Storyteller

Storyteller has been around for nearly four decades, rising from humble beginnings as a roped off section of Transition House to occupying three distinct campuses collectively serving 150 students, its therapeutic preschools supporting Santa Barbara’s most vulnerable children and their families. The nonprofit focuses on providing high-quality, trauma-informed early childhood education, paired with comprehensive family services to help youngsters who have or are facing adversity build the resilience, confidence, and skills they need to succeed in school and in life.

Not long ago, the nonprofit adopted the slogan that they help families “rewrite their stories” and break cycles of poverty, essentially serving as a social change organization that transforms narratives of struggle into stories of strength and possibility.

In February, however, the organization is doing a bit of reframing of their own narrative, at least as far as timing for its annual big benefit evening. 

The gala event, previously held in the fall, is moving away from the crowded calendar in October to a more open date in late winter. “Color the World: Hues of Love” will take place on Saturday, February 21, in an event that also heralds a new location for the fundraiser: the beautiful Rosewood Miramar right here in Montecito. The evening will be hosted by popular emcee Andrew Firestone and feature after-party tunes by the almost ubiquitous DJ Darla Bea, following a program of elevated dining, a highly curated silent and live auction, and immersive surprises throughout the evening. Storyteller’s mission will be brought to life in meaningful and unexpected ways.

“We decided to switch it up a bit and move out of the typical gala season,” explained Executive Director Dr. Gabriella Garcia. “But the goal remains the same.” 

Namely, to raise a significant portion of the essential funds that support Storyteller’s critical work in serving disadvantaged children aged six weeks to five years and their families across Santa Barbara County. Much more than half of the organization’s $3 million annual budget is funded through individuals within Santa Barbara County, so the gala actually makes a measurable difference. 

The theme of “Color the World,” which was established at last year’s event, is actually scientifically based, said Tess Ortega, Storyteller’s development director. 

“When children have experienced trauma, their world can be a little gray,” she explained. “But once they start making new connections and having positive experiences, if you were to put their little brains under a scan, they would light up.”

The explosions of color are only increasing at Storyteller, as its growth spurt continues at a rate that would rival a teenager’s. After returning to Transition House recently in taking over operations of its Infant and Toddler Center, Storyteller has notched a 30% increase in year-over-year number of children it serves. But the need only continues to grow even faster. 

“There is a huge wealth discrepancy in Santa Barbara,” Garcia said. “Not everybody realizes that we have students and families who are truly living under the federal poverty line and are struggling. The need is great. Over the years we have done what we can to add more children and serve more families. We worked really hard to be able to serve as many as we can. But we still have a wait list of about 130 students.”

Doing what they can to be able to serve as many as possible is of utmost importance for Storyteller. 

“We know that when children experience extreme early adversity, their likelihood of having long-term negative health impacts and life outcomes increase significantly,” Ortega said. “We’re really intervening early when it matters most to our students, and we’re enabling our families – who are 100% low income and live under the poverty line – the ability to go to work, go to school, to change their financial circumstances.”

Storyteller’s growth efforts are also in the qualitative space, with designs on supporting its students not only with day-to-day educational needs but also holistically – from daily nutritious meals to long-term household stability. Hence the creation of its new family empowerment program called THRIVE. 

The program, an acronym that stands for Transforming Households with Resources, Information, Vision, and Empowerment, is a financial literacy initiative offering quarterly practical workshops that provide families with concrete tools to set them up for long-term financial success. 

“It focuses on financial literacy for the entire family,” Garcia said. “To break the cycle of poverty and trauma, our families have to partner with us and they, as the first teachers of their children, have to really be dedicated to the program in terms of the comprehensive services that we offer for the parents and families. Otherwise, this doesn’t work. THRIVE is the newest addition where we’ll be partnering with local banks to provide financial literacy classes quarterly and really make that one of the pillars of what we do for our families to help reshape their futures.”

The benefit evening will also spotlight the Storyteller Teen Council, a youth-led program that began at San Marcos High School and has grown to include chapter presidents from Bishop Diego High School, Cate School, Laguna Blanca School, and Santa Barbara High School. Some of the teen volunteers will take the stage to share their perspectives on philanthropy and the power of community investment.

“There’s also the quarterly volunteer program called Storyteller Giving Circle, with on-campus activities offered after hours for those who really want to get into the nitty-gritty and do tangible work that impacts our students and our families,” Ortega said. There’s also a new food pantry that helps address food insecurity prevalent among its families, as well as other essential supplies. 

To be clear, though, this “Color the World: Hues of Love” gala isn’t a bland recitation of facts and figures. While its actual clients won’t be on hand, the event keeps the spotlight on the children throughout the evening. 

“It’s an exciting night that celebrates how far we’ve come and the hurdles that we have continued to overcome,” Garcia said. “We make sure that our kids and our mission are at the forefront of every aspect of the gala. While it’s beautiful and elegant, there’s also such a huge mission focus and it’s really a celebration of what we’ve been able to achieve together. Everything at the gala is definitely representative of our mission and our children.”

That includes the actual artwork that will be displayed in the evening’s decor at the Rosewood Miramar. 

“Every piece has been touched by a child and created by a child,” Garcia said. “That’s part of why we hear over and over that people think our gala is one of the most fun in town. They appreciate that our gala feels like you are coming into a family party to celebrate the growth of our children and the resiliency of our families.” 

For those unfamiliar with Storyteller who are perhaps not ready to attend an event like the February gala, the executive team extended an open invitation to visit and see the program in action first-hand. 

“Come and experience the magic,” Garcia said. “It’s easy to schedule a tour and once you get here, you will understand why it is so important to make Storyteller one of your priority organizations you support… If you love Santa Barbara and you care about the future of our community, you should care about the children in our community.”  

Visit https://one.bidpal.net/huesoflove/welcome for tickets to Color the World