Uniting Santa Barbara Against Poverty

People in the nonprofit world often talk about “A Tale of Two Santa Barbaras” to describe the county’s gaping wealth disparity. There’s the American Riviera version, the one with society’s most well-heeled living in multi-million-dollar mansions. And there’s the other Santa Barbara, the one where more than 20 percent of the county’s residents live below the poverty line.

CommUnify CEO Patricia Keelean is all too familiar with the other Santa Barbara. Her organization, which provides children’s, community, and family services to the county’s most disadvantaged, has been on the front lines against poverty for the last 55 years.

“The disproportionate nature of poverty here in Santa Barbara and California, as it compares to other states, is really significant,” Keelean says. “That’s something many people aren’t aware of.”

According to the MIT living wage calculator, a single mother with two children needs to earn $64,000 per year to live comfortably in Santa Barbara County with a roof over their heads, food on their table, and access to healthcare. People who live below the state poverty line struggle to make ends meet here without the support of organizations like CommUnify.

Established in 1967 as the Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County and renamed CommUnify in 2020, the organization serves the community in a multitude of ways. As one of the county’s largest nonprofits, its nearly 400 staff operate more than 17 programs and services, including Head Start/Early Start programs, energy assistance, home weatherization services, financial literacy and family self-sufficiency supportive services, a variety of prevention and intervention services for youth, and the 2-1-1 information and referral helpline.

CommUnify is one of the few nonprofits in the county truly able to provide county-wide coverage. Despite its footprint and deep pool of services and programs, it relies on multiple partnerships with nonprofits to tackle the chronic poverty problem across the county. The rebranding to CommUnify was designed in part to rally the community around this cause.

“The needs are so great and we recognize that we can’t be successful on our own,” Keelean says. “Our new name, CommUnify, represents our commitment to bringing the community together to address the issue of poverty.”