The World Health Organization warned Monday that global risks posed by the new omicron variant of the coronavirus were “very high,” despite significant questions about the variant itself. Still, countries around the world rushed to defend against its spread with a cascade of border closures and travel restrictions that recalled the earliest days of the pandemic.
Scotland and Portugal identified new cases of the highly mutated variant, and Japan joined Israel and Morocco in banning all foreign visitors, even as scientists cautioned that the extent of the threat posed by omicron remained unknown — and as the patchwork of travel measures were so far proving unable to stop its spread.
Many of the restrictions aimed at corralling omicron, which was first identified last week by researchers in South Africa, were aimed at travelers from southern Africa, drawing accusations that Western countries were discriminating against a region that has already been set back by vaccine shortages caused by rich nations hoarding doses.
In a statement on Monday, António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, said he was “deeply concerned about the isolation of southern African countries” and favored rigorous testing over travel bans. He had “long warned” that low vaccine rates in Africa could be a breeding ground for new variants, Guterres added.
Xavier Becerra, the U.S. health and human services secretary, did not address that issue explicitly at a special session of the World Health Assembly on Monday, saying that the Biden administration appreciated the efforts of officials in South Africa “for moving so swiftly and transparently,” and said Washington was “working closely with sister ministries in southern Africa.”
But South Africa’s health minister Joe Phaahla, told reporters on Monday that he delivered a blunt message to Becerra when the two men met a day earlier. “What you can do is to say to your president and your government that the travel bans are not helping us, they’re just making things more difficult,” he said.
In a technical briefing note to member countries, the WHO urged national authorities to step up surveillance, testing and vaccinations, reinforcing the key findings that led its technical advisers Friday to label omicron a “variant of concern.”
The agency warned that the variant’s “high number of mutations” — including up to 32 variations in the spike protein — meant that “there could be future surges of COVID-19, which could have severe consequences.”
Experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top adviser to President Joe Biden, have said that it could be two weeks or longer before more information about the variant’s transmissibility, and the severity of illness it causes, is available. So far, scientists believe that omicron’s mutations could allow it to spread more easily than prior versions of the virus, but that existing vaccines are likely to offer protection from severe illness and death.
Still, the makers of the two most effective vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, were preparing to reformulate their shots if necessary. And some countries, including Britain, were preparing to expand booster programs to protect more people.
The WHO stressed the need for countries to accelerate vaccinations as rapidly as possible, particularly for vulnerable populations and for those who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated. It also called on health authorities to strengthen surveillance and field investigations, including community testing, to better determine omicron’s characteristics.
The recommendation underscored that the steps taken by some countries to wind down testing and tracing capacity in recent months — as the pandemic appeared to be receding thanks to rising vaccination rates — are moving in the wrong direction.
“Testing and tracing remains fundamental to managing this pandemic and really understanding what you’re dealing with,” said Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the agency. “We’re asking all countries to really look for this variant, to look if people who have got it are ending up in hospital and if people who are fully vaccinated are ending up in hospital.”
The briefing note adds that PCR tests are an efficient tool for detecting the new variant because they do not require as long a wait for an outcome as genetic sequencing tests that require laboratory capacity not available in all countries.
“It’s very good news,” Harris said. “You can much more quickly spot who’s got it.”
But while the agency had previously cautioned against imposing travel bans, the briefing note took a more flexible line, calling for a “risk-based approach” to travel restrictions that could include modified testing and quarantine requirements. The agency said it would issue more detailed travel advice in the coming days.
At the same time, WHO member states were beginning a three-day meeting of the World Health Assembly to discuss a global agreement on how to deal with pandemics, a deal long pushed by the agency to address weaknesses in the response to COVID-19. The European Union has argued for a treaty that would require greater information sharing and vaccine equity, but the United States has sought to keep open the option of an agreement that would not be legally binding.
She was a hacker turned military operative, a surfer, a sailing instructor and a culinary artist who studied under Julia Child.
Now locals are grieving the death of Judith “Mickey” Phelps, who died after battling lung cancer, saying she was one of the community’s most joyous creatures.
“Everyone just says the best things about her,” said her wife Barbara Hall Phelps, 63. “I didn’t realize how many lives she touched.”
The 47-year-old Scotts Valley resident was called “Mickey” because of the twin Mickey Mouse tattoos on her arms, and because of her size. She hated being called Judith, her friends say.
Phelps was born in London in 1974 and moved to the Mediterranean with her family.
She started a computer store in Malta in 1988 that expanded into a chain with three locations and a video shop.
In 1990, she started her own programming business, eventually directing a team that worked on the Rastan Saga game for the Atari 800 and the Commodore 64.
Hall Phelps says her wife told her she got so good at tapping into the emerging global telecommunications systems that she was given a choice by the Pentagon—come work for us for a year or face the wrath of the government.
She opted to work for the U.S. military, Hall Phelps says, which allowed her to travel all over the world. She could speak seven languages, including Arabic, Italian, Spanish and Maltese.
She also worked as a sailing guide in Greece in the 1990s.
Phelps got a Hotel and Restaurant Management certificate from Management College in San Francisco and worked as a chef-intern at Crown Plaza in San Francisco from 1998-2000.
Along with studying under Child, she was a protégé for Jacques Pépin at Le Cordon Bleu.
Phelps enrolled at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, Calif., in 2000, and went on to pursue law.
But she didn’t last long in that field, Hall Phelps says, telling the story of how one case tested her resolve to defend all clients.
“She knew the guy was guilty,” she explained. “She said, ‘I just couldn’t do it.’”
Luckily, Phelps was quite the jack-of-all-trades.
She worked at the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, where her translation abilities came in handy. And she started a plumbing business with Fred Hart in 2008 that serviced both corporate and residential customers before working at Sandabs Restaurant and landing a job as the head chef at Scotts Valley Market and branching out into Crown Café Catering.
Her wife recalls when they started Mickey’s Café and Catering.
“I was there every day with her,” she said, remembering all the times she did dishes to help out. “I did not do the food. I’m not a food person.”
And while the café wasn’t as busy as they’d hoped, the catering side of the business started to take off.
Phelps started to make a name for herself with her famous crab cakes.
“No one has the recipe for them—she was the only one that knew it,” she said. “She said she applied for a patent on it. I never seen it. But that’s what she said.”
The license plate on her white Ford van reads CHEFMIK.
When Scotts Valley Mayor Derek Timm wanted to surprise his wife with a 20th Anniversary gathering, he turned to Phelps.
“I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it,” he said, explaining he’s been to charity events with Phelps and her wife before. “She just always led with her heart forward.”
The enthusiastic way Phelps described the different dishes was part of the fun of the day, Timm says.
“She had everyone captivated,” Timm said. “She wasn’t there just as a caterer. She was there hanging out.”
The crab cakes really were all they were cracked up to be, Timm says.
