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2023
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
WELCOME TO SHARE THE SPIRIT 2023 Dear Reader: Over the years, we’ve been awed by the generosity of readers like you who have made Share the Spirit possible. The East Bay Times and you, the readers and supporters, are helping neighbors in need and enhancing lives, warming hearts and bringing hope and joy to people coping with challenges. Again this year, Share the Spirit stories focus on a wide range of people including children in need of education, seniors requiring care, families seeking food and shelter, and so much more here in the East Bay. All of this happens with the support of people like you. This is a community of givers, of helpers, of people who believe in the power of storytelling and the benefits of doing good. This year, we invite you to join us in granting wishes this holiday season. Your ongoing support is crucial to sustaining these local organizations, reaching more individuals and turning dreams into reality. Your generosity makes a difference. A gift of any size can have a profound effect, providing shelter for the unhoused, therapy for a youth with a disability, meals for a senior. Make a difference by contributing to Share the Spirit and improving our community. Together, we can continue to bring hope, relief and joy to neighbors in need. Thank you for your enduring support and for being an integral part of our community. With gratitude,
Sharon Ryan Publisher, East Bay Times P.S.: Your entire donation stays local, with the East Bay Times covering administrative costs for the program.
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Zaire, 2, reacts as his mother Nazeeza Muhammad reads a new book they received by mail at their Berkeley home. Zaire and his brother Ze’kai, 3, get free books every month from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library as part of the nonprofit The Berkeley Baby Book Project. STORY ON PAGE 22. RAY CHAVEZ — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 3
Bay Area Rescue Mission
A LIGHT THAT LIFTED HER FROM DARKNESS
By Jim Harrington jharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com
Life had grown so painful for Michelle Walker by early 2022 that she felt like she wanted to just end it. She had gotten to this place after years of drug addiction, which led her to leave her young son behind, and focus squarely on getting high. “I stopped coming home,” Walker said. “I would just stay out for months at a time. Eventually, I moved into a tent on the train tracks, because I thought I could get comfortably high there.” Somewhere along the way, Walker stopped showing up for work and eventually lost her job. With no source of income to draw from, Walker said she felt like she “had to do things degrading to myself” in order to get the money for drugs. It was at that bleak moment that someone threw her a lifeline and introduced her to the Bay Area Rescue Mission, a faith-based nonprofit that has served the Bay Area community since 1965. The Richmond organization is reportedly the Bay Area’s largest privately funded homeless shelter, offering more than 80,000 nights of shelter, 90,000 hours of counseling and 1.6 million meals per year. It also provides emergency shelter, transitional housing and one-year programs for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction as well as domestic violence. The goal is to help get lives back on track — which is certainly something Walker knew she needed. Thus, she decided to sign up for the Bay Area Rescue Mission’s Life Transformation Program in early 2022, committing to a year of classes, training and discipleship to help her get off drugs and get prepared for a new life. The program ended up working for Walker, who is now drug and alcoholfree, has a promising career in the construction industry and a place to call home. Perhaps most significantly, she’s been reunited with her son.
HOWTOHELP
RAY CHAVEZ — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP
Michelle Walker sorts through clothing ready to give to newcomers at the Bay Area Rescue Mission Blessings Boutique in Richmond. Walker, who was homeless and addicted to drugs, has turned her own life around with help from the nonprofit.
Donations will help the Bay Area Rescue Mission provide 20,000 meals for those in need of food during a six-week period. Meals are served 365 days per year to residents in the nonprofit’s shelters and to unhoused people in the area and those on the verge of being homeless. Goal: $5,000
4 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By Joseph Dycus jdycus@bayareanewsgroup.com
Whether it is rock climbing, wheelchair basketball, cycling or fitness training, Jorge Macias specializes in making people with various disabilities feel welcome. The 24-year-old wheelchair user from Oakland is rarely in one place for long, setting an active pace and upbeat presence among the clients participating in a variety of programs offered by BORP Adaptive Sports and Recreation in Berkeley. “It’s amazing to see the way people grow and expand from these programs,” said Macias. “I’ve gotten to meet some of the shyest people, and they’ve grown to be very confident, strong people.” BORP, an East Bay organization that has helped people with disabilities stay active through activities and sports for nearly a half-century, has served 1,057 people over the past year. The equipment needed to make this possible is often expensive. A wheelchair suitable for basketball, for example, can cost thousands of dollars. “For our programs to run, we rely on generous donors to keep our programs going,” said BORP Executive Director Emily Seelenfreund. “Not only are our programs beneficial to the individual, but they’re good for society as well. They really help integrate people with disabilities and help them live meaningful and integrated lives.” In 2016, Macias was paralyzed from the chest down after being shot three times during an attempted robbery near his family’s Pittsburg home. What started as one trip to BORP for a game of hoops became weeks chock-full of cycling and rock-climbing classes. “You’re actually in a place where you don’t feel like you’re the only one who exists this way,” Macias said. “You don’t feel like the odd one out. You feel included, like you’re part of a family.”
