Foundation donors enjoyed a gorgeous spring morning in Oakland’s Fruitvale Village on April 21! The wide pedestrian plazas running through the Village are a great place to sit and enjoy the sun. The Fruitvale Public Market opened in 2008 and supports 11 small businesses, including the very popular Churros Mexicanos.
On April 21, a group of foundation donors and professional advisors toured the Fruitvale Village in Oakland, meeting local nonprofit leaders and seeing first-hand how this vibrant community is thriving.
Our tour was led by Unity Council’s CEO Chris Iglesias. For more than 50 years, Unity Council has been committed to enriching the quality of life for Fruitvale families by helping them find quality jobs, safe community spaces, education and economic prosperity. Scan through the pictures below to see what our donors experienced and learned on the tour.
Place matters to the foundation, and we are planning more neighborhood tours in the near future, including one of several HOPE SF development sites on July 25. We hope to see you then! Please visit Donor Center for more details.
Peralta Services Corporation employees share their stories. One of their peers recently began working at San Quentin State Prison as a counselor to inmates. PSC employs committed job-seekers who have significant barriers to employment due to checkered employment history, criminal backgrounds, and more. PSC workers keep Oakland clean and beautiful by providing public area maintenance services to commercial centers, neighborhoods and businesses.
Our tour group was moved by PSC’s important work. “I really enjoyed the tour and learned a great deal,” said one of our donors.“ What dedicated people that run those programs!”
Paul Chavez, executive director of Centro Legal de la Raza, welcomed us to their space. A cohort of organizations recently created an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Activity Hotline to support immigrants who need experienced attorneys when they are detained.
Our final stop was at the Google Code Next Lab – the first in the country – which introduces Black and Latino students to coding and helps reverse the tech sector’s persistent lack of diversity. Students pursue projects ranging from coding and game development to 3D modeling.
