Recent Grantmaking: Economic Security

Fiscal Sponsor: Berkeley Youth Alternatives
A number of local clinics and hospitals have developed education and training programs to encourage high school and community college students of color to pursue health careers—a sector in which they are under-represented. The Alameda County Health Pipeline Partnership facilitates cross-agency collaboration and capacity-building to enhance the effectiveness of these programs. It will focus on three objectives in 2012: increasing the recruitment and retention of young men of color in health care training programs; strengthening collaboration among participating programs; and joint fundraising.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/30/2011 through 09/30/2012
Project Web Site: www.acphd.org

Fiscal Sponsor: San Francisco Foundation
The Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative strengthens local workforce development programs preparing low-skilled and low-wage workers for well-paid careers. Last year, the Collaborative launched an initiative to build the capacity of Bay Area community colleges to offer vocational training to low-income students with limited skills. The three-phase initiative improves technical education programs customized for specific industries; increases students' retention and graduation rates; and facilitates collaboration between colleges and employers. Participation in this initiative amplifies the Fund's ability to support meaningful improvement through the community college system.
Grant Amount: $150,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.sff.org

BayBio Institute provides bioscience industry support for entrepreneurship, science education, and career development in this sector. Recognizing the value of applied learning and the scarcity of internship opportunities, BayBio Institute is now working with City College of San Francisco and bioscience employers to develop a contract research organization from which companies will be able to purchase production services. Students will perform the work as part of or in addition to their coursework. This model provides students with valuable practical experience and the means to meaningfully connect with prospective employers.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/20/2011 through 05/20/2012
Project Web Site: www.baybioinstitute.org

Beyond Emancipation joins with Laney Community College in Oakland to offer a program that assists former foster youth in enrolling in and graduating from community college. At present, only 2% of emancipated foster youth earn a bachelor’s degree. The program, called b2b Learning Community, provides 20 students with two years of personal support and academic counseling. The program includes a two-week summer orientation, leadership and team building activities, and shared courses.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/23/2011 through 09/23/2012
Project Web Site: www.beyondemancipation.org

In partnership with Laney Community College in Oakland, Beyond Emancipation is creating a program of intense academic and social support for former foster youth. This initiative helps youth to enroll in and complete a course of study at Laney. Beyond Emancipation incorporates on-site, dedicated counseling, English and math remediation, a cohort model, and college and nonprofit staff partnerships to help ensure program efficacy in increasing opportunity for its clients.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.beyondemancipation.org

The Bread Project is a leading entry point for disadvantaged people who seek jobs in the food preparation and service sector. Offering three training tracks--bakery production, food service, and advanced culinary skills--the Bread Project combines classroom instruction with hands on bakery production. It supplements training with job-readiness coaching and ongoing support in finding and retaining jobs. The Fund supports the Bread Project's efforts to reduce the barriers between low-income people and gainful employment.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.breadproject.org/

The Bread Project provides low-income individuals who face significant barriers to employment with a gateway to commercial food sector careers. Students in its Berkeley café train in food preparation and service for nine weeks, while its Emeryville commercial bakery offers a twelve-week, hands-on baking program. In 2011, The Bread Project saw 200 students through graduation, placing 65% of them in jobs.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.breadproject.org

An advocacy organization based in San Francisco’s southeast, Brightline Defense proved instrumental in the development and passage of the Local Hire Policy adopted by the city’s Board of Supervisors in December 2010. This grant from the Fund supports Brightline's work to monitor and bolster the Local Hire Program during its first year of implementation. The organization will provide input into the program's rules and regulations, monitor policy application in developments across multiple city departments, and serve as a conduit for information between the city and community stakeholders.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/20/2011 through 05/20/2012
Project Web Site: www.brightlinedefense.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Community Youth Center of San Francisco
Chinatown Families Economic Self-Sufficiency Coalition facilitates collaboration among nonprofits and public agencies to address English language learning and workforce training. One of its current focuses is on improving the quality of English language instruction offered by City College of San Francisco. To that end, it hosted a series of focus groups where strategies for improving these programs surfaced, including moving ESL training into community organizations such as Head Start, and integrating ESL into more vocational training pathways within the college. This grant from the Fund supports the Coalition's ongoing planning and advocacy to improve ESL training opportunities.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/30/2011 through 05/30/2012

