Lee Neill Housing Fund

My longtime neighbor, friend and community teacher, Lee Neill, has fallen on hard times. A few years back in 2012, she lost everything including her beloved animal in a fire that destroyed her home in Summerland. Additional hardships ensued due to injuries suffered from a car accident in 2016 and the fires/mudslides of 2017 which both took an enormous toll on her business for extended periods of time. Now, after living 8 years in Carpinteria, she is being forced to relocate due to not being able to cover the skyrocketing housing costs. It is heartbreaking that someone in their 70s, who devoted their entire life to helping children is unable to retire with dignity and must continue working to afford a roof over her head. One of her friends describes best all that Lee has done for our community in that she donated her time to teach children how to read. Children whose parents could not afford to pay her. Children who had dyslexia. Children in the public school system who did not have access to a teacher with her expertise and credentials. These children are now functioning adults and without Lee they would have become illiterate adults. Her joy in life has always been to teach children how to read and write. She gave workshops to teachers in schools around Santa Barbara and Carpinteria. She never charged the districts for her expertise and only wanted that teachers could learn how to teach their dyslexic students how to read and write. She holds a doctorate in Educational Therapy & Child Development, and specializes in those with learning challenges. Besides being an incredible asset to the children in this area, she is one of the kindest, gentlest souls I know and I'm hoping that the people in and around our communities will give back to this wonderful woman. Donations, housing leads and work referrals are all needed and no amount of help is too small. Thank you for taking the time to make a difference in the life of a woman who has positively impacted our community for over 40 years.