For the past 30 years, Community Music School (CMS) has been providing music education and enrichment opportunities for artists across Santa Cruz County.
CMS was created by Shelley Phillips as a direct response to the defunding of public-school music programs that started in the 1990s. At first a two-week summer music camp for children, the organization has expanded over the years to also include programs for teenagers and adults. It now hosts an annual Harp Festival and offers resources to connect music students and teachers.
“A lot of students have to play by themselves,” says Susan Willats, who has been at the helm of CMS for the past four years. “They practice at home by themselves, or with a teacher. Our niche is that they can come and play in groups, and get to understand how it is to play in an ensemble.”
This year, CMS is joining a number of other local nonprofits for Santa Cruz Gives (SCG), GT’s annual digital giving campaign. Each participating nonprofit is given a section of the SCG website where they explain what they do and the project they want to fund—their “Big Idea” for the future. People can donate directly from the website to the nonprofits of their choice.
“It’s our first year with Santa Cruz Gives,” Willats says. “We’ve very excited. We are a very small nonprofit. It’s just me, 10 hours a week, and a Board. One of the benefits of being involved with this campaign is that a lot more people will learn about us and what we do.”
Willats calls the recent passing of California Proposition 28, which funds school-based arts and music education throughout the state, “a game-changer.” However, the funding still has a limit, she says, which is why organizations like CMS are eager to keep up and running.
“Right now, even if schools have music it’s usually only 45 minutes once a week,” she says. “That’s not enough to learn an instrument. We recognize that our programs are mainly for those who already know instruments. But there are a lot of kids who don’t have that. Our ‘Big Idea’ is to fund beginning music classes in underserved neighborhoods.”
CMS has already launched a pilot program in partnership with Community Bridges, which offers music instruction after school. They hope to expand the program in 2023.
“It’s a small program, but with a deep impact,” she says. “With it, we are trying to help balance the distribution of music wealth and resources throughout the county.”
While it is CMS’s first year with SCG, another nonprofit has been part of the campaign since it launched in 2015: Senderos, an arts and culture group aiming to create successful pathways for the Latino community of Santa Cruz County.
At Senderos, Latino culture and history are taught and celebrated through dance and music classes, with public performances held throughout the year. The organization also offers tutoring, scholarships and more.
“We strongly believe in what we’re doing,” says Fe Silva-Robles, Senderos co-founder and program director. “This is important work, especially now after the pandemic. Our community was impacted by Covid in a serious way. So we are very happy now to come back, to once again be performing in our community.”
Silva-Robles says the organization’s “Big Idea” this year is to secure funding for its free dance, music and tutoring programs. The group is also preparing for 2023 events, including its annual Vive Oaxaca Guelaguetza, an authentic cultural festival with food, music, dance, music and crafts. The event is scheduled to return April 16 at San Lorenzo Park.
“We are grateful for Good Times to continue to give us the opportunity to raise money through Santa Cruz Gives,” Silva-Robles says. “We’re a small nonprofit, run by volunteers. It’s really made an impact being part of this.”
Meanwhile, El Sistema aims to foster positive child development and promote social change by expanding access to high-quality music instruction, free of charge, to students from historically excluded communities in Santa Cruz County. They hope to grow their Watsonville Youth Symphony, launched in March 2022. With students graduating from its pre-orchestra program with the skills and qualifications required to perform in an orchestra, El Sistema started a youth symphony that reflects the full diversity of the community.
Another music-oriented Gives project is from Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, which is looking to increase funding for its Audio and Visual Engineering program. The group needs to upgrade its music studio, purchase updated computers, mixing boards and cameras. In the longer term, they would like to expand and offer this education to our local community.
To donate to these groups, or see a full list of participating nonprofits, visit santacruzgives.org.
There are a few tell-tale signs that the holiday season is in full effect in Santa Cruz. For some, it’s Pacific Avenue decorated in festive lights. For others, it’s the holiday parade or seasonal music greeting them in shops.
But for punks, metalheads and rockers, it’s seeing the iconic Misfits Crimson Ghost decked out in Santa’s robes, plastered on show fliers.
Yes, Santa Cruz, the annual Christmas With the Misfits (CWTM) show at the Catalyst Club returns this weekend for a ninth year, with a new bag full of Misfits covers and plenty of presents for all the naughty boils, ghouls and nonbinary bodies.
“We want it to be a nice break away from the holidays,” says Nick “Anchorheart” Apodaca, founder of the annual event. “More than just a show, we want this to be a full-on event.”
Put on by Numbskull Presents—where Apodaca has worked for more than two decades—Christmas With the Misfits is a punk rock way of giving back to the community. Every year, proceeds from ticket sales are donated to local charities like Grind Out Hunger, Imagined Support Living Services and the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter, where this year’s proceeds will be given.
Raffle tickets can also be purchased for $1 each, with proceeds donated to a second charity, World Strides Educational Student Travel. It’s an organization that sends middle and high school students on educational trips throughout the U.S. and the world. The raffle features prizes such as skate decks, tattoo gift certificates and more.
“I have a child that’s in 8th grade,” Apodaca explains. “We know how hard it is for parents to afford, and want to help send these kids on an educational tour.”
Just like the Grinch’s heart that grew three times its size, this punk rock party has a third charity it’s donating to: the pediatric ward of the Natividad Medical Center in Salinas.
Concert goers are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy or book with each item worth five raffle tickets.
“With the donations, a lot of the time we have enough to give a child something every day,” explains Natividad nurse Hanna Bozorg. “Sometimes we even have enough toys to continue giving throughout the beginning of the next year.”
Natividad Medical Center has been the staple charity for the CWTM event since its inception. Even during the lockdowns of 2020 when live shows were nothing but a distant memory, Apodaca held the toy drive for Natividad. Last year, Santa Cruzans gave so much he says it all barely fit inside his Dodge Caravan.
