BACS Connections October 2024

October 8, 2024

BACS Secures Over $2.8 Million to Expand Housing Solutions in Yolo County

BACS is excited to announce a major expansion to our new services in partnership with Yolo County, where we will purchase properties to create safe, permanent housing.

“We are honored to expand our impact into Yolo County and bring much-needed housing stability to its residents,” said Jamie Almanza, CEO of BACS. “This investment will directly address the critical shortage of housing for those who are struggling and provide supportive services that can change lives.”

BACS will be getting people out of homelessness in to secure housing. We will provide housing support and independent living skills, care coordination, and substance use support and behavioral health referrals.

In the last ten years, BACS has launched partnerships in five new counties, responding to the need for comprehensive, integrated behavioral health and housing solutions in local communities. BACS is committed to addressing the complex challenges of homelessness and behavioral health with tailored support that meets the unique needs of each community. In 2023 alone, BACS helped 2,820 households remain housed and supported over 3,100 individuals with behavioral health crisis services.

Learn more about our Yolo programs on our website: https://bayareacs.org/yolo-county/

Growth and Change on the BACS Website

As BACS grows, we adapt to neighborhood and community need – and our website must do the same. We want our site to be a vibrant platform where people can learn about BACS, seek assistance, and get involved.

While you can see all the changes at www.bayareacs.org, here are a few highlights:

The home page now leads with our vision and the impacts from our most recent annual report! We keep our data transparently front-and-center, and you can see right away the impacts BACS is having.
The Ways to Give page has expanded – people can make BACS’ work possible through many different methods, including donating an old vehicle to BACS! If you or anybody you know wants to donate, they can visit bayareacs.org/ways-to-give/
Our Get Help page is now a fantastic resource, broken down by county, to help people looking for support. We have so many programs taking unique approaches to behavioral health and homelessness. If you or anybody you know wants to get connected, visit bayareacs.org/get-help

Raising the BACS Minimum Wage & Supporting Our Team

We’re thrilled to announce a major transformation at BACS! Our agency is growing, and we’re implementing a comprehensive organizational structure change to support our expansion and better serve our staff, partners, and communities. This change includes new leadership roles, enhanced departments, and a two-tier structure to our Program Manager position, providing clear paths for professional growth and development.

As we embark on this new chapter, we are also recognizing the hard work and dedication of our admin staff with well-deserved raises! With our fresh structure and commitment to growth, there has never been a better time to join our team. Look for openings here: https://bayareacs.org/careers/

Alameda County Recognizes BACS Employment Placement Program’s Strengths

At the heart of BACS’ mission is a commitment not just to help as many people as possible, but to ensure that the support we provide is of the highest quality.

That’s why we’re excited to share that our Individualized Placement and Support (IPS) program recently received top marks in Alameda County’s IPS Fidelity Report, underscoring our dedication to excellence and transparency in delivering evidence-based services.

Our IPS program is designed to support individuals with complex needs, behavioral health challenges, co-occurring disorders, and/or those experiencing homelessness. Using an evidence-based model, we help participants discover their career aspirations, prepare for work, and secure competitive, satisfying employment. Our goal is to get people working quickly, with a focus on personalized support and assertive engagement.

Key Highlights:

Caseload size: We served a lot of people, while ensuring personalized attention and support for each participant.
Agency focus on competitive employment: Our emphasis on securing competitive jobs aligns with our mission to help individuals achieve meaningful jobs that promote well-being, earn fair wages, and include benefits.
Diversity of job types & employers: We successfully placed participants in a variety of job types and industries, catering to diverse skills, interests, and strengths.
Assertive engagement and outreach: Our integrated treatment team’s proactive approach to engaging participants and outreach efforts were recognized, ensuring comprehensive support throughout the employment journey.

These exceptional results are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. Learn more on our website.

Contra Costa County Resource Fair

Join BACS and presenting sponsor Wells Fargo for the Contra Costa Community Connect Prevention & Resource Fair!

