BACS Connections February 2017

February 27, 2017

Cultural Responsiveness Committee Chair Appointed

BACS is delighted to announce the appointment of Sage Williams, Personal Services Coordinator of BACS’ Homeless Outreach program, to the Chair of the BACS Cultural Responsiveness Committee!

Sage simultaneously has participated in transformational practices to increase the accessibility to our partners and has been a thought leader in our growth at BACS. Recently he has designed a Provider of Color Work group due to start the end of the month.

Sage says, “At the end of the day, we are seeing the whole person, whether it is a staff member or a participant. The Committee is helping BACS adhere to its core values.”

To learn more about the Cultural Responsiveness Committee, or about Sage’s appointment, read the full announcement here.

FREE & SAGE Programs Celebrate 1 Year Anniversary

BACS is pleased to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of BACS’ Criminal Justice Programs and BACS’ SSI Advocacy Programs!

BACS opened the FREE criminal justice program in 2016 to prevent recidivism by targeting poverty, mental health issues, and the lack of a support system – to help individuals successfully re-enter the community.

BACS opened the SAGE Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Advocacy program in 2016 to help participants with severe mental health issues receive SSI benefits, to prevent homelessness and serious poverty.

Congratulations to the teams of each programs, and thank you to all our of community supporters!

Safeway Foundation Gives Grant to BACS!

BACS is delighted to announce that we have been awarded a grant from The Safeway Foundation. The Safeway Foundation is providing these funds to BACS in order to support critical housing programs for individuals with complex needs. This program provides stable and permanent housing options, at very low cost, along with a care coordinator who helps residents learn independent living skills in a supportive environment.

BACS is grateful for The Safeway Foundation’s commitment to improving the quality of life in the communities Safeway serves.

Youth Center ‘The Spot’ Opens in Oakland

BACS’ Hope Intervention Program (HIP) is excited to announce the grant opening of The Spot (It’s a H.I.P. place to be)! The Spot is a new youth wellness center, designed by and for TAY (transitional aged youth). At the Open Mic Grand Opening, youth participated in sharing poetry, speeches of their lived experience and words of encouragement, freestyling, comedy, and raps.

Moving forward, TAY will have access to groups, drop-in hours, vocational training, community college presentations, computers, phones, and basic supplies.

To learn more about The Spot, and about its Grand Opening, read the full announcement here.

Powerful Reflections from BACS Executive Director

In January, during the worst of the California storms, a 67 year old man passed away quietly in our largest homeless program. There, where we house 137 individuals as we help them find permanent housing, he died seemingly peacefully in his sleep. BACS’ Executive Director, Jamie Almanza, reflected on his experience, and its impact on our community.

“He was part of a short term respite program. Respite from the streets after a hospitalization. He died seemingly peacefully in his sleep. He died in doors. Not outside in the blistering cold that is mostly too cold for us Californians.“

To read the full letter from Ms. Almanza, visit our page here.

Employee of the Month

BACS is delighted to honor Mike King, from the Housing Fast Support Network (HFSN) program, as our Employee of the Month for February!

Join Our Cause

Do you want to join BACS in our mission to uplift under-served individuals and their families by doing whatever it takes?

Donate

Donate to BACS online by clicking here, or via mail to 629 Oakland Ave, Oakland, CA 94612. Make an ongoing impact by donating monthly!

Or, donate gently used blankets, canned goods, and other items to our housing programs. Email us to learn more.

Work Here

BACS services are always expanding, and we are currently recruiting! Check out our job opportunities. Learn more on our website or by calling 510.613.0330.

Planned Giving

Many people leave a charitable gift in their will. Do you want to make a lifetime of impact in the community you care about? Email us to learn more!

BACS Connections January 2017

January 26, 2017

BACS Participant Releases Book!

Jason’s hard work paid off as people came to celebrate his book signing on January 11, 2017. Jason had been writing his essays with the hope of publishing them for over a year. The book signing went well, with Jason personalizing more than 20 copies! The book, entitled “A Portrait of a Mind in the Cosmos” is a compilation of Jason’s view on our place in the universe. Jason has been a student of the cosmos for years and has read nearly everything put out there from Stephen Hawking and other cosmologists.

Jason is currently editing a second book which he hopes to publish in the near future. Congratulations, Jason, and we look forward to reading the next one too!

Pandora Supports BACS!

Pandora Internet Radio, a local Oakland company since 2000, is using their talent to give back to the community! During their Sales Boot Camp for incoming team members, Pandora’s incoming sales staff dedicated time to making an impact on homelessness. The Pandora team assembled more than 100 hygiene kits for BACS, including deodorant, dental hygiene items, and more.