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
BORP Adaptive Sports and Recreation
GETTING FIT, GAINING CONFIDENCE
HOWTOHELP Donations will help BORP provide instructor payments for 150 in-person and online fitness classes, providing 2,000 hours of fitness for individuals with physical and vision disabilities. Goal: $10,000
JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Instructor Jorge Macias, of Oakland, right, flashes a smile after greeting participants Carina Ho, of Berkeley, left, and Emily Seelenfreund, BORP executive director, during a weekly “Fitness for All” class at BORP Adaptive Sports and Recreation in Berkeley.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 5
Brighter Beginnings
A LIFELINE FOR FAMILIES IN NEED
By Shomik Mukherjee smukherjee@bayareanewsgroup.com
There may come a day when 2-yearold Mauricio runs into a real-life problem that feels unfixable. In the meantime, though, nothing in the world is too tall a task for his toy hammer. As he clack-clack-clacks on the wooden table in a side room at the Oakland office of Brighter Beginnings, the boy glances up at his mother, who has temporarily given up shushing him. Blanca Panigua-Rodriguez, 27, has a lot more to think about in this moment: receiving a high-school GED, finding a steady job, overcoming her inner demons and making a case to regain custody of her other three sons. These are the kinds of things for which hammers — toy or otherwise — are of little use. But what does bring her relief is the help she receives from Brighter Beginnings, a Richmond nonprofit that assists mothers across the East Bay with a range of needs, from extra diapers to childcare assistance to an everyday helping hand. “I’ve felt a lot of emotional distress,” said Panigua-Rodriguez, who lives with her son Maurico and husband Jose in West Oakland. “When I first talked to Brighter Beginnings, they told me, ‘If you need help, just let us know. We’re here for you. You don’t have to be lonely.’ ” Brighter Beginnings also connects clients to cash aid programs and offers an “early head start” program that sends social workers directly to families’ homes, among other services. The nonprofit’s mission is to work with parents and families to support healthy births and other aid for children and families to succeed and thrive. The organization’s focus has expanded to immigrant families that come to the U.S. looking to better their children’s future.
HOWTOHELP
JANE TYSKA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Brighter Beginnings Family Partnership Program coordinator Claudia Rivera, left, visits with Blanca Panigua-Rodriguez and her son Mauricio, 2, at their apartment in Oakland. Rivera brought food and other supplies to assist the family while the parents look for work.
Donations will help Brighter Beginnings fund its “adopt a family” program and provide vouchers for food, furniture, clothing, educational toys and many other unmet needs to 300 families in Oakland, Richmond and Antioch. Goal: $5,000
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By Scooty Nickerson snickerson@bayareanewsgroup.com
Teodora Soto’s family life was turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic, which made her job as a hairstylist suddenly feel dangerous. After becoming pregnant, Soto quit her job to stay at home in Bethel Island and keep her unborn baby safe from the virus. But as the pandemic lingered, her husband Antonio’s construction and remodeling work also took a hit — scaled back to 15 hours of work per week. “We started to have conflicts as he was getting tired, and I was irritated being at home all day,” Soto said. “We even talked about having a separation.” Soto knew that they needed help. But where could she go? A friend recommended the couple sign up for a workshop hosted by a local nonprofit called the Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC) of Contra Costa. Despite its name, the organization doesn’t just intervene to help families deal with ongoing child abuse. A lot of its work, including workshops, are designed to promote healthy family dynamics and prevent abuse from happening. Each workshop begins with a shared meal, where parents and kids all sit down and break bread together as they discuss whatever is going on in their lives, said CAPC supervisor Maggie Velasco. After dinner, the parents and children are given separate lessons led by trained professionals who provide guidance on a range of issues, such as navigating mental health challenges and addressing hard-to-discuss topics like intergenerational trauma. But all this learning isn’t confined to the sessions. “Once they go home, they get to practice and talk about what they are learning,” said Velasco, who helps run the workshops.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Child Abuse Prevention Council
TEACHING HEALTHY FAMILY DYNAMICS
HOWTOHELP Donations will help the Child Abuse Prevention Council purchase $100 grocery gift cards for 60 families during the holiday season to use for a special holiday meal, traditional treats for children, or basic needs, reducing the extra stress and burden families often feel during the holidays. Goal: $6,000
JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Teodora Soto, holds her son Gabriel, 2, as they enjoy an afternoon at a playground in Oakley. Soto and her husband attended workshops at the Child Abuse Prevention Council in Contra Costa that helped them navigate job-related stress that began during the pandemic.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 7
First Place for Youth
GUIDING HER PATH AFTER FOSTER CARE
By Kate Talerico ktalerico@bayareanewsgroup.com
As a child, Jayla Lackaff would often escape to the expansive worlds within her favorite video games to get away from her turbulent reality — the computer screen a wall separating her from the clashes between her mom and stepdad, who were often arguing around her, if not about her. She had no idea at the time that video games would later offer an oasis after she ended up in foster care, or that they would turn into a professional pursuit as she pieced her adult life together with the help of First Place for Youth, a nonprofit based in Oakland that provides housing and case management for people transitioning out of the foster care system and into adulthood. This past January, the organization found an Alameda apartment for Lackaff, now 22. She lives with a roommate who also recently transitioned out of foster care. In addition to free housing, Lackaff has a career counselor, who encouraged her to continue her studies. So when she came across a program in video game design, she felt like she could envision a career for herself. “It’s the perfect blend of a profitable skill that will support me and something that will make me feel fulfilled,” Lackaff said. Last semester, Lackaff enrolled in general education classes at College of Alameda, a short walk from her apartment. In a few years, she hopes to transfer to UC Santa Cruz. Without the housing provided by the nonprofit, Lackaff said she isn’t sure she would be on the path toward a degree. Carmen Gomez, Lackaff’s supervisor at First Place for Youth, says that by providing additional resources beyond housing, the organization can help its young participants chart their own path. “At times, when you take on those next steps by yourself, it can be overwhelming,” said Gomez, who participated in the My First Place program herself in 2009.