Chinese for Affirmative Action advocates for Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants in San Francisco, using education and workforce development to increase their access to opportunity. This grant supports Chinese for Affirmative Action's work to involve immigrant parents as leaders in school district reform. The organization will also provide direct job-search and placement services along with advocacy to ensure effective implementation of San Francisco's Local Hire Policy. This grant is split between the Fund's Education and Economic Security programs, $30,000 and $20,000 respectively. The listing has been duplicated in both areas.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.caasf.org

Community Housing Partnership, a nationally recognized leader in the “supportive housing” field, provides deeply subsidized, permanent rental housing for more than 1,200 formerly homeless adults and children in San Francisco. This grant from the Fund supports CHP’s training programs, which prepare 75 supportive housing residents each year for jobs as desk clerks and maintenance workers. Each training program has a well-tested curriculum and a clear path to job placement—primarily within San Francisco’s extensive affordable housing network.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/13/2011 through 09/13/2012
Project Web Site: www.chp-sf.org

Located in West Oakland, Cypress Mandela Training Center operates a rigorous 16-week training program in the fundamentals of construction work. Employing union-certified instructors, the Center serves primarily people of color and women, groups under-represented in the building trades. The Fund's support helps sustain the program while the Center implements changes to strengthen its infrastructure.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.cypressmandela.org

Major infrastructure projects are creating new jobs in the construction sector. Oakland’s Cypress Mandela Training Center prepares low-income young adults for these jobs with an intensive, 16-week training program. Participants learn the fundamentals of the construction trade as well as basic elements of other related trades. Students earn community college credit and may test for additional certifications. Central to the program’s success is its use of union instructors and its agreements with specific employers to recruit Cypress graduates.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.cypressmandela.org

The English Center offers a highly effective English language program and job-placement support for new immigrants. Most English Center students are low-income and receive tuition assistance primarily through the federal Pell grant program, which is linked to financial need. In 2006, the Center created a scholarship program for working poor students whose earnings are just high enough to make them ineligible for a full Pell grant but who cannot afford tuition and fees. The Fund's challenge grant provides a 1:1 match up to $10,000 for the scholarship fund.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2011] conditional
Project Dates: 02/09/2011 through 02/09/2012
Project Web Site: www.englishcenter.edu

Jewish Vocational Services (JVS), a nationally recognized leader in the field of workforce development, receives wide respect as a robust Bay Area Jewish institution. In 2010, JVS helped 2,500 people increase their job skills, look for work, build their professional networks, and advance their careers. Known for the depth of its partnerships with employers, JVS tailors most of its programs to the needs of specific employment sectors, including health care, green jobs, retail, and financial services. The Fund supports this agency's efforts to strengthen the earning potential of its clients as well as its work to better translate the Jewish underpinnings of its work to people of all faiths. This grant is split evenly between the Economic Security and Jewish Life programs. The listing has been duplicated in both areas.
Grant Amount: $100,000 [2011] , $100,000 [2012]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2013
Project Web Site: www.jvs.org

Mobilize.org seeks to engage the "millennial generation" (those born between 1976 and 1996) in addressing the challenges of our time. Most recently, Mobilize.org prioritized supporting community college students' efforts to improve graduation rates at community colleges. At a recent education summit held in San Jose attended by 100 students and the Chancellor of the California Community College system, seven student-led projects promoting student success were selected in a competitive process. These projects received implementation grants and a year of technical assistance from Mobilize.org. This grant supports the technical assistance.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/20/2011 through 05/20/2012
Project Web Site: www.mobilize.org

Rubicon Programs is a leading workforce and social service provider operating in Richmond, Berkeley, and Oakland. Its robust economic mobility program is tailored for people who have been incarcerated or homeless, who are unemployed, or who have minimal job skills. With support from the Fund, Rubicon is launching a pilot program to help 30 clients enroll in and complete vocational training and secure next tier employment. It will develop partnerships with community college and nonprofit vocational training programs and explore opportunities to provide social services and job placement supports for students already connected to community colleges.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/20/2011 through 05/20/2012
Project Web Site: www.rubiconprograms.org

SF Made seeks to build and support a vibrant manufacturing sector in San Francisco, one that sustains local manufacturers and creates diverse employment opportunities. This grant from the Fund supplies tools, training, and one-on-one advice that helps local manufacturers plan for their hiring needs, find qualified workers through city agencies, and complete the hiring process. With SF Made’s support, small manufacturers are less reluctant to initiate new hires and better able to identify strong candidates from San Francisco’s low-income communities.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/20/2011 through 05/20/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfmade.org

