Eliminating poverty and creating social change
Years active: 55
Their story: The Community Action Board brings together representatives and stakeholders from around the county to partner on programs aimed at eliminating poverty and driving social change. CAB operates six main programs - the Day Worker Center of Santa Cruz County, the Davenport Resource Service Center, the Rental Assistance Program, the Thriving Immigrants Coalition, the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project and the Calworks Emergency Payment Program. Key for 2020’s work has been helping drive the census count efforts.
Fundraising focus: Rental assistance, job placement, help for immigrants and other services for low-income families and individuals are all part of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County’s core mission to combat poverty and spark social change. After statewide shelter-in-place orders were issued in March, CAB saw a massive spike in demand for its services, especially from the county’s day workers suddenly left without an income stream. The organization’s typical caseload increased threefold in 2020. Donations are critical to help cover the costs that go hand-in-hand with an increase in demand for services delivered by a staff of 40 employees and 500-plus volunteers.
“All of our programs locally were born from the voices of the community.”