FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Santa Barbara County, CA – December 6, 2022 – People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH) has been selected to receive $100,000 from Montecito Bank & Trust as part of their 20th Anniversary Community Dividends Awards. This investment will support PSHH’s education program Camino Scholars.
Camino Scholars, the education program of People’s Self-Help Housing, serves over 500 students per year at its onsite Learning Centers. As evidenced by standardized test scores, the curriculum significantly improves math and literacy skills and sets students on the path to lifelong learning. Through in-person programming and its counterpart distance learning model, Camino Scholars provides students and their families with year-round academic assistance.
“We thank Montecito Bank for being long-time, generous partners in our work” said Joanna Dominguez, PSHH Director of Education, “With this visionary gift, many more students throughout Santa Barbara County will have the support and resources to excel in their academic journey.”
Funded by Montecito Bank & Trust, the Community Dividends program began in 2003 when late founder, Michael Towbes, invited 100 nonprofits to lunch and surprised each of them with a $10,000 check. Each year since, the bank has awarded $1 million each November to hundreds of nonprofits that benefit low- and moderate-income individuals and families in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. This year they doubled their hallmark local giving program to $2 million. As well as PSHH, recipients of this year’s special Michael Towbes Community Impact Dividend awards included: CommUnify, Doctors Without Walls, the Pacific Pride Foundation and The Arc Foundation of Ventura County.
To learn more, visit pshhc.org.
About People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH)
Founded in 1970, PSHH is the longest-serving nonprofit affordable housing organization on the Central Coast. With a mission of building homes and providing services to strengthen communities and change lives, PSHH serves low-income households, working families, seniors, veterans, farmworkers, those living with disabilities and the formerly homeless. It also provides homeownership opportunities through a self-help, “sweat equity” program that has seen over 1,200 homes successfully completed. PSHH has a presence in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Monterey counties, manages over 2,000 rental units, and employs over 200 staff members. PSHH acknowledges the indigenous people of the territories that our organization occupies, including the Chumash, Salinan, Yokuts, Kitanemuk, and Tataviam people. To read the full land acknowledgement, visit pshhc.org/IDEA. For more information about the organization, visit pshhc.org, email info@pshhc.org or phone (805) 781-3088.
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Media Contact: communications@pshhc.org, (805) 548-2340
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