El Centro Santa Barbara was granted access to the dormant "Parque De Los Niños," a small neighborhood park in Santa Barbara's lower Westside, after a year of organizing and coordinating efforts with the City of Santa Barbara. Over the next year and…
The Garden was launched in response to the community’s concern about the levels of food insecurity experienced by local residents. El Centro started hosting community work days where together, neighborhood residents gathered to create food sovereignty and food access by…
El Centro Santa Barbara was awarded $20,000 by SBCFAN’s Food System Resilience Grant program for their Somos Semillas Garden, a space for community members to engage in place-based learning, public health, nutrition education, and community empowerment.
Students enrolled in the Permaculture Program at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) had the opportunity to engage in a resilient community design process with the Somos Semillas Garden Committee to support the neighborhood in developing the garden. The project and…
In the fall of 2021, 60 Oaxacan green corn plants were harvested from the Garden. From planting the seeds to tending the soil, the neighborhood was a part of the process from seed to harvest. Community leaders shared knowledge and…
Somos Semillos Garden was one of three SBEE (Santa Barbara Ecological and Edible) Garden Project partners that received a 2021 Golden Leaf Award from Santa Barbara Beautiful for achieving community beautification while collaborating to build a more resilient, equitable food…
The Garden was one of four sites that received a two-year capacity and support grant through the California Alliance of Community Composting (CACC) to develop community oriented composting projects in Santa Barbara County. Goals include: Engage with Santa Barbara's lower…