A high percentage of students served by the Stride Center have little formal education. Frequently, they have experienced extended unemployment, poverty, or incarceration. The Stride Center helps reduce the barriers these people face when seeking employment by helping them earn industry-recognized information technology certificates. It also prepares students with job search skills and cultivates relationships with companies to aid students in securing information technology jobs.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.stridecenter.org

The Stride Center provides students with supportive IT training, reduced-price computers, and job search skills. Given this training and support, people with barriers to employment find excellent job opportunities in the information technology sector. In 2011, 80% of Stride program participants secured at least one certification and 62% secured jobs. The Stride Center further increases its students’ chances by partnering with more than 50 companies that hire its graduates. It also operates a successful social enterprise that provides affordable technology support to businesses, non-profits, and individuals.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.stridecenter.org

California is home to approximately 140,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. These recently returned veterans, dealing with the physical and psychological wounds of war, often struggle to establish careers and to support their families. Swords to Plowshares provides the comprehensive support that helps these veterans reintegrate into civilian life. This grant supports one-on-one assistance in finding employment, gaining occupational skills, and completing training through local community colleges and other vocational programs.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.swords-to-plowshares.org

Upwardly Global helps immigrants and refugees with professional skills and experience develop the networks and know-how they need to secure employment. It succeeds by developing deep partnerships with companies and their employees. The Fund's support will help provide job-search assistance, add new companies and hiring professionals to the Upwardly Global network, and pilot a program collaborating with employers in fields that require re-licensing for foreign trained professionals.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.upwardlyglobal.org

Wardrobe for Opportunity provides professional attire and image coaching for people with low incomes who face deep barriers to employment. The organization provides an effective series of programs focused on building clients' career development skills. It partners with more than 50 nonprofits to supplement their services and increase their effectiveness in benefiting their clients.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.wardrobe.org

Year Up achieves tremendous success preparing young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds for careers in information technology. The program combines technical training, internships, college credits, a behavior management system, and comprehensive support. During the first half of a year long course, participants attend classes teaching the technical and business communication skills needed to succeed in help desk and quality-assurance positions. Students spend the second half of the year in full time internships. Corporate partners are central to the program design, guiding the training curriculum and frequently hiring graduates.
Grant Amount: $75,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.yearup.org

Year Up helps its low-income, young adult clients to secure entry-level information technology positions. The yearlong program is split between teaching the technical and business communication skills participants need in a professional work environment and a full-time internship position with a corporate partner. Corporate partners also help guide the training curriculum. Upon completion, students receive a certification in Fundamentals of Technology from City College of San Francisco.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.yearup.org

This grant supports a Youth Employment Project program that provides up to six months of subsidized employment in the construction, customer service, hospitality, and nonprofit sectors to non-custodial, formerly incarcerated fathers; mothers of children whose fathers are currently incarcerated; and mothers on public assistance. Participants must also be enrolled in school 15 hours a week. The Fund's grant, combined with federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act support, allows this effort to help youth improve their employment and educational prospects.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/10/2010 through 05/10/2011

Fiscal Sponsor: Community Financial Resources
Alameda County Community Asset Network is a membership organization of East Bay nonprofits that strives to increase assets and economic mobility for low-income residents. This grant supports the Network’s partnering with the Alameda County Department of Public Health to reduce the use of predatory financial services, such as payday lenders, check cashers, rent-to-own stores, and pawnshops. A “Consumer Savvy Toolkit” developed by the Network trains consumers to assess financial products and services, teaches how fringe products impact personal and community budgets, and encourages the use of quality services.
Grant Amount: $30,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 05/20/2011 through 05/20/2012
Project Web Site: www.alamedacountycan.org/

For the last decade, CEO Women has trained and supported immigrant women entrepreneurs, offering a unique focus on integrating English language instruction into its business development curriculum. Facing an imminent leadership change and an increasingly challenging funding environment, this grant from the Fund helped CEO Women analyze options for its future. In December 2011, the organization closed.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 08/02/2011 through 08/02/2012
Project Web Site: www.ceowomen.org

Earned Assets Resource Network (EARN) is a national leader in the asset-building field, providing concrete opportunities for low-income people to save money and build wealth. It pushes forward the kind of innovation and policy change required to bring asset building opportunities to scale. EARN is the country's largest provider of individual development accounts (IDAs), helping low-income people to invest in education, homes, and businesses. The Fund's grant supports extending EARN's IDA program and it encourages the design of a next-generation savings product.
Grant Amount: $90,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfearn.org

