El Montecito Presbyterian Church saw a lot of sorting and stuffing on July 19. Specifically, volunteers sorted and stuffed 900 backpacks to be distributed to students all over the coast, from Carpentaria to Guadalupe. Four Montecito churches worked together to provide the backpacks filled with school supplies for People’s Self-Help Housing students. Members of the “Community of Montecito Churches” include All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, El Montecito Presbyterian Church, Montecito Covenant Church, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church.
People’s Self-Help Housing (PSHH) was founded in 1970 to respond to the need for affordable housing on the Central Coast. The mission of the program is to create self-help home ownership opportunities, quality low-income rental housing, and youth education, health, and community services for low-income families, seniors, and special needs groups living in PSHH facilities. The organization is currently serving 6,000 residents throughout San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. The service has also developed 1,200 affordable rental units, and has helped 1,000 low-income households build their first home.
“The leadership and parishioners of the four churches are truly grateful for this opportunity to serve these local children of lower income families, through People’s Self-Help Housing, and to help guarantee that they have the tools necessary to thrive in their school environments,” Don Johnson, spokesman for the Community of Montecito Churches, said in a press release.
On July 19, from 10 a.m. to noon, church volunteers met at El Montecito Presbyterian Church, 1455 East Valley Road, to assemble the backpacks and the supplies, all of which were donated by the four churches and their parishioners.
For more information about how to donate to the M4 Backpack Project or to volunteer, contact Program Coordinator Katie Falbo at 962-5152, Ext. 233, or visit www.pshhc.org.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 7, 2008.
