We hope you will take a moment to read about Peoples' Self-Help Housing.CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

GET YOUR TICKETS BY MAY 31 TO SAVE: Dinner tickets purchased by May 31 are $65 per person for members and $70 for non-members. After that, tickets will be $75 for anyone. Please consider becoming a member to support our work.

            Peoples’ Self-Help Housing develops affordable housing and community facilities for low-income households and homeownership opportunities for working families, seniors, veterans, the disabled and the homeless in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

Since 1970, they have developed about 380 self-help homes in Guadalupe, Santa Maria, Tanglewood and Los Alamos, including 117 in Santa Maria for farm workers and their families and 57 units for limited-income elderly residents and developmentally disabled households; 80 units in Orcutt; and 80 in Guadalupe.

             Santa Barbara County Action Network invites you to join us to honor Al Thompson, Laura & Ron Selken, Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, Peoples' Self-Help Housing, Deborah Tobola & the Poetic Justice Project, at the 2015 North County Looking Forward Awards Dinner Sunday, June 7, 2015 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Santa Maria Inn, 801 S. Broadway, Santa Maria.

We hope you will take a moment to read about Al Thompson's involvement in the community.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

            Al Thompson has written garden columns on sustainability, encouraging the idea that gardens can be practical and artistic.

            He has interpreted Chumash uses of native plants and became the garden historian at La Purisima Mission. He encouraged exploration of wildflowers and plants along the mission trails, eventually having one of the trails named after him.

            He is a docent at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve where he leads hiking tours and explains the importance of natural habitats. His own garden is open for the sharing of ideas. 

             Santa Barbara County Action Network invites you to join us to honor Al Thompson, Laura & Ron Selken, Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, Peoples' Self-Help Housing, Deborah Tobola & the Poetic Justice Project, at the 2015 North County Looking Forward Awards Dinner Sunday, June 7, 2015 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Santa Maria Inn, 801 S. Broadway, Santa Maria.

Dinner tickets purchased by May 31 are $65 per person for members and $70 for non-members. After that, tickets will be $75 for anyone. Please consider becoming a member to support our work.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

           We'll tell you more about the other award winners in future emails, or click here for more information.

We hope you will take a moment to read about Laura & Ron Selken's involvement in the community. 

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

            Laura and Ron Selken volunteer with the Santa Maria Noontimers Lions where Ron has served as club president, among other positions, and Laura is serving as secretary and newsletter editor. 

            They are involved with the Democratic Club of Santa Maria Valley, with Laura serving on the board and editing the monthly newsletter. They are active in their mobile-home park, assisting with various activities including the monthly news magazine.

            Laura also sits on the boards of the local Literacy Council, the North Santa Barbara County Manufactured Homeowners Team, and the AAUW and the Santa Maria Public Library. She also serves on the county Library Advisory Committee.             

             Santa Barbara County Action Network invites you to join us in honoring Laura & Ron Selken, Al Thompson, Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, Peoples' Self-Help Housing, Deborah Tobola & the Poetic Justice Project, at the 2015 North County Looking Forward Awards Dinner Sunday, June 7, 2015 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Santa Maria Inn, 801 S. Broadway, Santa Maria.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

           We'll tell you more about the other award winners in future emails, or click here for more information.

We hope you will take a moment to read about Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt's involvement in the community. 

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt is involved in numerous community groups, including serving as the president of the Santa Maria/Lompoc National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 2007.  She is a member of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church where she serves as Hospitality Chair, Trustee and participates in monthly feedings at the Good Samaritan Shelter.

She is a member of the Five Cities Diversity Coalition, which formed as a result of the 2011 cross burning in Arroyo Grande, and a member of the Santa Maria Valley Democratic Club.

She is the Chief Investigator for the Santa Barbara County Public Defender Office. She is the first African American female in California to hold this distinction.

She is a founding member of the Defense Investigator Training Accreditation Academy and served as the first Chairperson and Instructor of Record. She continues to serve as the Instructor of Record and its Chairperson. The program is accredited through Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria.

She has been on the Defense Investigators Association Board of Directors since the late 1980’s.

Growing up in the Deep South in the 60’s and 70’s gave her an understanding and appreciation of injustice and unfairness, which gave her the passion she has for defense related work, civil and human rights and social justice. 

We hope you will take a moment to read about Poetic Justice Project, an organization that is helping formerly incarcerated individuals reintegrate into the community, and will join us in honoring them on June 7 along with other members of the community.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

            The Poetic Justice Project is helping people transform their lives.

            Deborah Tobola started the local program in 2009 to engage formerly incarcerated youth and adults in original plays that examine crime, punishment and redemption.

            Tobola has a passion for social change, creating art and putting artists before audiences. Through the project, 87 actors have appeared in 12 theatre productions. Many are active in their communities—creating art, mentoring at-risk youth, counseling people coming out of jail and prison, advocating on behalf of indigent people, and studying at Hancock or Cuesta Colleges.

          Several PJP actors have gone on to act in local community theatre productions. One has moved to Chicago to start his own theatre company. Another is the star of a new web TV show. Only three participants have been re-incarcerated in prison.