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…]

Teen Does Whatever It Takes to Make Winter Better for Homeless Community Members!

January 22, 2020

When Kenneth Prabhakar and his brother Kevin became determined to help people experiencing homelessness, they were only 9 and 13 years old.

The two brothers saw the impacts of homelessness during a school trip, and immediately formed Next Supper, with the support of their parents and their church. Year-round, every year, they they collect empty bottles and cans, bring them to the recycling center, and save the funds. Near the holidays, during the cold and wet season, they pool this money to buy brand new clothing for people experiencing homelessness.

[Read more…]

BACS Connections January 2019

January 28, 2019

The Holland, Oakland’s Newest Program to End Homelessness, Opens!

BACS is thrilled to announce the opening of ‘The Holland’ in January, which replicates our very successful Housing Fast Support Network program at the Henry Robinson Center! This is the next and continuing step in BACS’ goal to eradicate homelessness.

At ‘The Holland’, we are providing short-term housing and supportive services (to connect people with job supports, benefits, food, and more), while our expert Housing Navigators help locate permanent housing.

BACS thanks the City of Oakland, Kaiser Permanente, the Anthem Foundation, and the citizens of Oakland, for making this possible. Anthem Blue Cross Foundation is making it possible to provide every resident with a warm, healthy, filling meal every day in 2019.You can read our story, or check out the East Bay Times announcement.

Next Supper

In 2011, Kenneth Prabhakar and his brother Kevin, who were only 9 and 13 years old, saw the impacts of homelessness during a school trip. They immediately formed Next Supper, dedicated to helping homeless community members. Every year, all year, they collect empty bottles and cans, bring them to the recycling center, and save the funds. In 2018, Kenneth raised more than ever – nearly $3,000!

Many of our participants have not had new clothing since they became homeless, and often experience the winter unprepared. This year Kenneth purchased jackets, gloves, socks, warm pants. BACS is inspired by Kenneth and the Prabhakar family, and very grateful for their continued support! Check out the full heartwarming story here.

‘A House a Year’ to End Homelessness

BACS meets Strategic Plan Goal and Buys a ‘House a Year’ to end homelessness! At the end of 2018, BACS purchased the newest addition to our Supported Independent Living program! BACS thanks our donor community, who helped us pay the down payment.

The house, which is located in East Oakland, will provide permanent housing for six people who are struggling with behavioral health issues and independent living, who would otherwise fall into homelessness. This house was dedicated on January 7, 2019, as the Williams House, celebrating the 10 year anniversary of BACS team member Richard Williams.

This was one of the major promises of our 2018-2020 Strategic Plan, and we are so glad to keep progressing in our goal to end homelessness, permanently.

Housing Fast Support Network Celebrates 5 Year Anniversary

BACS is pleased to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of BACS’ Housing Fast Support Network (HFSN) program at the Henry Robinson Center!

BACS’ HFSN program is the most effective, innovative program of its kind to end homelessness in the Bay Area. Each year, we help 300 people move off the streets and into our rapid re-housing site. Last year, 88% of our participants moved into permanent housing.

Congratulations to the HFSN team and to each person who has successfully moved from the streets to permanent housing, and thank you to all our of community supporters!

Employee of the Month

BACS is delighted to announce that January’s winner is Shawn Moore of the Intensive Case Management team! Shawn says “BACS’ work matters a great deal. The unique approach is very effective. Other agencies use a text book approach and do not address the heart of the problem. We assist clients with obtaining housing, employment, food, and psychiatry. In addition, we advocate for our clients, educate, and model independent living skills.”

Congratulations, Shawn, and thank you for all you do on the BACS team!

Invest in Your Community

Our work has profound individual and community impacts. Every person that comes to BACS for help can achieve stability, move off of the streets, get a job, live safely with their mental health issue, or stay out of jail. And for each of those success stories, our community gets better. We see fewer people living on the streets or in poverty. We spend less on emergency medical services. We see less of our tax money going to prisons. Your investment in BACS, and in the people we help, transforms our community.

Donate to BACS online by clicking here, or via mail to 390 40th Street, Oakland, CA 94609. Make an ongoing impact by donating monthly.

Teen Makes Incredible Gift to Homeless Community Members!

December 20, 2018

In 2011, Kenneth Prabhakar and his brother Kevin, who were only 9 and 13 years old, saw the impacts of homelessness during a school trip. They immediately formed Next Supper, dedicated to helping homeless community members. Every year, all year, they collect empty bottles and cans, bring them to the recycling center, and save the funds. Near the holidays, during the cold and wet season, they pool this money to buy brand new clothing for people experiencing homelessness.

In 2014, the Prabhakar family partnered with BACS and donated these items for us to distribute. Today, Kevin is in college, and Kenneth has kept up the initiative. Through his church community, family connections, extended social networks, and supporters of Next Supper, Kenneth raised more than ever – nearly $3,000!

Many of our participants have not had new clothing since they became homeless, and often experience the winter unprepared. This year Kenneth purchased jackets, gloves, socks, warm pants. Furthermore, Kenneth made an inspiring personal sacrifice, donating money he earned from tutoring, to get 25 fleece blankets! His parents, Joseph and Padmini, matched his donation.