HOWTOHELP
ARIC CRABB — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jayla Lackaff, 22, in the bedroom of her shared apartment provided by First Place for Youth. Thanks to career counseling from the organization, Lackaff is pursuing a degree in video game design, a career the former foster child hopes will support her and fulfill her.
Donations will help First Place for Youth provide housing, counseling, education and employment support to 140 young adults ages 18-25 in Contra Costa and Alameda counties who are transitioning from the foster care system. Goal: $20,000
8 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By Martha Ross mross@bayareanewsgroup.com
Snezhanka Stefanova was in a serious bind before she met Jeanne Falla. The 20-year-old would soon be without a home. Her parents planned to move back to their native Bulgaria, but the recent high school graduate had lived in Contra Costa County most of her life. She wanted to start college and didn’t want to leave her friends. “In order for me to stay here, I had to figure out how I’m going to live on my own,” said Stefanova, now 21, who was juggling two part-time jobs at the time. Enter 64-year-old Falla, a semi-retired former federal worker who was looking to rent out a room in her Walnut Creek townhouse. The two women were introduced through the nonprofit Home Match Contra Costa County, talked and decided they could be compatible roommates, despite the gap in age and life experience. That’s the purpose of Home Match: to connect seniors, who are seeking additional income and companionship, with local workers, students and others in need of affordable housing in the astronomically expensive Bay Area. The free service puts considerable work into vetting clients, with criminal background checks, home visits, detailed questionnaires and interviews. “I think the whole idea of having a roommate is great,” said Falla, adding that the $1,000 rent Stefanova pays each month has helped “a lot.” Taking in a roommate is the only way some seniors can afford to stay in their homes, said Luke Barnesmoore, strategy director for Home Match, which is an initiative of Front Porch, a nonprofit that runs more than 50 affordable and market-rate senior housing communities in California and other states. The average age of home providers is 72. About a quarter have at least one disability, or mobility issues or fall risks that make it difficult for them to live alone, Barnesmoore said. In such cases, a home provider might negotiate help with household chores or errands in exchange for reduced rent. “This can address the problems of social isolation, allowing home providers to age in place,” Barnesmoore said.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Front Porch Communities Foundation
SENIOR ROOMMATE FINDER A WIN-WIN
HOWTOHELP Donations will help Home Match stabilize the housing situation for 30 or more individuals in Contra Costa and Alameda counties by establishing 15 new compatible matches. Goal: $5,000
JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeanne Falla, 64, left, found her roommate Snezhanka Stefanova, 21, through the Home Match Contra Costa County program, which pairs older adults, whose ability to age in place is at risk, with younger working people who are at risk of being displaced.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 9
Girls on the Run Bay Area
LEARNING LESSONS FOR THE LONG RUN
By Elissa Miolene emiolene@bayareanewsgroup.com
At just past 4 on an October afternoon, a dozen girls began to run. They were told to circle a piece of Danville’s Sycamore Valley Park. But unlike track practice, where the task might be paired with fierce faces and intense competition, the girls — who all ranged between 10 and 11 years old — ran their laps with a different attitude. “When you run, you feel good,” said Milena Molerovich, an 11-year-old from Alamo. “But when you share that gift with other people, that’s even better.” Graci Bueter ended her jog smiling, greeted by cheers and a ringing cowbell that announced her finish. Abby Ruszkowski and Olivia Grima ran in fits of giggles, jogging at an easy pace. The girls are just a few of the 726 currently enrolled in Girls on the Run Bay Area, an afterschool program that teaches girls to run and grow their emotional intelligence in the years that matter most: elementary and middle school. Studies show that girls’ self-confidence peaks at age 9 — and through its twice-weekly model, Girls on the Run is hoping to extend that. “It’s so important for girls to realize that they are so much more than comparing themselves to others, worrying about what other people think of them, and being scared of being the unique person they are,” said 17-year-old Graciela Kerr, a student-athlete at San Ramon Valley High and one of two junior volunteer coaches. Over 10 weeks this fall, the coaches helped girls build their confidence, emotional intelligence, and empathy through group discussions and games. And they ran — working toward a shared, non-competitive goal of running a 5K at the end of the season. “There is a secret sauce to Girls on the Run that I have not encountered anywhere else in my life,” said Jess Carey, one of the senior coaches. “This is about proving to yourself that you can move forward, and you can do a hard thing. And you can do that hard thing in the way that you want to do it.”
HOWTOHELP
JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Girls on the Run participants Yumo Li, 9, left, Milena Molerovich, 11, and Samantha Phillips, 10, write down ideas for a community service poster during a Girls on the Run meeting in Danville. The girls build their self-confidence through running.
Donations will help Girls on the Run provide financial aid and support for at least 25 low-income girls in Alameda and Contra Costa counties and pay for the training and supplies for six coaches in the region. Goal: $5,000
10 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By Andre Byik abyik@bayareanewsgroup.com
Scott Donovan was in a bad place. Donovan, 50, had been homeless for about five years, sleeping outside a recycling place in Livermore. He lived day to day, thinking mainly about his safety and what he could eat that day. That changed when a Livermore police officer who knew Donovan took him to Goodness Village — a tiny home program serving the formerly unhoused population in the TriValley. He moved into his new home there in 2021. “It was really odd at first because I’m not used to people treating me with respect, caring about me for no reason,” Donovan said. “The village completely changed my life. … It’s just the best place I could ever imagine.” Now, Donovan is focused not on wondering where his next meal will come from but on building a small art business he started with his partner Tiffany Bailey, 38, who is also a resident at the village. They began painting together at a picnic table on the grounds of Goodness Village before clearing out a small, cramped space inside an old barn on the property and turning it into an art studio. Goodness Village was born out of program founder and director Kim Curtis’ experience over the past 20 years working with chronically homeless individuals. Curtis specializes in mental health and substance use disorders. The nonprofit works with people with higher levels of need and who require 24-hour support to maintain their housing. The village’s tiny homes — 28 singleoccupancy, climate-controlled units that each run about 160 square feet and have bathrooms and kitchenettes — are on the grounds of the CrossWinds Church. There are no religious requirements to be eligible to live there. “I’ve always provided services to those that they identify as hardest to serve,” said Curtis, whose last job was at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. “And it’s never been my experience that they’re the hardest to serve. I find that if you treat people with respect and dignity, and you follow through on what you said you’re going to do … you’re going to get that in return.”