“I love anything that gets me more into the Christmas spirit,” states local musician Emilio Menze. This year, his band Dark Ride will make its CWTM debut, but it’s Menze’s sixth time gracing the annual stage. A lifelong Misfits fan, Menze discovered the band in the perfect way—digging through his brother’s CD collection.
“Whether you’re in punk, rock or metal, I think a majority of those musicians all have a certain appreciation for the Misfits,” he says. “Their lyrics are pretty brutal and macabre, but the melodies are catchy and infectious.”
Along with Dark Ride, this year’s line-up includes CWTM veterans Five:25, Midnight Mass, The Fiend Wolves—Apodaca’s band—and newcomers Beautiful Deception. Each band is entered in a round-robin, choosing three Misfits songs based on the order they signed up for the show. This way, each set is different and the audience doesn’t have to mosh through five versions of the same tune. The bands are also encouraged to make the covers their own, whether that’s keeping true to the original or going full experimental.
“I love Danzig-era Misfits,” exclaims Jackie Kohls, singer and guitar player for Beautiful Deception, who will be dressing their set to reflect their signature melodic-metal sound.
Kohls and her sister originally started the band in 2015, but reformed after 2020. She tells GT she’s excited to play for the benefit, noting that the Misfits’ music means so much for so many people.
“‘We Are 138’ is my sister and I’s special song,” she says. “We’ve had good times yelling that song in the car.”
Beyond the charity, beyond the children, beyond the giving holiday spirit, the bloody heart of this event is about moshing along with tattooed, studded—and probably tipsy—friends, screaming at the top of your lungs, having a horrifically jolly time.
Christmas with the Misfits is Saturday, Dec. 17, 8pm at the Catalyst Club, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $15. catalystclub.com.
The last few years are when many of us heard of the Amah Mutsun tribe for the first time. Suddenly it seemed like the tribe had a presence at local events, cultural groups like Santa Cruz Shakespearebegan acknowledging that their own events were taking place on land once inhabited by the tribe, and the involvement of tribal members was being sought on forward-looking projects in Santa Cruz County.
Thank you, Denver Riggleman, for having integrity and courage, and for your book. I could hardly believe my eyes when I turned on CNN and saw what was happening on Jan, 6, 2021. I immediately called my Congressman, Jimmy Panetta. To my surprise, he answered the phone. I said: ”Jimmy, what the hell is going on back there?” He said he sent all his staff home, and they were under siege.
As a former American government teacher of high school seniors, nothing in my 36-year career in the public schools of California could prepare me for this.
When you idolize human beings, you forget that they are human. We did that for four years. It nearly cost us our nation.
The same can be said for Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. The first college board of trustees gave our community college his name without doing any investigation or public comment. I was proud to vote to change the name. I was proud to campaign on it as an issue when I was elected in 2020. Cabrillo was the Putin of 16th century California.
Mark Twain said it best: ”There is never a wrong time to do the right thing.”
And for those who accuse me of being “woke,” I say to you: “Better to be woke than comatose.”
The City Council has known for more than 20 years that the Lighthouse—the city’s logo—is on land being eroded from the waves and it is in danger of falling into the ocean. They’ve discussed what to do, but that’s all they’ve done is discuss it. Anyone who uses that area knows that it’s being eroded and the fence moves closer to the lighthouse every year.
I hope that the lighthouse is included in the plan this article talks about … and I hope the sidewalk falling doesn’t distract from fixing the land the lighthouse is on.
— Whitney
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
A DROP’LL DEW YA This is from a series called “Raindrops Masquerading as Ornaments,” taken in the photographer’s backyard in Scotts Valley. Photograph by Robin Lynn Lord.
Submit to ph****@go*******.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.
GOOD IDEA
GIVE AND WIN
A stay at the Chaminade, a Chromebook, $100 in gas: these are just a few of the prizes you could win in the raffle to help Second Harvest Food Bank reach its hefty goal of providing 5 million meals. With every $5 you donate to the Second Harvest Food & Fund Drive, you’ll earn one ticket to win one of those and other prizes. The food drive ends Jan. 15. scccu.org.
GOOD WORK
ENERGIZING WORKER PROTECTION
A fire at the Elkhorn Battery Storage Facility in Moss Landing in September resulted in a 12-hour shelter in place due to concerns about dangerous fumes. With incidents such as these on the rise as we transition to cleaner energy, Senator John Laird introduced Senate Bill 38 last week, in the hopes of enacting legislation to protect the workers with better safety procedures at battery storage facilities.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“When you are in doubt, be still, and wait; when doubt no longer exists for you, then go forward with courage.”
Re: “Fall Thoughts” (GT, Letters, 12/7): Kathleen must not have looked down. She was standing on a paved parking lot, which will be turned into the first floor of a library with a beautiful room for children. In a few years, she’ll be able to gaze through a large window on children enjoying books and programs while she stands under one of the dozens of new trees planted on site.
Vivian Rogers, Santa Cruz
These letters do not necessarily reflect the views of Good Times.To submit a letter to the editor of Good Times: Letters should be originals—not copies of letters sent to other publications. Please include your name and email address to help us verify your submission (email address will not be published). Please be brief. Letters may be edited for length, clarity and to correct factual inaccuracies known to us. Send letters to le*****@go*******.sc
The passage of Measure Q by voters shows that Watsonville citizens want to see the city grow in an orderly manner, which does not involve willy-nilly searching around for nice flat pieces of farmland, to put up a Costco or Walmart for city revenues or to build out a nice big subdivision with “single-family homes” that some City Council members think will be so good for our population.
