The Outer Work Project

July 11 – October 11 • 9 – 11AM PST • ONLINE
Sliding scale (no one will be turned away for lack of funds)

The Outer Work Project is a transformative 3-month online program helping guide people from individual resilience and healing towards meaningful social change. 

]oin the 3.5% needed to turn the tide! Be one of the 9 million Americans needed!

The Outer Work Project – Healing. Community. Social Change

From the Outer Work Project website linked above:
Continuing to witness systemic harm without a channel for action leads to moral injury . This isn’t a personal failing—it’s a sign of your integrity. But it is particularly insidious because it doesn’t just make you sad; it erodes your agency.

Feelings of hypocrisy, soul-ache, burnout—these can all be indications of moral wounds calling out for healing. Collective action is the most effective way to reawaken your nervous system and regain a sense of agency and healthy power in your life.

By finding a strategic role to play, you aren’t just helping the world; you are modeling for the next generation what it looks like to live in alignment with your values even when things are difficult.

Right now, we are in a critical window ahead of the 2026 U.S. Midterm elections.
You could wait until the final weeks of the election to vote and donate in a panic, or you could join The Outer Work Project, and move from reactive to proactive.
By the time the midterms are here, you will be well on your way toward the change we need!

Sign Up Here

Cultivating Care

4th Monday of the Month • Next Meeting June 22 • 5:30-7:30 PM • Free •
Ocean View Park • 102 Ocean View Ave • Santa Cruz • wheelchair accessible

Our Purpose
In the spirit of collective, interconnected liberation, the intention of Cultivating Care is to actively build anti-racist culture by understanding and dismantling white supremacy as it exists in ourselves and our culture. While we are clear that we must also work in relationship with Black and BIPOC humans to create new systems where all people are valued and thriving, this group is for being in compassionate relationship with each other to address our whiteness. This container is for all of us, wherever we are on our racial justice journey, to have courageous, vulnerable conversations that foster belonging, healing, calling in and showing up.

This space is for:

  • White people who are new to anti-racism work and want a place to begin learning responsibly
  • White people who have been engaged in this work and want to continue deepening their practice
  • People who are willing to be challenged, reflect on their impact, and take accountability for harm
  • Participants who understand that this space is about learning, not perfection
  • People who understand this is ongoing work, not a one-time learning experience

Why is this space centered on white people? Are you centering whiteness?
For decades—and longer—Black and BIPOC leaders have called on white people to “get your people”: to take responsibility for organizing within white communities and addressing racism there. Because of racism, white people often have greater access to and influence with other white people, and therefore, have a responsibility to engage their people and communities in this work. This space is one response to that call.

Is this space only for white people?
No. Everyone is welcome to attend. However, the content, focus, and structure of the group are designed primarily to support white people in their anti-racism learning and organizing. 

Register here for Cultivating Care

Film Screening: Space Is the Place  +  Sun Ra: Do the Impossible


Friday • June 19 • 7:30 PM • $10 advance / $15 at the door
The 418 Project – Small Theater • 155 S River St • Santa Cruz

Join the 418 Project for a special Juneteenth celebration honoring the visionary world of Sun Ra through an unforgettable double feature screening of SPACE IS THE PLACE (1974) and the new documentary SUN RA: DO THE IMPOSSIBLE (2025).

Blending jazz, Afrofuturism, philosophy, performance, and radical imagination, Sun Ra’s work challenged audiences to envision entirely new possibilities for art, identity, and liberation. From the surreal sci-fi world of Space Is the Place to the expansive legacy explored in Do the Impossible, this evening celebrates one of the most influential and uncompromising artists of the 20th century.

Come experience a night of music, film, imagination, and collective reflection.

Get Tickets for Juneteenth Double Feature Here

BLACK SURF SANTA CRUZ LIBERATION PADDLE OUT

Friday  June 19 • 12pm – 5pm 
Cowell Beach • Santa Cruz • Free

Join Black Surf Santa Cruz as they come together at the shoreline to celebrate, connect, and spend the day in and around the ocean. There will be music, games, food, art, and time in the water — with free surf equipment (while supplies last), ocean safety support, and a welcoming space for all levels. Whether you’re paddling out or staying on the sand, there’s a place for you here.

RSVP here to spend the day with Black Surf Santa Cruz! Check out the LPO 2026 webpage for more information and to stay updated on the latest LPO news!

Want to Support the LPO?

Here’s what they need: 

  • Volunteers — sign-up here or on their website!
  • Monetary donations — help us reach our community fundraising goal! Venmo/PayPal: @blacksurfsantacruz or head over to our site for more ways to donate. Please write “paddle-out” in the notes to include your name on our community surf board! 
  • Donations for our prizes & games — prizes & giveaways welcome! 
  • Corporate Sponsors — help us expand our impact! 
  • Spread the word — tag your crew & bring a friend!