Earned Assets Resource Network (EARN) is the largest provider of matched savings accounts for low-income savers in the country. EARN’s vision is to change the financial trajectory of millions of poor families so they can move out of poverty permanently. Its commitment to having a large-scale impact drives not only the constant review and revision of its own services, but also its thoughtful work in research and policy advocacy. Since its inception in 2009, EARN has helped 3,410 households save $4.7 million of their own money. With a 2:1 match, it has leveraged nearly $15 million for asset investments.
Grant Amount: $90,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfearn.org

The Fremont Family Resource Center integrates the social services provided by multiple agencies so that they more effectively benefit their shared clients. This grant from the Fund strengthens the Center’s capacity to bundle services for families. It ensures that people who come in search of one resource get connected to all the other resources for which they are eligible. The Center is adopting United Way’s “Sparkpoint” service-integration model and client-tracking system in order to assess its impact over time.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/14/2011 through 09/14/2012
Project Web Site: www.fremont.gov

Fiscal Sponsor: EARN
Research indicates that children with college savings accounts of any size are seven times more likely to attend college, regardless of their personal income level. Kindergarten to College, a first-of-its-kind initiative, aims to put every student in the San Francisco Unified School District on the path to higher education by starting college savings accounts for them. Each student receives an account seeded with a $50 deposit when they enroll in kindergarten. Low-income children who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches receive an additional $50 deposit.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.k2csf.org

La Cocina is a commercial kitchen and food business incubator that supports low-income, primarily immigrant women entrepreneurs. Twenty-six businesses employing approximately 50 people operate out of the La Cocina kitchen. Each year, aspiring entrepreneurs take part in an intensive six-month program to build the fundamentals of their businesses. Successful graduates are invited to rent space in the kitchen at a deeply discounted rate, receiving technical training and one-on-one business coaching on site. The Fund provides general operating support to La Cocina, helping to encourage low-income entrepreneurs.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.lacocinasf.org

Free and low-cost legal services are an invaluable resource for low-income entrepreneurs striving to build strong businesses. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights provides this resource by offering free legal clinics and workshops on topics related to business law. The Fund's grant supports continuing the Lawyers Committee's Legal Service for Entrepreneurs program at a time of growing demand.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.lccr.com

Free and discounted legal services are an invaluable resource for low-income entrepreneurs who are striving to build strong businesses. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights’ Legal Service for Entrepreneurs program provides free legal clinics, workshops, and one-on-one pro bono legal advice on topics including developing contracts, entity formation, intellectual property, and lease negotiations.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/27/2011 through 09/27/2012
Project Web Site: www.lccr.com

Mission Asset Fund creates culturally appropriate asset-building products and services for low-income immigrants. Ethnically diverse Mission neighborhood residents are the organization's core client base, but enthusiasm for its programs is driving expansion. Mission Asset Fund’s Cestas Populares program formalizes peer-lending circles by processing transactions through a bank partner, allowing participants to improve their credit scores. Partnerships with five San Francisco and three East Bay nonprofits supporting Cestas serve to expand this program. The Mission Asset Fund's most recent initiative provides consumers of fringe financial services with information about the true costs of these products as compared to their mainstream alternatives.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.missionassetfund.org

Mission SF Community Financial Center engages young people in a peer-led, age-appropriate financial education and saving program. Partnering with eight youth employment programs in San Francisco, its MY Path efforts deliver a comprehensive financial education curriculum that covers budgeting, saving, understanding financial institutions and accounts, managing debt, and building credit. Participants will learn how to establish and achieve savings goals, use direct deposit to grow their savings, and—as a reward for meeting goals—be entered into a raffle to win money towards future goals.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.mission.coop

Opportunity Fund operates the region's largest micro-lending program. It offers small business loans of $1,000 to $10,0000 to economically isolated, cash-based businesses and to more established small businesses that are unable to secure conventional financing. With the support of the W&EHF, Opportunity Fund will complete 110 loans in San Francisco and Alameda counties in 2011. These loans provide the capital low-income entrepreneurs require to grow their businesses, increase their incomes, and hire new employees.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.opportunityfund.org

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center is an established small-business development organization that offers a broad range of programs and services to help low- and moderate-income people to establish their own businesses. It is known for its robust array of hands-on, intensive, business-development classes and workshops. The Center offers advanced classes in marketing and finance and an array of skill-building and industry-specific workshops. It has also created an online, 10-session business planning class.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.rencenter.org