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Goodness Village
SMALL HOMES, GREAT POSSIBILITY
HOWTOHELP Goodness Village will use donations to support a creative arts space in the organization’s planned building of a community center. The money will fund tables, storage and art supplies. Goal: $10,000
ARIC CRABB — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Artists Tiffany Bailey, left, and Scott Donovan, both residents of Livermore’s Goodness Village, work on a project at a studio they created on the grounds. “The village completely changed my life,” said Donovan, who had been homeless.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 11
Horizon Services, Inc.
A FIRST STOP TOWARD SOBRIETY
By Jason Mastrodonato jmastrodonato@bayareanewsgroup.com
He hadn’t yet made it through the doors when his body crumpled to the ground. There lay André X. La Monte-Lee, 58, who had made it to the doorstep of the Cherry Hill Sobering Center just before his body gave out. It was maybe his 50th time there. Folks at the clinic knew him by name. “André?” asked a familiar voice. “You good?” The familiar voice was Anthony Bass, an addict since he was 11 years old. By the time he was 18, Bass had run away from his San Mateo home, was living on the streets and had been in and out of juvenile detention. At 18 he was sent to San Quentin State Prison, where he spent most of his adult years until his 31st birthday. That was in 2011. He has been clean since. In 2018, Bass took a job at Cherry Hill in San Leandro. Now he’s the program manager, running a clinic of 19 full-time employees who are trying to keep people like La Monte-Lee alive for one more day. The 24-hour sobering center is operated by Horizon Services, Inc. It’s a safe haven for those who hit rock bottom and have nowhere else to go. If they’re too drunk, too high, too sick or too weak, this is the place for them. “You just know when it’s your time,” said Bass, 43. “I tell the clients now, ‘it’s OK, you don’t have to come in here and get sober. We’re not looking for the grand slam. Take the base hit. One night. Get the aftercare services you need. You know we’re a space for you if you ever need it.’ ” There are at least three staff members on site, ready to provide a hot meal, a cup of coffee, a shower, clothes and a cot to sleep on. A medical director helps with any medications, including Narcan. A recoverycare specialist and case managers guide them to their next steps, like a detox center or in-patient rehab, if they choose to go that route. “Anthony says we’re Ground Zero before treatment even starts,” said Anna Phillips, the chief program officer at Horizon Services. “We’re their first introduction to their system of care.”
HOWTOHELP
ARIC CRABB — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Anthony Bass works as a program manager at Horizon Services’ Cherry Hill Sobering Center in San Leandro. As a recovering addict who stopped using in 2011, Bass understands challenges facing clients who come to the center in their first step toward receiving care.
Donations will be used by Cherry Hill to create and distribute 1,000 safety and comfort kits to homeless individuals with substance abuse issues living in San Leandro and Oakland encampments and spread awareness of the sobering center. Goal: $35,000
12 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By Jakob Rodgers jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com
For weeks after his brother’s suicide in January, Jamaal Morgain barely ate. He refused to — he wanted to waste away, to spiral back into the dark pit of depression he’d known all too well through a lifetime of homelessness, crime and addiction. Luckily for him, someone refused to ignore the warning signs. A counselor at La Familia finally needled an answer out of the 31-year-old Pittsburg native as to why he looked so frail. The breakthrough that came next was nothing new at the East Bay nonprofit, which has spent decades working to help impoverished, at-risk and recently incarcerated residents improve their mental health. And for Morgain, it meant finally confronting the demons that had been building over a lifetime. Along with the anger management group counseling sessions to help him cope with his brother’s death, the nonprofit helped connect him with three jobs over the last year, most notably as an Amazon delivery driver. “It was like a rallying cry,” Morgain said. “I felt like I don’t have to do this alone.” La Famila was founded in 1975 by community members in Oakland and Hayward to provide help for people with developmental disabilities, as well as bilingual mental health care for the Latino community. The nonprofit expanded its footprint in 2014 by adding a youth workforce development program. It now offers substance abuse treatment and a housing program. “Right now, more than ever, you see community members that have multiple needs — whether it’s behavioral health, whether it’s food insecurity, whether it’s homelessness,” said Aaron Ortiz, the nonprofit’s CEO. “It’s in front of us — all day, every day.” La Familia helped Morgain find a room with a sobriety house in East Oakland — allowing him to move out of his 15-year-old BMW 328i sedan. On that first night indoors, he locked his legs straight. And he wept. “I cried for a couple hours — I was just like damn, this feels good,” Morgain said. “My bones aren’t aching from scrunching up in a car. I had peace of mind.”