The community can work together on growth issues that can be addressed as the city embarks on the 2050 General Plan. City Council members knew since 2018 that some people in the community were talking about Measure U expiring and what that would mean. We reached out to the city, with meetings with the city manager and councilmembers, but they stonewalled us, when they could have initiated the “community process” that they accused us of ignoring.
Now there is a real opportunity for a community process. With a new city manager and new city council, we can move forward on these important growth issues: get started on understanding the Downtown Specific Plan; get community committees working on the 2050 General Plan; look at the Industrial area along Walker Street for mixed-use potential; take another review of existing vacant and under-utilized sites throughout the city.
People on all sides of the recent vote to renew our Urban Limit Line have a lot in common in their visions for Watsonville in the future.
The future is now; let’s work together and move forward.
Sam Earnshaw, Watsonville
These letters do not necessarily reflect the views of Good Times.To submit a letter to the editor of Good Times: Letters should be originals—not copies of letters sent to other publications. Please include your name and email address to help us verify your submission (email address will not be published). Please be brief. Letters may be edited for length, clarity and to correct factual inaccuracies known to us. Send letters to le*****@go*******.sc
Mary “Sis” Carrier tells me that growing up, the little she was told about her Native American heritage seemed to revolve around reparations from the federal government.
“As a child, all my grandmother said was just to sign up for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs),” says Carrier, as we stand beneath a flowering pomegranate tree in Bonny Doon. “They didn’t want to talk about our history. The settlers took our land, our livelihood, and we got $600.”
Carrier’s native identity was lost—or, more accurately, suppressed—in favor of security and safety, she says. Her indigenous traditions and culture were sacrificed in the name of survival.
It would take Carrier and her daughter Lisa Carrier decades to uncover their ancestral roots. They paid for online ancestral trees, sought out birth certificates—the originals of which were often lost due to name changes made to assimilate their family—and used other government documents to lead them back in time throughout their family’s history.
This intensive process cost them thousands of dollars and hours, and eventually led them to the realization that they were descendants of tribes that were held at two missions: San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz. Descendants of these tribes now constitute the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
Despite officially joining the Amah Mutsun tribe in the ’90s, the two Carrier women will tell you they were born into their tribe. Everyone in the tribe that I speak with repeats this idea to me, when I ask how and when they joined the Amah Mutsun tribe.
I was born into my tribe, they correct me.
“The traditions were always there, they just weren’t spoken about in the terms of ‘This is part of our tribal history,’” says Lisa Carrier. “Whether it’s the storytelling, or the fact that music was such an important part of our family … But so much had to be denied, or had to be swallowed and put away someplace, because there was just a lot of negativity around being Native. So everything was hidden.”
Suppressing culture and heritage was a common refrain among the tribal members I spoke with. But they all also expressed an innate familiarity with their tribe’s indigenous culture, a familiarity that transcended the physical distance separating members.
The Amah Mutsun tribe has not claimed its own land since the 1790s, when the Spanish started the missions of San Juan Bautista and Santa Cruz. During this time, the Spanish forcibly removed the Indians from their villages and brought them to Mission compounds.
After the Mission period, robbed of their ancestral land, tribal members dispersed throughout California. Now, Amah Mutsun tribal members are located around the state, and likely throughout the country.
Throughout the tribe’s history, members have attempted to have it federally recognized, but never succeeded—which has made land ownership for the Amah Mutsun impossible.
“We do not have any of the benefits that federally recognized tribes have,” says Carrier. “We have no federal income coming in, we do not have our own land. We have to be completely self-sufficient.”
But finally, that has changed. Today, on a cold but sunny day in November, Carrier leads me around 1.5 acres in the hills of Bonny Doon that is the first piece of land the tribe has been able to call its own since the 1790s.
The property is stunning, and as we walk past gardens and play structures, Carrier and Ally Arganbright, who is one of the tribe’s native stewards, explain plans for the future of the property.
Soon, it will be filled with herbs and produce that constituted the diets of their indigenous ancestors, and there will be spaces for the dances and ceremonies that the tribe plans on holding for members across the state. The house on the property has 10 rooms, two kitchens and a large open living room space, and will accommodate tribal members who are traveling from other cities, and children who will participate in educational programs.
It was with the help of generous donors, the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, and furious fundraising efforts—a whopping $3 million needed to be raised in the space of a week—that the tribe was able to purchase this property.
“The tribe was so dispersed, and this purchase is a way to have a home on their land,” says Susan True, the CEO of the Community Foundation. “You can’t heal, you can’t create cultural identity, you can’t create spiritual connections across generations or teach language without having a place, without a home.”
A Brief History
Before the Spanish missions, the indigenous peoples of south San Francisco and north-Monterey Bay area were collectively referred to as “Ohlone.” There were over 20 different Bands, villages and communities, who spoke similar languages, traded and intermarried.
The arrival of the Spanish colonists marked the start of a dark and deadly time for tribes. Throughout the Mission period, 19,421 Indians died at Mission San Juan Bautista. After the Spanish missions, and throughout the 19th century, Indians around the country continued to face the threat of danger based on their heritage.
“When I started school, the grandmothers or aunties said, ‘Always say you’re Mexican, never say you’re Indian,’” says Valentin Lopez, the Chairman and President of the Amah Mutsun tribe. “My grandparents were alive when they would scalp you for being Indian. So, they gave us Christian, Hispanic names. That’s how they survived, by denying they were Indians.”
The tribe’s re-emergence in the early 1900s can be attributed to one woman: Ascencion Solorsano de Cervantes. Cervantes’ house became a gathering space for indigenous hailing from the missions, and members gathered at her house on a daily basis. It was largely due to Cervantes that the Amah Mutsun history and traditions were preserved.
