Spotlight

With the first heatwave in what’s expected to be a scorching summer, Santa Barbara County officials and local nonprofits are taking action to keep residents safe from high temperatures.  Good Samaritan Shelter Director of Homeless Services Kirsten Cahoon told the Sun that the organization deployed its outreach teams on July 5 to provide unsheltered individuals with sunscreen, cooling towels, reusable water bottles, fans, and electrolytes. On days with temps above 85 degrees, outreach workers go to riverbeds and waterways throughout the county and into downtown corridors to provide supplies and information about the warning signs of heat stroke, she said.  “It’s been informally something our outreach teams have focused on for 10 to 12 years, but more formally it is part of our warming shelter agreement that this would be something we’d do,” Kahoon said.  Good Samaritan operates Santa Barbara County’s warming shelters during the winter to provide individuals experiencing homelessness a place to go in colder, rainy weather, she said.  “This is another opportunity for our outreach teams to build relationships [with] folks who are unsheltered,” Kahoon said, adding that sometimes extreme weather can encourage more individuals who have been hesitant to seek shelter come in for services.  While Good Sam doesn’t have a specific cooling center for people to get out of the heat, outreach teams encourage people to stay in the shade and provide supplies.  “Obviously as we think about protecting our pets and other vulnerable folks in our community, [it’s important] that we remember the unsheltered and if they see somebody distressed to call emergency services, offer folks water, and things like that,” Kahoon said.  The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department issued a health alert on July 3 and activated cooling centers throughout the county for residents, including those who are unsheltered, to visit during peak heat hours, often between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg told the Sun.  “Coastal areas in Santa Barbara County are fortunate with the marine layer and natural cooling, but in the valleys and behind the mountains it’s very different,” Ansorg said...