Planned Parenthood Hosts Birds & Bees Bash

On April 5, more than 400 supporters of Planned Parenthood California Central Coast (PPCCC) gathered at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort for its annual event, netting about $500,000 for the reproductive health services provided at its six centers in the tri-county area, including one in the City of Santa Barbara. This year’s fundraiser was especially important because of the recent loss of nearly $400,000 in Title X federal grant funding.

The evening began with cocktails in the foyer, with guests clad in florals for the Garden Gala theme and many still energized from the “Hands Off” protests earlier in the day. Over dinner in the ballroom, Executive Director Jenna Tosh shared that “in this fraught moment for our country, we are doing everything we can to hold our health center doors open as wide as ever.” PPCCC continues to provide high-quality care, without judgment, and serves anyone in need.

After paying tribute to former president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Federation of America Cecile Richards, who recently passed away, Tosh rallied the crowd by quoting Richards: “It’s not hard to imagine future generations one day asking, ‘When there was so much at stake for our country, what did you do?’ The only acceptable answer is, ‘Everything we could.’” These are our marching orders, Tosh proclaimed, to do something about injustice.

Tosh lamented the rollback of rights, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade and enactment of abortion bans in 24 states; attacks on trans and non-binary people, immigrants, the rule of law, reproductive rights, and public health; the end of foreign aid for reproductive care; and the layoffs of federal workers.

On March 31, PPCCC, along with eight other affiliates, was defunded from the Title X Federal Grant program, under which PPCCC has received nearly $400,000 per year to provide care for low-income patients. The reason, Tosh explained with controlled exasperation, was PPCCC’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and its service of undocumented patients.

Grave threats lie ahead, Tosh related, including a national abortion ban and the defunding of Medicaid, but PPCCC will keep its doors open, and is even expanding. It recently opened a new, state-of-the-art center in Santa Maria, which triples its capacity at that location.

PPCCC is building an integrated behavioral health model to address the needs of patients who have experienced sexual assault, pregnancy loss, or other trauma. It is building a postpartum home visitation program to address maternal and infant health. And to raise critical funds, it has launched a special campaign: the Unstoppable Campaign.

VP of Advocacy & Engagement (and Goleta City Councilmember) Luz Reyes-Martín paid tribute to event honoree CAUSE — Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy — a nonprofit focused on social, economic, and environmental justice for working class and immigrant communities in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

The political entities of CAUSE and PPCCC (CAUSE Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund) partnered on Proposition 1, which codified the right to abortion and contraception in the CA Constitution and Proposition 35, which ensures funding for safety net healthcare providers. Another collaboration has been with pregnant farmworkers, with CAUSE working to inform them of their right to disability benefits.

Reyes-Martín remarked that the attacks against immigrants and against Planned Parenthood come from the same playbook that seeks to “divide us, devalue us, and deny us our basic rights.” She assured guests that along with partners like CAUSE, PPCCC is not backing down and encouraged guests to include CAUSE among the organizations they support. CAUSE was not present to accept the award because of ongoing contract negotiations between PPCCC clinical staff represented by SEIU-UHW and management.

In the 2023-24 fiscal year, PPCCC served more than 28,000 patients, including nearly 5,600 at its Santa Barbara Center. It performed more than 4,000 abortions, dispensed more than 60,000 units of birth control, and provided more than 110,000 STI tests and more than 3,000 cancer screenings. The nonprofit had $34 million in revenue, with the biggest chunk from patient services (largely Medi-Cal and other state programs) and nearly one-quarter coming from fundraising.