BACS Connections August 2021

August 5, 2021

Sacramento Crisis Navigation Program

The mental health system of care can be complicated – which is why BACS has started the Sacramento Crisis Navigation Program (CNP). We are supporting community members with behavioral health needs who are in the middle of a crisis, at the emergency room, by being side-by-side to help them navigate available resources to find ongoing services and stability.

Some of the people we serve may have been through this cycle before (from emergency room to a referral to ongoing behavioral health services), but without the warm handoff and individualized coordination they slipped through the cracks. BACS Care Coordinators are here to fill that gap and provide a necessary support to these members of our community and help them with behavioral health, housing, and other urgent life needs. Our team is made up of peers, people with lived experience of these same crises, who can connect with clients “where they are at.”

CNP is made possible by MHSA funding, Sacramento County, and partnership with eight hospitals across Sacramento County.

Advocating to Keep People Housed

BACS joined Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13) and Supervisor Keith Carson (Alameda County D5) today to advocate for extending the national eviction moratorium with our Keep Oakland Housed collaborative. KOH has helped more than 5,000 households keep their housing since 2019, and when COVID worsened the housing and economic crises, BACS and our partners were ready to provide emergency rental assistance, legal support, and supportive services to prevent mass evictions. Health and housing are linked, and keeping people housed prevents the spread of COVID.

One of those 5,000 families was Theresa Fortune and her child in elementary school. She is an artist, an entrepreneur, and a community advocate. She was able to get her bills paid and stay in her housing thanks to KOH. “In my experience with Keeping Oakland Housed, the process is so seamless – it was very easy. Thank you so much, and I look forward to getting through this together as a community.”

“The eviction moratorium protects the 99% of renters who are facing eviction for no reason other than the pandemic,” says Jamie Almanza, MBA, CEO of BACS. “Our economy is still recovering, our workforce is still recovering, and most people in America can barely afford their monthly rent, let alone months of back rent on low pay. This is vital while our country stabilizes. We need to protect our neighbors.”

Letter of Gratitude from Newly-Housed Della

Every day, BACS is helping end homelessness by helping our neighbors find stable housing – but it’s not every day that we get such an incredible “thank you” letter. Della sent us this letter to thank the staff and the whole community behind BACS for helping her get out of homelessness, and asked us to share it.

“I would like to Thank you for allowing me to be part of the program. BACS is everything it stands for Committed to putting an end to homelessness. You see people on side of freeways in tents, homeless people sleeping in doorways on park benches but you never imagine that being you until it happens to you. It’s not anything you want anybody to know or want to talk to anybody about…

Just when I lost hope of ever having my own place, I was told about BACS! BACS is a program that took me off the streets sleeping in my car.

I am so blessed to have found BACS what they do is amazing and I know I couldn’t have done it without them. I have my own place now and have not been this happy in a long time and not only providing me a place to live they furnished everything I needed to make it complete so Kelly, Khalil, Loren, Elizabeth, Ernesto and staff and a special thanks to BACS for making it all happen!! I wish you all the best and anybody who is blessed to be part of the program. Follow the procedures they require and you will have a place to call home!! I can’t thank you enough.”

If you would like to help a neighbor get out off the streets, donate to BACS today!

Introducing Weinreb House

Today, we honor the legacy of Ilene Weinreb, a former BACS board member and pillar of the community. Ilene passed away on November 22, 2020, at age 89, after dedicating her life to creating affordable housing opportunities.

Ilene was an incredible person – the first elected female mayor of Hayward in 1974, an advocate for the creation of Alameda County’s 211 telephone line (which connects residents with health and human service programs), and included BACS in her estate as part of her commitment to affordable housing.

BACS dedicates our first Supported Independent Living site in Hayward as “Weinreb House” This Hayward home was a pioneering model of the housing co-op model that BACS still provides, creating affordable housing for community members experiencing homelessness and/or other complex challenges. This house has provided stable, affordable, permanent housing for six individuals with behavioral health needs since 1980. Ms. Weinreb’s fierce advocacy for this model, and her deep ties to the Hayward community, make this a perfect home to hold her legacy.

Planned Giving

Have you spent your life trying to make the world a better place? You can leave a legacy and make a generational impact on the community by leaving a charitable gift in your will.

Planned giving to BACS allows you to uplift your community by investing in housing, behavioral health, and other services that make our neighborhoods stronger. As a heritage organization in Northern California since 1953, BACS will preserve your legacy and honor your generosity for many years to come. If you are considering leaving a charitable gift in your will and want help or more information, contact us!

BACS Connections June 2021

June 15, 2021

SHARE Center Welcomes First Clients

BACS has moved in the first “cohort” of un-housed residents to the brand new SHARE Center in Salinas, CA! Our team, all from the Salinas community, welcomed the first 22 clients on Memorial Day.