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
La Familia
‘I DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS ALONE’
HOWTOHELP Donations will help La Familia pay for emergency supportive services, including basic, vital needs such as housing, clothing, food, transportation, as well as professional clinical evaluations and counseling for 50 clients. Goal: $35,000
RAY CHAVEZ — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Tears roll down the face of Jamaal Morgain as he recounts how the death of his brother changed his own life. San Leandro’s La Familia pulled him back from the resulting depression and homelessness with counseling and employment support.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 13
Lincoln Families
A PLACE WHERE FAMILIES FIND HOPE
By Joan Morris Correspondent
Aurora Sanchez was confident she was doing the right thing, following her husband to the United States from El Salvador to start a new life and a family. She hadn’t quite known what to expect, and finding her way was filled with unknowns and isolation. Sanchez, speaking through a translator, said it was “very difficult” to leave her family and adjust to a different country with a different language, culture, and way of life. She felt lonely, stressed, and depressed despite her happiness with the birth of her daughter. That’s when she found Lincoln Families, a 140-year-old Oakland-based organization that works with an assortment of agencies to connect families and children struggling with poverty and trauma with important lifechanging programs and resources. The roots of the organization began in 1883 when its founder, Rebecca McWade, found a young child on her doorstep and incorporated the first racially integrated orphanage in Northern California, the Little Workers Home. When the original home in Oakland caught fire, the children were moved to two new homes on Lincoln Avenue, inspiring a new name, Lincoln Families. Caregivers and supporters began to realize that providing children with shelter, clothing and food while they awaited new families was not enough. Children in the orphanage and other institutions were suffering from emotional trauma. Social workers were hired and Lincoln was reorganized as a foster care agency. “Mental health and wellness is still the issue of our time,” says Kirsten Melton, Lincoln Families’ chief development and marketing officer. “It’s so important to provide help and support to those who need it.” Two classes offered by the nonprofit at West Oakland’s Family Resource Center appealed to Sanchez — English as a Second Language and Zero to Five, which provides early guidance and development of children through age 5. She’s now volunteering at the resource center. And, she said, she’s found what she had been looking for when she immigrated: “A new world of hope.”
HOWTOHELP
JANE TYSKA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Aurora Sanchez and her daughter, Yareli, 4, spend time at the Lincoln Families family resource center at Highland Community Elementary School in Oakland, where Sanchez attends a parent wellness group, volunteers and takes ESL lessons.
Donations will help Lincoln Families support families during the holidays by providing turkeys, holiday foods, and gift cards so that parents can select and purchase gifts for their children. Goal: $10,000
14 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By Joan Morris Correspondent
Kellie Robison knew when just a youngster that she was going blind. The 62-year-old Oakley woman was born sighted, but it soon became apparent that she couldn’t see well. Her older sister was born with the same vision-robbing disease, and their mother knew the signs. In some ways, Robison says, she was lucky. Although her vision deteriorated with alarming rapidity as she approached her teen years, she was able to start preparing for a life of blindness, largely through the assistance of the Lions Club, and the Lions Center for the Visually Impaired, a 70-year-old nonprofit based in Pittsburg. “I’ve had a relationship with Lions for years, probably starting when I was a preteen,” Robison said. “The doctors told my mother to have me start learning Braille before I lost my vision. The Lions had a Braille section at the Oakland library where I’d check out Braille books. Their selection was better than what the school library had.” The Lions center provides three lines of assistance, said Yolanda Braxton, executive director. The Center’s trained staff visit the home and look at what’s available and what the client might need. Disabilities can lead to isolation and loneliness, so the Center provides activities that bring people together. Center staff organize vision screenings at senior facilities and housing to look for vision loss and other issues. “Whether they were born with vision loss or acquired it,” Braxton said, “it doesn’t really matter. We make sure they are supported, and make sure they have the best quality of life.” Robison ran her own business for 40 years, doing massage therapy. Once she learned the layout of a new building she could manage well with her cane, but the initial learning wasn’t easy, so the center provided her with mobility instructors. “A regular sighted person couldn’t teach me how to maneuver around a situation,” Robison said. “All my mobility instructor has to say is one little thing and I can pull the whole puzzle together.”
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Lions Center for the Visually Impaired
A VISION FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T SEE
HOWTOHELP Donations will help Lions Center for the Visually Impaired support its three lines of assistance to those 55 and older who are blind, are experiencing vision loss or who are at risk of losing their sight. Goal: $14,000
JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Kellie Robison, 62, of Oakley has been a client of the Lion’s Center for the Visually Impaired in Pittsburg since she began losing her vision as a child. The nonprofit helped her learn Braille and taught her how to navigate new situations using a mobility instructor.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 15
LITA of Contra Costa
SPIRITS BLOSSOM WITH PATIO GARDEN
By Jason Mastrodonato jmastrodonato@bayareanewsgroup.com
Walk inside the Bayberry Skilled Nursing and Healthcare Center in Concord and it looks and feels like any other nursing home. There’s a temperature check, a signin desk, a corkboard with activities and a handful of residents hanging out in the nearby dining room. It’s mostly quiet, aside from the television and some murmured conversations. But walk through the dining room, push open the exit door and there’s a whole new world outside. In a small courtyard, covered in warm sunlight, a handful of residents are laughing, talking and focused on their very important job: maintaining a vibrant garden full of flowers and strawberries, cherry tomatoes and bell peppers, and an array of other potted plants. Lynn Jaeger, 64, walked over to one of the plants, plucked off a fresh basil leaf and handed it to a visitor. “This is our creation,” she said with a smile. Victoria Ryan, the executive director of a nonprofit called LITA of Contra Costa, reached out to Bayberry activities director Isaac Silva with the idea for the garden last year. Ryan, once a musician who said she toured with Cat Stevens and James Taylor, now spends much of her time providing activities to nursing homes like the one at Bayberry, where her father lived 20 years ago. LITA’s volunteers improve the quality of life for seniors and people with disabilities who live full time in skilled nursing homes or memory care facilities through art, gardening, music and more. “When people have a reason to get up and get out of bed, they will,” she said. In January, Ryan showed up to Bayberry with huge pots, bags upon bags of soil and gardening supplies for the residents to begin planting. Jaeger couldn’t wait. “On gardening days, I know we’re anxiously looking at the front door waiting for Victoria because we know something great is going to happen again,” Jaeger said.
