In 2005, while sitting in North Star Coffee on State Street and reading Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski, in walked the author himself. As I am apt to make the most of any synchronistic moment, I invited him to join me.
It just so happened that I was on a listening journey into the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, to discover the most urgent cries of the neighborhood. Under the Overpass was Mike’s journey from having no understanding of the issue of homelessness and, by becoming homeless himself for a time, to becoming an advocate for friends on the streets. I remember him saying to me, “If you want to understand the city, you should understand homelessness.”
I joined him, and a few months later some friends and I were at Pershing Park every Wednesday with spaghetti, salad, and bread. I was given the street name “Spaghetti Man,” and the trajectory of my life changed.
My work at the park was primarily with chronically homeless individuals who were deemed “service resistant” at the time. It is our care for this specific population that I have seen radically change from 2005 to 2025, because we combined all our efforts to create better strategies and systems from streets to housing.
Over 20 years, we moved from having no professional case management agencies out on the streets to several agencies now countywide. We developed our local Coordinated Entry System, utilizing consistent federal funding streams for case management. We developed the Vulnerability Index to help assess and assist the most vulnerable into housing first.
The Freedom Warming Centers opened when the county worked with local faith communities and men and women with lived experience. This overnight shelter during rain or very cold temperatures dramatically decreased the number of deaths on the streets among the individuals experiencing homelessness.
The highlight for me? We had the most volunteers ever in the United States coming to work alongside us and the 100,000 Homes Campaign in 2011 to engage in the Point-in-Time Count connected to the Vulnerability Index. We had more than 500 volunteers come out and set the standard for caring for the most vulnerable.
A New Crisis
We face a new and similar crisis today — and I am hoping once again Santa Barbara will respond with passion, energy, and coordinated resources.
This time, the population crying out to us are the vulnerable children and youth in Santa Barbara who are experiencing commercial sexual exploitation — or CSECY. In 2025 alone, Noah’s Anchorage identified 14 youth at high risk and 24 at moderate risk of becoming vulnerable to predators and exploiters. These are youth who rotate between shelter, home, couch surfing, and homelessness — and who might be missing school. Exploitation looks like someone initiating the grooming process, which is a manipulative, multistage tactic used by offenders to build trust with a child and their family for the purpose of sexual abuse and exploitation.
At the same time, we’ve received new data from our Homelessness Management Information System that there are currently 34 unaccompanied youth under the age of 18 in the City of Santa Barbara alone. These numbers do not capture what might be happening countywide.
What Is Happening, and What Is Needed Now?
The District Attorney’s Office, under the leadership of District Attorney John Savrnoch and the Victim Witness Assistance Program Director Megan Rheinschild, is spearheading countywide efforts to tackle human trafficking in all its forms, including the exploitation of young people, with the Human Trafficking Task Force. Kingdom Causes is in the midst of creating a Three-Year Action Plan in partnership with countywide government agencies, local businesses, nonprofits, faith communities, and high school and college students to build a sustainable, local continuum of care for children and youth who are at risk or who are confirmed as being exploited.
SAFE Santa Barbara County has brought together initial resources to fund a part-time position at Noah’s Anchorage for a key case manager. This person would be a single point of contact for young people and their families. This is the core position we hope to build around — much as we have the case managers for the most chronic and vulnerable on the streets. Case managers who understand the art and science of working with children and youth will be able to help them navigate the system and find resources, so they are not exploited by others.
You can be a part of the Three-Year Action Plan, which is in development now to be launched in the spring of 2026. We are looking for passionate people to become key stakeholders in energizing and supporting the plan — whether you are a funder, government official, business owner or employee, faith community member, nonprofit leader, or a student who is captivated by this cause. Let’s eradicate the exploitation of children and youth together.
If anyone is interested in learning more, please reach out to me directly at jeff.shaffer@kingdomcauses.org or find me on LinkedIn or Facebook!
You must be logged in to post a comment.