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center provides entrepreneurship training and support programs for low- and moderate-income people. Its robust array of intensive, business-development classes are offered in English and Spanish. Renaissance also offers advanced classes in marketing, finance, and skill-building, plus industry-specific workshops. A new program, METEOR, brings small-business training and technical assistance on-line, creating further opportunities for clients to establish small businesses. The Fund provides Renaissance with general operating support.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.rencenter.org

Single Stop USA provides economic support to low-income community college students who are struggling to make ends meet. Single Stop screened 1,500 students at City College of San Francisco and Peralta District campuses in 2010, helping them secure a broad range of income supports and expense-reducing benefits, such as Cal Fresh. The group added free tax filing to its offerings in 2011, helping over 2,000 students file returns and collect refunds. Single Stop also offers students individualized financial counseling, with credit building and debt management being students' most common goals.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 07/06/2011 through 07/06/2012
Project Web Site: www.singlestopusa.org

WAGES supports immigrant Latina worker-owners in five eco-friendly house-cleaning cooperatives. The organization incubates these businesses, providing the on-going assistance they need to grow. WAGES undertakes careful market research and planning before launching each new co-op. It recruits and trains worker-owners and provides them with management support and leadership development opportunities. The Fund provides general operating support for WAGES' efforts to increase the economic security of those who might otherwise lack opportunity.
Grant Amount: $65,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.wagescooperatives.org

Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security develops worker-owned housecleaning cooperatives that use environmentally friendly cleaning techniques. It provides a three-year incubation period for newly established co-ops, during which new member-owners are recruited and trained in all aspects of the business. It also provides ongoing training and support for more mature businesses. WAGES established a new co-op in San Francisco last year, bringing its total to five businesses collectively employing 106 Latina women.
Grant Amount: $65,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.wagescooperatives.org

Women's Initiative for Self-Employment offers entrepreneurship training programs for low-income women. The Fund supports the Initiative's San Francisco and Oakland offices, where women receive help establishing and growing small businesses. Offered programs provide orientation, assessment, instruction in essential business skills such as budgeting, and--for alumni--mentoring and business development opportunities. The Fund provides general operating support to advance this work.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.womensinitiative.org

AnewAmerica works with first-generation immigrants to help them establish and maintain robust small businesses, increase their incomes, save for a more solid asset base, and achieve a better standard of living for their families. AnewAmerica is distinctive among local micro-enterprise programs: It focuses on helping clients develop socially responsible business practices and requires them to give back to their communities through volunteerism or participation in the political process.
Grant Amount: $100,000 [2007] , $100,000 [2008] , $100,000 [2009] , $100,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 03/29/2007 through 03/29/2012
Project Web Site: www.anewamerica.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Earned Assets Resource Network (EARN)
HelloWallet is an online financial management tool that seeks to make dependable, sophisticated financial guidance available to low- and moderate-income people. Clients can access customized financial planning resources, tools for managing and monitoring their funds, and information about products from more than 90,000 different financial institutions to help them find the best match. The Fund's grant helps subsidize free HelloWallet subscriptions for 2,700 low-income San Francisco residents. Fiscal sponsor, EARN, will identify and train nonprofits to distribute these subscriptions to their clients.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 02/26/2010 through 02/26/2011
Project Web Site: www.hellowallet.com/

Mission Asset Fund creates financial products and services for the Mission neighborhood's immigrant community, sharing its work broadly with others in the asset-building field. Its highly successful peer-lending circles, called cestas in Spanish, help individuals to lend and repay small loans. Mission Asset Fund created an online tool, called La RED, facilitates referrals among social service organizations and screens clients for a range of public benefits.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.missionassetfund.org

Connecting them with public benefits, social services, and discounts, SFWorks helps low-wage earners bridge the gap between their modest incomes and the reality of their expenses. SFWorks partners with businesses, meeting individually with employees at work sites to determine their eligibility for up to eighteen different resources. To increase its reach, SFWorks is moving its assessment and application process online and plans to design a user-friendly portal on its Website.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfworks.org

Single Stop supports a comprehensive program of benefits screening, financial and legal counseling, and free tax filing assistance at more than six sites in San Francisco and Oakland. This grant supports Single Stop's partnership with City College of San Francisco, offering these important services to students.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/06/2010 through 07/06/2011
Project Web Site: www.singlestopusa.org

