Santa Maria Community Services

The workforce development program focuses on long term strategies for financial stability by offering high school equivalency (hse) preparation classes, employment coaching, benefits counseling, housing supports and financial coaching at not cost to clients. Longer term outcomes include employment retention, improved credit ratings, increased net income and increased net worth. When appropriate, families are encouraged to enroll for public benefits and area resources in order to free up cash in the family budget to pay down debt, build assets and eventually work themselves off of public benefits through one-on-one coaching. A financial coach assists clients in completing a financial assessment and identifying opportunities to save money on things like check cashing fees, tax preparation costs, finance charges and other hidden costs while building savings through matched savings accounts. During 2024, 374 individuals received workforce development services.

Santa maria's supportive services programming has three basic components focusing on mitigating social determinants of health and promoting family stability: wellness, immigrant outreach, and stable families. The wellness component ensures that the underserved increase their use of community resources. This work is accomplished through community in-kind services with agency partners, health workshops, and community health fairs. Additionally, wellness partners with local organizations to provide emergency prescription assistance, free eye exams/glasses, hearing exams, hiv/aids testing and education, and health insurance enrollment. Of particular note, this program provides culturally and linguistically appropriate navigation services to the hispanic/latino and african communities. The immigrant outreach component provides group programming and resources for the immigrant communities of the greater cincinnati area including english as a second language (esl) classes. Services are offered free of charge at a variety of community locations as well as virtually. Wellness & immigrant outreach served more than 700 adults and children in 2024. Stable families, which served 162 families in 2024, follows a national best practice model through the siemer family foundation and offers direct support to families with school-age children (including preschool) to help stabilize their housing in order to prevent avoidable moves and the children's schooling being disrupted. All three components provide support, coaching, standardized screenings, advocacy, and education to parents, caregivers, and their children.

The youth development program works intensively each school year with sixth, seventh and eighth grade students, and their families, enrolled in oyler school, a cincinnati public school in lower price hill. The program uses an evidence-based model to offer structured group facilitation for youth and consistent advocacy for their families. Youth develop social and emotional competencies that are predictive of academic and non-academic success. The program also focuses on a community impact strategy to prevent violence by leading the lower price hill violence prevention collaborative, which utilizes a variety of best-practice strategies to give youth protective factors while reducing risk factors. The youth development program is based in the joe williams family center, a community facility where dozens of youth gather after school and during the summer to enjoy a diverse array of activities including a sports league, basketball, art opportunities, music, dance, healthy cooking, and much more. During 2024 this program served 228 adults and 317 youth.