October 17, 2024 | noon to 3 p.m. | 3105 Willow Pass Rd, Bay Point, CA 94565

Join us at the Contra Costa Community Connect Prevention & Resource Fair for a wide range of resources available to our community members! Explore legal services, housing navigation and prevention assistance, behavioral health support, food, raffles and more. For any questions, reach out to communityengagement@bayareacs.org

Alameda County Community Connect

Our teams had an amazing time at Alameda County Social Services Agency‘s Community Connect Resource Fair at the Oakland Coliseum!

Over 1,000 community members attended
Our table had 300+ visitors learning about our services
We did 49 housing assessments
We got 52 job seekers on a path towards employment

Events like these are a great way to get needs met & connect with your community – whether with BACS, at hygiene stations, back-to-school item giveaways, and raffle prizes! Follow BACS for more community connection opportunities.

BACS Brings Supportive Services to Oakland Pride

On Sunday, September 8th, BACS proudly tabled at Oakland Pride, an annual celebration of LGBTQ+ identity, diversity, and inclusivity. This vibrant event united individuals, organizations, and allies from across the Bay Area to promote pride and self-expression in all its forms.

BACS connected with the community at Oakland Pride, educating attendees on vital mental health and housing resources. Our team highlighted the importance of addressing these interconnected needs to support the well-being and stability of all, especially marginalized individuals.

By combining LGBTQ+ pride with mental health support and housing resources, Oakland Pride and BACS demonstrated the power of community and the importance of addressing the whole person – mind, body, spirit, and home. Together, we can create a more compassionate, inclusive, and supportive space for all individuals to thrive.

Black Hair Independence Day

Every year on July 3rd, we celebrate Black Hair Independence Day, also known as the anniversary of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act. For the past five years, this day has marked a significant step towards ending racial discrimination based on hair texture and protective hairstyles (including braids, twists, locks, loose hair, and spiral curls) in public schools and workplaces.

This legislation is crucial because many people face discrimination in both educational and professional settings due to their natural hair. Children should be able to attend school without the fear of being sent home for wearing their hair naturally. Similarly, individuals should not be deemed “unprofessional” because of their hair. At BACS we emphasize the importance of giving our partners access to barbers and braiders. This resource, that many of us may take for granted, is important to our partners because it could make a difference in getting employment and restoring dignity.

As of now, the CROWN Act has been passed in 26 states, but there are still 24more states to go! The journey continues, but each step forward brings us closer to a society where natural hair is embraced and respected.

Is Your Car Going to Turn Into A Pumpkin?

Donate your unwanted car, truck, motorcycle, RV, bike, kayak or boat to support BACS in Cartober! Your donation will immediately help people experiencing homelessness or behavioral health challenges.

Easy and Free Process

Go to careasy.org and enter BACS as the charity of choice.
Enter your contact information and schedule a pickup time.
The CARS representative will come, check your ownership papers, and load the vehicle onto the truck. Your vehicle can be in any condition.
100% of your donation is tax deductible! Proceeds will be used to make a positive impact in the community

So far, car donations have raised nearly $14,000 for BACS.

Donate your unwanted vehicle today and contribute to the amazing work of BACS! The process is easy and free, and we’ll use the proceeds to uplift individuals, families, and communities by doing “whatever it takes.”

Go to: https://cartober.com/nonprofit/bay-area-community-service

BACS Connections August 2024

August 6, 2024

First Time in a Decade: Decrease in Alameda County Homelessness

This is the news we need: Alameda County has seen its first decrease in homelessness in ten years – down by 3%, with unsheltered homelessness decreasing by 11%. The 2024 Point in Time (PIT) count stats showcase the effectiveness of strategic investments in supportive and interim housing.

BACS shows up for the community, seeking to build strong neighborhoods where everyone has a place they call home. BACS is a leading agency in the movement against homelessness in Alameda County, playing a crucial role in the homelessness system of care—from encampment outreach and coordinated entry assessments to homelessness prevention to interim and permanent housing solutions.

