FEATURED CHARITY - who we serve
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Homelessness is a growing problem in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the nine counties that make up the Bay Area, more than 200,000 people are homeless at some point throughout the year, according to HomeBase, the San Francisco-based regional policy center on homeless issues. More than 71,000 are homeless at any one time. The most rapidly-growing segment of the homeless population is single women, women with children and families. In fact, families represent 50% of the homeless in the Bay Area. Among these family units, 67% are women with young children.
Those challenged by a lack of education or language proficiency find the opportunities for employment vastly limited. Nearly half of the concentrated poverty neighborhoods in the Bay Area are in the East Bay. This means over 150,000 extremely low-income people reside in 11 cities in Alameda County and 20 in Contra Costa County.
- Eula's Story:
www.BayAreaRescue.org
My
name is Eula. I was born and raised in Mississippi, and
I raised all four of my children there. One of my
daughters, however, married an abusive man who often
beat her in front of their three children.
One day, he beat her real bad. She stumbled inside my home, blood flowing everywhere. My grandsons, who were just 7 and 5 years old at the time, had seen it all.
After that, the judge awarded me custody of my three grandchildren. I was so sick of everything that was happening, in 2006 we moved to Richmond, California, where one of my sisters lives.
When I arrived, my sister told me about the Bay Area Rescue Mission, which offered us a room and the chance to join their Transitional Living Program. When I moved into our room, I was completely broke down. Physically, I had back problems, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. My self-esteem was gone and my spirit was broken.
But I had two boys and an 18-month-old granddaughter to raise. The Bay Area Rescue Mission brought stability to the children and me. The program offered me the counseling and spiritual guidance I needed. The spiritual guidance was especially important.
The Bible had always been a source of comfort for me. I had grown up knowing the Lord. So this was a great place for me. We stayed at the Bay Area Rescue Mission for a year and a half, giving
