2 days Ago
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin selected the Homeless Garden Project as a 2025 California Nonprofit of the Year.The Homeless Garden Project is one of more than 100 nonprofits that will be honored by their state senators and assemblymembers for their outstanding contributions to the communities they serve.The Homeless Garden Project, founded in 1990, provides job training, transitional employment and support services to people experiencing homelessness.
Integrated with the employment programs, the Homeless Garden Project operates a vibrant community education and volunteer program for the broader community. The programs operate in Homeless Garden Project’s 3.5-acre organic farm and in related enterprises.
Over the past 10 years, 95% of Homeless Garden Project graduates obtained jobs in the community and 88% of graduates secured housing.Enterprises include a Community Supported Agriculture program and a Value-Added Enterprise in which program participants create products using materials grown on the farm that are sold at the Project’s two Santa Cruz County store locations and online.“For 35 years, the Homeless Garden Project community has been ‘Planting Seeds and Transforming Lives’ through our innovative and holistic program that offers so many community benefits, hand-in-hand.
We are deeply humbled to be recognized by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin as a 2025 Nonprofit of the Year,” said Darrie Ganzhorn, Homeless Garden Project’s executive director, in a release.Now in its 10th year, the California Nonprofit of the Year initiative provides the opportunity for each California state legislator to recognize a nonprofit organization doing outstanding work in their district. The program, sponsored by the California Association of Nonprofits, culminates with a celebratory luncheon at the Capitol on California Nonprofits Day, which this year is May 21.
“We are grateful for the work of the Homeless Garden Project and want to extend our congratulations for this well-deserved recognition,” said Geoff Green, CEO of the California Association of Nonprofits, in a release. “Nonprofits provide critical services, advocate for our most vulnerable neighbors, and enrich the lives of all Californians. From the childcare program to the soccer team, from the art class to the health clinic, and from the community organizer to the animal shelter, nonprofits make our communities stronger”.
Dignity Health Dominican Hospital awards grantsDignity Health Dominican Hospital has awarded $229,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations in Santa Cruz County. The grants, part of the CommonSpirit Health Community Health Improvement Grants program, are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of vulnerable and underserved populations.“The 2025 Community Health Improvement Grants are a reflection of our commitment to working toward a healthier future for all.
The awardee organizations work to improve and maintain health beyond the care we provide to patients in our hospital, and these grants help bring service into additional community settings,” said Nanette Mickiewicz, president and CEO of Dominican Hospital Santa Cruz, in a release.The following organizations received grants to support program activities between March 2025 and February 2026:• Dientes Community Dental Care: Access to Dental Care for People who are Experiencing Homelessness, $40,000.• Diversity Center of Santa Cruz County: The Diversity Center’s Health and Wellbeing Initiative, $35,000.
• Food, What: Economic Security and Behavioral Health Supports through Food, Farming, and Community, $40,000.• KidPower: Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower, $30,000.• Monarch Services – Servicios Monarca, $49,000.
• WomenCare: Cancer Support Services, $35,000.De Laveaga Elementary picked as Distinguished SchoolState Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced that De Laveaga Elementary in Santa Cruz is one of 336 elementary schools selected for the prestigious 2025 California Distinguished Schools Program.Since its inception in 1985, the California Distinguished Schools Award remains one of the state’s most important ways to celebrate exceptional schools, districts, teachers, and classified employees for their innovation, talent and success in supporting students.
The school recognition program recognizes two categories of exceptional schools: those Closing the Achievement Gap and those demonstrating Exceptional Student Performance.“It is my pleasure to honor and recognize these 336 elementary schools for their efforts to provide exemplary public education to all students. Excellent elementary schools play a critical role in the life outcomes of our young people,” Thurmond said in a release.
“This year’s California Distinguished Schools celebration provides us with an opportunity to recognize the hard work of our elementary educators and school staff who help our students discover passions and experiences that will propel them.”.