Treasure Island is home to eight hundred formerly homeless and low-income individuals and families. The Fund's grant supports the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative's services to help build financial skills for these residents. Offerings include budgeting assistance, access to checking and savings accounts, help developing saving strategies, credit education, and free tax filing support.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/11/2010 through 05/11/2011

The California Reinvestment Coalition serves as a prominent voice in local efforts to influence bank policies and procedures that affect homeowners at risk of foreclosure. In 2010, the Coalition worked with the PICO National Network and other leading advocacy groups to support the establishment of the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and it helped design the Keep Your Home California program. Support from the Fund bolsters the Coalition's ongoing advocacy to increase the pace of loan modifications, reduce loan principles when appropriate, and sustain funding for housing counseling.
Grant Amount: $40,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/09/2011 through 02/09/2012
Project Web Site: www.calreinvest.org

Twenty percent of the families who come to Community Housing Development Corporation of North Richmond for housing assistance live in Alameda County. In 2010, Community Housing assisted 728 homeowners facing foreclosure by providing effective loss-mitigation and foreclosure prevention counseling services. Support from the Fund enables the organization's ongoing efforts, specifically its services for Alameda County residents.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/09/2011 through 02/09/2012
Project Web Site: www.chdcnr.com

Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC) of North Richmond was one of the first housing counseling programs in the region to develop loss-mitigation services for homeowners facing foreclosure. Although located in Richmond, CHDC serves residents of Alameda County, receiving referrals from public agencies, churches, and nonprofits. The Fund's grant supports CHDC's efforts to provide loss-mitigation and foreclosure-prevention counseling to Alameda Country residents.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 02/26/2010 through 02/26/2011
Project Web Site: www.chdcnr.com/

The Fund supports the Housing Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) in-person and phone counseling to homeowners and renters facing displacement through foreclosure. HERA is one of the few legal advocacy organizations with expertise on the foreclosure issue in California. As proven by their rate of success, the involvement of an attorney can help resolve a majority of these issues without litigation. Although anyone can approach HERA, the organization prioritizes assisting seniors victimized by predatory lending practices.
Grant Amount: $65,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.heraca.org

Housing Economic Rights Advocates (HERA) is the leading Bay Area organization providing legal assistance in the foreclosure process. It offers information and referrals to homeowners facing default or foreclosure; one-on-one assistance in the loan-modification process; legal representation; and it maintains contracts with a number of housing counseling organizations to help identify fraud and abuse. HERA's staff assisted 1,600 households throughout the Bay Area in 2010.
Grant Amount: $65,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.heraca.org

Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) has a long history of helping low-income Latino households in San Francisco strive for economic advancement through home and business ownership. This grant supports MEDA's foreclosure mitigation program, offering one-on-one counseling, loan modification assistance, and educational workshops teaching homeowners about the default and foreclosure processes.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.medasf.org

The foreclosure-mitigation program at Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) has a special focus on helping low-income Latino households—half of their clients—and Asian Pacific Islanders, who represent another 20 percent. In 2010, MEDA undertook several steps to strengthen its programs, including adding an online tool for submitting loan documents to servicers, extensive training for staff on mortgage-modification and financial coaching, and design of a financial education curriculum that is now being integrated into all of MEDA's programs.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.medasf.org

When home-based child care providers face foreclosure, it affects not only their residency and stability, but also their livelihood. This grant from the Fund supports the National Housing Law Project's work with the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network to provide immediate information and assistance to child care providers facing foreclosure. It funds the research necessary to understand the scale of the problem and to identify the policy interventions needed to protect child care providers.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.nhlp.org

The PICO National Network leads a national grassroots organizing campaign to stem the tide of foreclosures and promote bank accountability. PICO affiliate organizations in Oakland and Contra Costa County take the vanguard in this work, effectively elevating the voices of Bay Area residents and offering strategic leadership to the national Bank Accountability campaign. A core objective of the Network is to influence major banks to do more to help distressed homeowners keep their homes.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.piconetwork.org

San Francisco Housing Development Corporation (SFHDC) provides foreclosure-mitigation services primarily for residents of the city's Bayview, Visitacion Valley, and Fillmore neighborhoods. In January 2011 alone, 198 homes went into foreclosure in these neighborhoods, representing 58% of foreclosures citywide. SFHDC's counselors offer workshops on the foreclosure process as well as individual assistance to help homeowners prepare loan-modification proposals.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2011] , $25,000 conditional
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.sfhdc.org