The positive impact is clear: Oakland’s homelessness increase has slowed dramatically, showing the lowest rise in a decade. This progress is a testament to what we can achieve together. Let’s keep up the momentum and continue making strides toward ending homelessness in our neighborhoods. Donate today to keep improving our community!

Keep People Housed

This month marks one year since the next evolution of BACS’ Keep People Housed (KPH) pilot program; a public-private partnership that was founded by BACS and private philanthropy and is now seeing public funders like the City of Oakland and Contra Costa County make investments – along with significant private foundations. To date, 600+ households in Oakland alone have been prevented from falling into homelessness – costing only $3.6 million. 99% of people served have stayed out of homelessness, with only 1% appearing in HMIS, Alameda County’s homelessness management database.

Even after the end of the eviction moratorium, when there was an expectation that the homelessness rate was going to dramatically increase, Oakland saw the slowest increase of homelessness it’s seen in the past 10 years. Many studies indicate that street homelessness can cost between $60k-100k per unhoused individual per year.

KPH find that with an average financial assistance amount of $5,727 per household, we can effectively bottleneck the funnel into homelessness. This doesn’t just save costs for tax payers; this saves unnecessary trauma for the most marginalized who are stationed at the front door of homelessness.

Paired Up to End Homelessness

BACS thrilled to highlight our partnership with Bombas, making a significant impact since 2019! Their commitment to giving back has grown from 3,500 pairs of socks in 2019 to a whooping 150,000 pairs in 2023. BACS is helping more than 17,000 people per year, and each pair of socks goes to community members experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness. Their donated socks are specially engineered with an antimicrobial treatment that extends wearability between washes, coming in darker colors to show less visible wear, and versatile sizing to fit a wide range of bodies. Not only are their donated socks good, the Bombas team is thinking deeply about their “why” and how best to help their neighbors living outdoors.

We’re grateful for Bombas’ dedication to our mission and their enthusiasm for addressing the overlooked need for socks among individuals experiencing homelessness. Thank you for pairing up with us!

Ending Homelessness Every Day

Can you imagine being undocumented and unhoused while going through cancer treatment? Francisco has been there.

Francisco was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago, and faced his diagnosis with strength and adaptability. It has been hard for him to hold a stable job, afford medical care, and find housing, but he was living in his van and taking life day by day.

When Francisco’s van (and home) was stolen during a dialysis appointment in 2021, a quick-thinking nurse connected him with BACS. Francisco came to live at Delta Landing. With the support of BACS and Shelter Inc., Francisco secured a comfortable living space, where he can focus on his health and well-being. Francisco is grateful for this second chance and is determined to make the most of the time he has left. “I am not sure how much longer I will live, but I feel truly blessed and grateful to BACS.”

Every day, people like Francisco are living and dying outdoors, and it is our privilege to do “whatever it takes” to get our neighbors indoors.

BACS Hosts Summer Staff Appreciation Celebration

We turned up the summer vibes to celebrate our incredible team at the annual Staff Appreciation Summer Celebration! On this beautiful, warm day in Hayward, over 150 staff and their families gathered to celebrate the hard work we do to help our community thrive. Our team appreciated the opportunity to kick back, relax, and enjoy each other’s company outside of the usual work hustle. A huge thank you to our Community Engagement team, which organized this fantastic event, and to all our team members for their unwavering commitment and positive energy. Want to join the #WhateverItTakes team? Learn more on our website www.bayareacs.org/careers

Valley Resource Fair & Vaccine Clinic

Our Valley Wellness Center, located in Pleasanton, recently opened up our site and moved outdoors for the Community Mental Health Resource Fair for partners, neighbors, and community members. Attendees had the opportunity to engage with numerous behavioral health resources, offering support and information on mental well-being. Additionally, our IPS Supported Employment Team got connected with folks to help them find pathways to new careers.