Hygiene kits are an important part of BACS’ work with our homeless community members. Without access to basic hygiene, homeless individuals are more likely to develop complex yet preventable health issues.

Thank you, Pandora, for giving back to our community!

Employee of the Month

BACS is delighted to honor Loren Jackson, from the FREE Program, as our Employee of the Month for January! Loren has had an exciting career at BACS, working in his third BACS program and bringing his crucial expertise and attitude to all of our teams.

A team member said “Loren is super gracious in letting me interrupt him and dropping what he was doing to help the clients get the resources needed… Loren demonstrated great team support and problem-solving in helping our clients”.

Loren says that he appreciates being able to meet immediate client needs while planning for long-term opportunities, mentioning “What I love about my job is being able to place individuals in a better place than they were the day before. I love being able to connect our Participants to community resources and brokering services specifically to medical and mental health care.”

Congratulations, Loren, and thank you for all you do on the FREE team!

Kate Franza Joins BACS as New Director of Programs!

Kate is originally from New York but has been living in Oakland, CA for the past four years. She is a CADAC (Credentialed Substance Abuse Counselor) and an LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker). Kate has been serving homeless communities for the past 10 years in various capacities. She started her career as a substance abuse counselor and an HIV case manager in New York City at Housing Works Inc. Kate has worked in San Francisco for the past 4 years at API Wellness Center as their Associate Director, overseeing all of their behavioral health and HIV homeless programs. She has expertise working with LGBT communities, specifically working with transgender women. Kate is thrilled to join BACS and be able to serve our local Oakland community. Kate says “BACS’ commitment to do ‘whatever it takes’ is in line with my philosophy of client centered care.”

Welcome to BACS, Kate!

Join Our Cause

Do you want to join BACS in our mission to uplift under-served individuals and their families by doing whatever it takes?

Donate

Donate to BACS online by clicking here, or via mail to 629 Oakland Ave, Oakland, CA 94612. Make an ongoing impact by donating monthly!

Or, donate gently used blankets, canned goods, and other items to our housing programs. Email us to learn more.

Work Here

BACS services are always expanding, and we are currently recruiting! Check out our job opportunities.

Learn more on our website or by calling 510.613.0330.

Planned Giving

Many people leave a charitable gift in their will. Do you want to make a lifetime of impact in the community you care about? Email us to learn more!

BACS Connections December 2016

December 27, 2016

Happy Holidays from BACS!

Richard Williams wins Employee of the Year

Our staff and their families celebrated the holidays together and gave thanks for our wonderful community.

This year, we are grateful for our community partners, whose work supported our shared vision of making the Bay Area a better place to live; for our participants, whose dreams and goals we can support; and for our staff, whose tireless efforts helped make real change this year.

Happy holidays, from everyone at BACS!

Welcoming Alistair McElwee: New BACS Board Member

BACS is delighted to announce the newest member of our Board of Directors: Alistair McElwee. His experience includes 17 years in operations at The GUS Team, LLC. and two years of oncology nursing at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. Alistair’s education reflects his interests in politics, policy, and healthcare. He studied political science at UC Berkeley before a post graduate degree in public administration in San Francisco. More recently Alistair’s interest in healthcare led him to an advanced nursing degree. Alistair has participated as a volunteer for various arts organizations, hospitals, and political campaigns since 1986.

Welcome, Alistair, and thank you for your service!

Impact More Than 3,000 People This Year!

There are only a few more days to donate in 2016!

Employee of the Month

A’Zah was nominated because she embodies the value of accountability in the SAGE Program. She is reliable with getting clients needs met by meeting them where they are at, and has taken initiative in making sure that they get the services and benefits that they are entitled to by doing “whatever it takes”. A’Zah has been a strength and asset to the SAGE Team, by holding staff accountable for self-care.

“What I like most about my job is the connection within my team and the willingness to help all participants beyond our familiarity. We lean and depend on each other to help everyone. And also the fact that employees feel appreciated not only by participants but also staff members. Everyone is genuinely excited for each other’s success.” – A’Zah

Congratulations, A’Zah, and thank you for all you do on the SAGE team!

Leadership Gives Inspiring Talk to BACS Staff

Jamie Almanza, Executive Director, gathered BACS’ more than 120 staff members to share her vision for BACS Past, Present, and Future. She and other Senior Managers shared news of exciting new program openings, program expansions, and opportunities for staff growth within BACS.

