The coming year will test the strength and spirit of our community.
Beginning in 2026, many sweeping policy changes as a result of H.R.1—the “One Big Beautiful Bill”—and state budget cuts will take hold across the nation and in our own backyard. Here in Santa Cruz County, they will reshape how families access food, health care, and stability. CalFresh work requirements will return and expand, Medi-Cal enrollment will freeze for thousands, and vital nutrition programs will be overburdened and face severe underfunding.
At the same time, families will continue to feel the damaging ripple effects of ongoing federal disruptions—like the recent historic government shutdown—that have already strained household budgets and delayed essential services. The rest of the community will feel the impacts of rising medical costs, reduced provider networks, and long wait times for care and services.
These changes come at a time when the cost of food has already increased by up to 25% over the past five years, according to the USDA. The families affected by H.R. 1 policy changes are those who already make up the poorest 15% of our community, the 1 in 6 residents living within 130% of the Federal Poverty Level.
Together, these setbacks deepen instability and turn everyday challenges into full-blown crises. But when the lights dim, our community has always found a way to shine brighter.
For nearly 50 years, Community Bridges has served as the bridge between policy and people—a local safety net designed to fill the very gaps left when federal programs falter, and to help families navigate complex systems like Medi-Cal and CalFresh. In dark times, we do what we’ve always done: we become the light that guides our neighbors home.
We were built for this moment.
And with your partnership, we will not only endure—we will become even more essential to our local response.
The Gathering Storm
The landscape of public support in 2026 will look very different—and for thousands of families in Santa Cruz County, that difference will be deeply felt.
Over the next year, a cascade of policy changes will quietly rewrite what it means to access food, health care, and basic stability.
These are life-altering policy shifts. They decide whether a grandmother can afford her medication, whether a child goes to bed full or hungry, whether local clinics and hospitals can keep their doors open.
And when those doors close, the ripple effect touches every corner of Santa Cruz County: fewer dollars flow through local businesses, more pressure lands on already stretched nonprofits, and more neighbors fall into crisis.
So, as new cuts take hold and families feel the strain, we will do what we’ve always done: guide our neighbors through the darkness and toward stability.
How Local Strength Fills the Gaps
Community Bridges is uniquely positioned to meet this moment through our regional presence and scope of services across Santa Cruz County. Our locally rooted family of 10 programs was designed precisely for times when national safety nets contract and community action must expand.
Because our work is not solely dependent on federal funding—and instead powered by local investment from donors, foundations, and county partners—we can adapt quickly when federal programs dismantle or disappear.
Our early education centers can remain open when federal funding falters. Our family resource centers can guide families through the maze of Medi-Cal renewals or CalFresh reapplications. Our senior services can continue delivering meals, medical care, and transportation even when coverage limits rise, and reimbursement rates fall.
This isn’t new work for us—it’s the everyday work our programs were built to do.
- Meals on Wheels for Santa Cruz County: Enhancing lives through healthy meals and human connection. Whether through one of our five community dining sites or home-delivered meals, Meals on Wheels ensures that no senior in our county goes hungry—or feels forgotten.
- Early Education Division: The first five years of a child’s life are critical to lifelong success. Our six early learning centers provide nurturing, free or low-cost education that builds confidence, curiosity, and emotional resilience.
- Women, Infants & Children (WIC): A safe and welcoming place where families find hope, comfort, and security. WIC empowers women, infants, and children through nutrition education, grocery support, and personal guidance that helps every family thrive.
- Family Resource Collective: La Manzana Community Resources (Watsonville–Pajaro) | Live Oak Community Resources (Live Oak) | Mountain Community Resources (Felton) | Nueva Vista Community Resources (Santa Cruz)
- Our compassionate Family Resource Collective staff create warm, welcoming spaces for families in the Pajaro Valley, Live Oak, San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley, and Santa Cruz communities. Each center connects residents to food, housing, counseling, benefits enrollment, parenting support, and crisis intervention—offering stability, dignity, and hope for the future.
- Elderday Adult Day Health Care: Empowering older adults and people with disabilities to live with independence and dignity. Elderday provides medical care, rehabilitation, and meaningful social engagement.
- Lift Line: Providing thousands of free, door-to-door rides each year to seniors and people with disabilities throughout the Central Coast. Lift Line keeps residents connected to medical care, groceries, and community life—ensuring that mobility challenges never mean isolation.
- Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): A nutrition assistance program that reimburses licensed caregivers for healthy meals—supporting children, adults, and local businesses across our community.
Together, We Are the Light
This past year, the light of our community reached far and wide. Community Bridges served more than 20,000 residents, delivering over 200,000 meals to seniors, 110,000 rides to those with mobility challenges, 88,000 bags of healthy food to families, and 25,000 days of affordable childcare to working parents.
These aren’t just numbers—they are sparks of resilience and rebellion to what is happening around us. They represent neighbors caring for neighbors, donors stepping forward when government support fades, and a community proving that compassion and mutual aid shines brighter than crisis.
Every dollar given to Community Bridges fuels this light and that idea. It ensures that when policies shift or funding disappears, families still find help, seniors remain nourished and connected, and children continue to learn and grow.
Your support for Community Bridges strengthens the local systems that hold us together; the meals that nourish, the rides that connect, the care that restores dignity, and the trusted spaces that guide families through uncertainty.
We were built for this moment, crafted by decades of local commitment to bridge the distance between policy and people. And with your partnership, Santa Cruz County will not only endure these dark times—it will shine through them, stronger and more connected than ever.
Join us. Be the light.
Give today at communitybridges.org/donate.
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