“The Hill”

A Short Documentary Film

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Starting in April 2024, the Safe Haven Clinic Institute/Collective began production of this film through a UCSB film student fellowship program funded by SHCI. Acting as documentary film producers, SHCI engaged a group of University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) students as Social Justice Film fellows to make a documentary film called “The Hill” about the Creekside Encampment resolution campaign in Santa Barbara, CA. The lead film fellow is student director Amelia Kazmierczak, who in 2024-25 is a senior in film studies at UCSB.  This film, “The Hill” will be entered into the 2026 Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) in the local, short documentary category. The film will then be used by SHCI as a starting point for convening discussions with Santa Barbara community groups and other stakeholders to collectively ask the question “How might we improve homeless encampment experiences and life cycles in Santa Barbara?”. These community convenings will provide future opportunities for further filmmaking and group innovation exploring Santa Barbara county encampment experiences and life cycles; and will facilitate community engagement around homeless encampments and their “resolutions”. 

Behind The Scenes

Safe Haven Clinic Institute/Collective 

Social Justice Film Fellowship

The Safe Haven Clinic Institute (SHCI)  is a 501c3 non profit organization based in Santa Barbara County, CA with a mission focused on promoting local innovations to improve the seemingly intractable problems surrounding unsheltered homelessness in California. 

The Safe Haven Clinic Collective is the action arm of the SHCI. The first project of SHCC is the creation of a short documentary film called “The Hill” about the 2024 Creekside Encampment resolution campaign in Santa Barbara.

The SHCI Social Justice Film Fellowship is supported in part by awards from the Pisacano Leadership Foundation. The Fellowship supports student documentary filmmakers from the University of California Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College to make short documentary films highlighting the experiences and life cycles of Street Level Homelessness in Santa Barbara CA.

The River Health Team – Phase I

The Phase I team oversaw the documentary planning and film making.

Jessi Presley-Grusin

MA, Development fellow, SHCC
Portland, OR
they/them

Jessi Presley-Grusin is an artist and printmaker who was born in Santa Monica, California, and has been inching up the West Coast ever since. After moving to Portland, Oregon in 2017, they attained their Masters in Fine Arts from the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where they excelled in writing and developed an art practice centered on their queer identity and life with chronic pain. Knowing they required work that was able to respect their body’s needs while fulfilling their desire to give back to their community, Jessi decided to explore writing professionally and began doing grant writing and fundraising for nonprofits. As they grow into this role, they plan to incorporate their advocacy for disability justice and trans rights into their work. Currently they are excited to be working with SHCI toward river health because natural spaces have been very important to them and their well-being throughout their life. In their spare time, Jessi enjoys making art, petting cats, and spending time in nature with their partner.

Bella Doohan

MA, Marine Biologist
San Diego, Ca
she/hers

Bella has a master’s in Marine
Science and years of teaching
experience in environmental science and climate change related topics. She is passionate about protecting natural coastal environments while considering relevant social justice issues. She is now serving as the Education Director for the Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans.

Paul Brown

MA, Videographer & Drone pilot
Los Angeles, CA
he/his

Hello, my name is Paul Brown,
I specialize in creating video
projects from beginning to end,
which include Pre Production
(writing of the script/treatment),
Production (filming the project) and
Post Production ( the editing of the project). I hold a bachelor’s degree in
Television production/Broadcasting Engineering from Cal State University Dominguez Hills, and a master’s degree in Broadcasting Engineering/Media Production from Loyola Marymount University. I’m an FAA Licensed Drone pilot who loves being out in nature capturing beautiful aerial drone photos and
videos customized to anyone’s needs. I’m also currently working as an engineer for Vubiquity, a global media and entertainment technologies, products, and services provider, providing established expertise and innovation across the whole media supply chain from content processing and distribution direct to consumer streaming and monetization. I truly enjoy being out filming the beauty of nature and our environment and look forward
to traveling the world showing everyone how beautiful it really is!

The River Health Team – Phase II

The Phase II team created the Documentary Film, “The Hill”.

Michael Stinson

Maestro Film Professor
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara, CA
he/him

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Jonas Jungblut

Cameraman

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Amelia

Student Director

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Alex

Student Editor

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Colin

Student Director of Photography

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The River Health Team - Phase III

The Phase III team is responsible for Listening and Learning Convening structured around showings of the Hill.
We call these discussion groups “Convenings around The Hill”. See the process that we use for the convenings below.

We are recruiting students, volunteers, and donors for our Phase III team.
Please email mimi@safehavenclinics.com with questions or to sign up!

The Process

The SHCI Process for Convenings around River Health is the same process that will be used for the Convenings around “The Hill”. These convenings are funded by SHCI and are free to attend.

1. Identify and network

Identify and network with key stakeholders focused on River Health including first responders, public safety officials, hospitals, safety net clinics, local county government, health plans, unhoused people, Community Benefit Organizations (CBOs), and Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs).

2. Form a planning committee

Form a planning committee of volunteers from step #1 for a series of stakeholder and community convenings on Santa Clara - Utom River Health.

3. Develop invitation list for convenings

The planning committee will develop a broad invitation list for convenings, including people with lived experience, and will develop a plan for setting up and running the convenings.

4. Hold convenings on River Health

Hold a series of stakeholder and community convenings on River Health with the following objectives:

  • Strengthening community and stakeholder networking and collaborative capacity around River Health
  • Performing asset mapping to determine where there are resources as well as gaps in resources for River Health
  • Collaboratively designing solutions in response to the question, "How might we improve the Health of the River and the People living in it?"
  • Testing design solutions via rapid cycle iteration in order to develop a business plan that will take successful designs to scale

5. Conduct Interviews

Do 30 one-on-one interviews of stakeholders asking, "How might we improve the Health of the River and the People living in it?", in order to supplement and feed back into the previous convenings.

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