Left to Right: Nancy Saengjaeng, Maritza Garcia, Alejandra Mera, Karina Cabrera and Adriana Cordova
By Nancy Saengjaeng, Division Chief
Earlier this year, the County of Santa Barbara launched its first-ever Wellness Committee, bringing together representatives from across departments to champion employee health and well-being. Grigor Arzumanyan and I are proud to represent our department in this committee. The mission is to promote a culture of health, balance, and connection in the workplace.
As one of the committee’s first projects, we helped launch the countywide 10K-A-Day Walking Challenge in partnership with Health Enhancement Systems (HES). This challenge, which took place from February 3 to March 2, 2025, encouraged employees and their household members to walk toward better health while virtually exploring some of the world’s most fascinating cities.
Each week, employees and teams had a chance to win prizes from County logo water bottles to gift cards, keeping the motivation high.
DSS Participation & Success
The challenge was a hit across the County, with the original cap of 322 participants quickly filling before being expanded to 429. DSS made a strong showing with 159 employees participating, an incredible turnout!
Walking solo or in teams of 4–5, participants logged steps through a mobile app or fitness tracker, earned points, unlocked destinations, and even shared encouragement and photos on a “Walking Wall.”
- Stride w/ Pride: CORE Team in Motion (Karina Cabrera, Adriana Cordova, Maritza Garcia, Alejandra Mera, and Nancy Saengjaeng) finished #1 out of 52 teams countywide, tying with SBCER and bringing home bragging rights for DSS!
- Congratulations also to the 30+ DSS top performers who achieved 10,000 steps every single day of the challenge: Maria Gardner, Hilda Hernandez, Brenda Reyes, Della Bartley, Julian Valdez, Adriana Cordova, Angeline Inutan, Diana Diaz, Judith Doughty, Valeriana Parraguirre, Nancy Saengjaeng, Maritza Garcia, Nancy Arellano, Grisel Balderas, Karina Cabrera, Alejandra Mera, Maria Cardenas, Maria Magana, Angela Lopez, Diana Salazar, Leticia Estrada, Briseida Jimenez, Brandi Anderson, Katrina Liu, Joshua Morrison, Gabriel Gomez, and Rudy D’Souza.
What Participants Loved
Feedback from DSS and County staff highlighted how motivating and fun the challenge was:
- “Before starting, I was only getting about 3,000 steps. The challenge motivated me to reach 10,000.”
- “It helped me lower my blood pressure.”
- “I enjoyed the teamwork, friendly competition, and even lost 5 pounds.”
Looking Ahead
The challenge proved that DSS knows how to balance wellness and work and that we’re ready to step up for more. Given the overwhelming success, the Countywide Wellness Committee is already planning another walking challenge later this year. Stay tuned!
