As a kid, Nilda Palacios was sexually abused at home and at school. She tried to escape into a relationship, which turned abusive. She was sentenced to 27 years to life after killing her partner in self-defense during an altercation. Despite this salient history, the then-17-year-old Palacios was barred from giving evidence of her abuse [...more...]
Mission Action is proud to share that we opened our Family Resource Center (FRC) last year to strengthen support for families across San Francisco facing housing instability and financial hardship. The Family Resource Center serves [...more...]
Bright Futures
The girls of Girls on the Run Bay Area spend 10 weeks training for a 5K. It isn’t timed. They […more…]
Every kid who travels a successful path has someone supporting them. Someone who always answers the phone, who’s cheering them […more…]
Currently gun violence is the #1 cause of death for children in the United States. Read that again if you […more…]
Comfort & Courage
For 33 years, Bay Area Cancer Connections (BACC) has answered a question its founder, Jill Freidenrich, first confronted during her […more…]
In Burlingame, on a quiet block of Howard Avenue, a foundation goes about the work of promoting healing. Kids & […more…]
Liam Mateo arrived prematurely, weighing just a few pounds, and his parents were thrust into a world of feeding tubes, […more…]
Creative Endeavors
Sarah Nina Hayon’s first visit to the Magic Theatre was unforgettable. She was just a child when her grandmother took […more…]
“Anytime anybody voices a concern about the quality of life that we’re going to be leading, we’re called environmentalists. And […more…]
Critical Response & International Impact
When a recent earthquake devastated Venezuela, the Los Angeles County Fire Department sent six teams to help sift through the […more…]
Dr. Laura Stachel arrived in northern Nigeria in 2008 to research why so many women were dying during pregnancy and […more…]
Direct Relief began during a time of war, geopolitical tension, political division, and global economic instability. More than 80 years […more…]
Earth First
Imagine a Bay Area where neighborhoods are safer from wildfire and flooding, families can afford to live near jobs and […more…]
In May of 1962, Wallace Stegner mailed his neighbors an invitation to “A Picnic with a Purpose.” The Pulitzer-winning novelist […more…]
To protect monarch butterfly habitat in Mexico, As You Sow didn’t begin with the ranchers clearing it. It began with […more…]
Family Well-Being
One mother told Help a Mother Out that she had started giving her baby less to drink. Less water, less […more…]
In 1969, San Francisco police arrested seven young Central American immigrants for the killing of an officer, based on no […more…]
Last year, One Warm Coat collected and distributed nearly 500,000 coats to children and adults across the U.S. and every […more…]
Food Insecurity
The dining room on Story Road in San Jose hosts dinner service from 4pm to 5pm every Tuesday and Wednesday, […more…]
365 days a year, in the gap between a grocery store’s back door and a family’s kitchen table, ExtraFood is […more…]
For the Animals
In 2007, dogs with years of life and love to give were routinely overlooked in shelters. Dogs as young as […more…]
Just before Christmas, an unhoused young man walked his year-old dog Lola into yet another veterinary clinic. Lola couldn’t open […more…]
For the Children
Ten years before the World Cup came to Los Angeles, the Play Equity Fund was already asking a question most […more…]
Mention the words “Silicon Valley” and the world pictures wealth: big tech, IPOs, fortunes minted before lunch. Yet for many […more…]
Health & Wellness
Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. (PVI) was founded nearly 80 years ago in Menlo Park by a group of forward-thinking women in […more…]
A few years ago, Le Coffee Cart didn’t exist. There was no logo, no name, no cart. Just a group […more…]
A few years ago, San Francisco’s health department pulled its own report card and did not like what it saw. […more…]
Homelessness and Housing
Chris is a 78-year-old Mountain View widow living on a limited income. Her only family is a brother residing out […more…]
Getting the keys is where most stories about homelessness end. Make It Home’s story begins there. The end of a […more…]
In San Francisco, affording a two-bedroom apartment takes roughly three full-time minimum-wage jobs. For a single parent, the math doesn’t […more…]