This home on 1.5 acres of property in the hills of Bonny Doon that is the first piece of land the tribe has been able to call its own since the 1790s. PHOTO: Erin Malsbury
Although her leadership coincided with a time when members were able to practice their culture publicly, the tribe remained landless with many members living transient lives.
Lopez, born in 1952, recalls moving from ranch to ranch alongside other tribal members, spending the first five years of his life picking prunes, grapes, string beans, packing his belongings alongside the changing seasons, just to reassemble them on a different farm.
As these ranches transformed into ranchettes and later orchards, the tribal members separated, adjusting as their former livelihood became unviable. Still, the tribe tried to maintain some semblance of community.
In 1991, after decades of unofficial gatherings, the tribe formally coalesced. But even after it created its constitution and formed its government, it remained out of the public eye. That changed in the early 2000s, when the tribe was at the center of a forgery scandal. At that time, the tribe’s then-Chairman Irenrie Zwierlein was at the heart of repeated controversies, including one that called into question her management of more than $130,000 in federal grant monies intended to advance the tribe’s recognition efforts. After resigning from her position as chairman, Zwierlein went on to create her own tribe, splintering off from the Amah Mutsun and causing a chasm within the tribe.
The Amah Mutsun elders in the tribe called on Lopez to replace Zwierlein and take the role of chairman, the tribe’s leader. Although Lopez was surprised at the move, he said he had to rise to the occasion: in Mutsun culture, saying no to the elders is not an option.
The scandal threatened to derail the group’s fight for federal recognition, and damaged the tribe’s reputation.
“[Zwierlein’s] actions were embarrassing to our ancestors,” says Lopez. “And it created a lot of confusion with the public. They didn’t know who the legitimate tribe was. And we can’t afford attorneys. We can’t afford public relations firms. We have to do everything ourselves.”
In the years following the scandal, Lopez was tasked with reinforcing the tribe’s credibility, and raising public awareness of the tribe and its history. He brought the tribe’s families together for reunions. He petitioned the Catholic Church to apologize for atrocities committed against his people. His grandmother was the last known person to speak the Mutsun language, and he endeavored to learn and help the tribe revitalize the dead language.
As Lopez and the tribe delved deeper into the ancient practices of their ancestors, it became more apparent that to make the difference they wanted, they first needed the thing that was taken from them: land.
“Our creation story tells us that we have a responsibility to take care of mother earth and all living things,” says Lopez. “But our tribe owns no land and does not have rights to any of the lands in the territory, since the time of the missions.”
So in 2012, the tribe created the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, as a way to preserve and protect cultural sites and care for the territory that belonged to the tribe’s ancestors, despite the tribe not owning any land.
Shortly after it was created, the AMLT partnered with UC Berkeley and California State Parks to explore how Native groups lived on the coast of northern Santa Cruz County and rediscover indigenious practices. It was this partnership that started to bring respect and recognition to the tribe from the community, especially in regards to land stewardship, says Lopez.
“In most of the public’s eye, the indigenous people were simply hunters and gatherers,” says Lopez. “This research was showing that our ancestors were very deliberate and effective stewards of the land. And so when that story started to be told, people started to listen.”
It was frustrating, Lopez says, that it took the credibility of other institutions for people to acknowledge the wisdom of Native practices. Lopez points to the use of controlled burnings, which indigenous tribes have historically used to prevent wildfires.
“We have said all along that the use of fire is a really important way to manage landscapes,” says Lopez. “But whenever we were talking about fire before the research, and before the CZU fires to be honest, people just did not believe us.”
Ironically, it was in part the CZU Lightning Complex fires that led the tribe to the land purchase and the property in Bonny Doon. The fires displaced AMLT’s land stewards who were living on the state park Cascade Ranch in San Mateo County, caring for the property using Native traditions. After the fires forced the stewards to move, AMLT was left scrambling, as there was no home base to offer them. For months, the stewards lived in tents, and it was around this time that the tribe reached the Community Foundation’s radar.
Together, the foundation and AMLT worked to finally find a property that the tribe could own.
“We didn’t know anything about fundraising, or writing grants,” says Lopez. “Asking for help from the outside world, we surely didn’t know how to do that. That was difficult for us.”
But with the foundation’s help, AMLT was able to use donor funds to purchase its own land.
“They care for this land, and they need a place to build cultural identity as they heal from all the historic trauma, and that place can’t just be temporary,” says True. “It needs to be a foothold for the tribe to heal and for the tribe to build relations through the generations.”
In recent years, acknowledgment of historical wrongs against Native Americans have also become more common in the political sphere. Just three years ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom formally apologized for California’s dark history of violence, mistreatment and neglect of Native Americans, saying it amounted to genocide.
UCSC Assistant Professor Dr. Caitlin Keliiaa, a historian in Native American Studies and a member of the Washoe tribe, says these actions mark a turning point in how society acknowledges indigenous history, in ways that will ultimately be beneficial to the whole community.
“When we talk about land back, I think some of your average people will be concerned that well, wait a minute, what are you going to do, give up my house, or kick me out,” says Keliiaa. “But they’re interested in having a relationship with the land that was actually taken from them. When we return land back to Native people, they steward and take care of that land in a way that hasn’t happened for some time.”
As we start to acknowledge tribal authority of their ancestral land, indigenous people aren’t only receiving reparations, they are also at the forefront of the fight against climate change, Keliiaa says.
This past October the state announced that five California tribes—AMLT among them—will manage coastal land significant to their history, with a first-of-its-kind program backed by $3.6 million in state money.
The tribes will use traditional practices to protect more than 200 miles of coastline in the state, will monitor salmon after the removal of a century-old defunct dam in the Santa Cruz Mountains, while also educating future generations on ancestral culture.
While land stewardship is an important part of many tribal missions, land ownership presents a unique opportunity to embrace culture, and have a central location that facilitates doing so.
