We are thrilled to announce our inclusion in The Giving List Bay Area.
The Bay Area is home to thousands of nonprofits. The Giving List team consulted with leaders across philanthropy, financial services and philanthropic advising to determine which organizations should be highlighted – and we are delighted to have made the list.
Please read our story here. It features Luz Hernandez, a former foster youth, who came to the U.S. from Honduras and entered foster care as a teenager. In the JBAY profile, Luz shares her experience exiting foster care and experiencing homelessness while she was a student at City College in San Francisco.
“When I started at City College I was living in a garage, under terrible conditions, and working two jobs even to make that happen,” Luz says. But getting secure housing “changed everything. Simply having a roof over my head meant I could pass my classes without having to constantly worry about becoming homeless again.”
JBAY works to provide housing for young people like Luz across California. While Luz is now securely housed, many more young people are not. A recent JBAY report found that an estimated 3,428 former foster youth in California require supportive housing, but over 1,500 are without housing.
The goal of our partnership with The Giving List is to expand support for our important work. As a valued member of our community, we hope you will help grow our network by sharing our story with your colleagues and friends.
Former foster youth Alexis Barries is featured in The Giving List profile and explains why JBAY is so effective, “JBAY is an organization that truly cares about young people and believes in their success. The organization is not afraid to stand up for, and battle for, necessary systematic policy change that directly affects the lives of the most vulnerable,” said Barries.
JBAY Board President Rick Mariano is also featured, together with his wife and fellow board member Katherine Feinstein and their daughter, Eileen. “The impact of JBAY can’t be overstated, particularly in one of the most difficult years in California’s history. JBAY is truly making a better future for youth, by directly helping youth today and changing policies that will impact youth for generations to come. That’s why our family is proud to support JBAY.”
Learn more about The Giving List and read our full profile here.