Media Advisory: Project Homekey BACS

September 23, 2020

PROJECT RECLAMATION: PROJECT HOMEKEY IN OAKLAND

California, Oakland, and BACS – Major Investment in Permanent Housing for Oaklanders

OAKLAND, CA, September 2020 – Bay Area Community Services (BACS)’ Project Reclamation has been awarded $10 million to buy single-family homes in Oakland as part of the State of California’s Project Homekey, creating permanent housing for community members with complex needs who are experiencing homelessness.

On September 21, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the second round of Project Homekey funding awards, a major investment from the State of California. Project Homekey is a capital infusion to purchase motels and provide for permanent supports of housing for homeless individuals.

BACS’ Project Reclamation plans to develop 100 units at 20 scattered sites throughout Oakland for families and individuals. Project Reclamation seeks to preserve the Oakland community by reclaiming neighborhoods for community benefit. BACS has 67 years of history in Oakland, so we identify and prioritize neighborhoods with strong opportunities for revitalization, preventing gentrification that displaces long-term community members.

Project Reclamation is a grassroots Co-Op Living model aimed to eliminate barriers to access deeply affordable permanent housing with supportive services for homeless individuals. The model is highly efficient in that it does not require a lifetime operating subsidy because the asset is owned and the rental income and some services revenue covers all operating expenses over time.

“This model is a game-changer for how our community will solve homelessness,” said BACS CEO Jamie Almanza. “It is innovative, simple, and cost-efficient. And at the heart of this model is that it takes a stand at fighting gentrification – at reclaiming our communities. BACS, as a non-profit, holds assets in the community trust, for the people. These homes – and the individuals that hold the keys – are for the community, of the community, and in the community. I am so proud to live in a State and a community where the public leaders see the strength of this model, as it is unique and could have easily been passed over. Thank you for your leadership.”

Project Homekey, administered by California Housing & Community Development department, is the state’s $600 million program for purchasing and rehabilitating housing, including hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings and other properties, converting them into permanent, long-term housing for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Project Homekey builds on the effective crisis response of Project Roomkey, which brought unhoused people rapidly off the streets and inside in an unprecedented – never been done – way. BACS stepped up to run three large Project Roomkey hotels throughout the Bay Area.

BACS is honored to work with the City of Oakland, the Oakland City Council, Mayor Libby Schaaf, and Oakland Housing and Community Development Department leadership on this innovative, neighborhood-oriented approach to ending homelessness.

Housing Co-Ops: Supported Independent Living

Bay Area Community Services (BACS) believes that homelessness is one of the most pressing problems of our time – but that it can be solved through community investment in innovative solutions.

Some affordable housing projects are taking up to 10 years before move in, & can cost up to $600,000 per studio apartment built. We cannot afford to wait 10 years. We buy homes where the entirety of a six-bedroom house costs less than one newly built affordable housing studio, and are ready to move people in within 30 days – not 10 years

This program model is deeply rooted in the community. BACS has acquired, owned, operated, and property managed small-site, scattered, Co-Op Living properties for individuals experiencing homelessness since 1973. Our vision is one of preservation, anti-gentrification, system coordination, and one that still believes firmly that there are pathways to end homelessness if there is an openness to break the frame of requiring rigid and conservative, one-way lifetime strategies in favor of non-traditional, true community-driven solutions like the BACS Co-Living model.

At BACS’ Supported Independent Living Co-Op sites, residents are people who would otherwise be homeless due to mental health complications and other barriers. Rather than living on the streets or being institutionalized, which is harmful for the individual and our community, participants get to live safely and healthily in the community of their choice.

Each resident is paired with a Care Coordinator who helps them build independent living skills through job support, benefits assistance, mental health support, financial assistance, job support, group activities, and money management. Residents learn skills by sharing responsibilities for cleaning, paying bills, and running their household.

Every single person in a BACS house has their own bedroom, door, and key. Individuals share communal areas such as kitchen and bathrooms. BACS does not believe in individuals crammed in shared bedrooms or in bunkbeds. Our housing is embedded in the community, and allows clients to share in cooking & other house activities while still having their own bedroom, preventing isolation. Tenants hold long term leases, and because BACS in the landlord, we are more attune to typical behavioral issues that tend to cause them to be evicted and return to homelessness.