“People think once a tribe has access to land, they’re going to build a casino,” says Keliiaa. “I would never challenge that decision, they have their sovereign right to do what is in the best interest of their people. That being said, a lot of tribes actually get the chance to create wonderful cultural resources. Look at the Amah Mutsun, they are building gardens, they’re making medicine there, having workshops on language and culture, and dance and song. On land that their ancestors had been doing that on for thousands of years. I get chills when I think about that.”
Clarissa Luna, who is in charge of AMLT’s food sovereignty program, explains that the land in Bonny Doon will also allow the tribe to reclaim their culture and heal tribal trauma through another important channel: food.
“Food sovereignty means to cultivate a healthier relationship with food and what you consume,” says Luna. “But it also surpasses that. When these traditional foods are made available to you, and your body receives proper nourishment, you’re also healed from many of the nutrient deficient illnesses that the tribal community suffers from.”
When the European colonizers arrived, the indigenous diet was disrupted. Europeans brought with them livestock and crops from their continents, and indigenous foods—staples drastically different from the European diet—were lost as tribal members were forcefully relocated to the missions.
Now, part of the property’s mission will be to grow indigenous plants, and focus on ancestral diets as another avenue to help tribal members reconnect with their culture.
“We had so many kids early on in the Land Trust history, who had never even been to the beach, been to the coast,” says Lisa Carrier. “So to bring back the palette of fish into our diets is extremely important. Because you know, we suffer from all the same things: high blood pressure, diabetes, you know, high cholesterol, all of that is a part of who we are. And so trying to help our tribe make that shift, and now we have a place to do that, we didn’t have before, so it’s a big deal.”
Looking Ahead
When Lisa Carrier was in the third grade, her teacher tasked the class with an assignment that was meant to be fun, easy and celebratory: bring to school an item from your culture.
For Carrier, it was a frustrating and confusing assignment, one that left her feeling isolated from her classmates and her history.
“I couldn’t point to anything, I didn’t have a necklace, anything dance related, or my language or anything, so I couldn’t share,” says Carrier. “And that was very hurtful.”
Carrier hopes that the children in her tribe will never feel uncertain about their culture or their history in that way, and she sees the property in Bonny Doon as critical in making sure every Amah Mutsun child has knowledge of where they come from and who their ancestors are.
That’s why the house will serve in part as a learning center, and many of the programs she plans on focusing on will be children-oriented: things like a summer camp, cooking and gardening workshops. Already, one tribal youth group came and visited the property.
“One of the kids from the youth group said, ‘Oh, the house is really elegant,’” says Carrier. “I want it to be nice, because I want them to understand that while we don’t value material things, it’s okay for things to look nice to be decorative to appreciate our flowers and bouquets. And we’ve been poor for so long, we don’t have to constantly think that the only way we live is in poverty.”
More than anything, having a central property will make all other events so much easier, Carrier says.
“It’s that sense of place. We have power now,” says Carrier.
While the tribe will continue to fight for federal recognition, it’s no longer a priority. Chairman Lopez says he does not expect to see the tribe recognized federally during his lifetime, and while disappointing, it’s okay with him—he doesn’t need federal recognition to know who he is, he says. He points to how much the tribe has already been able to accomplish.
“They’re not sitting around having to wait for the government or any federal institution,” says Keliiaa. “They’re just making it happen.”
When I ask Monique about the positive changes she’s made in her life, she pauses, then weeps softly into the phone. “I saw my dad abuse my mom, I saw drugs, my brothers were in gangs,” she says through her sobs. “I didn’t want my daughter to think that my upbringing was normal. She should never have to see me with black eyes again. I saw this tiny girl. She depends on me. And her dad probably would have killed me if I had stayed. What’s kept me going is giving [my daughter] a better life. She deserves happiness.” The Watsonville native was a school bus driver in Vallejo, where she met her daughter’s father—we’ll call him Bill—a “parolee who drank a lot.” When he got off parole, he moved to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a blue-collar suburb outside of Pittsburgh. Monique and their daughter, who was about two at the time, left California for the east coast once Bill had a place big enough for all of them to live. “He would tell me that I could work and go to school, and the second I got there, he told me, ‘Sit your ass down; you’re not going nowhere,’” Monique says. “That’s when it all started. We were abusive and toxic; a lot of alcohol involved.” Bill would be gone for weeks at a time, and when he’d return, he would be even more abusive. One day, Bill saw Monique chatting with one of the dads while she was waiting at the school bus stop. “When I got home, [Bill] broke the door down and beat the crap out of me,” Monique recalls. “I ended up calling the cops.” She noticed the fear in her daughter’s eyes; it was unbearable. “I didn’t want [my daughter] to think this was normal behavior,” Monique says.
Bill was hauled off to jail, allowing Monique and her daughter to escape the abuse. But Monique couldn’t escape the depression and alcoholism that already had a tight grip on her. She says she felt hopeless and even suicidal. That’s when she checked herself into a Watsonville program, Teen Challenge, for 18 months.
“I needed to learn how to be a mother,” Monique says. “I came from a very toxic family and was always around alcohol, drugs, abuse, violence, gangs. I didn’t know how to be a parent, so I needed to learn how to be a sober mom and how to do it single.”
Moving On
Monique pickedup a few life skills, found some stability and got sober—she even scored a full-time job with the ministry, where she was employed for over five years. But the pay wasn’t nearly enough to sustain her and her daughter, so she left the program in February 2021. She didn’t know how to proceed and felt herself flailing—on the cusp of falling back into her old way of life—until she found Pajaro Valley Shelter Services in December 2021, leading to a game-changing epiphany.
“I learned in these classes that all the abuse and neglect that I had gone through as a child resulted in me not having coping mechanisms,” Monique explains. “I had no clue how to be a mom—I’m still learning.”