He also recalled a poker tournament held to raise money for the Scotts Valley Falcon Club.
“Let’s put it this way, when we started the night, everyone at the table loosely knew each other,” he said, adding Phelps’ humor served as a social lubricant. “She had this ability to immediately engage strangers in a way that made them comfortable and endeared you to her.”
Phelps would make pasta lunches each week for Baymonte Christian School.
City Councilwoman Donna Lind says Phelps was a fixture at Scotts Valley events. She was often cooking alongside the Scotts Valley Parks & Recreation Advocates on the 4th of July at SkyPark.
“She was always giving back with the community,” she said, reminiscing on Phelps’ high-energy nature.
To recognize her devotion, Scotts Valley City Council held a moment of silence for Phelps at a recent meeting.
Phelps first went to urgent care in June, and learned she had lung cancer in August.
Hall Phelps was by her side when she died on Nov. 1.
“I just held her hand,” she said. “I had prayed that’s how God would take her, that she wouldn’t suffer.”
Phelps leaves behind a son from her first marriage, three step-children, through her marriage to Hall Phelps, and two dogs.
Watsonville Community Hospital will either be sold to a new buyer or—if that fails—close by Jan. 28, CEO Steven Salyer announced Monday.
In a letter sent to employees, Salyer states that the hospital is facing “significant financial challenges,” which have been compounded by decreased revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Like many health care providers, WCH was forced to borrow millions of dollars to fund its operating losses,” Salyer wrote. “As a stand-alone community hospital, WCH was not able to absorb or avoid these losses.”
While such a closure would be a calamity for South County, the news might not be all bad. The hospital is actively seeking a buyer, Salyer says, and a group of local healthcare professionals and providers has announced its intention to purchase the hospital.
The Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project (PVHDP), made up of the County of Santa Cruz, the City of Watsonville, Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley and Salud Para La Gente, was formed with the express purpose of making the purchase and giving the county’s southernmost city a measure of control over its health care.
“We have been collaborating with the Hospital for several weeks to figure out how that can happen,” said PVHDP spokeswoman Mimi Hall. “We are making plans to be a bidder.”
Salyer says the sale will likely be completed through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy court process.
“This Chapter 11 filing will give our hospital the financial breathing room required to focus on patient care and operations while we conclude a sale,” Salyer wrote.
Salyer also asked the new buyer to rehire all the hospital’s employees, who face termination when the sale closes on Jan. 28.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to find a buyer and sell the Hospital, but if we are not able to do so, the Hospital will have to suspend its operations after the bankruptcy court authorizes those steps,” Salyer wrote. “We are saddened to have to take this step but are hopeful that the sale will go through, and that the Hospital will be able to continue serving the community.”
It is not yet clear whether PVHCD will be able to secure the funding necessary to make the purchase by Jan. 28. Hall says the price is still under discussion.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has unanimously allocated $500,000, and the city of Watsonville has also pledged its support.
Also unclear is what will happen to the physical property.
When the previous owner Halsen Healthcare took over WCH in 2019, it sold the property and building to Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust (MPT), and then leased it from them in a so-called sale/leaseback.
Halsen officials said the $39 million sale price would go toward operations. That company was ousted in January 2021, when Prospect Medical Holdings took over.
Hall says that PVHDP has hired a project manager, and a team of attorneys to help with the purchase, as well as a lobbyist to help with legislative issues that will come with officially forming the group.
“We continue to plan for how to form a structure and pursue financing,” she said.
The recent Santa Cruz Ofrenda was definitely amazing. So happy to see all the waves of positive energy blend together and allow so many people to share their experiences. Thank You MAH for allowing the artists to create the altars inside the beautiful museum! I loved all aspects of the Santa Cruz Ofrenda, and I’m sure many, many people shared my feelings. It was a very moving experience, and the Museum of Art and History’s support was a huge factor in its success! Thank you, and the city, again for making it possible.
Brian Garvey
Santa Cruz
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CELTIC TEEN BAND PROGRAM Teenage musicians ages 12-19 play in an ensemble, developing musicianship, flexibility, and musical creativity. Participants work on music from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, in addition to modern and more quirky pieces. Instruments welcomed include fiddle, viola, flute, tin whistle, pipes, cello, upright bass, guitar, mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, autoharp, ukulele, Celtic harp, accordion and percussion. Students must have at least two years of experience on their instrument and must be able to read sheet music and chord symbols. The group meets twice a month Wednesday afternoons from 3:30-5pm at the London Nelson Center with fiddle teacher John Weed. Cost is free-$10 per session on a sliding scale. Potential students are welcome to come for a session and see if they like it—no obligation! More information and registration at CommunityMusicSchool.org/teenband. Wednesday, Nov. 24, 3:30pm. London Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz.
PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES Filled with an exuberant mixture of country/pop/rock and musical theatre tunes, Pump Boys is a slice-of-life show about some down-home folks who run the local gas station and diner in a rural southern town. This cast of characters and their straightforward take on life, love and music will leave you tapping your foot and smiling from ear to ear. Friday, Nov. 26, 8pm. Saturday, Nov. 27, 8pm. Sunday, Nov. 28, 7pm, 2pm. The Colligan Theater, 1010 River St., Santa Cruz.
WEST CLIFF HOLIDAY OUTDOOR MARKET 2021 Come enjoy our holiday outdoor market with unique artisans and food trucks while taking in the spectacular view of the ocean. This one-of-a-kind market will be held in two parking lots along West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz. This is always a popular spot for locals and tourists, as it overlooks the famous Steamers Lane surf spot. The market will feature handcrafted gifts and a chance to do some holiday shopping before the rush. There will also be live music and admission is free. We will also be giving away free tokens every hour to random shoppers. The tokens can be used toward any vendor of your choice. So come down and get your free gift! See you on the cliffs. Friday, Nov. 26, 10am. Lighthouse Point Park, West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz.
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY PILATES MAT CLASS Come build strength with us. This very popular in-person community Pilates Mat Class in the big auditorium at Temple Beth El in Aptos is in session once again. Please bring your own mat, small Pilates ball and theraband if you have one. You must be vaccinated for this indoor class. Suggested donation of $10/class. Thursday, Nov. 25, 10am. Tuesday, Nov. 30, 10am. Temple Beth El, 3055 Porter Gulch Road, Aptos.
CUÉNTAME UN CUENTO Acompáñanos para una hora de cuentos, actividades y canciones en español. Este programa es para niños de 0-8 y sus familias. La hora será miércoles a las 4:30pm. Nos reuniremos en el porche exterior. Cuéntame un Cuento se llevará a cabo en Capitola durante el período de construcción de Live Oak. En caso de mal clima, se cancelará la hora de cuentos. Join us for Spanish Storytime, activities, and music! This program is best suited for kids ages 0-8 and their families. Storytime takes place on Wednesday at 4:30pm. We will meet on the outside porch. Storytime will take place at Capitola during Live Oak’s construction period. In the event of bad weather, storytime will be cancelled. Wednesday, Nov. 24, 4:30pm. Capitola Library A Santa Cruz City County Public Library Branch, 2005 Wharf Road, Capitola.