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JANE TYSKA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Residents Lillia Alvarez, right, and Lynn Jaeger garden at the Bayberry Skilled Nursing and Healthcare Center in Concord. The activity was brought to the facility courtesy of LITA of Contra Costa as a way to improve the quality of life for residents.
Donations will help LITA maintain and expand patio garden projects at East Bay nursing homes, purchase personal electronic devices so residents can enjoy music and movies, and materials for holiday celebrations. Goal: $9,000
16 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
2023
Making the East Bay a better place for all
Help make their wishes come true. Donate online at:
sharethespiriteastbay.org
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 17
Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa
MEALS AND MORE ARE ON THE MENU
By Nate Gartrell ngartrell@bayareanewsgroup.com
The COVID-19 pandemic nearly ruined Heather Gourley’s life. Aside from catching the virus, both Gourley and her husband lost their jobs as a Starbucks supervisor and iron worker, respectively, costing them their home and nearly their family vehicle as well. With nowhere else to turn, Gourley — a mother of three who was pregnant at the time — began taking her family to Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa, a nonprofit organization that provides meals and other services to families in need in central and eastern Contra Costa County. The organization helped Gourley more than she could have imagined. Gourley found not just hot meals and nutrition, but also a new career. Flash forward three years, she now works at Kidz Planet preparing food for preschoolers, after passing a rigorous culinary arts course offered by Loaves and Fishes. “I don’t know what we would have done without them,” Gourley said, crediting her instructor, Cassandra Dell’Aquilla, with helping her apply and prepare for the whole process. “She sat down with me, and we put together a culinary resume. They helped me every step of the way.” Gourley and her family weren’t alone. Loaves and Fishes was serving roughly 600 meals to people daily before the COVID-19 pandemic. That number has since quadrupled — and appears to be going up. From June 2022 to July 2023, the organization served 388,996 meals, a 38% increase from the prior fiscal year. The lack of consistent access to food affects roughly 1 in 6 Contra Costa County residents, according to the county’s health department. In 2021, 10% of all Californians, or roughly 4.3 million people, received benefits under the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “People have to make choices, you know? It’s, ‘Do I buy medicine this month, or do I get a meal? Do I buy clothes for my kids or do I get a meal?’ ” said Janette Kennedy, the organization’s executive director of development and external relations. “With inflation and the rising cost of living, it’s very hard for people out there.”
HOWTOHELP
ARIC CRABB — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Heather Gourley works in the kitchen of Kidz Planet preschool in Concord. Three years ago, when Gourley lost her job, she took a culinary arts course through Loaves and Fishes that led to her current job. “I don’t know what we would have done without them,” she said.
Donations will help Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa serve 2,000 warm holiday meals at its dining rooms and provide $10 grocery gift cards for 350 clients who cannot afford food. Goal: $7,500
18 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By George Avalos gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com
Diana Aleman had been working in a retail job when the coronavirus pandemic hit and she was laid off. She decided that she needed a fresh approach to advance her career, so she turned to Opportunity Junction. It was a perfect match. The East Bay nonprofit not only provided her with more than the basic skills to apply for a new job, it also served as the catalyst to help her launch a brand-new career as a COVID-19 ambassador for Contra Costa County. “I had a young baby, I didn’t want to go back to retail, and I didn’t want a gap in my resume,” Aleman said. The organization helps job seekers acquire skills that allow them to pursue new careers or gain promotions that offer financial security, such as administrative careers, Certified Nursing Assistant training, career counseling services, English as a second language and technology classes. Students get help with resumes to land an interview, and coaching for the job interview itself. Now that the economic effects of the coronavirus-linked business shutdowns have begun to fade away, more people are returning to the workplace, which appears to have intensified the desire for more job skills, according to Brianna Robinson, the organization’s president and chief executive officer. “As we return to in-person work, we are seeing a huge increase in the number of people who are applying for our programs and receiving training,” Robinson said. When Aleman’s manager at the county left, she took on more responsibilities. Eventually, she was encouraged to apply for the manager’s job. Opportunity Junction helped her craft a strategy to land the position, which came with a bump in pay. “Opportunity Junction helps you with the resume, the cover letters,” Aleman said. “They do mock interviews. They fully prepare you for applying. And I got the job.”
