Wealthy CA city launched an ‘adopt a home’ begging pot

A wealthy California city has released a begging pot asking the public to pay to furnish a homeless people’s apartment complex.

Santa Barbara, where the median income is $106,182, released the ‘adopt a home’ initiative on Monday and is hoping to raise $50,000 to fund the interior of the 31 studios.

The housing authority linked to an Amazon wish list that included dozens of items such as white noise devices, BBQs and luxury rugs, the Santa Barbara Independent reports.

The link shows a 6-piece set of bath towels for $17.58, white noise machines for sleeping for $19.99, a geometric patch area rug for $199.99 and a 4-Burner liquid propane gas grill which sells for $329.

“You’re talking about everything from a shower mat to a bed. And so we’re looking to not only the business community, but also the private community to help raise these funds,” Frank Quezada, Resident Programs Analyst at the Santa Barbara Housing Authority, told KCLU.

But, it’s a hard pill to swallow in a state where CA residents already pay high taxes and deal with a staggering cost of living.

Not to mention, in the city of Santa Barbara where the sales tax is 9.25 percent and all these taxes are supposed to already go to provide for these kinds of services.

The location is at 3055 De La Vina street, formerly the location of a Quality Inn. The purchase was made possible through a loan from the City of Santa Barbara, funding through the Santa Barbara Foundation and the Housing Authority.

It will accept Section 8 vouchers, which are awarded to people living at 30 percent of the area’s median income. City officials like Quezada said the apartments are a chance for a fresh start.

“A home is the foundation to their life’s stability. Having a roof over their head, somewhere to have a cup of coffee in the morning, all the things we take for granted.”

This is the city’s most recent project for the homeless. In 2022, DignityMoves opened its doors in Santa Barbara, a tiny cabin village for the formerly and chronically homeless.

Proponents argue that these supervised communities are drug free, and no alcohol is allowed, which they said are helping to turn people’s lives around, who couldn’t before. 

In a video from 2024, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown and others touted the results from the 2022 project and claimed that the homeless population is down because of it.

“In 15 months our first tiny home village has served 90 homeless individuals. 70% of those who have left moved to stable housing,” a statistic in the video about the project read. 

SB Housing Authority’s executive director and CEO Rob Fredericks said that “By helping us furnish these studios, our supporters are doing more than donating.

“They are helping us turn this former hotel into a true home for those who have been without one for far too long.”

The California Post reached out to the City of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Housing Authority, the non-profit that the city is partnering with and Sheriff Brown for comment. 

The project is scheduled to open its doors in June 2026.

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