FELTON TODDLER TIME Join Librarian Julie on our beautiful Felton patio for Toddler Time. Toddler Time is a weekly early literacy program for families with children ages 0-3 years old. Music, movement, stories, fingerplays, rhymes, and songs are a fun way for your child to learn. Let’s play and learn together! Make sure to bring something to sit on. We ask that adults please wear a mask. Repeats weekly. Wednesday, Nov. 24, 11am. Felton Branch Library, 6121 Gushee St., Felton.
GREY BEARS BROWN BAG LINE Grey Bears are looking for help with their brown bag production line on Thursday and Friday mornings. Volunteers will receive breakfast and a bag of food if wanted. Be at the warehouse with a mask and gloves at 7am. Call ahead for more information: 831-479-1055, greybears.org. Thursday, Nov. 25, 7am. California Grey Bears, 2710 Chanticleer Ave., Santa Cruz.
KNITTING AT THE FELTON LIBRARY Join us every Monday afternoon at the Felton Branch for a knitting party. All you need to do is bring some yarn and knitting needles. All ages are welcome. Monday, Nov. 29, 12:30pm. Felton Branch Library, 6121 Gushee St., Felton.
LA SELVA BEACH PRESCHOOL STORYTIME Join us for a fun interactive storytime. We’ll read books, sing songs and use rhythm and movement. This event is suitable for children ages 3-6 years. There will be an arts and crafts project to take home. This event will be held outside on the back patio. Please bring something to sit on and dress for the weather. Masks will be required. Repeats weekly. Tuesday, Nov. 30, 11am. La Selva Beach Branch Library, 316 Estrella Ave., La Selva Beach.
PRESCHOOL STORYTIME IN THE SECRET GARDEN Join us in the Secret Garden in Abbott Square at the MAH for storytime! We’ll share stories, songs and rhymes in a safe environment. This 30-40 minute program is intended for children aged 2-6. Do it yourself craft kits will be provided every week. Every other week we will feature STEM-related stories and concepts. Tuesday, Nov. 30, 11am. Abbott Square, 118 Cooper St., Santa Cruz.
R.E.A.D.: REACH EVERY AMAZING DETAIL CAPITOLA R.E.A.D. is one-on-one reading comprehension instruction for readers second-12th grade. Instructors are California credentialed teachers. Sessions are 25 minutes long. By appointment only. Contact SCPL Telephone Information if you have any questions: 831-427-7713. Wednesday, Nov. 24, 3pm. Capitola Library A Santa Cruz Public Library Branch, 2005 Wharf Road, Capitola.
R.E.A.D.: REACH EVERY AMAZING DETAIL @ DOWNTOWN R.E.A.D. is one-on-one reading comprehension instruction for readers second-12th grade. Instructors are California credentialed teachers. Sessions are 25 minutes long. By appointment only. Contact SCPL Telephone Information if you have any questions: 831-427-7713. Thursday, Nov. 25, 3pm. Santa Cruz Public Libraries – downtown, 240 Church St., Santa Cruz.
R.E.A.D.: REACH EVERY AMAZING DETAIL @ LA SELVA BEACH R.E.A.D. is one-on-one reading comprehension instruction for readers second-12th grade. Instructors are California credentialed teachers. Sessions are 25 minutes long. By appointment only. Contact SCPL Telephone Information if you have any questions: 831-427-7713. Wednesday, Nov. 24, 3pm. La Selva Beach Branch Library, 316 Estrella Ave., La Selva Beach.
GROUPS
COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT FORUM Complementary Treatment Forum is an educational group, a safe place to learn, for women with a cancer diagnosis. Meets every fourth Saturday, currently on Zoom. Registration required please call WomenCARE 831-457-2273. Saturday, Nov. 27, 10:30am-12:30pm.
ENTRE NOSOTRAS GRUPO DE APOYO Entre Nosotras support group for Spanish speaking women with a cancer diagnosis. Meets twice monthly. Registration required, please call Entre Nosotras 831-761-3973. Friday, Nov. 26, 6pm. WomenCARE, 2901 Park Ave., Suite A1, Soquel.
S+LAA MENS’ MEETING Having trouble with compulsive sexual or emotional behavior? Recovery is possible. Our small 12-step group meets Saturday evenings. Enter through the front entrance, go straight down the hallway to the last door on the right. Thursday, Nov. 25, 6pm. Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center, 2900 Chanticleer Ave., Santa Cruz.
WOMENCARE ARM-IN-ARM WomenCARE Arm-in-Arm Cancer support group for women with advanced, recurrent, or metastatic cancer. Meets every Monday, currently on Zoom. Registration is required, call WomenCARE at 831-457-2273. All services are free. For more information visit womencaresantacruz.org. Monday, Nov. 29, 12:30pm. WomenCARE, 2901 Park Ave., Suite A1, Soquel.
WOMENCARE TUESDAY SUPPORT GROUP WomenCARE Tuesday Cancer support group for women newly diagnosed and through their treatment. Meets every Tuesday currently on Zoom. Registration required, call WomenCARE 831-457-2273. Tuesday, Nov. 30, 12:30-2pm.
WOMENCARE: LAUGHTER YOGA Laughter yoga for women with a cancer diagnosis. Meets every Wednesday, currently via Zoom. Registration is required, please call WomenCARE at 831-457-2273. Wednesday, Nov. 24, 3:30-4:30pm.
OUTDOOR
HISTORIC RANCH GROUND TOUR Discover what life was like a century ago on this innovative dairy ranch. This hour-long tour includes the 1896 water-powered machine shop, barns and other historic buildings. The vehicle day-use fee is $10. For more information, call 831-426-0505. Spaces are limited and early pre-registration is recommended. Attendees are required to self-screen for Covid-19 symptoms when pre-registering. Masks and social distancing are also required at all programs. Saturday, Nov. 27, 1-2pm. Sunday, Nov. 28, 1-2pm. Wilder Ranch State Park, 1401 Coast Road, Santa Cruz.
SUNSET BEACH BOWLS Experience the tranquility, peace and calmness as the ocean waves harmonize with the sound of crystal bowls raising vibration and energy levels. Every Tuesday one hour before sunset at Moran Lake Beach. Call 831-333-6736 for more details. Tuesday, Nov. 30, 6:30-7:30pm. Moran Lake Park & Beach, East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz.
The members of Oakland’s electro-funk/R&B trio Planet Booty are relieved they can finally tour again. And from what they’ve seen so far, their fans feel the same way. Audiences are ready to dance hard to the group’s funky—at times ridiculous—dance party with songs like “Ride That Booty,” “Take Off Your Pants,” and “Junk in the Trunk.” On Nov. 27, they will bring the sexy show to the Catalyst.