About Bay Area Community Services

Bay Area Community Services (BACS) provides innovative behavioral health and housing services for teens, adults, older adults, and their families across the Bay Area. BACS’ mission is to uplift under-served community members and their families by doing whatever it takes. Since its founding in 1953, BACS has become a local leader in homelessness prevention programs, facing the housing crisis head on through rapid re-housing, targeted outreach for people experiencing homelessness and support navigating the web of services, purchasing housing across the Bay Area to house people who would otherwise be homeless, and much more. BACS also provides recovery-oriented behavioral health services. To learn more, go to www.bayareacs.org

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California, Oakland, and BACS – Partner Together Announcing Major Investment in Permanent Housing for Oaklanders

September 22, 2020

During the upheaval of the last 6 months – with the pandemic and fires making the ongoing housing crisis more complex – BACS has persevered and continues to be ‘on the ground’, doing whatever it takes:

All of our residential programs, community intensive programs, and houses have stayed open 24/7;
In the first three months of the pandemic, BACS kept 695 families in their housing through Keep Oakland Housed;
BACS — operating two sites and serving 600+ people — joined Project Room Key, the state-wide initiative to provide a safe place for unhoused community members to shelter-in-place.

And today, we get to share spectacular news: BACS has been awarded $10 million to buy single-family homes in Oakland, to create permanent housing for community members with complex needs who are experiencing homelessness through Project Home Key! [Read more…]

BACS Connections May 2019

June 4, 2019

Governor Newsom Visits BACS

On May 21, BACS was thrilled to host Governor Gavin Newsom, Mayor Libby Schaaf, Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Supervisor Keith Carson, Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and others to announce a new taskforce & $1 billion investment to address homelessness in California. Governor Newsom toured BACS’ Housing Fast Support Network, which moves people directly from encampments to BACS sites and sees 88% of participants find permanent housing after just 4-6 months. Governor Newsom emphasized the importance of local solutions, saying ““homelessness is a matter of statewide concern, but solutions will come from the local level.”

Community Supports Women at BACS

Kaiser VIP Yvette Radford connected her local Women’s Group to LINK them with homeless women at the Holland Housing Fast Program. The group came Sunday, April 14th and dropped off beautiful backpacks with a plethora of high end hygiene products. Clients received the gifts and told their story and thanked everyone for their support. Just another way the community is helping put an end to homelessness in Oakland. Thank you!

Supported Independent Living sites celebrate 46 years!

BACS is buying ‘a house a year’ to end homelessness – and we have been building this program for decades.

BACS opened our first Supported Independent Living (SIL) site in 1973 to help individuals who have mental health and other health-related issues such as homelessness and want to pursue sustainable housing in a safe environment.

Our SIL sites have made a difference for thousands of people over the last 46 years. Help us keep them open!

10×10 Wellness Event

BACS employees never cease to amaze! The 10×10 We Move for Health event in early May was extra special this year, thanks to the massive turnout of BACS participants and volunteers to enjoy the day in the sun. Our table made affirmation cards and connected with community members. Many thanks to all of the BACS programs that came to volunteer and participate, to bring their range of language abilities to reach more community members, and for helping our participants enjoy the event!

Older Americans Month

May is Older Americans Month, and BACS is honored to recognize older Americans who have contributed and made such a difference in our community. BACS knows that community activities help to enrich the physical, mental and emotional well-being of the population. Older Adults offer a great deal of wisdom and experience to other generations. Let us all take some time this month to honor an older American and continue to promote healthy aging. Older Adult FSP info!

Job & Resource Fair

The May 2^nd Job & Resource Fair at the Eden Area AJCC was a huge success! The event was co-hosted by Rubicon Programs and Department of Rehabilitation. A special thank you for the Hedco Staff – Linda Nguyen, Virgil Bagaoisan and Astrid Scott for helping at the event. There were a total of 24 vendors who participated and approximately 80 job seekers. The next BACS Job Fair is bring planned for mid-August at Hedco Wellness Center.