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Opportunity Junction
THEY’LL HELP YOU LAND THAT JOB
HOWTOHELP Donations will help Opportunity Junction support 450 job seekers and low-income alumni with food baskets and gift cards to purchase food and necessities during the holidays, and help with transportation costs, rental and phone assistance. Goal: $20,000
JANE TYSKA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Diana Aleman, an agency program coordinator for Contra Costa Health Services, gives out health information to community members in front of the Las Montañas Supermarket in Concord. The nonprofit Opportunity Junction helped Aleman with job training and placement.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 19
Paws In Need
HELPING OWNERS CARE FOR PETS
By Will McCarthy wmccarthy@bayareanewsgroup.com
When Deysi Gonzalez found a funny-looking German shepherd with short, stumpy legs in her neighborhood park in May, she didn’t expect he would help turn her life around. A mother of three, Gonzalez felt like her life had become a cycle of cleaning and cooking. She spent most of her time at her apartment in Pleasanton. The purpose she had felt in her youth seemed to have faded away, and she realized she was falling into a deep depression. “Sometimes I didn’t want to get up from bed in the morning,” Gonzalez said. “I felt so useless.” That day at the park in May, Gonzalez realized the friendly dog was alone. The dog followed Gonzalez home, where she fed him a bowl of food — then two, then four. Gonzalez contacted Animal Control to see if the dog was microchipped and put up posters around town, searching for the dog’s owners. Eventually, it became clear that the dog, who the family fell in love with and began calling Max, didn’t have one. But there was one problem. Gonzalez was short on cash, and couldn’t afford to have Max neutered. She found herself in a situation that many low-income families face: forced to make a financial decision that could push them to give up pets they have grown to love. It’s exactly the gap that Paws In Need, a Tri-Valley based nonprofit, aims to fill. “What we wanted to do was address a public need, people who are financially challenged,” said Leslie Silberman, a board member at the organization. “People who have to decide if they have to euthanize the animal because they can’t spay it, can’t neuter it, can’t get some emergency treatment.” Paws In Need has served thousands of animals over its 10-year existence — Max being one of them. Through donations and grants, the nonprofit is able to provide logistical support, transportation and financial assistance to help families get their animal the procedure it needs. “People say he’s lucky, but we’re lucky to have him in our family,” Gonzalez said.
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JANE TYSKA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Deysi Gonzalez and her daughter, Ashley Zamora, 15, give their dog Max a drink after playing fetch with him at Owens Plaza Park in Pleasanton. Paws In Need helped the family with the cost of getting Max neutered after they found him abandoned.
Donations will help Paws In Need treat companion animals belonging to individuals experiencing financial hardship, keeping families and their beloved pets together. These funds will allow the organization to reach over 150 animals, and prevent overpopulation in overcrowded animal shelters. Goal: $5,000
20 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By John Metcalfe jmetcalfe@bayareanewsgroup.com
For almost seven years, Lilia Vizcaino handled janitor duty at a coffee shop near UC Berkeley, cleaning up at closing time. But Vizcaino, who came to the U.S. from Mexico and now lives in Albany, wanted something better for her family. “I wanted stability, and I needed to do something else for the future,” she said. Today Vizcaino owns her own restaurant, El Tiny Cafe in Berkeley. It’s a cute neighborhood joint that offers Americanos and iced horchata lattes, made with coffee beans sourced from women-owned farms in Mexico. The kitchen serves sandwiches, overnight oats and avocado toast with eggs and salsa macha — and boasts five stars on Yelp. Vizcaino made it here with help from the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, a business incubator with headquarters in San Francisco and satellite centers around the bay. For the last four decades, Renaissance has helped people — 2,500 last year — start small businesses. The group provides online training classes in English and Spanish, networking events, help with capital acquisition and one-onone consulting with business experts. “Entrepreneurship is a proven pathway into self-sufficiency and breaking the cycle of poverty,” said CEO Sharon Miller. “There are so many people who have great ideas, but they don’t know the business aspects of what to do to be successful. People aren’t born knowing how to do accounting or map distribution channels.” Bay Area locals might be surprised at the familiar names that had a boost from Renaissance. There’s the buzzy Poppy’s Bagels in Oakland; the famous quesabirria spot, El Garage, in Richmond; and Nana Joes Granola in grocery stores throughout California. “I could never have made it without Renaissance,” Vizcaino said. “During the pandemic, I had an adviser from there for almost a year telling me things like ‘Now you need to get a permit, do this and that,’ and keeping me on track.”
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center
THEY HELP LAUNCH SMALL BUSINESSES
HOWTOHELP Donations will help Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center deliver 10-week, Spanish-language courses for 30 lowerincome, Spanish-speaking individuals, to help aspiring entrepreneurs build the skills, business acumen and support networks to become successful small business owners. Goal: $10,000
RAY CHAVEZ — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Mireya Munoz, right, takes an order from customer Sonisha Silva at El Tiny Cafe in Berkeley. El Tiny Cafe owner Lilia Vizcaino opened her business with help from Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center. “I could never have made it without Renaissance,” she said.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 21
Rubicon Programs, Inc.
OVERCOMING BLOCKS TO EMPLOYMENT
By Harry Harris hharris@bayareanewsgroup.com
Warnisha Smith knew she had to dramatically change her life — not only for herself but for her children, ages 4 and 6. Hampered by an incorrectly listed criminal charge on a pre-employment background check, the 28-year-old single mother was having trouble finding permanent work. Her hopes for the future were fading: She once dreamed of being able to open her own care facility for the elderly and disabled. She heard about Rubicon Programs from a family friend and in 2019 Smith connected with Pat Kaspar, an attorney for the nonprofit, who confirmed the charge listing was wrong and immediately began working to correct the information with the state Department of Justice and the FBI. After a year, the record had been corrected. The mission of Rubicon, a 50-year-old organization that serves both Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is to transform communities by equipping people to break the cycle of poverty. It has prepared thousands of participants, many with criminal records, to succeed in new lives with help in four program areas: income, assets, wellness and community connections. It provides comprehensive services including workforce readiness, employment placement, behavioral health, legal and other services. Kaspar said she “kept working with (Smith) because I believe in her. She is really so wonderful. She has a knack for working with people and she is extremely tenacious.” While waiting for her appeal to process, Smith kept working with Rubicon coaches and is still involved with the organization. She is one of eight members of Rubicon’s Participant Advisory Board, which does community engagement and advocacy. She now works at different care facilities and visits the elderly and people with disabilities in their homes, continually “building experience to get my own facility,” she said.
