The Forum on Levee Breach is Santa Cruz Black bringing to the forefront the flooding of the Pajaro Valley (South Santa Cruz County and North Monterey County) and the inadequate response regarding the infrastructure failure, centering families of color impacted by the recent storms and property. 

What happened for the levees to break, and what is the current state of damage to the community? What is the expected/proposed timeline for rebuilding and healing the community? 

We want community members to hear from politicians overseeing the crisis response, grassroots organizations at the forefront of providing direct services, and testimonials of families directly impacted by the floods. 

Our goal is to be one of many resources addressing this crisis. Join us Wednesday, March 22nd at 7pm on Zoom. The link to join us on the call is below.

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78231142186?pwd=s40wWuUYN6bVHbmLAoLBkX1oICbXze.1

Hosted by Santa Cruz Black.

Panelists include District 4 Supervisor Felipe Hernandez’s office, farm entrepreneur Ed Ortega, a representative of Pajaro Valley Prevention and Student Assistance, and a representative from the County Dept of Environmental Health, and a member of an affected displaced family. Spread the word with your networks.

Hello SCB family,

My identity is, by no choice of mine, intersectional. I am he/they, gay, Black.

For the majority of my life, I never understood or expressed privilege. That changed as my household grew in number due to the displacement of a friend and her two teenagers.

Today, I write because my immediate community is in distress and trauma. The levee breach on the Pájaro River is a cataclysmic event. Seeing your own neighborhood on CNN/CBS/insert news outlet is painful, incredible, and saddening. Its effect, the flooding, most seriously will last for years.

I write this in sorrow, but I know this greater community has and will continue to come together.

What frustrates me is that this event was expected to occur for the last two decades and no proactive action was taken. Now, thousands are displaced with no idea of when they will be able to return to their homes nor the status of their properties.

Life goes on as usual for many, but for scores of others, life is changing forever.

Please consider giving your support through one of the links below.

In community,

Chris

Upcoming community events

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BUILD OUR 2023 PROGRAMMING AND BEYOND

A one-time gift of support or becoming an ally with a recurring monthly gift allows us to grow our burgeoning grassroots efforts to amplify the Black community in Santa Cruz County and build community programming and community assets.

Santa Cruz Black (initially as Santa Cruz County Black Coalition for Justice and Racial Equity) was established in response to the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. That event and the fact that the Black residents of Santa Cruz County are only 1.7 % of the total population was the catalyst to bring Black concerns out of the shadows and into the forefront in this county.

We are dedicated to Black initiatives through community engagement, including: our commitment to closing the racial wealth, developing affordable housing opportunities, empowering youth, and creating community events for Black residents in Santa Cruz County.

Our mission is to empower & sustain a prosperous & thriving Black community by building and advocating for fair & just policies that promote increased access and equity in health, safety, & well being.

Please consider supporting Santa Cruz Black.

A one-time or monthly donation of ANY size sows the seeds needed for our emerging organization to thrive.

For example,
$100 will allow us to print and distribute our organizational informational collateral
$250 supports building and maintaining our IT infrastructure and needs
$500 enables us to provide transportation for our cohorts in the Melanated Makerspace program to events county-wide.
$1000 allows us to sustain our office space and expand our services as a growing community resource.
$2500 provides support for our larger community events in providing guest speakers and artists the honoraria they deserve.

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