A Planet Booty show involves a lot of sweat, a lot of grooving, and normally some space-invading—though not everyone is comfortable getting too close right now, what with the pandemic and all. But frontman Dylan Germick says that not only are their audiences dancing, but people also don’t seem to want to let the show end—something he doesn’t remember happening in the “before times.”
Indeed, the group’s vibe is perfect for people stepping outside of their quarantine fog. It’s all about enjoying good music, getting loose, and unabashedly loving yourself no matter what.
“We’re here to party, be sexy and ridiculous. But we’re like, ‘Let’s acknowledge the hurt, pain, death, the anger, and the angst,’” Germick says. “There’s been a lot of negativity bearing down on our souls and our mind-state. We’re trying to find a moment of joy—just say ‘yes.’”
This word, “yes,” is a big deal for the group right now; they even named their new album Yes. Everything that matters to them right now is encased in these three letters.
At the beginning of 2020, they were looking at their most expansive international tour to date. It felt like they were on the verge of taking things to the next level. Once all the shows were canceled, that word “yes” popped in their mind and they decided to do something productive: record the kind of album they would never be able to do while relentlessly touring.
Since its 2011 inception, Planet Booty has primarily been a live experience. Albums were often an afterthought. And a lot of consideration was given to how they could perform the recorded songs live. With nothing but time on their hands and no clear idea whether live music was ever coming back, they threw out their old playbook and made the kind of album they wanted to hear, enlisting as many guests as possible, including Flynt Flossy, Sarah Clarke, TWRP, Brian Wecht and others.
“People don’t necessarily think of us as a studio band. Whenever people see us live, things make sense. They feel the feeling, the release. Then they leave going, ‘I love Planet Booty,’” Germick says. For this album, we want to match the energy, the prowess, the technicality, all the stuff that we tried to do live, we wanted to put that in. We wanted to match the impact of the live show.”
The group started as a six-piece funk band that would invade Bay Area bars with as much absurdity as they could muster. A few years in, they scaled down to three members. They started playing more all-ages shows by 2016/2017 with TWRP and Ninja Sex Party, and noticed underneath the craziness and sexuality of their show, a lot of younger people in the LGBTQ+ community resonated with their sex-positive, albeit silly at times, message of self-acceptance.
“We are coming from the party scene where it’s like debauchery,” Germick says. “We started to notice, it wasn’t so much about the party, booty stuff that people really loved.”
In fact, the group’s serious 2017 song “Not Afraid,” which is about confronting anxiety and fear, is their most popular. It has the most plays on Spotify, and at shows the group is usually greeted with a crowd full of people singing along to it at the top of their lungs.
The group continues to refine its message. “Only if You Say Yes” makes it clear they stand for enthusiastic consent. And now, in the post-pandemic world, they are hoping to help people rediscover the joys of loving their bodies.
“I’m not like ‘Planet Booty is the answer,’ but I’m just like, ‘We need to find a reason to sing, and dance and feel joy, because we will die from the inside,’” Germick says. “All this stuff is a vehicle to break you down and make you smile.”
Planet Booty will play at 9pm on Saturday, Nov. 27, at Catalyst Atrium, 1101 Pacific Ave,, Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $20/door. (831) 713-5492.
Your article on the glib Mr. Gibbs (GT, 11/3) reminded me of a Downtown Association meeting I attended 10 (?) years ago when he made his first report. I was most impressed by the fact that he got $60,000 for cruising Pacific Avenue and writing a 10-page report that made the very astute observation that our traffic pattern was odd. I suggested that we might benefit from making the street a pedestrian mall, as had many other coastal towns—a benefit we see now. He demurred, noting that Santa Monica’s huge success was only because they had a department store at one end … the store was in the process of closing at the time, predictably. He also told the old guard of the DTA what they wanted to hear: that parking spaces in front of their stores was key to their survival. Clearly, it wasn’t.
Mr. Gibbs—like many of our city leaders, and the old real-estate families in charge of downtown—still thinks that parking will save us from Amazon and odd retail ideas and high rents and tax laws that allow buildings to sit empty. We plow ahead with covering our one central event space with more parking and the library, since the combination will be easier to finance and give our leaders a legacy building. This will be a five-minute walk from three existing parking structures that they can’t fill at $3.75 a day now, and after we spend a fair amount of money on plans to fix the current library, which is described by a prominent local architect as a 100-year building that has a lot next to it for expansion and transition.
As a frequent client of our best and one of our few downtown events, the Farmers Market, I would suggest that more events in a spruced-up event space would benefit us most. We used to have an Art and Wine festival and a First Night. I asked a former council member why no more, and was told they were too much trouble. I can’t think of a better use of our DTA and Economic Development department. I would also suggest visiting the website of my boyhood home—Wausau Wisconsin, thriving downtown with a population of only 40,000, middle of farmland, no tourism and beautiful central plaza with a bandstand shell and stage. Our large community of artists and musicians might like it.
Paul Cocking
Santa Cruz
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I always thought the Santa Cruz Givesissue made the perfect Thanksgiving Good Times. For a few years there, it would come out right before the holiday, and I always knew the paper for that week would capture exactly the right vibe of “Let’s be grateful for everything we have and think about how we can help others.” But as the Gives holiday campaign got bigger, we needed to give it an extra week, and that’s why our cover story on it—which I still think of as our real Thanksgiving issue—came out last week. Since we made that change, the cover subject for our actual week-of issue now seems a bit random sometimes. And with that in mind, allow me to welcome you to our Thanksgiving Hip-Hop Issue!
Hmm, I don’t know, though—now that I think about it, maybe it kind of works. I mean, if we’re talking about things our community should be thankful for, the incredibly rich and diverse history of our arts scene should be one of them. And what I love about Aaron Carnes’ cover story on the subject is that he’s spent months tracking down artists, promoters and fans from every era of the hip-hop scene to put together what I can without reservation say is the definitive history of the genre in Santa Cruz. It’s a must-read for those who remember great hip-hop shows at Club Culture, Palookaville and other spots around here—and especially for those who missed them.
Of course, last week was only the beginning of our Santa Cruz Gives coverage, and this week you’ll find the first of many stories in which we’ll be focusing on the work that the nonprofits we’re asking you to donate to are doing in our community. Go to santacruzgives.org to read about all of the groups, and to donate. Happy Thanksgiving!
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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GOOD IDEA
IN LANE VIEW
Nearly half a million dollars will go towards improving pedestrian and cyclist safety in Santa Cruz County. The California Office of Traffic Safety awarded $448,000 in grants to the county’s Public Health Division. Some of the money will fund community activities like driver education, especially around impaired driving. Money will also fund safety initiatives that help community members, like giving out bike helmets or car seats for low-income families.