BACS Connections October 2016

October 25, 2016

Kaiser Permanente Awards BACS a Grant to Bring Healthy Living to Our Supported Independent Living Sites!

BACS was awarded a $20,000 Healthy Eating, Active Living grant by Kaiser for our Supported Independent Living Houses for people living with behavioral health needs! This will enable us to invest in our housing sites with healthy activities so that the individuals living there are exposed to health and wellness.

BACS provides six affordable housing sites for adults who have behavioral health issues and are at risk of becoming homeless, and will use this grant funding to promote healthy lifestyles, including breaking the cycle of poor nutrition that many homeless individuals experience.

BACS would like to extend our gratitude for Kaiser Permanente for this grant, and for promoting healthy living for the most vulnerable members of our community.

“Power of Faith” Event

Jamie Almanza, MBA, BACS’ Executive Director, was invited by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson’s office to speak at the September “Power of Faith” event. This event was designed to “highlight and celebrate the work of faith-based organizations, as well as bring together faith-based organizations and community members to collaborate to amplify our collective work in the community.”

Jamie participated in a panel on homelessness and housing with our local faith-based community. On behalf of BACS, thank you Supervisor Carson for the invitation, and thank you to our very own Housing Coordinator, Mike King, for blessing the event with your presence!

Volunteers Build Garden Boxes at Woodroe Place

BACS would like to extend a huge “thank you” to volunteers from Beacon Health Options – Laura, Lori, Sam, Gina, Laine, and Sarah – who spent a Friday afternoon building garden boxes at Woodroe Place!

Our volunteers came and learned more about our Crisis Residential Treatment program, then made a permanent impact by starting our gardening project off right. BACS’ vision is for participants to get involved in gardening, and to use the seasonally rotated foods grown in the garden as part of cooking groups. The Beacon volunteers built 8 garden beds, and were happy to work with one of our interested participants.

Employee of the Month

BACS is delighted to honor our wonderful nursing staff by recognizing both Erin Tolva and Sunita Suman as our Employees of the Month for October!

Both Erin and Sunita were nominated by their peers to appreciate the integral role they play in our programs. Here is what our staff had to say:

Erin is such an incredible asset to our programs. She is smart, she is dedicated, and her training as a nurse is invaluable to our participants. Erin is an advocate for our participants, she works hard in the community, and she is an endless morale booster for her team members! Her hard work inspires all of us to work harder. With Erin, you can always trust that client care comes first.

Sunita embodies the spirit of Woodroe Place. She routinely responds to the needs of the house and the residents without hesitation or prompting. She is the consummate team player and has been observed to step in to support her team even outside her job duties. Sunita is the first staff to point out the strengths of the residents that we work with and she is often observed by her team to hold the hope that some of our most challenged residents will do better. Sunita also has a very sharp sense of humor that keeps her team light on their feet!

Congratulations, Sunita and Erin!

HIP Annex Revitalization Project

BACS’ Hope Intervention Program, which provides mobile outreach and crisis intervention services to youth age 16-24, is planning an artistic revitalization project for one of Towne House’s many welcoming spaces!

Volunteers will be creating a mural or another large-scale design project, and making the space perfect for youth to chill, get focused, and accomplish their goals.

If you are interested in helping with this project, call the HIP main line at 510-593-5629.

Join Our Cause

Do you want to join BACS in our mission to uplift under-served individuals and their families by doing whatever it takes? The community has asked us to provide more services than ever, based on need. In 2016, help us make this possible!

Donate

Donate to BACS online by clicking here, or via mail to 629 Oakland Ave, Oakland, CA 94612.

Or, donate gently used blankets, canned goods, and other items to our housing programs. Email us to learn more.

Work Here

BACS services are always expanding, and we are currently recruiting! Check out our job opportunities.

Learn more on our website or by calling 510.613.0330.

BACS Connections September 2016

September 26, 2016

Simply the Basics – Our Newest Partner!

Simply the Basics is partnering with BACS! Simply the Basics donated more than 150 hygiene kits, as well as feminine hygiene products and laundry detergent! These products are so critical to the homeless participants we serve who have no other alternative to basic hygiene care when surviving on the streets.

The mission of Simply the Basics is to provide for individuals, organizations, and communities their most basic needs with dignity so that they can focus on bigger goals.

This donation empowers BACS to focus on our bigger goal – ending homelessness, permanently. Every year, BACS provides services to hundreds of over 1,000 individuals experiencing homelessness. We provide interim housing and rehabilitation services, while our Short-Term Housing team locates permanent housing. In the meantime, we provide mental health support, independent living skills development, employment support, respite services, and more.