A vaccine clinic was also available, ensuring that community members had easy access to essential immunizations. Participants were also treated to complimentary cosmetic services, including clean shaves and hair styling. To add to the day’s excitement, attendees received goodie bags filled with helpful materials and enjoyed a hot meal from A Little Taste of Culture. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our BACS staff who attended and to the teams who supported this event. Want to come to our next event? Plan your visit at https://bayareacs.org/wellness-centers.

Introducing a New Way to Support Us: Donate Crypto, Stock, or DAFs Online

We’re thrilled to announce that BACS is accepting donations in cryptocurrency, stock, and Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) through our website!

Crypto can be volatile, with big gains. Donating crypto to a BACS can help you offset those gains, so you can save more during tax season while giving back to your community! Donating cryptocurrency is a non-taxable event, so you can deduct the appreciated amount (without paying capital gains tax!) from your taxes. This makes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency donations one of the most tax efficient ways to invest in improving your neighborhood.

Your crypto donation today will help us do ‘whatever it takes’ to uplift individuals, families, and communities. Here’s how your donation can make a difference:

5 SOL = provide a month of comprehensive behavioral health services for 1 community member
1 ETH = prevent homelessness for 1 household
1 BTC = half of a down payment on a house to end homelessness for 5-6 people permanently

Join us to celebrating this exciting new venture in crypto philanthropy by making a donation today: https://bayareacs.org/donate-crypto/.

Opportunity Village Update

BACS’ Opportunity Village is a rapid-rehousing program that helps people transition from encampments and other un-sheltered living situations into permanent housing. While residents live with us, we stay focused on finding permanent housing while helping participants establish benefits, find employment, access mental and physical healthcare supports, and more. We first opened the site in May 2023, and have already served 117 people. 78% of those who have left the program went into permanent housing! 5% went into other programs better suited for their individual needs. 56% of residents who entered opportunity with no income have gotten help from our employment support and now have an income. We are proud of our team, the residents, and the many program partners and community volunteers that donate food and provide community support.

Homelessness Advocates Respond to Calls for Ineffective, Shortsighted Measures

July 26, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2024

Press Contact: Edie Irons, eirons@allhomeca.org, 415-275-2060

[San Francisco, CA] – Homelessness experts and advocates are pushing back against recent remarks by Governor Newsom and other political leaders following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Grants Pass v. Johnson. Politicians’ calls to remove encampments without providing safe, stable places for people to go distract public attention from the real solutions supported by experts and evidence: more affordable homes, preventing homelessness before it happens, and quality interim (non-congregate) housing options.

“To reduce homelessness in the Bay Area, we must focus on compassionate and proven solutions that work,” said Brett Andrews, Interim Chief Executive of All Home. “Moving people along, separating them from their belongings, potentially charging them with a crime or issuing a fine, only makes it harder for them to get housed. A home is what solves homelessness—punishing people for not having a home makes the problem worse.”

All Home’s recent Regional Action Plan projections show that the Bay Area can dramatically reduce by expanding three solutions at the same time: prevent homelessness before it happens; create more non-congregate, dignified interim housing options where people can stabilize as they get connected to a permanent home; and create more permanent housing that is available and affordable to residents with low incomes.

“Talking tough on homelessness during an election year harms real efforts to solve the problem,” said Jamie Almanza, CEO of Bay Area Community Services (BACS). “The Newsom administration has actually done more than most to invest in meaningful solutions to homelessness, and many local governments and nonprofits are using those funds to deal with homelessness strategically – including BACS, adding almost 1,000 new units of housing in the Bay Area. But our leaders need to do the work to build truly effective homelessness response systems and explain those systems to their constituents. We need to work together to see visible, lasting results and not get distracted by the expensive and ineffective solutions that are now back on the table. We all want change, but removing encampments without providing housing and services will not get us there.”

