In the warm, wood-paneled Kent Room of the historic Santa Maria Inn, community members gathered June 4 to celebrate the graduation of 27 clients from the Santa Maria Day Reporting Center, a reentry program for those formerly incarcerated.

The annual ceremony was hosted by Community Solutions, Inc. in partnership with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

Though only a handful of graduates were able to attend in person, feelings of transformation and resilience were palpable among those gathered, including family members, law enforcement leaders, local officials and civic supporters.

Among the evening’s most stirring moments was a keynote address by Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, who honored not just the roots of the Day Reporting Center but the personal growth of its grad

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