PVSS provided Monique and her daughter with a safe place in a beautiful Victorian home surrounded by understanding people.
“[PVSS] motivates you to get better work; they motivate you to go to school,” Monique says. “There’s high accountability, good counseling and good support. It was a launchpad for me.”
In addition to fighting for her life, Monique has fought for her daughter’s safety, ensuring she’d never have to face the wrath of her abusive father again. Since finding PVSS, Monique has doubled her salary. Just a year ago, she had no hope and nowhere to turn; a day earlier, she signed a lease for her own two-bedroom place.
“[Monique] is the model participant,” PVSS Executive Director Mike Johnson says. “She dove into everything that we have to offer. We hold out the tools and open the door. It was her motivation, her will and desire to have a better life for her and her daughter that made the difference.”
Home Free
PVSS is one of many Santa Cruz Gives nonprofits that don’t receive any government funding.
“We are almost exclusively reliant on private funding from individuals, donor-advised funds, private grants, businesses and institutions like churches,” Johnson says. “Our ability to grow and sustain our programs depends on community members. We have to be constantly appealing to our community for support.”
That support funds services exclusively available to the homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. Potential clients must also be willing to commit to working in a structured program, attend case management meetings, various workshops and classes and save as much money as possible.
“Those requirements are meant to ensure that people are ready to move out within a timeframe that fits their length of stay,” Johnson explains. “This program will take you from crisis to stability and housing within six months to two years. And if you’re willing to work with us, we will work with you.”
There’s an emergency shelter set up like a dormitory with 30 beds for female heads of households only (with or without children). A one-year transitional program can also serve families with a male head of household.
“Fortunately, the community is very generous and supports us,” Johnson says. “The greatest needs we have going forward are funding programs that we’ve started in the last couple of years.”
The Coordinated Economic Development Program kicked off during the pandemic to help people access training and education that would lead to better jobs and upward mobility. Monique used the program to learn QuickBooks, which will enable her to get a higher-paying job in the coming year. More recently, she went through the Emotional Stability Program, which is the focus of PVSS’s Gives campaign, and seeks to ensure families have the resilience they need to overcome adversity that might otherwise derail their progress. Both programs are part of the organization’s “three pillars of self-sufficiency”: emotional, financial and housing stability.
A grant from the 1440 Foundation has aided more one-on-one counseling, support and wellness groups and family strengthening and ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) classes. Through ACE, Monique discovered the most valuable piece of her personal growth puzzle: the trauma she endured during her childhood affected her entire life and stunted her growth.
“Most families, or parents we serve, have histories that include childhood trauma,” Johnson explains. “Childhood trauma has a big impact on you as an adult. It leads to triggering events that can make your life dysfunctional. It also leads to health risk behaviors, like drug use, job problems and so forth. Most people with those sorts of histories don’t make that connection between their problems as adults and their childhood trauma. So, this class makes that connection for them and gives them tools to build resilience and coping strategies to overcome adversity.”
Monique is packing up the small apartment in the Victorian home where she and her daughter live. They look forward to moving into their own home, a small casita with two bedrooms and a yard. She tears up again when she mentions the family strengthening classes and the newfound reliance and coping strategies she now uses daily.
“This is the first time my daughter will have her own room since we left Pennsylvania seven years ago,” Monique says. “We’re in the middle of Watsonville, not far from my daughter’s school. I cried like a baby yesterday when I signed the lease. I’ve worked hard to do the right thing; the motive of the heart is really important.”
Here are the other groups in this year’s Santa Cruz Gives that are focused on housing issues:
For over 25 years, Families in Transition has provided temporary rental assistance to unstably housed families at risk of homelessness. It’s a team effort propelled by several local affiliates, including the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz County Planning Department, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and others. It begins with FIT case managers who develop individualized housing stability plans.
But it all comes down to the property owners willing to rent to the families participating in the program. FIT’s open letter to landlords says it all: “By giving the families a chance to succeed, you are opening a door for them that can lead to strong property owner/tenant relationships, increased financial independence and children who are able to not only survive but thrive in a stable living environment.”
Habitat for Humanity’s ambitious “Big Idea 2023” is Rodeo Creek Court, an 11-home project at the organization’s heart: single-family homes for first-time homebuyers. Two houses will be ADA-compliant for families with someone who’s disabled. The goal is to construct homes with 70% volunteer labor. The soon-to-be homeowners will be involved in building their homes and receive an in-depth homeowner education to improve and maintain all aspects of their lives. An affordable mortgage will allow families to build strength, stability and self-reliance. All homes will have rooftop solar panels, a washer and dryer and a storage room.
“We believe in building a sense of community and will add a play area and an organic community garden for all residents to share.”
HGP’s core mission is designed for people experiencing homelessness to work while receiving job training and social support in a yearlong program at their organic farm and value-added retail, social enterprise. More than 90% of graduates obtain stable jobs and housing within three months of completing the program. Everyone is paid wages for their work.
“HGP helps people find a path forward out of the darkness of the streets, a path towards self-reliance, housing and gives people who were once forgotten by society the skills needed to get a decent job. Hopefully, they will like going to, moving forward in life and so much more,” a graduate says.
Housing Matters’ “Big Idea 2023” is big: permanently house 190 households currently experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz County in 2023. It’s possible, though. Last year, the nonprofit connected 328 adults and kids experiencing homelessness with stable, permanent housing.
Moving from emergency housing in a motel room to a home can be the difference between a life dominated by the threats they fled and the beginning of a new hope-filled life.
All donations go to families—many are refugees and asylum seekers from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Central America—who have persevered through unimaginable experiences just to get to the U.S. The three-year-old Welcoming Network forms teams to work alongside each family, helping them find housing, jobs, schools for their children and an advocate for their immigration case.
