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You Can Solve a Community Crisis

December 8, 2022

Individual needs when BACS was founded in 1953 – like help with housing or mental health care – have become community crises today. Healthcare and housing are systemically hard to access, and we see the results on our streets every day.

BACS stays on the front lines – responding to new needs as they emerge – piloting innovating solutions to change – and combining 70 years of wisdom with the most modern data tools to make your donation go as far as possible and do the most good.

By donating to BACS, you invest in local solutions to local challenges.

See success stories from this year – and help make them possible for the thousands of people BACS will help in 2023.

[Read more…]

BACS Launches NET Growth Movement

October 24, 2022

The NET Growth Movement is helping former foster youth transition into adulthood with the financial stability, personal strength, and community backing they need to thrive. Designed and founded by adults with experience in Alameda County foster care, powered by BACS, the NET Growth Movement provides a guaranteed income pilot ($1,000 per month for up to 24 months), a plethora of supports, and community-resource building. This is the first program of its kind in Alameda County, and the initial cohort is expected to start January 2023.

The NET Growth Movement pilot is premised in addressing the stark challenges that former foster youth face once they reach transition age, at which time traditional systemic support dissipates. 25% of Alameda County transition-aged youth will experience homelessness before the age of 24, while 50% of this population are unemployed by the same age. In addition, nearly 20% of Alameda County residents currently experiencing homelessness were previously involved with the foster care system (2022 Alameda County Homeless Point in Time count). And as a result of financial barriers, emotional traumas, and foster system involvement, the majority of former foster youth live in a constant state of survival, struggling to obtain basic needs without financial or familial support.

[Read more…]

Media Advisory: Keep Oakland Housed Announces First Executive Director

October 13, 2022

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, October 13th – Keep Oakland Housed launches next phase of homelessness prevention in Oakland by announcing its first Executive Director, Logan McDonnell. 

Keep Oakland Housed (KOH) was founded in 2018 as a pilot program to prevent homelessness before it starts. KOH uses a data-based approach with an equity lens to provide targeted emergency financial assistance, legal support, and supportive services. 

New Executive Director Logan McDonnell (pictured right) is a long-time housing justice advocate, bringing community organizing, direct homelessness services, and fundraising experience to this new role.  At BACS, he oversees operations for multiple homelessness prevention programs as well as many permanent supportive housing efforts in Alameda County.   He currently sits on the boards of Success Centers, as well Community Forward SF.  He is a mentor in the OK program of Oakland, where they empower black boys to transform their community through mentorship. Logan is a proud graduate of Florida A&M, a historically black college (HBCU) in Tallahassee, FL and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. 

 “Families, black families in particular, that have been in Oakland for generations are being pushed out of town at an alarming rate due to targeted and unprecedented hikes in rent and layers of generational inequity. It shouldn’t be normalized; it should be condemned,” said Logan McDonnell, new Executive Director of Keep Oakland Housed. Homelessness and housing is an equity issue, a health and safety issue, and an issue of our humanity”  

Oakland faces a housing affordability, displacement, and homelessness crisis. Between 2011 and 2017, apartment rents increased 70% while household incomes increased only modestly and incomes for Black Oaklanders decreased 7%. This puts tremendous pressure on the community and increases the level of housing insecurity, especially for Oaklanders who are black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)  and low-income families. In 2018, the California Reinvestment Coalition called Oakland “ground zero for gentrification and displacement in the Bay Area.”  The forces have been especially devastating for Oakland’s Black/African American population with Oakland losing 30% of its Black/African American population between 2000-2017.    

Developing and implementing a pathbreaking model that specifically prioritizes those most hit hard by these forces and on the verge of homelessness, Keep Oakland Housed has distributed more that $40 million to date using this innovative, targeted model and these impacts have not gone unnoticed. In 2022, The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department Secretary, Marcia Fudge, presented KOH with the “2022 Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships – Housing and Community Development in Action.” The awards recognize the partnership and its impact as a community strategy to increase the quality of life for low- and moderate-income residents across all American geographies – urban, suburban, and rural. KOH was one of only seven awardees in America.  Past and current partners include San Francisco Foundation, Crankstart, City of Oakland, Kaiser, All Home and East Bay Community Law Center. 

Today, as the pandemic and its protracted impacts are becoming endemic, the Keep Oakland Housed collaborative is again reimagining this next phase of the work to stem the tide of the forces unhousing and displacing Oaklanders. When COVID started, there was an infusion of federal investments that critically prevented homelessness for thousands of people who were suddenly without income. These funds have been spent down, and this is a critical time for the Oakland community to support Keep Oakland Housed ongoing, as inflation impacts the town, potential recession looms, and the cost of living continues to rise.   Keep Oakland Housed is a nimble response to Oaklanders who have a lease and are on the verge of losing that stability, and to Oaklanders who do not have a lease and are at the “front door” of homelessness. Keep Oakland Housed is rooted in innovation, and we will innovate to provide a spectrum of homelessness prevention resources, responsive to the needs of the community. To support this critical work please visit keepoaklandhoused.org and click the donate button. 