De-escalation Training

Wednesdy • June 17 • 5:00-7:30 PM 
Resource Center for Nonvioence • 612 Ocean St • Santa Cruz
wheelchair accessible • ticketed event

De-escalation skills are key in helping people (including ourselves) reduce anger and increase the calmness and clarity that allow us to deal with immediate problems and issues more effectively.
In this fun, informative, and interactive class, we will:

  • Investigate the way that stress increases our potential for anger and reactivity;
  • Understand the physiology of anger
  • Learn Blocks to Listening & Active Listening Skills
  • Learn and practice techniques for de-escalating anger and conflict with role plays and real life examples.


Register Here

Juneteenth Celebration

Saturday • June 13 • 12 – 6 PM • wheelchair accessible • Free
Santa Cruz City Hall (809 Center St) to Laurel Park (301 Center St)

Santa Cruz Juneteenth celebrates Black Liberation and Freedom for our 35th year!

The theme this year is RESILIENCE 

Join in for Music, Dance, Poetry from the Diaspora, nourishing soul food, craft booths, and help create an Ancestors Altar. Move your body with our Moments of Movements instructors. Dance to the park in our 2nd Line Sidewalk Parade starting at noon at the BLM Mural with a live brass and drum band and our Honorary Grand Marshal.

🙏🏽  Ancestors Altar. 

💪🏽  Move your body with our Moments of Movements instructors.

💃🏽  Dance to the park in our 2nd Line Sidewalk Parade starting at noon at the BLM Mural with a live brass and drum band and our Honorary Grand Marshal.

Always FREE, there’s plenty of activities for children, including the sack race and the basketball clinic starting at 1:30pm. More info here.

Advocate for a People’s Budget for Santa Cruz County 2026/2027

Sign On Letter • Email Your Supervisor • Attend Board of Supervisor Meeting Wednesday, June 10/Thurday June 11

It’s budget time again! Like last year, this year’s budget fight is real; the current federal government has made cruel cuts to grants, a significant source of funding for Santa Cruz County’s Health and Human Services (HHS) department, which is forcing that department in turn to propose cuts. However, our county has options! The pain of these cuts could be shared amongst other departments.

Like last year, and the year before, we are asking individuals and organizations to sign on to our community letter, Santa Cruz County: Budget Our Values, because people-centered services save lives and money by June 15th.

You can also directly send a personalized letter to your supervisor here!

Budget hearings will be June 10th, 11th and 24th. The agendas and locations will be published here.

And this year, we have an op-ed in Lookout: read it here!


Restorative Justice 101 Training

Next training: Wednesday • June 10 • 5:00-7:00 PM 
Free (donations accepted)
Virtual, check website for current details

Join the Conflict Resolution Center for a 2-hour introductory workshop to learn about and discuss the many layers and nuances of restorative justice. This will be a combination of lectures with whole group discussions as well as breakout room discussions for an interactive and engaging experience.

You Will Learn:

  • The basics of what restorative justice is and isn’t
  • The different ways it can be implemented
  • The underlying principles and foundations
  • How it differs from criminal justice
  • Who benefits from restorative justice and how
  • Ways it is being implemented in Santa Cruz County
  • and MORE!
     

FREE** Accepting Donations

See CRC website for details and registration

Care Not Cages County Budget 101

Thursday • May 28 • 6:00 – 8:00 PM  • Wheelchair accessible  • Free
In-Person • Branciforte Branch Library • 230 Gault St • Santa Cruz


A THRIVING community is a SAFER community!

You’re invited to come learn about the Santa Cruz County budget for 2026-2027, and how you can help decide how Santa Cruz County spends your taxes.

Care Not Cages, a collaboration between MILPA and Showing Up for Racial Justice Santa Cruz County, has been working to advocate for an investment in prevention, community-based solutions, housing and public health services in our county.

When: Thursday, May 28, 2026, 6-8pm (doors open at 5:45pm)

Where: Branciforte Branch Library, 230 Gault St., Santa Cruz CA 95062

Snacks will be provided!

We also encourage you to attend the upcoming county budget hearings and review the county budget website: santacruzcountyca.gov/VisionSantaCruz/Budget.aspx

Register here!


Hosted by Care Not Cages, a collaboration with MILPA and SURJ Santa Cruz County

All This Safety is Killing Us

Saturday • May 23 • 2 – 3:30 pm • Free
Institute of the Arts and Sciences • 100 Panetta Ave • Santa Cruz

Join the UCSC Institute of the Arts and Sciences for a conversation between Aminah Elster, Jennifer James, and Carlos Martinez on the intersection of prison abolition and healthcare. In 2025 Martinez co-edited All This Safety Is Killing Us: Health Justice Beyond Prisons, Police, and Borders to which Elster and James contributed the chapter “Medical Neglect as Carceral Violence.”

This event is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Everything is Going Right and as part of Visualizing Abolition, an arts-based initiative that reaches across prison borders to contribute to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining underway to create a future free of prisons.