A historically African American-focused community development corporation, San Francisco Housing Development Corporation (SFHDC) provides foreclosure-mitigation services primarily for residents of San Francisco's Bayview, Visitacion Valley, and Fillmore neighborhoods. This year SFHDC will partner with a national foreclosure-prevention organization, implement a new client-tracking tool, hire an additional housing counselor, and increase its outreach and community education activities. The Fund offers SFHDC support in providing financial education and counseling to homeowners, particularly in San Francisco's southeast neighborhoods
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.sfhdc.org

A long-standing service organization located in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood, Unity Council serves people from multiple immigrant communities. Within its Homeownership Center, foreclosure mitigation and financial education are key service strategies. Seeking to expand the reach and efficiency of this work, Unity Council recently launched an online portal where homeowners can sign up for assistance with, prepare, and submit loan modification requests electronically. With support from the Fund, the Council anticipates helping nearly three times as many distressed homeowners with financial education and foreclosure-mitigation counseling in 2010 as in 2009.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.unitycouncil.org

The Unity Council assists more homeowners facing foreclosure in Alameda County than any other program, doing so with an impressive level of sophistication. In January 2010, it launched an online portal through which homeowners sign up for assistance and prepare and submit loan-modification requests. Confronting the harsh reality that the vast majority of their clients will not be able to keep their homes, the organization is putting greater emphasis on helping families recover from foreclosure-related trauma. In 2011, it will expand financial counseling and add support groups focused on rebuilding a sense of financial empowerment. The Fund supports the Unity Council in helping to plot a new course towards economic security for its clients.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.unitycouncil.org

Urban Strategies Council continues to develop the Oakland Community Land Trust, which acquires, rehabilitates, and resells foreclosed homes in East Oakland. These homes sit on land owned by the Trust, and covenants in their mortgages ensure the homes remain affordable by limiting resale price and buyer income. By 2011, the Trust had purchased 17 foreclosed homes, renovated six, and sold two. The Fund supports Urban Strategies Council in its efforts to help East Oakland residents navigate the foreclosure crisis.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 04/04/2011 through 04/04/2012
Project Web Site: www.urbanstrategies.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Philanthropy New York
Asset Funders Network is a national affinity group that seeks to build the capacity of foundations to effectively promote economic mobility. It provides increasing support for programs and policies that help low-wealth individuals build and protect assets. The Network offers learning opportunities for funders through webinars and in-person meetings on topics of importance to the field. It provides proactive outreach to increase the number of foundations that invest in asset building. The Network also focuses attention and resources on a different asset strategy each year to propel its advancement.
Grant Amount: $15,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 02/18/2011 through 02/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.assetfunders.org

Mandela MarketPlace, a business incubator in West Oakland, developed a cooperatively owned grocery store, Mandela Foods, in its largely poor and neglected neighborhood. After two years of operation, the store is on the cusp of profitability and has become a vibrant community resource. It serves as the area's primary grocery and a place where people can enjoy cooking classes, health education, and celebrations. The Fund's grant supports the development of a complementary business—a wholesale distribution center for locally grown fruits and vegetables.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 12/09/2010 through 12/09/2011
Project Web Site: www.mandelamarketplace.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Berkeley Youth Alternatives
People of color are under-represented in the health care workforce. The Alameda County Health Workforce Consortium unites local clinics and hospitals that operate education and training programs in order to increase their effectiveness through joint action. These collected programs encourage high school and community college students of color to pursue health careers. The Consortium, with help from the Fund, provides cross-agency service coordination, collaborative program development, and joint fundraising.
Grant Amount: $20,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.acphd.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Northern California Grantmakers
The Bay Area Asset Funders Network is a funder affinity group focused on strengthening asset-building programs and opportunities for low-income Bay Area residents. To that end, it hosts quarterly funder meetings, presents learning webinars, and organizes an annual convening of funders and practitioners. The Haas Fund is a founding member of the group.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/12/2010 through 04/12/2011

California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) undertakes policy advocacy, research and capacity building activities to ensure fair access to quality financial services in low-income communities. This grant supports CRC's advocacy work to strengthen state policies to address foreclosure. It also supports a third year of an initiative to raise new resources from financial institutions to strengthen and expand foreclosure housing counseling services statewide.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.calreinvest.org/

