community engagement events
It takes an engaged, informed community to resolve homelessness together. We invite you to start here to learn about our past and ongoing outreach efforts.
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events
Join us for Neighbors for Neighbors, in partnership with Santa Cruz Public Libraries.
• Learn from local experts about real solutions to homelessness
• Have meaningful discussions
• Foster compassion and equity in Santa Cruz County
Come join the conversation!
Picture This is a curated storytelling event, held quarterly that spotlights unique perspectives on what it means to build, sustain, and celebrate a culture of compassion within the context of resolving homelessness in Santa Cruz County.
special events
The March to End Homelessness is an annual event organized by Housing Matters and is composed of a compassionate coalition of local businesses, non-profit organizations, and hundreds of supporters. This event is anchored in inspiring hope for actionable solutions to homelessness through the advancement of public policy.
WHY WE MARCH
The Community is not just our donors, or just our supporters, or even, just our program participants. The Community is everyone, it is a growing CIRCLE of people who believe that housing is a right and rejects the systemic inequity that has abandoned and laid bare our most vulnerable unhoused neighbors.”
Mer STafford, Chief Impact Officer
Beyond the Bridge: A Solution to Homelessness, was a film screening and panel discussion at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, in collaboration with the City of Santa Cruz Department of Economic Development and Housing, Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Mayor Fred Keeley and Housing Matters Board Member, Don Lane.
The event brought over 340 compassionate community members together to answer the question, how can Santa Cruz County solve homelessness in a comprehensive way?
Look Me in the Eyes was an art exhibition curated by Artist-In-Residence, Abi Mustapha and was a collaboration between people with lived experience of homelessness and local artists. The exhibition challenged preconceived notions of unhoused identity, symbolically breaking down barriers of thought that separate us from each other. The artists and storytellers were in attendance at the show to discuss their work and augment the story behind each portrait.
Images from Look Me in the Eyes on May 3rd, 2024 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.
The H.O.U.S.E. Party was hosted by Housing Matters in collaboration with Collective Santa Cruz. It was a fun filled evening of activities and entertainment in support of ending homelessness in Santa Cruz County. Activities included a celebration of 180 Together, a Speakers Bureau talk and an educational scavenger hunt. Entertainment comprised of live music, art, comedy, food, drink, shopping and dancing.
Images from H.O.U.S.E Party on January 26th, 2023 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.