Uplifting News: Program Graduation

Congratulations to Shirley, a North County Senior Homeless Program participant who worked with us for six years on finding permanent housing. She’s an Alameda native and struggled with street homelessness and all its challenges prior to coming into the program.

BACS supported her with finding permanent housing – in Alameda! – and in strengthening her connection to her family. Shirley is fiery, tenacious, and creative. She decorated the hat you see her wearing herself. Our BACS team took Shirley, her daughter, grandchildren, and sister-in-law out to lunch at Pasta Pelican to celebrate Shirley’s successes.

 Welcome to Chief Administrative Officer

We are delighted to announce our new Chief Administrative Officer, Courtney Jones!

Prior to joining BACS she worked for On Lok Lifeways and Alameda Alliance for Health. While at On Lok she assisted the organization in diversifying their funds and implemented a new PACE provider in San Francisco. Courtney spent many years at Alameda Alliance where she began in the mailroom and ended her career there in a senior management position.

Courtney is an Oakland native who is extremely passionate about her community which led her to BACS. She believes in the mission of BACS and can see the work that they have done in the community. Courtney is married with two children and enjoys being creative. Her favorite pastimes include thrift shopping, spending time with her family, sewing, painting and playing tennis.

 Celebrating Employment

On December 17th, 2015, the Alameda County Vocational Program hosted the 5th Annual Employment Celebration event along with BACS, the Pool of Consumer Champions, Fred Finch Youth Center, and Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency (BOSS).

Over 100 consumers, family members, and providers gathered to honor and recognize program participants’ employment success over the past year.

Two participants from the BACS Supported Employment Program shared their own personal stories around work and recovery.

Congratulations to participants across Alameda who have had successes with Employment in the last year!

Emergency Shelter Ordinance

Oakland’s City Council passed a “shelter crisis” ordinance to ease restrictions on housing for the homeless population in Oakland.

Declaring a crisis suspends several rules and regulations considering housing health, and safety, to create easier access to shelter. There are currently only 30% of the shelter beds necessary to get the homeless population of Oakland out of the El Nino rain.

Lucy Kasdin, Director of Programs at BACS, says “BACS is committed to engaging policy makers and our community to find solutions to end homelessness.” We look forward to a continued partnership with the community and government of Oakland.

New Partnership with CAMFT

BACS is happy to announce a partnership with the East Bay Chapter of CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists). East Bay CAMFT is a diverse local community of professionals who seek to further the profession. EBCAMFT serves the community by providing resources attuned to the broad range of needs that comprise the membership, including Licensed MFTs, LPCCs, Interns, Trainees, LCSWs, ASWs and Associates.

East Bay CAMFT is holding their monthly Board Meetings at Towne House Wellness Center and will draw on the resources within the Chapter to provide training opportunities for staff and increased visibility for BACS with the therapeutic community throughout the state. Caiti Crum, Program Manager for Case Management Programs and Towne House Wellness Center is the East Bay CAMFT President. To learn more about East Bay CAMFT, please visit: www.eastbaytherapist.org.

New Address Reminder

BACS would like to remind you that we have moved headquarters, into an existing program space that BACS already owns! This move brings a huge potential for savings, which will go towards a longer term vision of continued program expansion.

Come visit our new headquarters, at existing Towne House Wellness Center, at 629 Oakland Ave, Oakland, CA 94611. Our phone number remains the same: 510.613.0330.

Join Our Cause

Do you want to join BACS in our mission to uplift under-served individuals and their families by doing whatever it takes? The community has asked us to provide more services than ever, based on need. In 2016, help us make this possible!

Donate

Donate to BACS online by clicking here, or via mail to 629 Oakland Ave, Oakland, CA 94612.

Or, donate gently used blankets, canned goods, and other items to our housing  programs. Email us to learn more.

Work Here

BACS services are always expanding, and we are currently recruiting! Check out our job opportunities.

Learn more on our website or by calling 510.613.0330.