Bay Area Community Services (BACS)

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2020-2021 BACS Annual Report

March 30, 2022

To the Whatever It Takes community,

This year, BACS provided services to 14,699 neighbors experiencing behavioral health challenges, housing insecurity and/or homelessness, and other complex needs. As an historical agency celebrating our 68th anniversary, it is our founding commitment to do “whatever it takes” to meet the needs of our community. This Annual Report, and our work every single day, is dedicated to the people we serve. Our ethos runs deep. We do not give up on people, no matter their need or trauma. The story of this year is perseverance through hardship, and collaboration creating change.

This was a year of profound struggle; and yet, the BACS Community – all of you reading this report – stepped up to the plate.

  • A movement of public, private, corporate, and individual donors who contributed their own resources to reclaim homes for community benefit and create affordable housing for unhoused neighbors.
  • Hundreds of team members who kept up with changing CDC recommendations to keep the people we serve safe, without skipping a beat to wrap around each individual to help meet their unique housing, behavioral health, and community needs.
  • Volunteers of all ages who made Homes in a Basket, assembled hygiene kits, sewed masks, and delivered meals to our “housing fast” sites.
  • Our board of directors who volunteered their governance and time to keep our agency strong, prepared, and ready to respond to the next crisis.
  • Advocates who made their voices heard to help get BACS into their neighborhoods, meet an emerging need, and reach people who need the most support.
  • Partners being served by one or more of our 46 programs, who engaged with our team to meet their unique needs, achieved personal goals of housing, wellness, and employment, and who are determined to achieve stability with the help of our community.

[Read more…]

Tagged With: annual report, nonprofit

BACS Connections April 2021

April 6, 2021

United Against Racism

BACS staff and clients, our neighbors and family members, and the people we serve are part of the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. The recent murders in Atlanta and the ongoing, escalating attacks in Oakland and San Francisco have brought to national attention to what, unfortunately, is not news to many right here in our community: Asian and Pacific Islander Americans are targets of hate crimes and acts of violence.

Chris Nguyen of the BACS Cultural Responsiveness Advisory Group said “What the younger generation feels growing up as children of Asian immigrants, similarly to many other cultures and immigrant families… Our native countries view us as American (Non-Native) and our home country sees us Asian (Non-Native)… Elders in our communities look at their life in this country as one of a visitor while children don’t see their own country as their native land… American history = Black History = Indigenous History = Latinx History = Asian history. Our history is very much intertwined and defines American society.”

As an organization, BACS works to integrate an explicitly anti-racist framework to our care model – bridging the gap between mental health and housing systems of care to meet the needs of the “whole person” – breaking barriers of generational poverty, racism, injustice, and violence. We are collectively heartbroken, and express our condolences and support for the AAPI members of our staff, our board, our volunteers and our community.

Strategic Plan for 2021-2023

As we set our strategic priorities, we heard from thousands of community members of their struggles – generational poverty, policing, racism, disability, injustice, and trauma.

For nearly 70 years, BACS’ mental health, housing, aging, and youth services have created a comprehensive safety net for our community. Time and again, BACS’ staff, leadership, and volunteers have heard the call of the community and responded to fill those gaps.

Systemic oppression prevents the people BACS serves from being healthy, safe, and housed. Our community is calling out for freedom – this strategic plan is our response.

Welcoming New Board Member

Please join us in welcoming Radhika Bajaria, MA, LMFT, to the BACS Board of Directors!

Radhika Bajaria, licensed Marriage and Family therapist has worked in community mental health for over 12 years in Contra Costa County and Alameda County. Radhika is passionate about community mental health and providing the best services to the most vulnerable population. Radhika is excited to join the BACS board to provide her expertise as a mental health professional and do whatever it takes to help BACS grow.

First BACS Program in the Monterey Bay Area

Bringing a whole new meaning to “Bay Area” Community Services, BACS is thrilled to announce that we are partnering with the City of Salinas and the County of Monterey to open their first housing navigation center! We anticipate opening the SHARE Center around late May.

BACS is excited to bring our strong Housing First philosophy and our determined focus on pathways to permanent housing to the Salinas community. We are grateful to all of the community advocates who made their voices heard and made this possible, as well as the City Council of Salinas and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors for their commitment to real solutions for community members experiencing homelessness.

