This week our students had a blast exploring @sbbotanicgarden! They also went to the Santa Barbara Mission rose garden and the beach. Not only did they have fun out in the Santa Barbara community, but they also had some stellar innovative programming and music exploration at our Community Learning Centers. We are excited for a short but still packed week next week!

Week 1 of summer camp was a blast for our students! From the park to the beach and even a visit to the incredible Moxi Museum in Santa Barbara! Our students not only had fun but they learned as well. The hands on learning at the Moxi Museum meant our students learned about science, math, engineering, and art while having fun! We also went to the library and checked out some great books that we will be reading this summer. Stay tuned for week 2!

Last week we celebrated all that our amazing students have accomplished at the Community Learning Centers as well as listening to the beautiful music created by our Music and Imagination Youth Blues & Jazz Band! Both our A and B combo are true artist and hit their performances out of the park. Go to our TFMI Instagram page here to see some amazing videos of our talented artists. We look forward to seeing you all again at the next celebration of our students!

In May we were thrilled to end our spring programming with a bitter-sweet goodbye to one of our amazing graduates. Brando Hernandez has participated in our Community Learning Centers for the past few years and has been an integral part of TFMI’s Youth Blues and Jazz Band. We are sad to see Brando leave but we are so excited to see where he will go! Congratulations Brando!

Dear friends,

Meet Eric. Eric came to the Foundation House from a youth shelter. Having the stability of a place to call home, within a few months, Eric was able to secure employment, get his driver's license, and buy his own car. He also successfully paid his own rent for six months until he was able to graduate to permanent housing!

Meet Gabriel. Gabriel was sleeping in friends' cars and at a shelter until he found his way to the Foundation House. Finding stability, Gabriel has now been at his new job for a month and is working on his new goals!

Spring break this year was full of enjoying the sun while having fun and even a little learning! We went to the beach, museums, and parks all around Santa Barbara. The students learned so much about different aspects of the community during the week of spring break. They even had a fun day of science experiments where they got to learn individually about a specific science experiment. We went to the Santa Barbra Historical Museum and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art during this week while also going to West Beach by the pier and Alameda Park over by State St. We want to extend a special thank you to all of our community partners who donated some amazing experiences to our students!

Young Leaders Academy is a place where teen girls ages 13-17 meet once a week to discuss their passions and experiences. This mentoring program is designed to inspire and help them realize their passions so that they do what they love in their lives. Two of our staff, Luda and Madison connect with these girls weekly and hope to be a mentor and a person that these girls can look up to. We hope through the Young Leaders Academy that teens can find their passions in life and through discussing what they have learned, discover new things about themselves!

We accomplished a lot in 2021, had full occupancy for all 115 low income units in Santa Barbara, launched The Lisa Smith Wengler Foundation House, awarded 14 Doman Scholarships, introduced a new program called the Young Leaders Academy, and so much more! In 2022 we hope to do even more! Our goals include to support more low-income housing communities, to help more youth through The Lisa Smith Wengler Foundation House, to provide tutoring and programming that empowers youth in our communities at our Community Learning Centers, to educate and inspire through the Music and Imagination Program, to bring you even more inspiring, empowering, incredible guests through Good Life Television and much more! We are so excited for all that the year ahead has in store for us and our community!

We are excited to announce the opening of The Sonos and Santa Barbara Bowl Open-Air Music Studio. This music studio opened in December of last year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in order to guarantee the health and safety of our students. With this studio, we hope students use it as a place of inspiration to learn and play music. Without the generous support of SONOS and the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation, we would have not been able to make history! We can’t wait to share all the music our students will make in this beautiful space!