This year Teen Court kicked off its first Holiday food drive campaign. The goal of Teen Court community service is to create an awareness of social issues and encourage youth to give back and make a difference in their community.
Over 300 pounds of nonperishable food items were collected from North County Teen Court participants in the month of November and donated to the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, to be distributed to families in need. “The greatest part of organizing the food drive was seeing the excitement and pride participants felt when they brought their donated items into the office” stated Volunteer Coordinator Alex Spiess.
Hunger and poverty are real live problems in the communities across Santa Barbara County. The Foodbank provides food to over 220 social service organizations and churches throughout the County. These organizations have seen an increase of 25 to 35 percent of people in need for basic food items. More than 43% of those served by the Foodbank are youths under the age of 18. Teen Court recognizes this need and is proud to provide opportunities where education and giving become effective tools for teaching tolerance, diversity, and compassion, therefore empowering youth to become socially conscious thinkers.
The December newsletter from the Save A Valuable Employee (SAVE) Program. Info on good eating habits, online exercise assistants, teaching moments with teens, holiday stress, and more…
Last Friday, December 4th, Fighting Back’s Teen Court participated in the Downtown Holiday Parade. The chosen theme by Teen Court was “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” because of the parallel between the story of the Grinch and Teen Court- the chance to learn from one’s mistakes. Along with this message, Teen Court wanted to spread the holiday cheer! Teen Court volunteers and youth made their own costumes and even convinced some of our adult staff and volunteer judges to join in on the fun!
Though it was the first time Teen Court has ever participated in the parade, we won the Most Creative Entry award!!
Many thanks to Marilyn Luna, Art from Scrap, the Kiwanis Club of Santa Barbara, and SB MTD for their kind donations and making it all possible!
For more pictures check out our album here!
Check out our Winter newsletter from Teen Court. Includes an article on National Youth Court Month, one on our Teen Court Recognition Ceremony, a look at community policing in action, and more!
Follow the jump to see what Teen Court has been doing…
Within the array of youth programs run by CADA we have a great class run by our Youth Service Specialists in the Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria high schools and middle schools called Reconnecting Youth. The aim of this program is to decrease drug involvement, increase school performance, decrease emotional distress, and reconnect youth to their school culture.
These small classes not only engage in classroom coursework, but importantly they also participate in different activities designed to create trust and bonding within the group and connect them with our community. These outside activities have included beach cleanups, assisting at the Unity Shoppe, participating in the Summit for Danny hike, and a variety of field trips ranging from the Museum of Tolerance to Home Boy Industries in Los Angeles.
Over the course of the program they learn to become more self-aware, to express their feelings, and gradually learn to trust the facilitator and the other students in the class. We have seen that the students in these classes develop the awareness of their personal triggers and learn to develop coping skills that will prevent them from relapsing into alcohol and drug use. In some cases the class becomes somewhat of a second family.
The Reconnecting Youth program is in full swing again as we are almost half way through the school year (things move so fast!). We look forward to continuing the classes and truly reaching out to our youth and helping them realize they are valuable members and have so much to contribute to their schools, families, and our community!
Perhaps the true indication of the change this program creates is expressed best by the students themselves. See what our participating youth have to say about the program…
read more…
On Tuesday, November 17th Santa Barbara City Council brought the issue of marijuana dispensaries to their agenda. Councilmembers Iya Falcone and Dale Francisco had asked for this item with the recommendation that Council “reconsider its policy concerning medical marijuana, consider alternative models for meeting the needs of patients, and provide direction to the Ordinance Committee as appropriate”. As per many of the meetings of the Planning Commission and Ordinance Committee when dispensaries have been addressed many community members attended to have their concerns and opinions heard.
At this meeting there were about 40 speakers, with the vast majority being supportive of City Council taking up the issue of changing the model of how medicinal marijuana is provided in Santa Barbara. Many supported the change from a for profit, storefront, dispensary model to the CA state approved collective or cooperative model. Of particular concern for many was the proliferation of dispensaries, the easier access for our youth with the increased amount of marijuana in our community, and what the true need in our community for medical marijuana truly is.
Of the numerous speakers there were a fair number representing CADA and the Fighting Back (FB) community coalition: Rolf Geyling, Director Santa Barbara Rescue Mission and FB Public Policy Task Force member; Dr. Brian Sarvis, Superintendent, Santa Barbara School Districts and FB Steering Committee member; Tom Thomas, Community Relations Executive, SB Bank & Trust and FB Steering Committee Co-Chair; Shereen Khatapoush, CADA Youth Services System Director and FB Secondary Schools Task Force member; and Jen Lemberger, Fighting Back Coordinator.
The public comment and then the City Council questions and discussion resulted in a motion carried to advise the Ordinance Committee to look at state law and CA attorney general guidelines and to look at changing the city model from dispensaries to a collective/cooperative model. As well, a motion was carried to add an agenda item to future council meeting (before the end of the year) to vote on an immediate moratorium on dispensaries in Santa Barbara. This would stop the process of approval of new dispensaries while the Ordinance Committee and City Council finalize what will be done. Per city counsel, such a moratorium would need to be approved with a 5-2 vote, not just a majority.
