• Tony Blair addresses the Santa Barbara Community
  • Engaged Preschool Teaching
  • CPR during a Masters of Disaster Lesson
  • School Food
  • Orfalea Early Childhood Director's Retreat
  • Jr. Chef Day
  • Kids Cook
  • Orfalea Outdoor Classroom Project
  • Local Harvest
  • Culinary Boot Camp
  • Paul speaks with President Bill Clinton
  • James Lee Witt speaks to Santa Barbara County
  • Learning Outdoors
  • Orfalea Early Childhood Directors Retreat
  • Main School Family Resource Center- Carpinteria, CA
  • Montana Yellowstone Expeditions
  • MYE Students hiking in Montana
  • Assemblyman Pedro Nava attends Preparedness Event
  • MYE Students at the Beach
  • Santa Barbara County Emergency Operations Center
  • Our Local Agriculture
  • Students eat food that they made
  • A Jr. Chef peels her tomato
  • A Jr. Chef peels his carrot
  • Playtime at local Family Resource Center
  • Playtime at local Family Resource Center
  • MYS Students visit the farm
  • Children at the farm
  • The Orfalea Family and Mr. Tony Blair
  • Getting creative outdoors
  • Junior Chefs checking out their final outcome
  • MYE Student having a good time
  • Student admiring local produce

Critical Community Needs

The Orfalea Foundations define Critical Community Needs as the services that support the well-being of our neighbors, and our community as a whole. The majority of our grantmaking in this Core Area is conducted through our partnerships with other grantmaking entities such as the Santa Barbara Foundation and the Women’s Fund of Northern Santa Barbara County, the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara and the Nonprofit Support Center.

One such funding collaboration that is housed in the Orfalea Foundations is the Aware & Prepare Initiative, which aims to create a community partnership to strengthen emergency and disaster readiness. For more information on Aware & Prepare please click here.

For further examples of such partnerships, please see the Partner Links section of this website.

For more information about our partnership with the Santa Barbara Foundation please see the 'SBF Partnership' section of this website.

Below, please read about several programs the Orfalea Foundations have supported that fall within our defined commitment to Critical Community Needs.

Main Family Resource Center of Carpinteria

Main Family Resource Center Of CarpinteriaIn our effort to support innovative and effective ways to combat the issues that face our local communities, the Orfalea Foundations has become involved in the creation and establishment of the Main Family Resource Center of Carpinteria.

The concept of a family resource center derives from an evidence-based, innovative, social service paradigm designed to overcome the limitations of poverty, language barriers, health deficiencies and the resultant education gaps that face the community of Carpinteria. The need is to provide public, social, and educational services to the under-served areas of the Carpinteria Valley at the same time being inclusive of the entire community. The services and programs provided by the Main Family Resource Center (MFRC) are designed to serve all children's needs.

UCSB Arts & Lectures

University of Santa Barbara - Arts and Lectures The purpose of the Orfalea Foundations' collaboration with UCSB Arts & Lectures is to dramatically increase the caliber, awareness and impact of visiting speakers to drive public response from our local community. At several UCSB Arts & Lectures events local non-profit organizations, with a mission that aligns with the lecture message, are invited to host an information table before and after the event. The combined efforts of several individuals and organizations all work together to create and enhance community awareness of opportunities and actions available.

For more information, click here.

Child Abuse Listening & Mediation (CALM)

Child Abuse Listening and MediationThe Orfalea Foundations have supported CALM's "Great Beginnings" a home visitation program for children and families in Santa Barbara County who have been identified as at risk for developmental delays, child abuse, or family violence.

This funding allows CALM to increase the availability of Home Visitors, enabling them to serve a greater number of families. Home Visitors can enhance the health, well-being and future educational success of children through early identification of developmental delays and detection of health concerns, including asthma, seizures, hearing and vision problems, and low birth weight.

For more information, click here.

The Children's Project

The Children's Project The Children's Project is building the nation's first charter boarding school dedicated exclusively to improving foster youth's educational and vocational opportunities. The boarding school/academy will provide an academically rigorous environment for students in grades seven through twelve that will offer stability, continuity and long-term mentorship for a population of children that traditionally experiences continuous upheaval and change.

For more information, click home

Court Appointed Special Advocates

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County The Mission of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Santa Barbara County is to assure a safe, permanent, nurturing home for every abused and/or neglected child by providing a highly trained volunteer to advocate for them in the court system. CASA of Santa Barbara County works to prevent abused, neglected, and abandoned children from becoming lost in the Juvenile Dependency system and works to find them safe, permanent homes as soon as possible.

For more information, click here.

Direct Relief International

Direct Relief International Direct Relief International (DRI) provides medical material aid including medicines, medical supplies, and equipment to strengthen in-country health efforts around the world to improve the quality of life for the most impoverished people. DRI supports the work of local health professionals in developing countries and here at home, equipping them so they can diagnose and care for patients, enabling millions of people to receive care that otherwise would be unavailable.

The Orfalea Fund is working with DRI to strengthen their internal systems, warehouse operations, and capacity building so they can better serve more people nationally and globally.

For more information, click here.

Food Bank

Foodbank The mission of the Foodbank is to feed hungry people by obtaining surplus food and distributing it to member agencies who serve a wide spectrum of individuals and families. During 2007, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County distributed over 7.3 million pounds of food from two warehouse locations in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria.

For more information, click here.

Unity Shoppe

The Unity Shoppe The Unity Shoppe encourages self-sufficiency and independence by providing education and the necessities of life to families, children, seniors and persons with disabilities during periodic times of crisis. These necessities are provided in a dignified manner without regard to political affiliation, religious belief or ethnic identity.

For more information, click here.