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BACS Connections January 2019

January 28, 2019

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

(Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

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

Micah square

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.

Tagged With: a house a year, anthem blue cross, anthem foundation, goals, heartwarming, homeless, homelessness, housing fast support network, mayor schaaf, royal street, strategic plan, supported independent living, the holland, uplifting news

Oakland’s New Rapid Re-Housing Program ‘The Holland’ Receives Major Grant from Anthem Foundation

January 14, 2019

BACS is thrilled to announce that the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation has partnered with BACS to end homelessness in the Bay Area, through a significant grant award.

Individuals who move in to The Holland are coming directly from the streets and encampments, and need support to immediately get basic needs met – food, clothing, hygiene, healthcare and medical needs, and more. Anthem Blue Cross Foundation is making it possible to provide every resident with a warm, healthy, filling meal every day in 2019.

BACS officially opened ‘The Holland’ in January, and immediately began to move community members out of encampments. The Holland is the second location in Oakland of a rapid re-housing program known as the Housing Fast Support Network (HFSN).

This program model is the largest and most effective effort to target homelessness in Oakland to date. At the Henry Robinson Center, BACS serves 300 people per year, and has an 88% success rate in getting people in to permanent housing after just 6 months. This is vastly shorter than similar models, which last 12-18 months.

[Read more…]

Tagged With: anthem, anthem blue cross, anthem foundation, blue cross, city of oakland, julia morgan, mayor schaaf, Oakland, the holland

BACS Connections October 2018

October 29, 2018

Keep Oakland Housed

Keep Oakland Housed logo

This month, BACS launched a historic new program to address the housing crisis in Oakland – by preventing homelessness before it starts. Keep Oakland Housed (KOH) will prevent Oaklanders from losing their housing through emergency financial assistance, supportive services, and legal representation.

At BACS, we receive a thousand or more calls each month from people who are on the brink of losing their housing. KOH means that BACS can answer these calls and say YES, we can help you.

KOH is a partnership between BACS, EBCLC, and Catholic Charities of the East Bay, funded by The San Francisco Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, in partnership with the City of Oakland.

If you need help, visit us online here. If you want to sustain this initiative, make a donation today!

Honoring Patrick, Peer Lead at Towne House

Towne House

BACS’ Towne House Wellness Center team wants to celebrate Patrick, Peer Lead at the wellness center. Patrick is often the first person a visitor or member to Towne House sees.

His Towne House team says “Patrick is a pure pleasure to work with. Patrick’s calm and warm demeanor is always welcomed by staff and participants a like. Any task that he is asked to complete, or assist with is done with a positive attitude and smile. We here at Towne House truly appreciate you Patrick, and we just want to say thank you!”

Start a Career with BACS

BACS services are always expanding, and we are currently recruiting! Check out our career opportunities on our website, and learn more about what makes BACS special.

BACS welcomes people of all backgrounds and expertise to apply. Even if you have never worked in the mental health or homeless solutions fields, but you are inspired to make a change, reach out to BACS – we have many training and entry-level positions.

BACS provides benefits and perks like: fully covered medical/dental/vision/life insurance, tuition reimbursement for loans and tuition, clinical supervision hours towards licensure, internal growth opportunities, and more! BACS also works with a wide variety of populations, and has many opportunities for learning and advancement.

Oakland ADC Program Anniversary

BACS is delighted to celebrate the anniversary of our Oakland Adult Day Center! This Memory Care program started in 1987 in Oakland, and for 21 years has been a space where elders with memory disorders can connect with others, socialize, and participate in guided activities. Our services offer respite for caregivers and families.

Thank you to everyone who makes our programs special — caregivers, staff, and the participants who come every day!

Invest in Your Community

Micah square

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.