About Bay Area Community Services  

Bay Area Community Services (BACS) breaks the mental health, housing, and community barriers that hold people back. BACS’ mission is to uplift under-served individuals and their families by doing “whatever it takes.” BACS helps people experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, or behavioral health challenges, while balancing other complications like health needs, substance use, generational trauma, incarceration, poverty, and more. Since its founding in 1953, BACS has steadily grown throughout Northern and Central California, integrating nearly seven decades of behavioral health expertise with our Housing First philosophy to meet the rising needs of communities. BACS is the lead agency of the Keep Oakland Housed coalition.

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Connections August/September 2022

September 6, 2022

Google Partnership Announcement

An illustration of four housing complexes in the Bay Area with a car and a bike in front of them. One of the buildings is under construction.

BACS is so excited to share that we are partnering with Google to prevent homelessness before it starts for 100 Oakland households – and working with UCSF to run a longitudinal study to determine the effect of cash assistance on housing stability, while also measuring the potential reduction of racial disparities in those who become homeless.

Through this partnership, we are demonstrating:

  • homelessness can be prevented before it starts
  • preventing homelessness is cost-effective
  • non-profits can rapidly implement innovative pilot programs
  • BACS data practices are consistent with validated longitudinal studies
Thank you to Google for putting funding, data, and support directly into the Bay Area community of your headquarters!

CORE Wellness Center Launch

Announcing a new resource for Sacramento community members – our CORE Wellness Centers are now open!

Every door is the right door when you come to us, so people who need assistance with housing, employment, behavioral health, food, healthcare, community-building, and more are all welcomed and will find the support they need at our neighborhood hubs.

BACS Wellness Centers are a hub for support for individuals with behavioral health challenges, who want to manage their symptoms and move forward with their lives in healthy and positive ways. Our first Wellness Center, Towne House, opened in 1969 in Oakland.

Come visit us at Sycamore Wellness Center (9333 Tech Center Drive, Suite 100, Sacramento, 95826) and Cedar Wellness Center (4600 47th Street, Suite 111, Sacramento 95824) today. Willow Wellness Center coming soon.

BACS Solutions in the News

Almost everyone agrees that homelessness is an emergency – an urgent crisis that needs to be addressed for the health of our community. So what if we really invested in treating it like one?
Keep Oakland Housed was founded in 2018 with the idea that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and 3.5 years of data show that it is cheaper to prevent homelessness before it starts.
San Francisco Chronicle‘s Fixing Our City podcast takes a look. Listen today, and get involved in the solution by donating to keep your neighbors housed!

KidsBikeLane and Workday Build Bikes for Kids Exiting Homelessness

Thank you Kids Bike Lane and Workday for all your work in assembling all the bicycles for the community! We are excited to see the smiling faces of the kids who will be receiving these gifts. Cycling is important not only for getting around and being eco-friendly but also for developing a child’s balance and motor skills – and a vital skill and opportunity that kids experiencing homelessness sometimes miss out on because of bicycle affordability. Thank you again for your hard work!

Annual Staff Appreciation BBQ Returns

After 3 years, BACS held its Annual Staff Appreciation BBQ at Lake Chabot Regional Park. This was an overdue appreciation for all the hard work our teams have put in these past few years. BACS  did not shutter during COVID, we stayed open and engaged in the community! After what felt like a lifetime, we were once again reunited as a team and celebrated the hard work we have done over the past few years.

“It was so much fun!!! The games, children playing, pets, dancing, food, prizes, recognition,  and most of all the LAUGHTER that filled the air. Seeing Staff that has been around for 5yrs and more and meeting new staff was wonderful. COVID had us on shut down but we did WHATEVER IT TAKES to make this happen. We needed this REUNION!!  To the new staff, we welcome you to the BACS Family.” – Gail Clough, HCS Supervisor.

Tagged With: google, google impact, homeless bikes, keep oakland housed, kidsbikelane, nonprofit jobs california, san francisco chronicle, staff appreciation, workday

Data Confirms – BACS is reducing Hayward homelessness

July 27, 2022

The data confirms – BACS is reducing Hayward homelessness.

The Point-in-Time Count carried out across the Bay Area on Feb. 23 found 381 people experiencing homelessness in Hayward — with 114 of these individuals unsheltered—figures that were DOWN 22% and 28% respectively from the last Point-in-Time Count in January 2019.

This is the trends our communities need, but not all of them are seeing. Thank you, the City of Hayward for investing in the Housing Navigation Center and the HNC Annex. And shout-out to the BACS Hayward teams, ENDING homelessness for over 200 people during that time! If you live in Hayward and want to see this improvement last, consider donating to BACS today and helping your neighbors.
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