Darcél Elliott is back in the groove.
Elliott is the new director of Strategic Initiatives at Domestic Violence Solutions.
Elliott, who shared her personal story with Josh Molina a year ago, said she was in a domestic violence shelter when she was five years old, so the work carries special meaning.
“I am going to work on opening a new shelter in Santa Maria,” Elliott said. “It felt really full circle.”
DVS created the position for Elliott. She initially plans to raise money to erect a new building. Domestic Violence Solutions has a temporary shelter, but plans to turn that into permanent housing and then open a new temporary facility.
“Right now, when survivors complete the program, they have to find a place for them, a place to live,” Elliott said. “They don’t have units they already own.”
She said many people don’t think about the connection between domestic violence and housing.
“This is an issue that really affects our farmworker community,” she said, adding that DVS has a staff member who speaks Mixteco.
“This is really something that affects undocumented communities,” Elliott said. “Some people are afraid to call law enforcement.”
Eliott said she grew up in a home surrounded by domestic violence, although she recently learned that state law says domestic violence is only considered illegal if it is physical abuse.
“A lot of times emotional, psychological and financial abuse lead to physical abuse or murder,” Elliott said. “You don’t have to have bruises along the way to get there.”
Elliott in her adult life has worked to overcome her childhood household. Her dad was arrested when she was five years old.
“I didn’t realize my mom was an alcoholic until I was in college,” Elliott said. “I kind of did. I knew my friends’ homes weren’t like my homes, but I didn’t know exactly, or that my mom was addicted to opioids. To me that was just her medication. There is stuff I didn’t realize to later that was not healthy.”
She said domestic violence is an issue “we don’t talk about enough in Santa Barbara County.”
“It is an issue I am really passionate about,” she said.
Elliott is the former chair of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party and worked for 15 years in various capacities under Das Williams. She was his chief of staff when Williams lost a bid for re-election for First District Santa Barbara County Supervisor, Roy Lee in 2024. Since the defeat, she has spent much of her personal time establishing her own identity, separate from her work and the former elected official.
Elliott, a native of Santa Maria, earned a bachelor’s degree in history from UCSB. She took the last year to “unplug,” moving away from political conversations. She vacationed in Hawaii and did a cross-country trip.
“I want to every island that you could visit,” Elliott said. “When you are in fight-or-flight your entire life, it takes awhile to get away from that. I just wanted to get out of town, so I was island hopping.”
She had never been to Hawaii, but made friends, and enjoyed talking to people about issues that were not through the lens of party politics. Elliott, while working for Williams and the Democratic Party, pushed for more outreach into North Santa Barbara County, was instrumental in the formation of the Isla Vista Community Services District, and her political and personal lives sometimes were blurred.
“The year away allowed me to get out of survivor mode and figure out who I am now at this stage of my life,” Elliott said. “I am in a position now where I can work on meaningful projects. I realized that I can’t really do work that doesn’t speak to me, that I don’t care about.”