Three families with children under 18 came indoors in our first group of residents, as well as 8 single adults. 86% identify as Latino/a/x. As a low-barrier program, we welcomed residents with mental health challenges, chronic health conditions, and physical disabilities. 72% have been experiencing homelessness for more than 2 years. For all of these residents, and every person who comes after them, BACS is going to do “whatever it takes” to help them find housing.

The SHARE Center is a beautiful and spacious location, including a reception, waiting room, staff spaces, health clinic, counseling offices, library, a commercial kitchen, a multipurpose room, pet kennels, outdoor dining area, children’s play areas, and bedrooms with 100 beds, including family rooms.

“We are so honored to bring BACS’ deep commitment to the “whatever it takes” philosophy to the Salinas community,” says BACS CEO Jamie Almanza, “we have a mission to serve and are so grateful to the community that has done so much to welcome us.”

Preventing Homelessness in Hayward

In response to COVID-19, and the massive strain it put on community members who were already living paycheck-to-paycheck or at-risk of homelessness, BACS partnered with City of Hayward to provide rent relief within weeks of the Shelter In Place order. Homelessness prevention is a huge need, in addition to services helping individuals and families who are currently experiencing homelessness, and BACS is a local leader in housing solutions for anybody who needs help. We created an online portal in 30+ languages for easy access, and worked directly with residents and landlords to stabilize housing crises. This was crucial to the Hayward community, and helped 670 families.

All funds have been expended, and community members are now referred to Alameda County’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program. There is clearly a significant need for this going forward, and we appreciate progressive and impactful Hayward City Council, Mayor, leadership, and other community members are advocating: let’s house Hayward.

Fremont Housing Navigation Center – 6 Month Report

After our first 6 months operating the Fremont Housing Navigation Center, we are proud to share the success of each of the 21 Fremont community members who are now living in permanent housing, and are no longer experiencing homelessness! We will keep working with every single person who stays with us to continue making this impact. You can read the City of Fremont’s full and transparent report online here.

One participant shared his story with the City of Fremont, who lost his housing and his mother in the same year. BACS assisted him with counseling and a lot of encouragement to not give up and use the opportunity at HNC to overcome the long-term obstacles he had been facing. He is now living in a studio in Oakland and working on stabilizing financially and saving for his future.

We are very hopeful, with vaccinations becoming more prevalent and COVID-19 cases decreasing, that we can bring in residents at full capacity within the next 6 months.

Wellness Centers Re-Open & Summer Events

We are so excited to share that our Wellness Centers are now open at 100% capacity, with some COVID safety measures (incl. masks, social distancing, & temperature checks). The soul of the Wellness & Housing Hubs is the community our members create each day, and we are so enthusiastic about the revitalization of our neighborhood as we see the Bay Area’s health improve.

In celebration of this, Towne House Wellness Center is hosting weekly “Wellness & Community Summer” events every Friday. We will uplift and celebrate the spirits and the struggles and the strength of our community with a DJ, barber, food, massages, and more – our full service partnerships and wellness centers create welcoming community space for all neighbors, housed or unhoused. For people who are often excluded, legislated against, discriminated against – you are welcome.

Teens Fundraise to Welcome Home Newly-Housed Neighbors

The incredible BASIS Independent Fremont Junior Honor Society and the entire school fundraised nearly $3,000 to help welcome home our Fremont community members who are exiting homelessness.

These future leaders visited our site, learned about their neighbors in need, and talked to our team – bringing these beautifully wrapped gifts of full cookware sets along with them. These cookware sets will be housewarming gifts for the people we move into housing, and have already helped 4 people moving out to set up their new kitchen!

SHARE Center – BACS opens new housing navigation services in Salinas, CA

June 10, 2021

BACS has moved in the first “cohort” of un-housed residents to the brand new SHARE Center in Salinas, CA! Our team, all from the Salinas community, welcomed the first 22 clients on Memorial Day.

[Read more…]

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

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.”

Community Call and Response: Announcing 2021-2023 Strategic Plan

February 26, 2021

Bay Area Community Services (BACS) is community-based in the deepest sense of the word.

In 1953, our founders heard the call of the community, and stepped up to respond to poverty and institutionalization – what held back people with mental illness and frail elders. For nearly seven decades, BACS has created community centers and employment programs, crisis mental health programs, and programs determined to end homelessness, pulling together advocates, experts, and innovators to break down these barriers.

We are grassroots, from deep East Oakland to Vallejo to Richmond to San Francisco. We are embedded, engaged, and listening. We have a responsibility to hear the call of our vulnerable community members.

To create this Strategic Plan, BACS’ participants, board members, funders, staff, and community supports partnered together to understand systemic gaps, individual needs, and agency strengths and opportunities. As we set our strategic priorities, we heard from thousands of community members of their struggles – generational poverty, policing, racism, disability, injustice, trauma. 99% of BACS clients are extremely low income; more than 80% are people of color; more than 80% are experiencing behavioral health challenges. [Read more…]