Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle inebriated himself with strangers and slept through a revolution of social and structural change. There are those who can and those who cannot recognize the tumults of change or who would rather sleep through them than make hard choices.
Rip Van Winkle ended up in the Catskill mountains trying to escape his nagging partner and the work that was needed on his farm. I fear too many citizens are trying to live in denial of some nagging “data” and the work that is needed to plow the fields on behalf of the most vulnerable. And so, we slip into a drowsy state of unawareness of what is befalling our neighbors in need.
It is high time we just admit that many of our citizens are finding themselves short on food, medical care, housing, and communities of love, purpose, and belonging. What is most disturbing is the increasing challenges that women and children are facing locally.
When the proverbial ship is taking on water, supposedly it is “Women and Children First!” And with all the attention on the Epstein files, more people awakened to the realities of exploitation and abuse across the country. But in our county, we see little to no change in the realities of women and children facing homelessness, violence, and exploitation.
Our Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) tells us that in 2025 in the Lompoc region there were 476 women experiencing homelessness; 200 of those women were fleeing domestic violence. And we know that women on the streets are the most vulnerable to human trafficking and sexual exploitation. We have seen the data from 2023 to 2025 and there has been a sharp increase over time. Someone knee deep in water is crying out, “Women First!”
Working alongside the Santa Barbara County’s Human Trafficking Task Force for over a decade now, we have come to understand the reality of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth (CSECY) in our county. Many government agencies, nonprofits, and law enforcement partners are actively engaged with these young women and men, but we discovered a gap both in prevention services and early intervention strategies.
Working with individual donors and Noah’s Anchorage we helped bring on board a case manager as a single point of contact for these youth. We are now receiving ongoing data and can let you know that they see on average two new youths a week at high risk or confirmed as being exploited sexually. The definitions are difficult to explain because of discrepancies between agencies of how to determine the signs of grooming and when exploitation officially begins. But, as the story goes, youth will often leave shelter, security, and safety to find love, purpose, and belonging — and that is what exploiters are looking for, and they are active in our community and on our social media platforms today.
As the water comes up to the waist, someone screams out, “Children First.”
It seems like everywhere you go you hear about funding cuts and new regulations and restrictions. Federal cuts, county cuts, city cuts. Foundations are making hard choices. And it is tough for most of us to even sustain our own living in Santa Barbara. More for eggs, more for gas, more for health care, and the story goes on.
But it must then fall to all of us to fill the gaps. Business owners, faith community leaders and members, and community stakeholders. Here’s the hard reality – I know there are people in Santa Barbara with enough wealth to write a single check and pay for a case manager to care for our local youth, or pay for a year of coordination in Lompoc to see to it that these women find safety and love, purpose, and belonging again.
If it is truly “women and children first,” it should not be this hard. Please Santa Barbara, hear the cries of Women and Children First!
From the ground up, we build. We have recently convened a Business Coalition to help spread awareness and support both coordination of services and the case manager at Noah’s Anchorage. If you are a business owner, you can join us today!
We also have an Interfaith Collaborative, Students for Survivors clubs on high school campuses, and a team of Westmont students in our Fellowship Program focused on building a continuum of care for children and youth in the City of Santa Barbara. There is a sense that we can, together, see the water recede. The work of Kingdom Causes is to work with everyone to help the most vulnerable in our county.
We can do this — no Rip Van Winkles here.
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