GOOD WORK
MATTER OF TRUST
The Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMLT), an organization that protects the Amah Mutsun ancestral land, has named Dr. Catherin Griffin as its new executive director. She will focus on improving the wellbeing of Native people, and providing mentorship to tribal members. AMLT works to restore the Mutsun people as stewards of the land, and preserve Mutsun culture by teaching young adults Mutsun traditions. Learn more about AMLT at amahmutsunlandtrust.org.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“In the future, hip-hop is going to be called American folklore.”
Local rapper Alwa Gordon met George Abraham a decade ago at a Blue Lagoon show, as Gordon was coming offstage after finishing a set. Abraham, a middle-aged man with a friendly smile, stopped him and told him how much he loved his music.
Gordon kept seeing Abraham at hip-hop shows. He would usually be up front hyping the artists. Sometimes he would linger at the merch booth and help the artists sell. He might even buy several of their shirts himself, just to make sure they took home some money that night.
“He treated me like I was a famous person,” Gordon recalls. “It feels really good. You hear that a lot from people when you get offstage. But he seemed really genuine. And I just started seeing him at every show.”
In 2019, when Gordon dropped his 16 Summers project, Abraham bought two copies, and mailed them to hip-hop fans he knew in Hawaii and Ireland. He showed Gordon emails from those friends thanking him for the music, just to let Gordon know that what he was creating mattered to people.
Abraham did this for a lot of local hip-hop artists. Originally from Ghana, he cared a lot about the Santa Cruz hip-hop scene. He made himself available for the artists if they needed help in any way whatsoever.
Singer Sonia Raquel recalls meeting Abraham in 2012 after she’d gotten divorced and was looking for some direction in her life. He encouraged her to put all her attention into her music.
“I was lost. I had no idea what to do with myself,” she says. “I turned to him a lot when I had problems in my life.”
On July 4, Abraham passed away from a heart attack. He was 57, and had been on dialysis for some time. Even with ongoing health issues, he came out to shows before the pandemic, and continued to be a huge advocate for artists.
“It really affected our community because he was so well known and so well-liked,” says Raquel. “His presence is missing. He was the loudest one, cheering everybody on. He was a loud, crazy motherfucker.”
Abraham’s son Michael Hightower, who raps as Expo the Ghostwriter, says that the local hip-hop scene was hugely important to his father. Abraham had moved to Santa Cruz in junior high, and later became a computer programmer. He involved himself in Santa Cruz’s hip-hop scene in its earliest days with Club Caution and Palookaville. He put on shows, promoted events and supported the scene because he saw the importance of the music to his community. He took to Chris Rene when he was coming up and was at every show Rene played. Several people called him Rene’s “unofficial ambassador.”
“A lot of people think it’s just music. A long time ago, minorities and African Americans, we didn’t really have our own news to watch. Music was our news,” Hightower says. “My dad catered to that. Some people didn’t have the money, the means, or the support. My dad understood that music is the instrument of the soul. A song can change someone’s life.”
With his dedication to the local scene, Abraham saw something that others didn’t. This area has never been known as a hip-hop hotspot, but in fact, the music has a rich and fascinating history here. This is the secret history of Santa Cruz hip-hop.
MC Groove album cover
1980s: This is For Suckers
In the early days of rap, particularly outside of cities like New York and L.A., the radio played a huge role. For Santa Cruz and the entire Central Coast, the godfather of hip-hop radio was Bubba G. Scotch, who started spinning R&B, electro-funk and hip-hop on Salinas station KUBO in 1981. With no one else playing the music locally at the time, kids all over tuned in every week and taped his shows.
Live events were rare until 1984, when Richard Walker—aka Rotten Richie, the African American drummer in local punk band Public Enemies—opened the all-ages punk venue Club Culture on Front Street, across the street from the Santa Cruz Metro Center. Many punk and indie rock greats graced its stage: Hüsker Dü, Descendents, DRI and Butthole Surfers, to name a few. But on Saturday nights, Scotch would spin hip-hop, and bring occasional guests like local emcees Generous J Paper and Snake Bo Bee. He even landed an appearance by NYC Hip Hop Nation’s Afrika Bambaataa.
There was a record store in the lobby that featured a lot of the hard-to-track-down cuts from obscure New York labels that Scotch played on his show. Scotch would purchase a few extra copies of whatever records he could get his hands on, and sell them at Club Culture.
“It was a hip-hop party every weekend,” says Generous J, aka Jokaelle Porter.
By the mid-’80s, a few more hip-hop radio shows had popped up, like the one hosted by Kurt Matlin, aka KutMasta Kurt, who started spinning hip-hop on Santa Cruz station KUSP in 1985. Mike Nardone played rap on high school station KSPB in Pebble Beach in 1983.
Santa Cruz’s first rap star was a kid from Baton Rouge, Louisiana who kept talking about cutting a record. His friends nicknamed him “Groove.” When he started rhyming in 1984, he dubbed himself M.C. Groove. He cut a single with his dad called “Don’t Play with Fire” that got played in jukeboxes in Louisiana. He moved to Santa Cruz a few years later, and played drums in his dad’s three-piece blues band Cruz Control. But he was destined to be a rapper.
“Everybody was skateboarding and surfing when I came in. There wasn’t no rapping on the scene at all,” says Groove. “People used to laugh at me when I come to school with my gold chains. These guys got on flip-flops and shorts. I’m coming to school like a rapper.”
Kurt and Groove met at Santa Cruz High and bonded over hip-hop. Kurt had started making beats using the reel-to-reel tapes loops in the KUSP production room. Groove would spit bars over Kurt’s instrumentals.
“[M.C. Groove] was by far the most talented emcee in the area I knew of,” Kurt says. “He reminded me of Big Daddy Kane with a southern accent.”
M.C. Groove won over fans at Santa Cruz High after they saw him perform at the quad between classes.
“They showed me a bunch of love—all my teachers and people at school. It was a phenomenon for a minute. It was so much love,” Groove says.
In 1990, Groove cut the EP This is For Suckers, which Kurt released on his record label Rapid Fire Records. The song “This is for Suckers” became a local hit. At Vets Hall and Eagles Hall shows, the audience was singing along. A few other artists were starting to come up like K Fresh, MC Chaz and BC Chill, all of whom Groove produced.
Not long after This is for Suckers was released, Groove moved to Florida. Just before he did, Groove’s cousin Reggie Stephens, known as D-Reg, moved to Santa Cruz. They performed together at the Santa Cruz High quad, which let everyone know that Stephens was legit too.
Left to right: Nase Hatfield, Reggie Stephens and Ken Hatfield. The cousin of M.C. Groove, Stephens followed him to Santa Cruz and made a name for himself in the scene as D-Reg.
