HELP NEEDED FOR UNHOUSED PEOPLE
When I first began working on housing and homelessness issues in the 1990s as a coordinator at MHCAN ( Mental Health Client Action Network of Santa Cruz), there was a culture of collaboration and care. Leaders like Page Smith and Paul Lee, along with groups like the Rebeles, were deeply involved in maintaining day centers and stable housing programs. At that time, the Homeless Services Center provided consistent meals, showers, and beds.
Over the years, however, the City Council’s priorities have shifted away from the daily needs of the unhoused. This neglect has culminated in 2026 with the removal of funding for essential mail services, showers, and meals. By dismantling these vital programs and ignoring basic needs like health, medicine, and shelter, Santa Cruz is failing its most vulnerable residents.
The current lack of vision and the reduction of supportive services have allowed desperation to grow, replaced by a shadow of crime, disease, and brutality. Who will stand up to the issues this city is allowing to fester and restore the light and hope that once defined our community efforts?
Coral Brune | Santa Cruz
LEARN HEALTHY FARMING
Farm Discovery spring workshop sign-ups are live! There are a variety of weekend offerings, from February-May 2026. Join us for mushroom foraging, pickling, candle-making, a two-day sourdough intensive, animal husbandry at home, libation and mocktail mixers, fermented drinks, watercolor, focaccia, natural dyes, and natural printmaking. Learn mycology from a local expert, harvest and preserve farm-grown produce, work with natural materials, and build skills you can bring back to your own kitchen, garden, or creative practice.
Workshops are held on Saturdays; most are in the mid-morning to early afternoon and run 3–4 hours. Our instructors are excited to share their knowledge and the farm with you- join us this spring!
Register at farmdiscovery.org
Farm Discovery at Live Earth is a farm-based education not-for-profit organization in Watsonville, We empower youth and families to build and sustain healthy food, farming, social and natural systems. By developing environmental literacy, teaching farming skills, and transforming food habits that support personal, community and environmental health we encourage students to build a relationship with food that is healthy for people, the environment and the economy. A special emphasis is placed on reaching underserved people in the Pajaro Valley to bolster individual, community and environmental health.
Jessica Ridgeway | Executive Director
