Peoples' Self-Help Housing

The Mission of Peoples' Self-Help Housing is to provide affordable housing and programs leading to self-sufficiency for low-income families, seniors, and other special needs groups on California's Central Coast.

Greetings! We hope you will enjoy this August issue of our E-newsletter. Thank you for your ongoing support!

Peoples' Self-Help Housing E-Newsletter

Shop Barnes & Noble Labor Day Weekend
PSHH Children attend Summer Farm Camp
Become an Americorps Volunteer for PSHH
Success at Taste of Hope!
New Backpacks for PSHH Youth
United Way Funds PSHH Programs
New Employees & Staff Anniversaries
Upcoming Events

Shop Barnes & Noble on Labor Day Weekend
and Support PSHH Youth

Support PSHH's Youth Education Enhancement Program (YEEP) by making a purchase at the Santa Barbara Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 829 State Street, 9 a.m-10:00 p.m. Saturday, August 30 through Monday, September 1.

Mention "Peoples'" at the time of purchase and 15-20% will be donated to YEEP program that helps 350 K-12 children at six PSHH Education Centers. Stop by the PSHH table between 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm to learn more our programs. Don't miss Children's Storytime with a YEEP educator at 1:00 p.m. all three days!

If you would like to donate or volunteer to work at the Book Fair for two hours contact Katie Falbo at katief@pshhc.org or (805) 962-5152.  

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PSHH Children Attend Summer Farm Camp

For two weeks this summer, 60 children in our Youth Education Enhancement Program (YEEP) at Peoples' Santa Maria complexes had the opportunity to attend farm camp at Blosser Urban Garden. The children learned all about organic farming and had the chance to try their hand at composting, weeding, planting, transplanting, irrigating, and harvesting. For lunch, the harvest was transformed into a nutritious, organic meal that everyone enjoyed together. At the end of each day, the children were able to take home what they had harvested to share with their family. 

Our YEEP educator Alejandra Mahoney commented that she was delighted about how enthusiastic the children were to learn about farming. For these children is was not just a science and math lesson but also a way to better understand what many of their parents do at work each day.

Some of the highlights from the farm camp included learning how worms help to make compost, how to transplant herbs so that they grow properly, and how to plant and water an entire pumpkin patch. 

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Become an Americorps Volunteer
and Tutor Low-Literacy Students!

Americorps of Santa Barbara County is recruiting reading tutors for PSHH's Youth Education Enhancement Program (YEEP) learning centers to help our kindergarten to ninth grade students improve literacy skills. Part-time positions are available in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria. Tutors commit to a 900 hours in an eleven month term of service (that works out to about 4.5 hours/day, 5 days a week) and receive a living allowance of $7,200 and an education award of 2,362.

The AmeriCorps Education Award is for volunteers who successfully complete service in AmeriCorps. It can be used to pay educational expenses at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans. You have up to seven years after your term of service has ended to claim the award.

To apply, visit www.sbceo.org/americorps or call Allison Wyeth at (805) 964-4710 x4404. 

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Success at Taste of Hope!         Michael and Grace McIntosh of Michael Grace Wines, gracious event hosts, who also provided the caterer.  View more event photos!

We had a wonderful Taste of Hope fundraising event on Saturday, July 26 at the Michael Grace and McKeon Phillips tasting rooms in Santa Maria. $10,000 were raised thanks to the support of sponsors and over 150 guests who attended and purchased auction items!

"We were pleased with the generosity of our supporters and look forward to an even bigger event next year with an expanded committee," noted Jeanette Duncan, PSHH Executive Director.

The weather was warm and breezy in Santa Maria while attendees enjoyed stellar wines, tasty hors d'oeuvres, and live music. Sponsors included Precision Concrete, Carroll Building Co., Cannon Associates, Enterprise, Rabobank, R.E. Wacker & Associates, Landmark Landscape, and Driscoll's Berries.

It's not too late to help!
50% of wine ordered through October at www.michaelgracewine.com will be
donated to PSHH! Order now for the holidays!

A complete list of in-kind donors at the event are listed on our Taste of Hope page. A few include the Biltmore in Santa Barbara, Mission Inn of Pismo Beach, Hotel Santa Barbara, and Starbuck's Coffee.

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New Backpacks for PSHH Youth

Nearly 1,000 PSHH resident children have received new back packs and school supplies. We were able to cover Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County properties, due to major efforts from the 4M church group in Montecito and First Presbyterian Church of San Luis Obispo.

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