The Warming Center’s “Big Idea 2023” seems so simple: “No one freezes this winter.” But it’s not. In its ninth year, this fantastic Santa Cruz County operation will continue to literally save lives by purchasing 2,000 blankets for distribution plus 500 for the pop-up shelter (two per person) and providing laundry after each shelter use. Additionally, the center will distribute 5,000 hand warmers; 1,500 knit gloves and beanie combos; and as many as 200 rain tarps and 500 rain ponchos, depending on rainfall.
Housing is much more than a roof over your head. Wings provide those services we often don’t think about: delivery of move-in kits; transportation to appointments; help to move; and assistance in obtaining vital documents necessary to get housing and employment.
Without building expenses, Wings dispatches its 50 volunteers to deliver beds, bedding and baskets of household and hygiene supplies to people moving into permanent housing. Wings serves families, veterans, seniors and victims of domestic violence—helping each household stabilize and heal as they begin a new chapter of their lives.
Visit santacruzgives.org to make donations through Saturday, Dec. 31. Follow on social media at @santacruzgives.
In the run-up to becoming Santa Cruz’s first at-large mayor, Fred Keeley resigned three teaching positions and pulled back from the nonprofit boards on which he served, all so he could put the whole of his attention on the position.
The 72-year-old says he hopes his leadership will guide how the City Council operates under the new six-district structure.
“I think not only how I comport myself and the way the council members comport themselves over the next four and eight years will hopefully set both policy and behavioral precedent for the city,” he says.
Keeley will be sworn in on Tuesday at 7pm, along with District 4 Councilman Scott Newsome and District 6 Councilwoman Renee Golder.
Keeley was elected to the position in November, having garnered just over 70% of the vote.
Once he takes the gavel, Keeley says he plans to call for a “reset” of an earlier conversation in which city leaders signaled support for an expansion plan that includes taller buildings in the downtown area.
“I think the city made a mistake in suggesting that there could be 17- to 20-story buildings in the new neighborhood downtown,” he says. “They simply wrong-footed that. I don’t think there’s any constituency in the City of Santa Cruz for 17- to 20-story buildings, anywhere, much less in the downtown.”
Instead, Keeley says he will look to restrict buildings to no taller than 12 stories, one story taller than the Palomar building. He would also call for a maximum of 1,600 new housing units, 20% of which would be affordable.
“That, I think, is much more in keeping with the values of the city electorate,” he says.
Keeley’s political career began in 1981—four years after he first arrived in Santa Cruz—when he worked as an aide to then Supervisor Joe Cucchiara. Three years later, he became chief of staff to Assemblyman Sam Farr, who went on to become a Congressman.
In 1988, Keeley was elected to the County Board of Supervisors, where he served two terms. He then moved up to the State Assembly in 1996, where he was best known for his environmental advocacy, authoring what were then the two biggest environmental protection bonds in U.S. history.
He served for a decade as Santa Cruz County Treasurer.
“I’ve been madly in love with Santa Cruz since 1977 when I moved to the community,” he says.
Keeley waves off health concerns after a temporary bout of Transient Global Amnesia (TGA) on Dec. 9 put him in the hospital overnight. People affected by TGA are temporarily unable to form new memories and become confused about where they are and how they got there, according to the Mayo Clinic. TGA resolves itself without treatment and has no lasting effects.
“I was good within 24 hours of that episode, and the doctors told me it’s not a precursor of anything else,” he says.
While an elected mayor is a first for the city, the new position carries no additional responsibilities outside those traditionally conferred, such as leading meetings and setting the agenda, he says.
“I will approach it the way I’ve approached every elected office that the voters have been kind enough to have me hold,” he says. “And that is to be very open and transparent and to work on those issues such as homelessness, housing, drought-proofing our water system and building a new and vital neighborhood south of Laurel in downtown Santa Cruz.”
Keeley taught graduate-level public administration at San Jose State University, in addition to government classes at CSU Monterey Bay and the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.
He has served on numerous boards, including Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and Housing Santa Cruz County.
When a small tsunami hit the Santa Cruz harbor last January, it caused an estimated $6.5 million worth of damage. Tsunamis are rare, but having a better idea of where they would hit hardest could help minimize destruction in future cases.
The California Geological Survey recently updated the tsunami hazard maps for the state, improving upon modeling from 2009. The new interactive maps span the entire California coast and help users determine the risk in certain areas.
The maps use a magnitude 9.3 earthquake in the eastern Aleutian Islands as the worst-case long-distance source. But communities around the state also have unique local scenarios.
Around Monterey Bay, that potential scenario is an underwater landslide in Monterey Canyon.
Monterey Canyon is an enormous undersea chasm—comparable to the Grand Canyon—that extends out from Moss Landing to the abyssal plain of the Pacific Ocean. Its steep walls are dynamic, growing and collapsing with storms and fault activity.
Unlike a distantly-sourced tsunami, which might arrive with several hours’ notice, a landslide in the canyon could result in a tsunami that reaches the shore within a few minutes.
The new modeling shows that a worst-case tsunami would likely hit low-elevation areas around the boardwalk, the harbor, Capitola Beach, Seacliff Beach, La Selva Beach and Pajaro River Beach.
