Expert to speak on wetlands wildlife protection
WATSONVILLE — On July 19 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Fitz Wetlands Educational Resource Center, 500 Harkins Slough Road, Watsonville Wetlands Watch will be hosting an outdoor presentation about local wildlife.
Biologist and wildlife expert Bruce Elliot will be speaking about animals found in south Santa Cruz and north Monterey counties.
The presentation will be held at an outdoor classroom, and is free to attend, but you must reserve a seat online at www.watsonvillewetlandswatch.org.
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Library showing movies
WATSONVILLE — Every Friday afternoon from 3-5 p.m. at the Watsonville Public Library, 275 Main St., Suite 100, movies will be shown in the meeting room.
The schedule is as follows:
• July 14: “Grease”
• July 21: “Everest”
• July 28: “Selena”
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Museum of Discovery holding free community day
CAPITOLA — The Santa Cruz County Office of Education invites the public to a free community day at the Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery in the Capitola Mall on Sunday.
The 7,000-square-foot museum will be open from noon to 5 p.m., and there is no admission charge.
For information, contact Patrice Keet at (888) 424-8035 or visit www.sccmod.org.
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Exhibit examines lives of local foster children
SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz County Department of Human Services is encouraging residents to attend an exhibit at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, 705 Front St.
Titled “Lost Childhoods,” the exhibit documents the stories and struggles of young adults aging out of foster care. The exhibit was created in conjunction with the Foster Youth Museum and MAH’s Creative Community Committee (C3), a group of more than 100 local foster youth, artists and advocates.
“‘Lost Childhoods’ is a powerful testament to the journey of our foster youth as they transition to adulthood. The exhibit honors the voices and stories of foster youth and sheds an emotional and artistic light on their struggles and triumphs,” said Ellen Timberlake, interim Human Services director for the County of Santa Cruz.
More than 60,000 California children currently reside in foster care. In Santa Cruz County, roughly 250 children and youth are in need of foster and adoptive parents able to care for them at any given time, and there is a strong placement need for older children, sibling sets, and children with special challenges.
The exhibit runs through Dec. 31. Partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council, the exhibit includes personal belongings, photographs, art installations and community action workshops at the MAH and throughout the county. Current and former foster youth will serve as docents. For information, visit c3.santacruzmah.org/lost-childhoods.
For information about the county’s foster care programs, or to become a foster parent, visit santacruzhumanservices.org/FamilyChildren/FosterCareandAdoptions.aspx.
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Panetta receives environmental award
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — Environment California recently gave Congressman Jimmy Panetta an Environmental Champion Award.
Panetta received a 100 percent on the environmental scorecard for his support of clean air, clean water, and open spaces, according to Environment California.
“Representative Panetta is at the top of the class when it comes to keeping our air and water clean, protecting our special places, and ensuring a healthy climate,” said Bill Pilkonis, campaign organizer with Environment California. “That’s why we are proud to present him with our Environmental Champion Award.”
Speaker Martin Genova and other Environment California staff and volunteers presented Panetta’s staffer Tyler Burrola with a poster of thank you’s from people of the area to commemorate his award.
“Overall this has been a disturbing spring when it came to Congress standing up for our families’ health and our environment,” Pilkonis said. “The average environmental scorecard in the House was 43 percent and in the Senate was 47 percent. In fact, some have called this the most anti-environmental Congress we’ve ever seen. Representative Panetta stands in stark contrast to an Administration and Congress proposing to end our environmental protections, including the Paris Climate Agreement, EPA funding that protects the San Francisco and Monterey Bays, and just last week announced plans to revoke the Clean Water Rule that protects the drinking water sources for 1 in 3 Americans.”
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County receives Social Innovation Fund award
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — The County of Santa Cruz Human Services Department announced that it was one of only three awardees from the states of California, Washington and Oregon selected to take part in a Stanford-led initiative aimed at decreasing poverty and increasing economic opportunity.
Led by the Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality and Third Sector Capital Partners, Inc., the $3 million project uses data to build a framework for measuring and evaluating program success. The effort is funded by the Social Innovation Fund, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
The County of Santa Cruz will use the opportunity to study changes in the self-sufficiency of families that participate in the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program, California’s version of the Federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. The support will be provided to the county through 2019, and is equivalent to approximately $700,000 in consultation services.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Stanford and Third Sector to help us access other administrative data systems so that we can better understand the effectiveness of our programs and make well-informed decisions on the use of scarce resources. With this technical assistance, we will be primed to measure results, improve services, and subsequently deliver proven support to persons in need,” said Ellen Timberlake, interim director of the County of Santa Cruz Human Services Department.
For information on the award, visit www.thirdsectorcap.org/news/stanford-and-third-sector-launch-partnerships-for-economic-opportunity.
