Alpha Resource Center is well-known in the community for its thrift stores around Goleta. Since the nonprofit’s inception 65 years ago, however, the Alpha center has provided resources, support, and belonging for community members with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For Scott Rouleau, Alpha’s presence in the community is personal. He is the guardian of his younger sister, Kerry, who has Down syndrome and currently lives in New Hampshire. To him, Alpha has been an invaluable resource when navigating care and accommodations for his out-of-state sister. In town, Rouleau volunteers for Slingshot, Alpha’s art center for adults with special needs, but he is always looking to do more for Santa Barbara’s special needs community.
So, when Rouleau heard that Alpha was looking for a pavilion, he called up Mid-Atlantic Timberframes, a former client based in Pennsylvania, who donated the materials and paid more than $12,000 to ship them to Santa Barbara. In anticipation of Alpha’s 65th anniversary, Rouleau and his friends — whom he met during the Montecito debris flow recovery efforts — came together to build the pergola at Alpha’s parent resource center.
