SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Over 50 years ago, Claire Mills gathered a group of her friends. In Santa Barbara.
Together, they started what is now called “CALM” a nonprofit focused on preventing child abuse in Santa Barbara County.
“I don’t think Claire would ever have known that by adding that one extra phone line in her home back in the late 60s 1970 … that we would have this countywide multifaceted mental health organization,” said president and CEO Alana Walczak of CALM.
CALM’s mission is to prevent childhood trauma, heal children and families, and build resilient communities throughout the county.
But most of their work is focused on prevention by supporting families so that trauma never occurs.
“There’s just been such an increase in stress, and we know that stress is the most predictive factor for trauma for abuse for neglect, so I think there are just a lot of families and a lot of children who are really struggling,” said Walczak.
In 2021, CALM received a $75,000 grant from the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara to provide school-based mental health services.