Tagged With: city of oakland, housing, keep oakland housed, libby schaaf, mayor schaaf, towne house, Wellness Center

BACS Connections February 2018

February 27, 2018

Results Are In: Making a Difference

Each year, BACS conducts a survey of our many participants across our housing programs, behavioral health services, and community programs – and this year, our results were better than ever! This is part of BACS’ Continuous Quality Improvement process, so we can consistently tweak and improve our programs to best serve the community, Many thanks to the staff and participants who made this possible.

Thank You to Mayor Schaaf

BACS would like to extend our gratitude to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who has been an important partner. Mayor Schaaf not only donated Warriors Suite tickets for BACS to auction, benefiting our housing programs, but also visited a BACS housing program to help a participant celebrate 30 days of sobriety!

If you want to end homelessness in Oakland, you can help! If you have a room to rent, email us at RoomsInOakland@bayareacs.org. Or, you can donate to help a community member get back on their feet.

BACS Makes Major Investment in Staff

BACS is excited to celebrate our 65th anniversary as a local non-profit! BACS started in 1953 in Oakland, serving a few hundred people per year. Today, BACS serves more than 7,500 people each year, has services in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and Solano County, and has helped more than 100,000 people in the last 65 years.

This would not be possible without the dedicated, passionate, diverse staff who work every day to make a difference in our community. In recognition of their commitment and their successes, and to celebrate 65 years of doing ‘whatever it takes’, BACS is raising pay for our staff ‘on the streets’ to the top of any non-profit in the Bay Area, making a monumental and unprecedented investment in our direct care staff. This will have a long term effect on the outcomes of our programs by reducing turnover and investing in the economic development of our communities.

Black History Month at BACS

“When we think of Black History Month, we are reminded of the Black excellence that has trail blazed our current steps.  What is just as important is the cultivation of Black Future month as this is where the inventors of tomorrow will be, the change makers, the social justice warriors that will continue in the work laid before us.  Black excellence is tomorrow, it’s today, and it’s now.” – Sage Williams, Program Manager and Cultural Responsiveness Committee Chairperson

Program Anniversaries: Woodroe, FREE, FIRST, SAGE

This February, BACS is celebrating program anniversaries for four of our community programs! Woodroe Place opened in 1996, and provides short-term residential services for individuals in active psychiatric distress, in a welcoming and open environment. BACS also celebrates two of our re-entry programs: FREE opened in Alameda County in 2016, and FIRST opened in Solano County in 2016. These two programs provide care coordination for people living with severe mental health issues who are re-entering the community from jail/prison. Finally, BACS is celebrating our SAGE program, which opened in 2016 and provides coordination services for people with mental health challenges who need assistance to obtain Supplemental Security Income (SSI) through legal advocacy.

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?

Micah square

Donate

Donate to BACS online by clicking here, or via mail to 629 Oakland Ave, Oakland, CA 94612. Make an ongoing impact by donating monthly!

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.

Planned Giving

Many people leave a charitable gift in their will. Do you want to make a lifetime of impact in the community you care about? Email us to learn more!

Tagged With: contra costa county, diverse workplace, diversity, housing, investment, job satisfaction, libby schaaf, mayor schaaf, mental health, Solano County, thunder road

Bold Strokes to End Homelessness

September 25, 2017

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was recently featured in a four-person panel on KTVU, including the Mayors of San Jose and Berkeley, and the San Francisco Director of Supportive Housing. She shared outcomes from the Housing Fast Support Network (HFSN), like that historically 80% of participants go on to permanent housing. And that this year, 87% of HFSN participants have found permanent housing with our dedicated staff.

Mayor Schaaf also announced our newest program, the Housing Resource Center. This program helps end homelessness by developing relationships with landlords across Oakland and Alameda County, to provide spaces for rent. BACS provides temporary rental assistance, support and mediation for both landlords and tenants, and a 24/7 hotline for emergencies. If you are interested in renting a unit while helping end homelessness, contact us at RoomsInOakland@bayareacs.org

 

[Read more…]

Tagged With: henry robinson, homelessness, homes in oakland, housing fast support network, housing resource center, ktvu, libby schaaf, mayor schaaf, oakland housing, oakland mayor

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