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SWEA is a global non-profit association for Swedish-speaking women who are or have lived abroad. SWEA has about 7,500 women as members of about 80 local branches in about 40 countries on five continents. With almost 40 members, SWEA Santa Barbara is one of the smaller International departments.
We are one of the largest SWEA departments in the world. SWEA consists of a total of 6,000 members and we are located all over the world with about 70 local branches. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are about 350 Swedish-speaking women who are members.
SWEA (Swedish Women's Educational Association) is a global non-profit association for Swedish and Swedish-speaking women who are or have lived abroad. By gathering Sweor around our common language, our Swedish origins and cultural heritage, SWEA becomes both a meeting point and a safety net with links all over the world. SWEA provides support for relocation and relocation between countries, and welcomes and supports upon return to Sweden.
SWEA is the largest non-profit Sweden-promoting organization outside Sweden and our purpose is to promote the Swedish language and spread Swedish culture and tradition. SWEA donates to projects with a Swedish connection and to education through scholarships for a total of approximately SEK 2 million each year.
Many personnel departments at multinational companies use SWEA's international network. The companies turn to local SWEA departments, which possess knowledge and local knowledge, when preparing families for foreign service. As SWEA is located in many places in the world, the organization also has an important role in the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs' emergency preparedness plan.
Pacific Pride Foundation’s advocacy and education efforts meet the ongoing and emerging needs of a diverse population in order to create a thriving and visible LGBTQ+ community and to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) began in 1976 as a Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counseling and Referral center for Gay men and Lesbians. At that time the organization was called Western Addiction Services Program (WASP), and also offered a newsletter called The Bulletin, which is still in publication as our monthly eBulletin.
In 1984 the agency initiated the AIDS Counseling and Assistance Program (AIDS CAP), in an effort to contend with the emerging HIV epidemic, and began offering free, anonymous HIV Testing in 1985 as one of the first county test sites. Over the next several years the program was expanded with state and county funding to provide HIV education and prevention to gay and bisexual men, substance abusers, and sex workers. In 1991, PPF established the Necessities of Life Project (NOLP), a food pantry providing free food and household items to low-income HIV-positive people and their families. That year also saw the legal name of the organization change to the Gay & Lesbian Resource Center (GLRC).
In 1994, the organization changed its name to Pacific Pride Foundation, which became the parent organization for the GLRC as well as AIDS Project Central Coast (APCC – formerly AIDS CAP).
Since its formation, Pacific Pride Foundation has become the foremost resource for people living with HIV/AIDS and the LGBT community, both in Santa Barbara County and the coastal communities of California between Los Angeles and San Francisco. With offices in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, PPF is a strong, respected leader providing high quality, compassionate health and social service programs not available through any other organization in the county.
A Chapter of UNICO National, the largest Italian American service organization in the U.S.
UNICO was founded on October 10, 1922 in Waterbury, Connecticut. A group of 15 men, led by Dr. Anthony P. Vastola, came together to create what has become a very special and very proud organization. It was Dr. Vastola’s dream to create an Italian American service organization to engage in charitable works, support higher education, and perform patriotic deeds.
The name UNICO was selected as best representing the nature and the character of this fledgling organization. The name is the Italian word for unique, one of a kind. The founders believed that UNICO would be the only one of its kind because it placed service to the community before and above fraternity. At the same time they hoped that the rest of society would come to know and understand the real contributions of Italian Americans to our way of life. Its sole purpose was to unite all Italian Americans and motivate them to become more civic minded. In order to accomplish this, members would have to understand that they would have to make sacrifices, not for personal gain, but for service to others. In the ensuing years UNICO became an acronym that stood for Unity, Neighborliness, Integrity, Charity, and Opportunity.
