Tag Archives: Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics

Giving Back: Chuck Slosser

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Chuck Slosser (courtesy photo)

Chuck Slosser (courtesy photo)

With the same engaging grin and focused attention that have pried philanthropic purse strings loose since he came to town in 1981, Chuck Slosser says he’s excited to tackle retirement after 18 years as executive director of the Santa Barbara Foundation.

What an amazing ride it has been. When Slosser, now 66 took the helm of the Santa Barbara Foundation–Santa Barbara County’s largest private source of funding for nonprofit programs–it had a staff of three, roughly $30 million in assets, and was giving out a few million in scholarships and grants a year.

Compare that to today’s foundation–under Slosser’s leadership, it now has a staff of 23, more than $300 million in assets, and donates about $27 million each year. He’s justifiably proud, but still ready for a slower pace, saying, “I thoroughly enjoyed the foundation and the work that we’ve done here and the great things that have happened in the community as a result. I’ve never objected to the 9 to 5, but it’s really the 5 to 9.”

Slosser and his wife of almost 38 years, Stephanie, who retired from UC Santa Barbara’s biology department three years ago, plan to travel, play golf and do yoga. He’s also interested in playing more basketball (he’s got a regular game at the Boys and Girls Club), taking Spanish lessons, picking up a guitar and a dissertation that have been collecting dust, and perhaps doing some consulting. He smiles. “I really do feel like a kid in a candy store. I want to do that, and I want to do that, and I can’t wait.”

Clearly, Slosser is a man with many interests, which is why the diverse Santa Barbara Foundation was “a dream job come true.” With an infinite variety of grant recipients–Music Academy of the West, Page Youth Center, Special Olympics, Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, Red Cross, St. Vincent’s, Legal Aid, Transition House, Girls Inc. and Wildlife Care Network, to name a few — the foundation was a perfect place for this Renaissance man.

Originally published in Santa Barbara Magazine in January 2009.

Eastside dental clinic gets new site, mission

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One of the things that you hear in this world a lot is that dental disease is the only sickness that is almost 100 percent preventable,” said David Landecker, executive director of Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, whose newest project, the Eastside Family Dental Clinic, will celebrate its grand opening Jan. 13, from 3:30 to 6 p.m.

The dental clinic recently moved into a roomy, new 2,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art space, at 923 N. Milpas St. It had been housed in an 800-square-foot building on Carrillo Street.

In addition to offering basic dental services – like exams, X-rays, cleanings, fluoride, root canals, fillings and nonsurgical extractions – to low-income families for as little as $15 for children and $20 for adults, one of the key components of the project is the dental education center. The center will focus on teaching children how to care for their teeth.

“The idea is to bring preschool (and elementary school) classes here, or when kids come in …,” Landecker said. “We’ve got a computer and all kinds of dental stuff. It’s just to kind of make the office a little more fun and little more friendly.”

The timing of the new center couldn’t be more perfect for the Assistance League of Santa Barbara, which recently decided to take on dental education as a new programming area.

The Assistance League was aware that dental care was one of the most serious health needs for the working poor, families that had working incomes but not necessarily dental insurance, said Sarah de Tagyos, who is heading up the Assistance League’s volunteer effort. The research also found that a lack of preventative care and regular checkups led to more serious dental problems.

Working with Dr. J.C. Ramirez, the clinic’s dental director, and Georgia Lee Miller, who heads up the county’s Children’s Dental Disease Prevention Program, the Assistance League has donated hygiene kits and dental health activity books for children.

Assistance League volunteers will also help staff the education center, along with volunteers from Direct Relief International. In addition, major donations coming from Paul and Leslie Ridley-Tree, the Weingart Foundation, Michael Towbes, the Ann Jackson Family Foundation, the Hutton Foundation, Joel and Vasanti Fithian, Susan Levin, the Outhwaite Foundation, the Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation and the Santa Barbara Foundation, among others.

However, the clinic is still $140,000 short of its $1.4 million fund-raising campaign, said development director Terra Basche.

As the only dental clinic of its kind, the clinic is available for anyone in the community; however, Landecker emphasized the importance of serving children.

“Our real mission … is really to take care of children, and to educate children about their teeth,” he said.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on December 23, 2004.