1990s: The Asphalt Legion
The early ’90s saw the rise of hip-hop radio DJs like Jason D, DJ Kazzeo (Wednesday Wreck), and Verbal Technician. Several new emcees, including Stephens, were part of the Asphalt Legion crew: Bhang, Ebony Mist, Flow Pros, Marlon, Asphalt Poets, Imperial, and Chemical K. Their 1994 compilation, produced by Dan the Automator, is a classic Santa Cruz hip-hop record.
“It was almost like Wu-Tang Clan or something,” Stephens says. All those MCs have their own stuff. But then when you put them all together, they’re Wu-Tang Clan.”
There was energy at live shows locally, even if the spaces were hard to come by. In 1991, F-Force Productions, headed by Frank Sosa, brought Cypress Hill and Tim Dog to the Santa Cruz Vets Hall. A year later, Cypress Hill returned, this time to the Santa Cruz Armory. A thousand people showed up.
Jokaelli Porter also booked events wherever he could. In 1994, Michael Horne and Bruce Howard opened Palookaville, and Porter proposed bringing San Francisco crew RBL Posse to the space. Horne said yes. That began a string of Palookaville shows, often curated by Porter, that included the Pharcyde, Goodie Mob, Ice-T, Salt-N-Pepa, the Roots, E-40, Run DMC, and Jam Master J. He almost booked Eminem just before he blew up, but that fell through.
“Catalyst was doing such a great job of classic rock, but we really wanted to point more towards the University at that time, and try to be more edgy,” Horne says. “Roots reggae and punk rock and early hip-hop was just so violent, so alive, and so real. And Jokaelli understood [hip-hop].”
For Porter, elevating hip-hop culture in Santa Cruz was about more than just music.
“I don’t come from gang culture,” he says. “I come from a revolutionary point of view. My mom was a Black Panther. And she went to UCSC, the same school as Huey P. Newton.”
Not everyone in Santa Cruz was comfortable with the growing popularity of hip-hop. Police sometimes lingered around shows, expecting trouble. And when Porter booked gangsta rap crew Above The Law, the police pushed Horne to cancel the show before it started, which he did. Porter felt that these anti-hip-hop locals didn’t understand that the culture of hip-hop was about inclusion.
“Nobody was going home hurt. They was going home with some culture,” Porter says. “Palookaville provided a space for young Black kids, Caucasian kids, Hispanic kids that got along. It’s something the status quo doesn’t want to see. They feel like they gonna lose out if everybody comes together.”
Palookaville also helped a lot of kids discover that Santa Cruz had a local rap scene. Stephens opened several shows at Palookaville, and worked with local hip-hop label In House Records. They released his track “West Coast Funk,” a popular cut. Mike Ross—aka local emcee Ross Rock, who started in the late ’90s—was inspired by Stephens.
“Reggie started doing In House stuff, which was the first thing that inspired me, seeing a local guy rapping,” says Ross. “And the production sounded good.”
Would-be emcees even got a chance to show off their skills at Palookaville. A tradition emerged in which spontaneous freestyle rap sessions called “cyphers” started up between acts in the back of the club. Kazzeo, who often DJ’d these shows, leaned into it, often spinning instrumental tracks for them.
“You would go [to Palookaville] to check out the girls or whatever,” says Adam White, aka Zig Zag Robinson, who went by Addamantium when he formed Slop Opera. “I remember hearing Run-D.M.C. and I was like, ‘Cool,’ but then I would check out dudes cyphering in the back, just spitting bars.”
Elliot Wright (second from left), aka Eliquate, started rapping in Santa Cruz in the mid-2000s and began performing with a full band in 2009.
Early 2000s: The Rec League
After Palookaville closed its doors in 2002, the Catalyst started booking more touring hip-hop acts. In 2003, it booked three of the main local crews: The Moonies, Lost and Found Generation and Duce Company. The show was packed. Other important rappers at the time included Top Ramen (Topr), Otayo Dubb, the Warlordz, and Tahaj Edwards.
Other shows were happening at the Vets Hall, the Aptos Club, the Mediterranean, the 418 Project, the Attic, and E3 Playhouse.
Crews were important in the 2000s. Two that had kicked things off in the ’90s were Jedi Knights Circle and Thunderhut. Local rapper Grunge was in both. While in Jedi Knights, he started Thunderhut as a side project, so he could mix it up with rappers with different styles. He started the crew, bringing in Joe Cutter (then Kaoe Device, and one of the best battle rappers in the area), Kefr, DJ Clokwize, and Guns.
“None of us sounded the same. It wasn’t conscious hip-hop, it was more party music and comes from the backpack era from the ’90s,” says Grunge. “We used to hang out at the Santa Cruz Roasting Company. Tons of cyphers out there. Tons of different artists.”
This philosophy of creating a crew of emcees with differing styles reached a new level with Rec League, started by Matt Iles, aka Matty Eye, formerly of the Moonies. Originally envisioned as a record label, Rec League released its Season One compilation in 2004. It had tracks from local artists like Proe, Richie Cunning, Rob Rush, Matty Eye and Cumulus, and an intro by DJ Kazzeo. The success of the compilation solidified Rec League as a crew. They would play shows together like a big, gigantic mob on stage, with every rapper taking turns. The record also inspired them to create their own studio in Rob Rush’s garage—called the “Rec Center”—which allowed them to record a lot of music.
“It was half-studio, half-clubhouse. That became Rec League headquarters,” says Rec League member Riche Cunnings. “Everyone was there. You get off work, you go to the studio. That was life at the time, even if we weren’t working on something serious. If there was a funny joke, that turned into like a joke song.”
Also in 2004, Adam White formed Slop Opera with DJ Bean (Ben Boulter). They created momentum by doing as many shows as possible, sometimes even playing with rock bands. Inclusion, after all, was at the heart of Santa Cruz’s hip-hop scene.
“Someone who doesn’t live here, they think of beach-town surfers and skaters and say, ‘Oh, there’s a rap community here?’” says Mike Ross. “What was weird about Slop Opera, we were cool with a lot of the surfer guys and the gangster guys. Everyone got along, and it was just a trip.”
Late 2000s-Present: X Factors
Elliot Wright, aka Eliquate, moved to Santa Cruz in the mid-2000s to go to school, but it was music here that interested him most. Before he moved, he asked a friend what the hip-hop scene was like in Santa Cruz. His friend answered, “It is whatever you make it to be.” Within a few years, Wright would understand the truth of that statement.
Some of the early shows Wright played were opening for Slop Opera at Blue Lagoon. At the time, he was a solo artist, but by 2009, he’d expanded the project to a full band, which broadened the acts he could play with to also include reggae, funk, and rock, which was a big bonus for a Santa Cruz rapper.
“I always wanted to be a punk singer. Who doesn’t? But I was better at rapping than singing. And at that point in my life, hip-hop meant a lot more to me,” says Wright.
A few years later, Eliquate started touring, and began getting offers to open shows at Moe’s Alley and the Catalyst.
