BACS is very proud to share that our very own ⁠Harjit Singh Gill, MA, LCSW, MBA Candidate, Regional Vice President, has been named a 2026 Steinberg Institute Champion and recipient of the 2026 Richard Van Horn Award.

The Steinberg Institute recognizes Californians whose leadership is changing the landscape of mental health and housing. Harjit’s work is a powerful example of what that looks like in practice, and we are proud to have him at BACS.

Over the past five years, Harjit has grown BACS’ Sacramento regional presence from 13 to 250 employees, opened the Willow Wellness drop-in center, and partnered with Anthem Blue Cross to convert a downtown Sacramento motel into 42 units of permanent supportive housing. He oversaw development of a forensic treatment facility near the county jail, housing both a Full-Service Partnership and an outpatient program so clients can step up or down in care as their needs change. And he’s invested in something often overlooked: the physical environments where care happens, with natural lighting, artwork, and dignified spaces that reflect the worth of the people who walk through the door.

His guiding philosophy is simple and stubborn: homelessness and the mental health crisis are solvable problems, not inevitable ones. Meet people where they are. Build trust. Connect the systems that too often fail to connect. For thousands of Sacramento-area residents cycling between emergency rooms, jails, and the streets, that philosophy has meant a different outcome.

Congratulations to Harjit, and to our team for doing work worth celebrating! You can see the full feature on the Steinberg Institute’s website.