2023 Annual Report

June 14, 2024

To the #WhateverItTakes community:

We’re excited to unveil our Annual Report, highlighting the powerful outcomes achieved by our team, volunteers, donors, funders, partners, and community advocates.

Our #WhateverItTakes ethos is a celebration of the work documented in these pages. We celebrate the sheer number of people we have served and their achievements of health, wellness, and housing. We celebrate our phenomenal efficiency, delivering one of the most effective and low-overhead interventions in our ecosystem, ensuring that more funds go directly to the streets. We celebrate our role as a significant employer in Northern California, supporting colleagues who wake up every day to do #WhateverItTakes. These are the very people you would want to care for your loved ones or yourself in times of tremendous need.

[Read more…]

BACS Connections June 2024

June 14, 2024

Annual Report

BACS is excited to unveil our Annual Report, highlighting the powerful outcomes achieved by our team, volunteers, donors, funders, partners, and community advocates.

We celebrate the sheer number of people we have served and their achievements of health, wellness, and housing. We celebrate our phenomenal efficiency, delivering one of the most effective and low-overhead interventions in our ecosystem, ensuring that more funds go directly to the streets. We celebrate our role as a significant employer in Northern California, supporting colleagues who wake up every day to do “whatever it takes.” These are the very people you would want to care for your loved ones or yourself in times of tremendous need.

We encourage you to read the full annual report for 2023. As you read, know that you are a significant part of the fabric of BACS. You have supported, inspired, been served by, or served our community.

Major Milestone: 100% of Circa60 Partners Housed!

BACS is thrilled to share this profound accomplishment!

Circa60 is a BACS “full-service partnership” program, the highest level of support you can receive in the community. Circa60 helps 100 older adults experiencing severe and long-lasting mental illness, co-occurring substance use disorders, medical frailties, and who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Usually, people in the Circa60 program have been unhoused for 10 years or more.

Thanks to our incredible program staff and leadership, we already have another program on its way to this same incredible achievement. BACS solutions work. And BACS’ team is out on the streets, in doctor’s offices and hospitals, and wherever else we need them to be doing “whatever it takes” to uplift individuals, families, and communities.

New Get Help Page

BACS is very excited to share our re-imagined “Get Help” page! Now, anybody who needs help can start with where they are, then look more closely for what kind of help they need, and get in contact the best way or plan their visit to one of our sites.

If you need help, check out the new page here! And if you want to support any of the 50+ programs doing “whatever it takes” to uplift our community, please make a gift today.

BBQ Social for Transition Aged Youth

BACS works to build community, engagement, and joy into all of our behavioral health services. Last week, BACS brought out all the TAY (transition-aged youth ages 18-24) for a beautiful BBQ at Lake Chabot.

Some partners even decided to test their luck fishing in the lake! We are deeply committed to getting partners out into their community, connecting with their environment, and continuing to work towards stability and independence.

Progress Towards Solving Homelessness in Hayward

The City of Hayward recently announced that it is showing progress in sheltering of people experiencing homelessness. “According to Point in Time (PIT) Count estimates, which were arrived at based on a physical count carried out across the County on the morning of Jan. 25, Hayward is sheltering 44 percent of its homeless population—up from 30 percent in 2022, 24 percent in 2019 and 21 percent in 2017.”

BACS is proud to be involved in many of these efforts – including participating in the Point in Time Count, providing the Hayward Housing Navigation Center, and our upcoming work of purchasing single-family homes to end homelessness as part of Project Reclamation!

Thank you to the City of Hayward for being such active leaders in addressing homelessness in our neighborhoods.

Community Events

BACS has had a busy month of community events! Some folks caught us out at DripFest in San Francisco, we got lots of love at the Oakland Community Block Party, others came to the Spring Luncheon we hosted at Towne House in Oakland, and potential landlord partners came to our Contra Costa County Landlord Appreciation Breakfast. Where are you going to find BACS next? Keep in touch with upcoming events by following us on social media!

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