“I think we were the only hip-hop band that was going on tour. We weren’t selling out stadiums by any means, but it did kind of give us a reach a little bit bigger than Santa Cruz,” Wright says.
Eliquate was popular with the UCSC crowd, and could regularly draw a few hundred people. A particular highlight was headlining the Rock and Roll on the Knoll at UCSC three years in a row, which usually drew 600 people.
Another artist catapulted from the Blue Lagoon was Chris Rene. Before he gained national recognition on The X Factor in 2011, he was the center of a vibrant scene at the club, which hosted a lot of packed hip-hop shows.
“Chris Rene is talented. He’s charismatic,” says Cory Atkinson, who started as a bartender at the Blue Lagoon before becoming a booker. “He would throw these parties. The tone was set. We’re coming in to have a fun time, it’s a party. There’s going to be a DJ, and then throughout the night, an emcee is going to pop up and do their thing.”
The X-Factor season finale viewing party was held at the Catalyst, but if it wasn’t for the sheer size of the crowd, it should have been at the Blue Lagoon, his true hometown venue.
By the 2010s, Santa Cruz was home to a lot of hip-hop artists, yet the chasm between the big touring Catalyst acts and the local scene had widened. Mike Molda moved to Santa Cruz at that time; he had become fascinated with the Bay Area TeamBackpack videos which were gaining popularity online. These were filmed cyphers where underground emcees could show off their skills.
He decided to film his own version for Santa Cruz. The first Cypher Session was filmed at the West Cliff Lighthouse, and Wright was one of the emcees to participate. Compared to TeamBackpack, they were very DIY.
“You would always see me with a cell phone in hand. I would have the shittiest videos, but I would put out the videos,” Molda says. “Everyone loved it. They had something out there on the internet and they were able to share it, and they were proud of it.”
The videos got better, and eventually the Santa Cruz Cyphers became a weekly event at Blue Lagoon. For a while, the local hip-hop scene revolved around these cypher sessions.
In 2016, Molda threw Santa Cruz County’s first—and so far, only—24-hour camping-and-music hip-hop festival, which took place in Boulder Creek with over 60 artists, one of them Eliquate, performing on five stages. A couple of bigger acts included Rappin’ 4-Tay and Eclipto.
“Since I come from a festival world and have seen EDM festivals and bluegrass festivals but haven’t really seen a camping hip-hop festival,” Molda says. “It was a total success. Everyone had an awesome time.”
Some of the best local hip-hop releases in recent years have flown under the radar. Mesha L hasn’t felt particularly connected to the Santa Cruz hip-hop scene. She’s performed at a lot of open mics, poetry slams, and campus events. Yet her 2015 record, Who Is America (a collab with producer Spc-Cdt) is an incredible and important local hip-hop record.
“I’m not really like a political person, but I live out politics because I’m a queer Black woman,” Mesha says. “The Who is America album was my way of telling the world that I don’t fit into the typical American box.”
She held the album release show at the Santa Cruz Food Lounge, to an audience of around 50 people.
“It was really beautiful. But my mom even came out for it. And she lives in San Diego, so that was really important to me.”
Local artist Khan, who moved to Santa Cruz from Modesto in 2009, took a stab at expanding the local hip-hop scene by starting the quarterly “Diggin in The Crepe” in 2018 at the Crepe Place.
“I wanted a hip-hop showcase that was not just rap after rap after rap act. We’ll have a DJ set, and we’ll have a beat set. And we’ll sprinkle in some shorter rap performances in between.”
The event was going great—local underground artists were getting to play new local stages. Then the pandemic shut down live music. And now we find ourselves at a time when all live music and local scenes are attempting to rebuild.
Alwa Gordon started rapping in the mid-2000s, initially with local rap group Can’t Stop Us, and then in the early 2010s as a solo artist.. The pandemic has shifted his focus more on himself, and to see past the limits of the scene. He’s released some of his best, most honest, and vulnerable music recently, like last year’s “Loving Yourself.”
“I used to think if I just make good enough music, someone’s gonna see my talent and be like, ‘Hey, you’re next up.’ What I realized is, not only is that not realistic, it doesn’t put the responsibility in my hands,” says Gordon.
In June, when Blackalicious canceled their show at Moe’s, the new owners asked Gordon if he would headline with only two weeks before the event. He put together a bill with himself, Mesha L, and Cement Ship and they drew a surprisingly large number of people. It gives him hope that if he continues to forge his own path, maybe there is a future where he can be Santa Cruz’s breakout hip-hop artist. But to do that, he might have to continue to challenge his ideas of how to make it.
“As far as people that have made it out of Santa Cruz, I think Expendables, Oliver Tree. I don’t think there’s any rappers that have made it to a larger level from Santa Cruz,” Gordon says. “I feel like it’s been a journey of growing up in the hip-hop scene, and realizing that if you want it, you have to go out and get it yourself.”
U.S. Marine David Pedley had a backpack full of clothes and $900 to his name when he moved to Santa Cruz. He initially lived with a Marine Corps pal in a weathered Winnebago. After a month, the tight living space felt like it was getting smaller by the day.
“It was a pretty warm winter that year, so I just stayed on the beaches and figured out how to feed myself at the mobile pantries around in Santa Cruz,” Pedley says.
However, he grew tired of the nomadic lifestyle. He yearned for the routine and consistency in his life that he had grown accustomed to during his 13 years of active military service. That’s when Pedley discovered the Veterans Memorial Building (Vets Hall) in downtown Santa Cruz.
“[The military] doesn’t tell you about these services or what’s available,” he says. “I went in and ate some food and I was good to go. I said, ‘Who are all these people in the auditorium?’ It turned out that it was Veteran Services Day, so every veteran support provider was there—all the [services] you need as a veteran, like helping you get out of homelessness.”
That warm, mid-December day marked the beginning of Pedley’s journey. His value and work ethic were apparent: He used his 20-plus years of experience as a chef to develop the American Legion’s meal program.
“I threw myself into [the work],” Pedley says. “At that point, I was like, ‘This is all I want to do for the rest of my life.’”
Pedley swiftly moved up the ranks into a leadership role, and is now Veterans Hall Building Manager. He has his own home now and family. Most importantly, Pedley is doing something he believes in wholeheartedly.
It was stories like Pedley’s—and others from the many homeless vets who stayed at the Vets Hall throughout the pandemic during the 16 months it was used as a shelter for people experiencing homelessness—that initially inspired the Vets Hall project Santa Cruz County Veterans Village.
“We got up close and personal with a lot of folks who were experiencing homelessness—about 10% were veterans,” Vets Hall Executive Director Chris Cottingham says. “During that time, we started asking ourselves, ‘What’s next? Where do we go from here?’”
Asking those questions led to the brutal reality: Permanent supportive housing for veterans is nonexistent in Santa Cruz County.