Every two years, CFED hosts a major conference for the asset-building field, drawing more than a thousand attendees from around the world. In 2010, the theme of the conference was the Asset Movement and Its Moment: Creating the Saving and Invest Economy. The Fund's grant helped support this conference and the valuable information it develops.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 07/21/2010 through 07/21/2011
Project Web Site: www.cfed.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Community Youth Center of San Francisco
Twenty-two agencies work together under the umbrella of the Chinatown Families Economic Self-Sufficiency Coalition. Together, they strive to strengthen and coordinate resources for English language instruction and workforce training in Chinatown. This grant supports the Coalition's work with city government to establish a new Chinatown employment center and efforts to coordinate the referral relationships and community resource partnerships the center requires to succeed.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/27/2010 through 05/27/2011

In 2012, the Port of Oakland and the city of Oakland will finalize plans to develop 333-acres of the Oakland Army Base into a world-class trade and logistics center. The East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy is working closely with Mayor Quan and all the relevant stakeholders to craft a community jobs program to ensure the creation of living-wage jobs and local community hiring practices at the development.
Grant Amount: $35,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 09/14/2011 through 09/14/2012
Project Web Site: www.workingeastbay.org

Fiscal Sponsor: Corporation for Enterprise Development
GAINS is developing a new investment tool that improves returns for nonprofits by pooling matched savings reserves with grants and program-related investments that are contributed by foundations. These larger, aggregated portfolios can be more effectively invested in diversified stocks and bonds. By making use of a third-party investment advisor, nonprofits--and by extension the people they serve--gain access to the higher-return investment tools which large institutions use.
Grant Amount: $11,250 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011

Fiscal Sponsor: Brighter Beginnings
Research finds a strong correlation between socioeconomic status and health status. The Fund's grant supports the organization of a daylong forum to explore this connection, the Health=Wealth Symposium. This symposium will encourage innovative interaction and offer concrete training opportunities on integrating health and wealth building into existing programs.
Grant Amount: $5,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 02/19/2010 through 02/19/2011
Project Web Site: www.brighter-beginnings.org/

The Paid Family Leave Act provides employees with up to six weeks of paid leave to care for a new baby or a seriously ill family member. The Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center operates a series of trainings targeting Bay Area nonprofits which operate benefit screening programs but do not yet promote paid family leave. Only an estimated 14% of eligible California workers are aware of the program and the Fund's grant helps to spread awareness of this crucial benefit.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011
Project Web Site: www.las-elc.org

Sound public policy is critical to helping low-income people build assets and protect themselves from predatory financial services. New America Foundation is an important source of new ideas and analysis in this regard, and it is one of a handful of organizations that California policymakers turn to for guidance in developing legislation in the asset-building field. New America has championed several major local program initiatives including Bank On San Francisco and Kindergarten to College. In 2012, the Foundation will be working with Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom’s office to design a consumer education and protection initiative.
Grant Amount: $65,000 [2011]
Project Dates: 11/18/2011 through 11/18/2012
Project Web Site: www.newamerica.net

New America Foundation is a nonpartisan policy organization working to promote programs and policies that broaden the ownership of assets in California and the United States. It serves as a prominent source of leadership, hosting an educational luncheon series that educates national legislators on the challenges that lower income families face. With help from the Fund, the Foundation works to generate practical initiatives to expand asset-building opportunities.
Grant Amount: $50,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 11/22/2010 through 11/22/2011
Project Web Site: www.newamerica.net

The City and the Port of Oakland are currently working with private developers to implement a 15-year plan to reconstruct the Oakland Army Base. The Workforce Collaborative seeks to establish a workforce training center on this site which will help Oakland residents find employment in port-related logistics, occupations, and industries. The Fund supports a six-month planning process to generate a detailed plan for this center.
Grant Amount: $10,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 09/30/2010 through 09/30/2011

Partnership for Working Families is a national umbrella coalition of economic development organizations. The Fund's grant supports the Partnership's technical assistance and policy advocacy in support of creating a mandatory local construction hire program in San Francisco.
Grant Amount: $25,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 05/11/2010 through 05/11/2011

Elevating the voices of people directly affected by the economic crisis, PICO affiliates in Oakland and Contra Costa County are leading a campaign encouraging investors to move their money out of banks with poor loan modification track records or which fail to invest in low-income communities. Large-scale progress toward ending the foreclosure crisis requires shifts in public policy and banking practices. PICO effectively builds popular support for this change by amplifying the voices of regular citizens and crafting thoughtful recommendations.
Grant Amount: $60,000 [2010]
Project Dates: 04/02/2010 through 04/02/2011
Project Web Site: www.piconetwork.org