Santa Barbara Rescue Mission
Jaclyn Smith is currently the Manager of Shelter Operations at Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. In the past, Jaclyn has held various roles at Westmont College including Interim Resident Director, Student Success Coach, Director of Student-Led Mission & Outreach Organization, Bookstore Assistant, Sports Information Assistant, and Resident Assistant. Jaclyn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Religious Studies from Westmont College and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Theology/Theological Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. Notably, Jaclyn oversees a student-led organization that facilitates cross-cultural trips for students to countries around the world.
Santa Barbara Rescue Mission
The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission has served the county and city of Santa Barbara for over 50 years, providing emergency services and long-term recovery for the homeless and addicted. We are the only emergency shelter that is open 365 nights of the year from Santa Maria to Ventura. In 2016, we provided 143,051 meals and 51,627 safe nights of shelter for individuals with no place else to turn. Because substance abuse has a sizable impact on our community and is often a contributing factor to homelessness, we focus 85% of our resources on recovery efforts employing both outpatient and residential modalities. The Mission’s 12-month residential recovery program aims to bring individuals from decades of addiction, institutionalization, and homelessness back to sobriety, health and wholeness. Certification through the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs ensures that participants receive the highest standard of treatment in a non-medical facility. The recovery programs are operated in two separate gender-specific locations for 45 men and 24 women. In 2016, 44 people completed the recovery program, joining over 723 graduates since 1997. Our most significant accomplishment is the long-term change we see in our graduates. In contrast to national statistics that show only 21% of those who complete addiction recovery programs not returning to dependency within five years, more than 53% of our graduates maintain recovery over this same time period.