Vets Hall Director of Programming Keith Collins had already been looking into establishing a Veterans Village in Santa Cruz County, which was precisely in line with the type of solution Cottingham had been searching for.
A Veterans Village Committee was formed; after six months of searching, they stumbled upon a six-acre property in Ben Lomond called Jaye’s Timberlane. The former resort boasts a main house—with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and an office—along with 10 additional cabins with kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms.
“When we saw [the property], it screamed what we all had envisioned for a Veterans Village here in the county,” Cottingham says. “It’s something special to have independent units to where each veteran can have their own home and their own space; to be able to have it on a piece of property that’s just so beautiful, with the giant redwoods and lush landscape.”
The property is also less than a quarter-mile from a bus line, and about a 10-minute drive from the Vets Hall. For the past eight months, Timberlane had even provided emergency housing for veterans in the community during the pandemic.
“It’s so serendipitous how this all came together,” Cottingham notes. “Since vets have already been staying here, it allowed us to talk to them and ask about their experience staying on the property. Their feedback pushed us to buy this place—it’s turnkey and furnished. It just makes it so much easier to house people.”
With the support of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County and other community leaders, the Vets Hall was able to put in an offer on the property and plans to ultimately support itself using funding from HUD-VASH (subsidy vouchers for veterans dealing with chronic homelessness) for operations and continuing to build real estate equity for future expansion. The offer was accepted, and the group is now in escrow.
“We’re expected to close on Jan. 12,” Cottingham says excitedly.
Veterans Village isn’t a new concept—similar programs exist all over the country—but the veteran-owned and operated program will mark the first in Santa Cruz County. The Ben Lomond property will eventually provide housing for up to 40 veterans in need of permanent affordable housing and onsite supportive services. There will be enough room to house 18 veterans right out of the gate.
“The difference between shelter and this place is this is permanent supportive housing,” says Vets Hall Board of Trustees President Jack Tracey, who’s been providing services to veterans and working in human services with the homeless since 1971. “If people want to move in here and stay for the rest of their life, they’re able to do that. We’re hoping people will come here, feel comfortable, find a sense of community and grow.”
Collins says they’ll be implementing supportive programs, including onsite case management, mental and physical therapy, drug and alcohol counseling, resident services and visiting medical staff. After working more than 20 years in affordable housing and running veteran programs in Santa Clara County, he knows what kind of services are most important.
“This is a collaborative effort between private individuals and companies, nonprofits and county government,” Collins explains.
The initial goal was to raise $4.5 million, which would cover the acquisition of the property and help with initial annual operating costs, which are estimated to run between $300-500,000. Over the last six months, every veteran’s organization in Santa Cruz County has contributed human resources and financial support. Vets Village is also working with the county to apply to Project Home Key for additional funds. Also, a slew of folks is already offering to volunteer.
“We’re about 80% of the way there to that $4.5 (million) goal,” Cottingham says. “I think between now and opening, our goal is to raise an additional $700-800,000.”
Since the facilities are pretty much ready to go, residents could start moving in as early as February or March of 2022. There isn’t a shortage of demand. At least 179 veterans in Santa Cruz County fit the bill, and referrals have been coming in from operations like Front St. Inc.
“It’s a small step in the right direction,” Cottingham says. “We’d love to see the capacity grow, but will have to see where the next steps take us.”
It’s the partnerships—private, nonprofit and public—that have come together that make the Santa Cruz County iteration of Vets Village unique.
“Three entities coming together and working for the greater good,” Cottingham says. “I’d like to say that’s a new vision for how we deal with affordable housing moving forward—egos have been thrown to the side. Ultimately, that’s how this has come together in such a short amount of time.”
The mission is also noteworthy: A veterans community owned by vets, run by vets and operated by vets.
Collins credits many organizations and individuals, including VMB Board Supervisor Manu Koenig, who have backed the project since its infancy. The list of people who have and continue to contribute in some way continues to grow exponentially by the day. But that’s what it takes to pull off such a massive enterprise: a village.
While Veterans Village is close to opening, it still needs to fund about 25 percent of the project’s costs, and is asking Santa Cruz Gives donors for help. Here is a rundown of other homeless-oriented nonprofits also seeking donor assistance in Santa Cruz Gives.
For nearly 30 years, FIT has provided temporary rental assistance and case management to homeless Santa Cruz County families and those at risk of becoming homeless. While the long-term goal to end and prevent homelessness in the county is ambitious, in the short term, the project is focusing on providing essential expenses that government funding leaves out, including bedding, pajamas, cleaning supplies and nutritious food.
With “Set Up for Success,” donors choose how much they donate and know how it benefits a family in need. $100 provides groceries and cleaning supplies for a family of four; $250 provides groceries, cleaning supplies and clothing for a family of four, and so on.
In 2021, HGP donated tens of thousands of pounds of fresh, organic produce, which is just a byproduct of their mission and allows them to help even more people in need. Support is necessary for the program to continue to provide training and employment to those experiencing homelessness. HGP also needs funding to operate Santa Cruz County’s first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which helps build bridges between the housed and unhoused.
For 35 years, Housing Matters (formerly Homeless Services Center) has been dedicated to creating pathways for families and individuals out of homelessness and into permanent housing. Shelter is just the first step. Once a family has a roof over their heads, there are many needs. Donations help fund “Home Sweet Home” baskets full of essentials, including cleaning supplies, linens, grocery gift cards and a unique housewarming gift.
Pajaro Valley Shelter Services – “Hope and Home: Moving Families Out of Homelessness and Into Permanent Housing and Self-Sufficiency”
PVSS’ new tenant education program “Hope and Home” provides training and support that increases the ability of families to find and keep suitable housing. Areas of focus: avoiding poor landlord/neighbor relationships, emergency funds, building credit and housing laws.
In their eighth year providing pop-up shelters for the Santa Cruz County homeless, Footbridge has learned that many would rather stay in their tents even on the chilliest nights. Hypothermia is more common than you may think for those who isolate on these cold nights. Donations ensure the Warming Center is well-stocked with thousands of blankets, hand warmers, gloves, beanies, warm clothing and several hundred rain tarps.
Santa Cruz County provided safe shelter and critical services to more than 800 homeless residents during the pandemic. As the funding for such services dries up, most of these folks will be forced back to life on the streets. Wings and the Homeless Action Partnership are providing basic needs to those transitioning into permanent housing. Donations provide beds, hygiene and cleaning supplies and vital document services to families and individuals.
To contribute to these organizations or any of the other 80 participating nonprofits in Santa Cruz Gives, visit santacruzgives.org. Follow Santa Cruz Gives on Facebook @santacruzgives, Instagram #santacruzgives and Twitter @scruzgives.
Despite significant questions about the variant itself, the World Health Organization warned Monday that global risks posed by the new omicron variant of the coronavirus were 'very high'
