Maria Venegas, a PICO California leader based in San Francisco, is an immigrant mother. Evicted twice during the pandemic, she began living in a cockroach-infested single-room hotel with her children and is constantly harassed by the owners who are trying to get her to leave the hotel. “What causes me the most indignation,” says Maria, “is that this harassment has happened in front of my children who have told me that they prefer to drop [...more...]
Originating in Yosemite National Park high in the glaciers above Tuolumne Meadows, the Tuolumne River flows through diverse landscapes and communities from the Sierra Nevada, through Central California, to the San Francisco Bay. Founded in [...more...]
Giving List Matching Challenges
Youth Development
How can we ensure young people have healthy, promising futures? By giving them the resources, relationships, and environments that support […more…]
Soccer and poetry may seem like an unusual pairing, but America SCORES Bay Area knows it’s a magical mix with […more…]
Sherry “Dusty” Harris was a single mother raising three daughters in a subsidized housing complex in the Western Addition of […more…]
Well Being & Health
Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. (PVI) was founded over 76 years ago in Menlo Park by a group of forward-thinking women in […more…]
At 2 am, the phone rings at the Contra Costa Crisis Center. A 15-year-old boy, voice trembling, reaches out. He […more…]
Growing up as a gay, Black man in Oakland, George Jackson has strong ties to the community he serves. The […more…]
Getting the Message Out
Rhett Ayers Butler describes himself as a lucky child. With collected airline miles from his father’s job and a travel […more…]
Maty Thiane was a 14-year-old teenager from Senegal when she was uprooted from all she knew and loved and moved […more…]
Fostering Care
Sarah Gentle was 17 and in foster care when she had a meeting with her Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team. […more…]
“What appeals to me so much about A Home Within is the kind of person that makes the commitment to […more…]
Emergency Services
Direct Relief navigates the war zones in Ukraine to deliver cystic fibrosis medications, transports Mpox vaccines to clinics in the […more…]
How many times has a family stared in slack-jawed wonder as the adorable new family dog tears around and around […more…]
Education
“Your life won’t work out if you don’t do well in school.” “You’re a disappointment or a failure if you […more…]
Although Berkeley is less than an hour’s drive from the hub of Silicon Valley, the region’s innovation and resources remain […more…]
Imagine a high school student in the 90th percentile or higher of their class who is enthusiastic about learning and […more…]
Advocacy
There is only one thing Brady: United Against Gun Violence (Brady) Chief Development and Engagement Officer Liz Dunning wants you […more…]
Youth Speaks alumni include an Obama speechwriter, the founder of a Black-owned media tech company, and the youngest inaugural Poet […more…]
Legal Services for Children deeply believes that every youth deserves to grow up feeling safe and nurtured. Unfortunately, there are […more…]
A Helping Hand
Xochtil Larios was only 16 when she found herself behind bars and caught up in the criminal justice system. She […more…]
A mom in East Palo Alto went to jail for stealing diapers; her kids went to foster care. According to […more…]