On March 13, LEAP (formerly Isla Vista Youth Projects) virtually held its annual awards event, which raised funds for its child care and family support programs in Goleta and its newly opened Lompoc Children’s Center. An after-party at Old Town Coffee followed. At the event and in an interview, Executive Director Lori Goodman shared how in these difficult, uncertain times, LEAP is providing even more services to the low-income families it serves.
Event honoree Ernesto Paredes, who runs the nonprofit Easy Lift Transportation and is involved with countless other nonprofits, remarked that he wished “there were more LEAPs out in the community, because you are doing it right.” These kids need LEAP, Paredes related, for the love and care they provide. If we were to better serve youth, especially the really young kids, Paredes posited, “we probably would not need half the nonprofits in existence today.”
The event celebrated the opening of LEAP’s Lompoc Children’s Center, which, without any advertising, filled its 58-child capacity. LEAP’s three centers offer comprehensive high-quality, trauma-informed, dual-language programming. Collectively, LEAP’s centers are licensed for 197 children and have another 250 on the wait list.
LEAP serves entire households, many of which are mixed immigration status. It offers webinars (with Immigrant Hope), distributes Red Cards (advising immigrants of their rights), and provides one-on-one assistance with document preparation. “People are really afraid,” Goodman related. Even people who have documentation are fearful.
LEAP assists families plan for the contingency of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehension by preparing documents that gives legal authority to another person for one’s children’s interaction with doctors, schools, and other entities. “It’s heartbreaking,” Goodman shared, “that this is something people need to plan for.”
LEAP addresses the stress that families are under through mental health discussions with a psychologist. Parents are stressed, Goodman explained, which trickles down to and is manifested by the child in his or her behavior. With the dearth of Spanish-speaking counselors, this is a much-needed service.
Other services include parenting webinars with the nonprofit CALM and a diaper bank that distributed 72,000 diapers last year. The diaper bank often serves as an entry to the other services, with families coming in for diapers and then meeting with a family advocate.
Goodman speaks with passion about the importance of high-quality, early education programs. The enriched setting LEAP provides, according to Goodman, addresses the disparities that would otherwise exist when these kids enter kindergarten or TK by developing language skills, socio-emotional skills, and mathematical concepts. Moreover, LEAP’s programming allows parents to make a living, knowing that their children are in a safe, high-quality environment.
Demand for LEAP’s services keeps growing. “The more successful we are in supporting families,” Goodman shared, “the more people request services, the more demand we see. People tell their friends and family members that they were helped, and that we can be trusted. The need for Family Advocates is only going to increase as benefits are cut and as information is restricted.”
At the event, Paredes was feted by S.B. Foundation President and CEO Jackie Carrera as the “unofficial mayor of the nonprofit community” and one of the best advocates for individuals and nonprofits. Cottage Health President and CEO Ron Werft lauded Paredes, who “makes me a better person and the community a better place to be.” Werft added that Paredes “encounters what many of us thinks is impossible and makes it possible.”
Also honored was Cottage Health Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program Lynn Fitzgibbons, who also holds many other important positions. Werft declared that Fitzgibbons embodies LEAP’s core values of compassion, kindness, and love for every part of the community. She “is brilliant,” Werft continued, and “has a heart that matches that brilliance” and is one of the smartest, kindest people he knows.
A new Distinguished Alumni Award went to Amir Abo-Shaeer, a cofounder of the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy.
While LEAP garners roughly 80 percent of its revenue from government contracts, community support is crucial for its operation.
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