Community Development Week

Plaza Vera Cruz is a 1.8‑acre neighborhood park in downtown Santa Barbara, serving more than 1,200 nearby low‑ to moderate‑income residents. After years of misuse, the City’s Parks and Recreation Department has been working to transform the park into a safe, welcoming community space—an increasingly important goal as downtown becomes denser and green space more limited.

In 2023, the City completed the CDBG‑funded Plaza Vera Cruz Safety Project, adding a new wrought‑iron fence and secure gates and introducing daytime recreation programs. These changes have already helped bring positive activity back to the park.

More improvements are on the way. A CDBG‑funded renovation of the Plaza Vera Cruz Community Building is planned for FY 2026, creating space for youth and adult programs, community meetings, and cultural events. A proposed next phase would build a new ADA‑accessible entrance from Cota Street, replace outdated playground equipment, add landscaping and ornamental fencing, and construct a larger, more functional patio for recreation and community gatherings.

These ongoing upgrades support the City’s goal of making Plaza Vera Cruz an active, safe, and vibrant neighborhood resource. As part of the Parks and Recreation Department’s Master Plan process, community input will help shape future uses and ensure the park continues to meet local needs.

Transition House, an emergency shelter and supportive housing provider serving Santa Barbara area families experiencing homelessness, has benefitted from CDBG funding to help us care for our properties.

This year, Transition House is receiving CDBG funding to rehabilitate aging kitchens in seven apartments at the Casa Marianna permanent supportive housing complex, which provides long‑term housing for formerly homeless families. Several of the original kitchens have deteriorating cabinets, crumbling particle‑board bases, worn countertops, and failing flooring that must be replaced to ensure safe and functional living conditions. The grant will fund new cabinets, countertops, sinks, faucets, and kitchen flooring in the selected units. Transition House will also cover the cost of new appliances as needed, along with drywall, paint, and updated backsplash tile. All improvements will follow the existing layout, with no structural or utility changes required. These upgrades will help ensure families have safe, healthy, and dignified kitchens in their long‑term homes.

 “CDBG has funded projects such as remodeled bathrooms and a fresh exterior paint job at our family shelter, site work at a 19-unit apartment complex, and extensive structural rehabilitation work on a small three-unit property we purchased in 2020. CDBG funding has been easy for our agency to apply for and utilize. We are grateful that CDBG is available to help us maintain and preserve our affordable housing solutions for Santa Barbara for decades to come.” Kathleen Baushke, Executive Director

“CDBG funding in the past has had a meaningful impact on our organization by allowing us to repair and improve the parking lot serving our low-income apartment community. These upgrades have increased safety for residents by addressing uneven surfaces, reducing hazards, and improving overall accessibility, including enhanced ADA accessibility.” Madison Smoak, Director of Operations

The Turner Foundation’s affordable housing communities, Turner Village and Turner Lighthouse, together served 307 residents last year—159 at the Village and 148 at the Lighthouse. These communities provide stable homes for households with limited incomes, the majority of whom fall below the Lower Income Limit as documented through annual welfare exemption filings. Residents include a balanced mix of genders (52 percent female and 48 percent male) and span all age groups, with 29 percent under 18, 61 percent between 18 and 64, and 10 percent over 65. By ensuring safe, dependable housing and essential infrastructure for families, seniors, and individuals living on fixed or modest incomes, the Turner Foundation plays a critical role in supporting some of Santa Barbara’s most economically vulnerable residents.

The proposed project will modernize the electrical infrastructure at two affordable housing communities to ensure energy efficiency and continued safety in these units. 

With support from the City’s Community Development Block Grant program, Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County will expand its Neighborhood Revitalization Homeowner Rehabilitation Program, which provides critical health‑and‑safety repairs, accessibility modifications, and aging‑in‑place improvements for low‑income homeowners. The program serves individuals, families, and seniors earning below 80 percent of area median income, helping them remain safely in their homes by addressing urgent needs they cannot afford to fix on their own. Past repairs have included accessibility upgrades such as widened doorways and ADA ramps, bathroom remodels, heater replacements, roof and plumbing repairs, flooring and structural fixes, and mitigation of hazardous living conditions. While Habitat operates this program across South County, the City’s CDBG funds will directly support repairs within Santa Barbara’s city limits, ensuring that vulnerable homeowners can maintain safe, stable, and dignified housing.