Tipping Point Community

Tipping Point logo - Peninsula Custom Homes BACS is excited to share that we are officially part of the Tipping Point Community! Tipping Point fights poverty in the Bay Area, through targeted investments and capacity-building support. Since 2005, Tipping Point has invested nearly $300 million in housing, early childhood, education, and employment solutions – strengthening our community’s safety net.

Tipping Point Community vets organizations extensively before making an investment and evaluate performance regularly, and we are honored and inspired to have the opportunity to partner on such a significant opportunity to help break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.

Thrive City on Wheels – Warriors & Kaiser Permanente

Huge shout-out to two of our major local partners, the Golden State Warriors and Kaiser Permanente, for providing hundreds of farm-fresh food bags to the people we serve!

Thrive City on Wheels is helping the farmers and farmers’ markets and the families who are struggling to access healthy local foods. This 8-week program has already helped more than 150 families just at BACS. Thank you Warriors and Kaiser Permanente!

A New Approach: Housing in San Francisco

Tipping Point is also funding BACS to establish the Shared Housing Collaborative, focused on a coordinated effort to make multi-bedroom units with shared common spaces a viable housing option for people experiencing homelessness. The project will simultaneously build the system infrastructure and help service providers adjust to this strategy to ensure successful implementation.

This model is successful, neighborhood-oriented, and keeps a high standard of living for all people. CEO Jamie Almanza said, ““BACS is thrilled to bring a shared housing and client voice/choice framework to our decades-long success of supporting communities working towards solving homelessness. We are honored to step in and help San Franciscans and community partners implement a shared housing collaborative to increase permanent housing options for our community.”

Tagged With: AAPI, antiracist, board of directors, kaiser permanente, monterey, nonprofit, nonprofit board, salinas, SHARE center, thrive, thrive city on wheels, tipping point, tipping point community, warriors, whole person care

BACS 2017-2018 Annual Report

November 14, 2018

BACS is thrilled to share our Annual Report for 2017-2018, a special anniversary edition as BACS celebrates our 65th anniversary of uplifting communities in and around the Bay Area.

This last year presented our community, our nation, with profound challenges – and BACS was there to step up and step in to meet those challenges, one life at a time. In and around the Bay Area, poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and more has changed the course of what it means to walk down the streets in our neighborhoods. At the same time, the cityscape of our cities is changing – cranes building new high-rise expensive buildings while more and more individuals are uprooted from their homes and fall in to homelessness.

[Read more…]

Tagged With: annual report, annual report template, BACS, bay area, board of directors, nonprofit

Thomas J. Long Foundation

February 28, 2018

BACS is delighted to announce an historic grant from the Thomas J. Long Foundation, which awarded BACS $750,000 to support our senior services.

This year, BACS celebrates our 65th anniversary of providing crucial social services in the Bay Area. This foundation partnership supports our work, our sustainability, and our mission.

BACS’ Executive Director Jamie Almanza says “We are honored to receive this unprecedented grant from the Thomas J. Long Foundation. This foundation, and Thomas J. Long’s legacy, have been an integral part of the fabric of the Bay Area for decades. The Thomas J. Long Foundation has a true vision to nimbly make a difference by supporting what non-profits need.”

[Read more…]

Tagged With: caregiver respite, caregiver support, charity, donation, long foundation, nonprofit, safety net, senior services, towne house, Wellness Center

How You Will Make a Difference in 2018

December 6, 2017

In 1953, BACS became one of the very first non-profits in the Bay Area. Over the last 65 years, the Bay Area has changed dramatically, yet some things remain the same. Many societal issues – homelessness, substance use, racial prejudice, and behavioral health challenges – still need to be addressed.

We are doing whatever it takes to uplift our community – and this would not be possible without you. BACS needs your support!

Check out your full impact here to see people you have helped like Emma and Joseph, and to learn how we plan to change the Bay Area for the better with your support.

This holiday season, help us help our community. Donate today!

 

Tagged With: bay area, end homelessness, homelessness, nonprofit, Oakland, supported housing

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