Santa Cruz Sentinel: 1/18/14

By Molly Sharlach

SANTA CRUZ -- A vibrant rainbow and soaring eagles will once again grace the side of the Union Grove Music building at Pacific Avenue and Elm Street.

Repainting began Monday on the mural honoring King Gaskins, a beloved youth leader who died 20 years ago.

Create a sea of change. Begin by learning more about five local nonprofits in our annual Community Fund issue.

Sometimes the best gifts come unwrapped. No curly ribbons or bows. No frills. Often, these gifts come in the form of generosity and kindness—from family and loved ones, or from people we hardly know at all. All of this factors into the mix of our annual Community Fund issue, in which we shine the spotlight on the very important and vital issue of housing.

By Stephen Baxter - Santa Cruz Sentinel

A program to house 180 of the most medically vulnerable, chronically homeless people in Santa Cruz County has kicked off with its first 10 participants.

Based on a national push to provide stable housing for the homeless and then address obstacles to employment, 180/180 leaders plan to provide housing for 180 people by July 2014 and turn their lives around 180 degrees.

By J.M. Brown, Santa Cruz Sentinel

SANTA CRUZ - When Daniel was diagnosed with HIV 13 years ago, he thought his life was over.

He didn't fit the profile of what he thought a person with HIV looked like. He thought only gay men could become infected and didn't realize he could get it by sharing drug needles.

Two of the winners of the 2011 Queer Youth Leadership Awards recently gave their $500 award checks to the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center/Youth Services' STRANGE program.

There's a reason Deutron Kebebew chose to work with fathers.

Not only does he want to be one some day, but he wants to make sure no other children have to face what he did when, after arriving in California from Ethiopia, he was placed in foster care in his early teens.

Now the project director for the Santa Cruz County PAPÁS group, which advocates for co-parenting and helps fathers build strong relationships with their children, the UC Santa Cruz graduate draws on first-hand experience to create his own brand of social justice.