To learn more about our amazing partner Simply the Basics, visit their website!

In-Kind Donation Drop-Offs

Your donations change lives!

Our 2016 Drop Off Dates for in-kind donations are Wednesday, October 19 and Wednesday, December 14.

Donations will be accepted from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 559 16th Street in Oakland. If you have any questions, please email Nora Daly.

Everything you donate directly impacts our mission – to uplift under-served individuals and their families by doing whatever it takes. Learn more about in-kind donations to BACS!

Our Programs Work Together to Change Lives

Daniel and Gina, 70 and 60 years old respectively, came to BACS in need of serious help. They were homeless, and did not have access to food, medications, or other services. Through the collective efforts of our dedicated teams in three programs, Daniel and Gina are no longer homeless and are receiving the services they need!

Read their full story, from homelessness to today, here.

Hope Intervention Program

BACS is pleased to celebrate the 2 year anniversary of BACS’ Hope Intervention Program (HIP).

BACS is the lead agency of a major pilot for Alameda County called TAY Triage and opened HIP, a prevention and early intervention program for youth, in 2014 to fill a crucial need in the community: mobile outreach and crisis intervention services to Transitional Aged Youth (TAY).

Our HIP team has made a huge impact on TAY in our community. Happy anniversary, and congratulations on all your hard work! Learn more about our Prevention & Early Intervention programs here.

Our team also just received a one year evaluation for the wonderful work we are doing. Some noteworthy statistics:

HIP enrolled 211 participants, and exceeded the program goal for enrollment by 110%! This means BACS was able to use our resources to help even more people.
93% of our participants have been discharged from our program, often with a warm hand-off to other services. Of our discharged participants, 87% had no psychiatric hospital facility admissions within 90 days of discharge, exceeding our objective!

Thank you to our partners who made HIP possible including the State of California through Senate Bill 82, Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services, Stars Inc. TAY Programs, and West Coast Children’s Clinic, as well as Alameda County’s Health Care Services Agency CAPE Unit who has conducted deep research on the program.

Employee of the Month

Bart Smid, Peer Counselor at Woodroe Place Crisis Residential, is our Employee of the Month for September!

Bart was nominated by his colleagues and leadership because of his commitment to the mission of BACS, and his daily demonstration and pursuit of the agency’s values. In particular, colleagues noted:

“Bart is the consummate professional. He engages residents at Woodroe with great integrity, welcoming approach and believes the best in people. He consistently encourages choice and fosters relationships with residents at Woodroe to build trust and encourage their growth. Bart has tremendous pride in the house and in his work. He is accountable and willing to share innovative ideas with his team.”

Bart says “the thing I like most about working at Woodroe Place is the support our team gives each other every moment of every shift, as well as the positive effect our program has on our residents mental health recovery. It feels great knowing that I play a partial role in our residents feeling better about themselves and their current situation.”

Congratulations, Bart!

Join Our Cause

Donate

Donate to BACS online by clicking here, or via mail to 629 Oakland Ave, Oakland, CA 94612.

Or, donate gently used blankets, canned goods, and other items to our housing programs. Email us to learn more.

Work Here

BACS services are always expanding, and we are currently recruiting! Check out our job opportunities.

Learn more on our website or by calling 510.613.0330.

BACS Connections February 2017

Cultural Responsiveness Committee Chair Appointed

FREE & SAGE Programs Celebrate 1 Year Anniversary

Safeway Foundation Gives Grant to BACS!

Youth Center ‘The Spot’ Opens in Oakland

Powerful Reflections from BACS Executive Director

Employee of the Month

Join Our Cause

BACS Connections January 2017

BACS Participant Releases Book!

Pandora Supports BACS!

Employee of the Month

Kate Franza Joins BACS as New Director of Programs!

Join Our Cause

BACS Connections December 2016

Happy Holidays from BACS!

Welcoming Alistair McElwee: New BACS Board Member

Impact More Than 3,000 People This Year!

Employee of the Month

Leadership Gives Inspiring Talk to BACS Staff

BACS Connections October 2016

Kaiser Permanente Awards BACS a Grant to Bring Healthy Living to Our Supported Independent Living Sites!

“Power of Faith” Event

Volunteers Build Garden Boxes at Woodroe Place

Employee of the Month

HIP Annex Revitalization Project

Join Our Cause

BACS Connections September 2016

Simply the Basics – Our Newest Partner!

In-Kind Donation Drop-Offs

Our Programs Work Together to Change Lives

Hope Intervention Program

Employee of the Month

Join Our Cause

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