Jan Campbell has been a champion for victims and survivors of home violence in Santa Barbara County within the three years that she has served as the manager director of Domestic Violence Solutions.
Campbell, striving to assist residents visualize a life freed from home violence, has had a hand at creating everlasting housing for survivors, strengthening relationships amongst associate companies, and creating and managing a multifaceted price range.
Campbell just lately introduced her retirement from the group. She’s going to step down as government director on the finish of this yr.
“I’m leaving on such a excessive notice. I grew tremendously as an individual over these previous three years and simply realized how privileged I’m. There are such a lot of people who find themselves struggling, and I’m comfortable that I might assist just a bit bit,” Campbell instructed Noozhawk. “It simply makes me actually comfortable to provide one thing again to folks which can be so weak. I’ve realized loads from my shoppers, consider me.”
Campbell joined Home Violence Options as government director in 2018 with greater than 20 years of expertise in administration, neighborhood engagement and fund improvement experience within the nonprofit sector.
Campbell has lived in Santa Barbara nearly repeatedly since 1970, and has dipped her toes in a wide range of roles and positions, she mentioned. Campbell has labored for the Santa Barbara Police Department, the Page Youth Center and Heal the Ocean, and even printed a newspaper for just a few years, amongst different roles.
“I’ve finished a wide range of jobs, however I’ve at all times been very fascinated by community-based work. The panorama of the neighborhood is simply actually vital to me,” she mentioned.
Earlier than becoming a member of Home Violence Options, Campbell served because the chief philanthropic officer for the Santa Barbara Foundation from 2009 to 2018, she mentioned.
Campbell mentioned she was fascinated with retirement after leaving the Santa Barbara Basis in 2018, however reconsidered when she heard the information that Home Violence Options’ former government director could be leaving, she mentioned.
“A buddy of mine was on the board and requested if I knew anybody who might do the job,” she instructed Noozhawk. “After which I assumed, ‘Hey, I feel I can do the job.’ Every thing that I’ve finished in my work life actually ready me for being an government director at an company like Home Violence Options.”
The one accountability of the manager director at Home Violence Options that Campbell hadn’t had expertise with earlier than was dealing with public funding and dealing with the entire authorities entities to get that funding, she mentioned.
“That was actually difficult as a result of I had no concept the way to do any of that; it’s a kind of issues that you just simply have to determine,” she added.
Campbell’s time as government director was a studying expertise, and she or he needed to “dig deep at instances to not get overwhelmed,” she mentioned.
Every single day at Home Violence Options was completely different, and Campbell typically discovered herself making choices on the spot. She mentioned the manager director position is just like “being the president of just a little firm.”
“There’s 1,000,000 completely different choices that you must make. How do we discover housing, the place will we hold folks protected?” Campbell mentioned. “Happily, the employees listed here are all simply one of the best folks I’ve ever labored with. I’m so grateful to have this expertise and be surrounded by so many superb folks.”
As government director, Campbell indicators all of the checks and approves the bills, works carefully with different departments to make a price range, makes positive that the entire bills are justified and billable to the federal government, and works carefully with this system employees who work one-on-one with shoppers, she mentioned. She additionally oversees all the executive work, fundraising and grant writing.
“It’s an enormous job,” she mentioned.
Campbell mentioned that considered one of her proudest accomplishments from her time at Home Violence Options was transitioning an residence constructing in Santa Barbara’s Westside neighborhood from transitional housing to everlasting housing for home violence survivors.
“We realized that our actual property footprint actually wasn’t financially sustainable, and it hadn’t been for some time,” she mentioned. “What we ended up doing was working with the Housing Authority to transition that transitional housing into everlasting housing.
“We have now individuals who have had so many success tales. They’ve acquired a job, acquired on their toes and have a everlasting place to stay in our residence complicated.”
Campbell mentioned that achievement will likely be a everlasting, lasting legacy of Home Violence Options.
“We’ve labored actually exhausting to offer consolation and security for folks to allow them to visualize a life freed from violence,” she mentioned.
Different achievements made beneath Campbell’s tenure embrace improved relationships amongst associate companies, social companies and regulation enforcement, buying important public funding for emergency companies, housing and assist for home violence shoppers, reworking shelters to enhance the protection and luxury of shoppers and employees, and establishing a job and life expertise program to assist shoppers receive employment, training and monetary data that’s wanted to attain full independence.
Whereas at Home Violence Options, Campbell was chosen because the Junior League of Santa Barbara’s 2020 Girl of the 12 months, displaying how extensively she was acknowledged for her efforts in philanthropy and neighborhood service.
After retiring, Campbell mentioned that whereas she plans to remain concerned in a few of her different philanthropic work, she regarded ahead to “simply chilling out.”
“I’m not going to do something for 3 months! I’m going to spend a while with my family and friends, and I’ve an lovely Jack Russell terrier pet that I wish to spend extra time with,” she mentioned. “I’ve at all times been a employee, however I feel I type of left all of it on the desk right here at Home Violence Options.”
— Noozhawk employees author Jade Martinez-Pogue could be reached at .(JavaScript should be enabled to view this e-mail handle). Observe Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Join with Noozhawk on Facebook.
