New Beginnings

New Beginnings Executive Director Kristine Schwarz doesn’t imagine that her recent difficulties with navigating the health care system come close to those of the nonprofit’s clientele, whose roadblocks to accessing care are just one of the challenges they face. In fact, that her experiences bore an eerie resemblance to one of the New Beginnings’ clients only increased her concern and dedication to making sure they get the help they need.

After her recent hip replacement surgery, Schwarz encountered one snafu after another. Physical therapy wasn’t arranged as expected. In-home nursing visits didn’t line up with the timing for getting her bandages promptly changed and cared for. There were medication errors and efforts to sell her equipment she didn’t need, she recalled. 

“It was very different from when I had the other hip replaced a decade ago,” Schwarz said. “I have good insurance, I have a support network, and I can’t tell you how much I had to aggressively advocate for myself to get the treatment that I needed. Every step of the way, people either didn’t show up, or even schedule a time. Medications were wrong. I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this really is a reminder for me of how important our services are for our clients because they don’t have the resources that I have, they don’t have the training and the skills and the experience that I have with more than 25 years in mental health and social work.’”

The contrast was stark. 

“I know how to ask for help. Most of our clients don’t know who to call,” Schwarz says. “They wouldn’t know that they could call.”

Indeed, New Beginnings has been serving low-income members of the community for more than 50 years providing counseling services and, more recently, help with safe housing, and access to care and case management, including for those living in vehicles or on the street.

Such was the case with a recent client Schwarz recalls whose situation – a nurse who needed follow-up care after major surgery — resembled Schwarz’s own, but for one crucial element; the client was living in her vehicle and a change in her insurance coverage had left her unable to access the local services she needed. 

“She’d just had major surgery and shouldn’t be recuperating in a vehicle, but there were no medical beds at one of the shelters, so they just discharged and that was that,” Schwarz said. 

Despite the client’s own professional nursing background, she’d become overwhelmed by her situation. New Beginnings staff identified the insurance issue, worked to change her coverage and connected her with a skilled nursing facility.

“This is what we do every day, troubleshooting constantly and working to get problems solved,” Schwarz said. “We keep working until arrangements are done.

The organization’s multidisciplinary team includes expertise in nursing, behavioral health, addiction, aging, employment and benefits. That range reflects how often a person’s needs overlap – securing housing may be inseparable from obtaining medical care, resolving a benefits problem, or finding support for a mental health condition – interlocking issues that don’t fit neatly inside a typical nonprofit’s approach. 

“Not only do we advocate for people, but we bring those services to them in their home,” Schwarz said. “We have an expansive number of projects and programs within the agency now including having staff out in the field, even working with people and bringing these types of services to them on the street. We have rapid rehousing and prevention and of course our in-house counseling center, which has a sliding scale that goes down to $1 or even just a quarter, if necessary.” 

Among the roadblocks for clients that New Beginnings addresses are the obstacle of waiting for services. Some clients face appointments for care many months away, even as their circumstances grow more precarious. The nonprofit’s relationships with local providers often is able to cut through the red tape to get people seen sooner, so the situation doesn’t worsen while an appointment, referral or decision remains pending.

“We’re always thinking, ‘What can we do? Who can we call? How can we work it? Where do we take them?’”

Repeatedly being dismissed or postponed can also change what people expect from the systems around them. Some clients become accustomed to accepting that help is unavailable, Schwarz says. Advocacy means continuing to pursue options when someone no longer believes there are any.

Which brings us to New Beginnings’ 2026 Annual Benefit Gala, featuring The Willard Suitcases, a powerful exhibition by acclaimed photographer Jon Crispin that will be on display at Art & Soul Gallery in Santa Barbara November 4-8. Highlighting the significant need for affordable mental health services, the exhibit features the 1995 discovery of over 400 suitcases in the attic of The Willard Psychiatric Center in upstate New York, when the institution was closing after 100 years. The suitcases had been stored since patients’ arrival, and Crispin’s photos of the contents reflect their stories in emotionally powerful ways that run from funny to strange and tragic, all with attention on humanity. 

Art & Soul is open to the public Thursday-Sunday afternoons, while Gala sponsors will enjoy a private event at the gallery and a luncheon on Sunday, November 8, at The Grand on State a block away where they will catch a special sneak peek of The Willard Suitcases musical that New Beginnings will present in fall 2027, including live performances of songs from the production.

“Back then people were hospitalized for anxiety and depression, menopause and hysteria – all illnesses and diagnoses that today could easily be treated with therapy and or medication,” Schwarz said. “But they were put away because people didn’t know what else to do with them. Today, we have a lot of people who are dealing with a lot of the same types of issues in addition to poverty, which is where community support becomes essential.”

The Willard Suitcases presentation is part of the nonprofit’s tradition of turning to the arts for telling compelling stories to connect the community to their work.

“Narrative and story really help people understand the population that we work with in a context that’s not so preachy in your face,” Schwarz said. “It’s more relatable to the average person. The feedback that we get every year from people is tremendous. They come up to me and say, ‘Oh, now I get it.’” 

Visit https://sbnbcc.org for more information