Please contact the City Council and urge each member to support an immediate moratorium when the agenda item comes up for a vote!
Marty Blum – mblum@santabarbaraca.gov
Iya Falcone – ifalcone@santabarbaraca.gov
Dale Francisco – dfrancisco@santabarbaraca.gov
Grant House – ghouse@santabarbaraca.gov
Helene Schneider – hschneider@santabarbaraca.gov
Das Williams – dwilliams@santabarbaraca.gov
Follow the link below to read the public comments entered by Rolf Geyling, Jen Lemberger, and Tom Thomas.
A comprehensive article from Noozhawk can be found here.
Larry Siegel has been a dedicated mentor for the past year and a half. His mentee is now a 6th grade student at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. During their times together, Larry exposes his mentee to many new experiences; they’ve begun reading books on a higher level than when they first met, and have engaged in new activities like basketball and chess. When Larry’s mentee transferred to an unfamiliar school, Larry made sure that he continued to be a part of his life. Larry understood that transferring schools would be a difficult process. He figured out how to continue meeting with his mentee so that he would know to count on him through any hard time. Beyond working with his mentee, Larry has touched the lives of his mentee’s whole family by making the extra effort to connect them with other helpful resources in the community. Thank you for all that you do, Larry; your service and dedication have not gone unnoticed. Keep up the great work!
On Thursday, November 12th CADA along with partners the Santa Barbara Secondary Schools District and Fighting Back held a Town Hall to address the increasing number of dispensaries in the Santa Barbara community. Held at Victoria Hall (thank to the generosity of Tom Reed and the Unity Shoppe) several topics were covered by the various speakers. Jen Lemberger, the Fighting Back Coordinator, MC’d the event and helped steer the Question & Answer session at the end. Panelists at the event were:
- Sharon Byrne – Neighborhood Activist + Parent
- Shereen Khatapoush – Youth Services System Director, Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
- Peter Afflerbach – Counselor, Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Treatment Center
- Brian Sarvis – Superintendent, Santa Barbara School Districts
- Florene Bednersh – Assistant Superintendent, Special Education, Santa Barbara County Education office
- Robert S. Bryant – Concerned Citizen and Owner of Bryant and Sons Ltd.
Much of the evening was focused on youth and the effects ranging from physical/neurological to behavioral that the over abundance and proximity to schools, parks and recreation areas that dispensaries can have on them. Individuals from both sides of the issue were present and questions and discussion reflected this. A groundswell of 
concern from parents, residents and educators at the meeting really focused the dispensary issue around what could be done to ensure the health and safety of our community and what can immediately be done.
Here are links to articles about the evening: Noozhawk article and picture gallery and Santa Barbara News Press
More pictures can be found on CADA’s group page.
The Town Hall Meeting was held to help educate the public about the situation in our Santa Barbara neighborhoods, soecifically in preparation for the City Council to adress the city’s dispensary odinance at their November 17th meeting. Check back here for updates on what happens at that meeting…
The November newsletter from the Save A Valuable Employee (SAVE) Program. Included in this issue are an article on financial stress and losing sleep, another on internet addiction, one about self-motivation and exercise, and more…
Living in Santa Barbara paid off once again as the weather was perfect and the community energized to hike our local hills. Our 9th Annual Summit for Danny Hike was held on Saturday the 24th of October. This year was truly amazing as even in the midst of our down economy we had more hikers participate than we did last year. 240 climbers trekked into the hills above Santa Barbara to raise money for scholarships for youth at the Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Treatment Center. The early risers were out on the trail by 7am doing the Cold Spring loop. This was followed by a 9am start for those doing the San Ysidro Waterfall Trail and and 11am start for those doing McMenemy Trail.
All hikers returned back to Manning Park for the always fantastic BBQ provided by the Kiwanis 
Downtown and Suburban Clubs. Everyone enjoyed the meal and sharing in the community spirit of the day. During the BBQ the Biggest Team trophy was presented to the Montecito Bank &Trust/Towbes Group team. As well, Eliane Alexandre was the individual who raised the most (for the second year in a row!) and received a $500 gift certificate for her fundraising efforts to use at Bryant & Sons Jewelers. Overall, the day was a great experience and we are so grateful to all who participated as we could not provide all the services at Daniel Bryant without them. In total over $120,000 was raised to provide alcohol and drug prevention and treatment for the youth and families of our community.
Plan ahead, our local climb next year will be October 23, 2010, so be sure to save the date!!
More pictures can be seen of the whole day on our group page, check them out!
Special thank yous to our Event Sponsors Montecito Bank & Trust and The Towbes Group, Inc, and our Trail Sponsors Bryant & Sons, Ltd, Richard & Marguerite Berti and the Herbert Simon Family Foundation.
