Community Connection

08/07/2026

🍓Homeless Garden Project Outing🌱 In honor of National Farmworker Appreciation Day, our participants, staff, and UCSC interns spent the day volunteering with the Homeless Garden Project. 🌿💐

Together, we bundled flowers to be dried and prepared for the Homeless Garden Project store while learning more about the incredible work they do to provide job training, employment opportunities, and support for people experiencing homelessness in our community.

We’re grateful for the opportunity to give back, learn, and support an organization that’s helping people build skills, confidence, and a path forward. Thank you to the Homeless Garden Project for welcoming us!

07/23/2026

Our Community Connections garden is thriving! ☀️ We spent a day planting seeds, teaching skills, and growing together. 🌱Shout out to our Healthy Connections UCSC interns for supporting our garden and our community 🫰🏻💙

06/25/2026

🌿 Help us transform the Friendship Garden at Harvey West Park! 🌿

On June 24, volunteers will come together to revamp the Friendship Garden and bocce ball court—a welcoming space for people with disabilities and the entire Santa Cruz community. You can help make this project possible by donating supplies or making a financial gift.

💚 Needed supplies:
• 6 cubic yards of mulch (gorilla hair preferred)
• 400 square feet of w**d barrier fabric
• 1 box of garden staples
• Flowers or native plants suitable for semi-shade conditions in the Harvey West area

💻 Donate online and include "Friends or donate supplies" in the memo, or coordinate a supply donation by contacting Tori at (831) 425-8132 ext. 209.

Together, we can help create a beautiful, inclusive space where everyone belongs.

🔗 https://scvolunteercenter.org/donate/

06/25/2026

In honor of Together Tuesday— Community Connection revitalized The Friendship Garden at Harvey West Park, a space dedicated to our community members with disabilities.

Community Connection and the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County share the belief that everyone has the ability to make a meaningful contribution. Today’s project was a beautiful reminder that when we create opportunities for people to serve, connect, and belong, our entire community grows stronger.

Special shout out to the donors, partners, and volunteers that made today possible!

Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz Warriors
TOGO'S Capitola
Lookout Santa Cruz
Scotts Valley Rockery
NAMI Santa Cruz County
New Leaf Community Markets

Special thanks to GivingTuesday for supporting and making this day possible, and to Be The People for capturing the heart of today’s event and the power of community in action.

05/15/2026

💙 Celebrate Potential 🩵

At Community Connections, we believe every person has something valuable to offer - their story, their resilience, their creativity, their kindness, and their ability to build community.

Our Celebrate Potential event is about recognizing the incredible strengths and growth of our participants while continuing to challenge the stigma surrounding mental health. Healing looks different for everyone, and every step forward deserves to be seen and celebrated.

Tonight, we honor individuals who show up for themselves and others every day - the community builders, encouragers, artists, volunteers, leaders, and people reminding us that recovery and connection are possible.

As part of the celebration, we spread wildflower seeds in the garden - a reminder that even the smallest seed has the potential to grow into something vibrant and life-giving. Growth takes time, care, community, and the belief that something beautiful is being cultivated!

A huge thank you to for generously sponsoring food and refreshments for this special event. Your support helps create a space where people feel welcomed, valued, and celebrated.

Together, we continue building a community where everyone belongs.

05/05/2026

Good food, good people, real support 🩵

At Community Connections, we offer food bags every day for anyone who needs a little extra support.

We also host community lunches throughout the month- a chance to share a meal, connect, and just be around others.

Simple things, but they make a difference. Shout out to our new UCSC Healthy Connection interns for preparing food bags and recipes every week!

Whether you could use some food or support with mental health services you’re always welcome here.

📍 300 Harvey West Blvd, Santa Cruz
📍 10 Carr Street, Watsonville

04/23/2026

In honor of Earth Day 🌍🌱Opportunity Connection took a mindful walk through the beauty of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum- a space that reminds us how healing nature can be.

We’re grateful to create opportunities where mental health and the natural world come together. 🌿

Taking care of the Earth is also taking care of ourselves. Reach out to learn more about our FREE mental health groups for Medi-Cal participants. Link in bio🩵

📍300 Harvey west blvd. Santa Cruz, CA

📍10 Carr St. Watsonville, CA

04/12/2026

April is National Volunteer Month and we’re celebrating the power of showing up- for each other and our community. As part of the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, Community Connection thrives because of people like YOU.

🩵 Weekly Community Gardening
🗓 Mondays | ⏰ 10:15–11:15 AM

No green thumb required—just a willingness to connect.

04/03/2026

Sometimes healing looks like fresh air, ocean waves, and time spent together 🩵🌊

Our Community Connections group took it to the beach.. because mental health support doesn’t just happen in a room. It happens in connection, in movement, and in moments like these. A big thank you to the and for providing such a peaceful and accessible place to grow. 🌱

03/31/2026