HOWTOHELP
ARIC CRABB — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Warnisha Smith worked with attorneys from Rubicon Programs to help remove an error on a background check that prevented her from getting a job. Now, Smith is part of an advisory board for the organization and is working toward her dream of opening a care facility.
Donations will help Rubicon Programs provide job counseling, job placement, behavioral health and legal services for 1,700 people with barriers to employment. Goal: $25,000
22 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
By Brittany Delay bdelay@bayareanewsgroup.com
Seventeen-month-old Elliott Busa eagerly waits as a new package, addressed directly to him, arrives at his doorstep. He already knows what’s inside, and he can hardly contain himself as the anticipation of tearing into this latest parcel builds. Nestled inside is a book, one more prized jewel for the book-obsessed Elliott to add to his growing collection. The volume didn’t just appear out of thin air; it came courtesy of The Berkeley Baby Book Project (BBBP), an East Bay nonprofit that collaborates with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to provide free books every month to children ages 0-5 in the Berkeley, Richmond and San Pablo areas. Elliott’s mother, Julie Parker, is a second year law student, and she was initially anxious about how best to keep Elliott busy while she juggled student-mom life. She didn’t want to overload him on screen time, but thankfully, BBBP was ready with a more literary alternative. Parker signed up for the program online, and within a matter of weeks, Elliott received his first book, Watty Piper’s classic “The Little Engine That Could.” It quickly became one of his favorite possessions, kickstarting a passion that would ultimately consume the young boy. “He reaches for a book more often than a toy,” Parker said. Early exposure to books is a crucial stepping stone in preparing children for academic success, said BBBP Executive Director Seena Hawley, who worked as an elementary school teacher in San Jose for 13 years before becoming a Berkeley school bus driver in 2007. Over the years, she began to notice an issue: “I was meeting children all the time who didn’t have books in their home.” So in 2008, she began handing out free books to kids on her bus. Then, wanting to make a bigger impact, she formed the BBBP in 2012, and officially partnered with the Imagination Library Program in 2015. Parton’s group provides the books, and Hawley’s group handles everything else, from outreach and enrollment to shipping, sending nearly 60,000 books to more than 3,300 children to date.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
The Berkeley Baby Book Project
A NEW CHAPTER FOR LITERACY
HOWTOHELP Donations will help The Berkeley Baby Book Project add online enrollment and invoicing to expand its book offerings to as many as 1,000 to 3,000 more children in the Berkeley, Richmond and San Pablo areas. Goal: $6,000
RAY CHAVEZ — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Elliott Busa, 17 months, receives free books every month mailed by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library as part of the nonprofit Berkeley Baby Book Project. “He reaches for a book more often than a toy,” says his mother, Julie Parker.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
000 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 23
The Network of Care
‘BAGS OF HOPE’ NOURISH FAMILIES
By Rick Hurd rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com
At the head of a long row of tables pushed together, Cheyenne Martinez listened to the directions. She is in Portable 1 at Deer Valley High School in Antioch and has been appointed the production manager for a group of her peers, about a dozen special-needs adults. “Thirty white bags,” the 19-year-old told one person. “No mac and cheese today. We’re leaving that out,” she instructed another. To a third, she said, “Let’s make sure we don’t forget the peaches.” In a flash, the assembly line is rolling. Small white bags are filled with various non-perishable food items, including cups of noodles for soup, crackers, and granola bars. Teachers then take members of the class to a UPS site for mailing the packages to various Bay Area hospitals. Once there, the packages will be served — to families so deeply in the grips of an emergency involving their children that they often forget to eat. It may seem a small gesture. In truth, it’s a vital one, courtesy of The Network of Care. The Concord-based nonprofit organization, founded by Janet Frazier in 2004, provides in-hospital meals — “Bags of Hope” — to feed and comfort families whose worlds have been rocked by medical crises. “People have no idea how long they’re going to go without eating in a situation like that until they’re in it,” Frazier says. “You just kind of go on autopilot and forget.” Frazier knows. Her older daughter Stephanie died at age 20 in a Dec. 16, 2000, car crash that also critically injured her 17-yearold daughter Lindsey. As she grieved one daughter and cared for another, Frazier went a day and a half without eating until a nurse shared a bite of her sandwich. The heart of the organization beats through the young adults enrolled in the Gateway Program for the Liberty Union High School District in east Contra Costa County. The post-secondary vocational classes are intended to give special-needs adults from ages 18-22 life skills, so they can obtain a job. “It’s fun,” Martinez said. “We all get to do everything. You learn a lot.”
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RAY CHAVEZ — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Bruce Tenshi Zablan and classmates in Bruce Ellison’s special education class at Deer Valley High in Antioch assemble “Bags of Hope” for The Network of Care, which provides the food to family members holding vigil over loved ones at Bay Area hospitals.
Donations will help The Network of Care pay for non-perishable food, packaging and transportation costs to provide 5,000 Bags of Hope to families keeping vigil over sick children at East Bay hospitals. Goal: $18,000
24 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 000
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
3 Everyone deserves joy this time of year. Help spread the love this holiday season with a gift to Share the Spirit.
7 REASONS TO DONATE Contributions are a vital part of the economy.
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Your Gifts Personal Improve Help Others Connection Awareness of You can help Whether it’s a Local Issues
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