The new research comes from the California Geological Survey, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, AECOM Technical Services and the Tsunami Research Center at USC. The updated map and a list of emergency preparedness resources are available at conservation.ca.gov/cgs/tsunami/maps/santa-cruz.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries painter Vincent van Gogh was renowned for translating his sublime and unruly passions into colors and shapes on canvas. It was a demanding task. He careened between torment and ecstasy. “I put my heart and soul into my work,” he said, “and I have lost my mind in the process.” That’s sad! But I have good news for you, Aries. In the coming months, you will have the potential to reach unprecedented new depths of zest as you put your heart and soul into your work and play. And hallelujah, you won’t lose your mind in the process! In fact, I suspect you will become more mentally healthy than you’ve been in a long time.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “The soul is silent,” writes Taurus poet Louise Glück. “If it speaks at all, it speaks in dreams.” I don’t agree with her in general, and I especially don’t agree with her in regard to your life in the coming weeks. I believe your soul will be singing, telling jokes, whispering in the dark and flinging out unexpected observations. Your soul will be extra alive and alert and awake, tempting you to dance in the grocery store and fling out random praise and fantasize about having your own podcast. Don’t underestimate how vivacious your soul might be, Taurus. Give it permission to be as fun and funny as it yearns to be.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The coming weeks will be an excellent time to expand your understanding about the nature of stress. Here are three study aids: 1. High stress levels are not healthy for your mind and body, but low to moderate stress can be good for you. 2. Low to moderate stress is even better for you if it involves dilemmas that you can ultimately solve. 3. There is a thing called “eustress,” which means beneficial stress. It arises from a challenge that evokes your vigor, resilience and willpower. As you deal with it, you feel hopeful and hardy. It’s meaningful and interesting. I bring these ideas to your attention, dear Gemini, because you are primed to enjoy a rousing upgrade in your relationship with stress.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Long before he launched his illustrious career, Cancerian inventor Buckminster was accepted to enroll at Harvard University. Studying at such a prestigious educational institution was a high honor and set him up for a bright future. Alas, he was expelled for partying too hard. Soon he was working at odd jobs. His fortunes dwindled, and he grew depressed. But at age 32, he had a pivotal mystical experience. He seemed to be immersed in a globe of white light hovering above the ground. A disembodied voice spoke, telling him he “belonged to the universe” and that he would fulfill his life purpose if he applied himself to serving “the highest advantage of others.” How would you like a Buckminster Fuller-style intervention, Cancerian? It’s available if you want it and ask for it.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo-born Judith Love Cohen was an electrical engineer who worked on NASA’s Apollo Space Program. She was also the mother of the famous actor Jack Black. When she was nine months pregnant with Jack, on the day she went into labor, she performed a heroic service. On their way to the moon, the three astronauts aboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft had encountered a major systems failure. In the midst of her birth process, Judith Love Cohen carried out advanced troubleshooting that helped save their lives and bring their vehicle safely back to Earth. I don’t expect you to achieve such a monumental feat in the coming days, Leo. But I suspect you will be extra intrepid and even epic in your efforts. And your ability to magically multitask will be at a peak.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): When you’re at the height of your powers, you provide the people in your life with high-quality help and support. And I believe you could perform this role even stronger in 2023. Here are some of the best benefits you can offer: 1. Assist your allies in extracting bright ideas from confusing mishmashes. 2. Help them cull fertile seeds from decaying dross. 3. As they wander through messy abysses, aid them in finding where the redemption is. 4. Cheer on their successes with wit and charm.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A blogger named Daydreamydyke explains the art of bestowing soulful gifts. Don’t give people you care for generic consumer goods, she tells us. Instead, say to them, “I picked up this cool rock I found on the ground that reminded me of you,” or “I bought you this necklace for 50 cents at a yard sale because I thought you’d like it” or “I’ve had this odd little treasure since childhood, but I feel like it could be of use to you or give you comfort, so I want you to have it.” That’s the spirit I hope you will adopt during the holiday season, Libra—as well as for all of 2023, which will be the year you could become a virtuoso gift-giver.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 1957, engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes invented three-dimensional plastic wallpaper. No one bought the stuff, though. A few years later, they rebranded it as Bubble Wrap and marketed it as material to protect packages during shipment. Success! Its new use has been popular ever since. I suspect you are in a phase comparable to the time between when their plastic wallpaper flopped and before they dreamed up Bubble Wrap. Have faith in the possibility of there being a Second Act, Scorpio. Be alert for new applications of possibilities that didn’t quite make a splash the first time around.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I applaud your expansive curiosity. I admire your yearning to learn more and more about our mysterious world as you add to your understanding of how the game of life works. Your greed for interesting experiences is good greed! It is one of your most beautiful qualities. But now and then, there come times when you need to scale down your quest for fresh, raw truths and work on integrating what you have already absorbed. The coming weeks will be one of those times.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Better than most, you have a rich potential to attune yourself to the cyclical patterns of life. It’s your birthright to become skilled at discerning natural rhythms at work in the human comedy. Even more fortunately, Capricorn, you can be deeply comforted by this awareness. Educated by it. Motivated by it. I hope that in 2023, you will develop your capacity to the next level. The cosmic flow will be on your side as you strive to feel the cosmic flow—and place yourself in closer and closer alignment with it.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Anne, a character in a book by L. M. Montgomery, says she prefers the word “dusk” over “twilight” because it sounds so “velvety and shadowy.” She continues, “In daylight, I belong to the world . . . in the night to sleep and eternity. But in the dusk, I’m free from both and belong only to myself.” According to my astrological assessment, you Aquarians will go through a dusk-like phase in the coming weeks: a time when you will belong solely to yourself and any other creature you choose to join you in your velvety, shadowy emancipation.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): My Piscean friend Venus told me, “We Pisceans feel everything very intensely, but alas, we do not possess the survival skills of a Scorpio or the enough-is-enough, self-protective mechanism of the Cancerians. We are the water sign most susceptible to being engulfed and flooded and overwhelmed.” I think Venus is somewhat correct in her assessment. But I also believe you Fishes have a potent asset that you may not fully appreciate or call on enough. Your ability to tune into the very deepest levels of emotion potentially provides you with access to a divine power source beyond your personality. If you allow it to give you all of its gifts, it will keep you shielded and safe and supported.
