Oakland A’s & KP Award BACS for Community Excellence

August 19, 2019

The Oakland A’s and Kaiser Permanente are pleased to announce BACS (Bay Area Community Services) is the recipient of the inaugural Kaiser Permanente Community Excellence Award. As part of this recognition, BACS received a special on-field recognition on Thursday, Aug. 22 before the A’s won against the New York Yankees.

“We are proud to recognize BACS with the inaugural Kaiser Permanente Community Excellence Award,” said Oakland A’s President Dave Kaval. “We created this award with Kaiser Permanente to honor community members and/or organizations who have shown extraordinary support and contributions to help build a more vibrant Oakland community. BACS was selected because of their big and bold initiative to end homelessness in Oakland.”

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BACS Connections September 2018

September 24, 2018

Peet’s Partners with BACS

Local Bay Area company, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, is generously partnering with BACS by donating coffee and tea! Peet’s Coffee is a historical part of the Bay Area, starting in Berkeley in 1966, and have been an important part of the community ever since. We are so honored to partner with Peet’s Coffee, and are so grateful to the whole team at Peet’s. The coffee is going to our residential programs, our programs working to end homelessness, our Wellness Centers, and many others. Thank you Peet’s!

Teresa Drisker Celebrates 15 Years with BACS

This month, BACS is honoring Teresa Drisker for her 15 Year Anniversary at BACS! Teresa is an essential part of our Woodroe Place Crisis Residential Center team, and has helped hundreds of people through her years here. Woodroe first opened in 1996, and Teresa has lent her expertise to build a strong program! We threw a surprise party to celebrate with her, and appreciate her impact on Woodroe Place.

Bombas Socks

Bombas Socks, and their huge customer community, are making a difference at BACS with a major donation of socks! With winter approaching, one of the most important things for our programs is gear to help keep our participants warm. Bombas Socks donates a pair of socks for every pair of socks sold – so our thanks to the 1,500 people whose purchases made this donation possible! The donated socks are anti-microbial so they stay clean longer, which is so helpful for people who don’t have the luxury of putting on a clean pair of socks every day. Thank you Bombas!

BACS at Oakland Pride

BACS had a great time at Oakland Pride this year, representing our community! We were out and proud, and got to get our information to people in need.

Our staff, participants, and leadership are proudly filled with people who identify as LGBTQ. BACS is doing whatever it takes to make a difference, and everyone is welcome at BACS.

Program Anniversaries

This month, BACS is celebrating the 1 year anniversary of our Housing Navigation programs, a major expansion to BACS’ housing & homeless solutions work. Our Housing Resource Center, Housing Education & Counseling, and Landlord Liaison programs opened in 2017, and work with the people who need the most support. Learn more about BACS’ Housing Navigation here.

BACS is also celebrating the 4 year anniversary of the Hope Intervention Program (HIP), a prevention and early intervention program for youth, which opened in 2014. Learn more about our Prevention & Early Intervention programs here.

To all of our staff and partners who make these programs possible, happy anniversary, and congratulations on all your hard work!

Employee of the Month

BACS’ Employee of the Month is Willona Williams from the Thunder Road team! Willona has worked at Thunder Road since 2005. Willona loves getting to know the participants at Thunder Road, and having a part in helping them make good decisions and become a part of their community. She says, “I think Thunder Road matters because we have a lot of displaced youth in our communities who can use help with life making decisions and can use a little extra guidance to stay or get back on the right path.”

Congratulations, Willona, and thank you for all you and the Thunder Road NOC team do!

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.

Learn More About BACS

Kelly Miller, Program Supervisor for BACS’ Valley Wellness Center, is featured in a video giving a brief introduction to BACS’ work! She spoke with Pathway Community Church about our services and where the community fits in! See the full video here.

BACS Connections June 2018

June 25, 2018

BACS to Open Whole Person Care Program in Solano County

Solano County hills

Solano County is opening its first Whole Person Care (WPC) program, and has chosen BACS to spearhead this pilot! WPC focuses on looking at the ‘whole person’ from an integrated care perspective, moving away from fragmented health care systems that treat each issue individually. This WPC program is patient-centered and involves the coordination of primary care, behavioral health, social services, and housing for high-needs users.

BACS is thrilled to be able to bring innovation to this project, in partnership with Solano County, and help people with chronic and serious health conditions access the care they need!

Mendelson Family Fund

BACS is honored to announce a partnership with the Mendelson Family Fund! The Mendelson Family Fund, formed by Joan Sautter and Dr. Roger Mendelson, has made a generous gift to BACS to support our Housing Solutions programs. Their donation will support homeless community members in Oakland.

Housing Program Success Story

Our Housing Education & Counseling program is excited to share a new success story, from someone who went from homelessness to housing! A single mother with a five year old son attended our program. She and her son had been living in their car for nearly two years, and she did not have a rental history, so she could not find housing. BACS’ Housing Education team wrote a letter to the landlord of a potential unit, and spoke to him over the phone to advocate on behalf of the woman and her child. The team let him know the woman was consistently attending the Housing Education and Counseling program. Thankfully, the landlord saw the women’s dedication to get into housing, and now the woman and her child are in a home of their own. BACS celebrates success stories like these every day!

Homeless Outreach and Crisis Residential Program Anniversaries

This month, BACS is celebrating two program anniversaries.

Rosewood Crisis Residential Center opened in 2017 in Vallejo, and provides services to people across Solano County. Rosewood provides short-term residential services for individuals in active psychiatric distress who need support to cope and heal. BACS thanks the dedicated staff, who have helped Rosewood make a difference for 120+ people since it opened.

North County Senior Homeless Program (NCSHP) opened in 2007 in Alameda County to fill a crucial need in the community: outreach, housing and financial support, mental health and case management, substance use, and primary care to individuals who are homeless and have mental health issues. This Full Service Partnership helps the most vulnerable members of our community.

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.

You Can Make A Difference

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

Currently the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation is matching all new gifts up to $50,000! This funding will go to end homelessness in the Bay Area.

Do you work for Cisco? You can donate to BACS, and the Cisco Matching Gifts program will match your gift!