoundation.org.