Homelessness is an endemic issue across America, but especially in California where the state’s eight largest cities are each settings for some of the country’s largest unhoused populations. Among the root causes for this expansive crisis is a shortage of affordable housing – a financial squeeze forcing many residents onto the streets where they face harsh conditions, suffering both physical and mental hardship. Where local governments fail to implement meaningful legislation to ameliorate the homelessness issue, there are several nonprofit groups working tirelessly to prevent more people on the brink from living on the streets. Legal Assistance to the Elderly [...more...]

Within the Bay Area, running parallel to the city’s sprawling landscape of ecological, cultural, and racial diversity, are increasing disparities in wealth, which starkly color the city’s social fabric. Regionally, levels of child poverty across the Bay Area are around 20 percent, while households containing Black and Latino children are twice as likely than other racial groups to live in poverty.  Most known for her photograph Migrant Woman, a snapshot of the economic hardships experienced by both mother and her children during the Great Depression in California, much of Dorothea Lange’s other work from this period features images from the [...more...]

Artists, storytellers, teachers, and community leaders have long understood the power of art and story to transform individual lives, as well as society at large. From ancient times, and in cultures around the world, music, poetry, and dance were prescribed as medicine, and were viewed as fundamental to the healthy working of body, mind, and community. A proud Creativity Explored artist sharing their talent with the world. For the last few generations in the United States, perhaps going back to the Russian launch of the Sputnik Rocket in 1957, public support of art and culture has faltered, replaced by an [...more...]

We love our animals. As pets, our cats, dogs, birds, rodents, and lizards are our most loyal companions and best friends. We love them so much, we don’t always recognize what, aside from their love, they’re giving us in return. A pet in your household is correlated with several health benefits: lowered blood pressure, reduced levels of anxiety and depression, improved cognitive function for older people, improved social skills for children. The mere responsibility of taking care of a dog means more outdoor activity for the owner, and therefore, more opportunities for socialization, as well as lowered cholesterol and triglyceride [...more...]

At Aurora Theatre Company’s Alafi Auditorium, no audience member is more than 15 feet away from the stage. They all […more…]

“It’s not the thoughts or the prayers.It’s the actionsIt’s how we stared down the barrel. Stared untilthe barrel lowered until […more…]

Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) is redefining leadership for the youth of 21st century America. Faced with deepening inequities in their […more…]

Growing up in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point, a diverse yet historically under-resourced community, Zaria Clemmons knew from a young age […more…]

Elizabeth* received the heartbreaking call that no grandmother is prepared for: her daughter, Maria, was neglecting her six young children […more…]

Originating in Yosemite National Park high in the glaciers above Tuolumne Meadows, the Tuolumne River flows through diverse landscapes and […more…]

Maria Venegas, a PICO California leader based in San Francisco, is an immigrant mother. Evicted twice during the pandemic, she […more…]

Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. (PVI) was founded in the old-fashioned spirit of charity. A group of forward-thinking women in Menlo Park […more…]

Yeardley Love was a vibrant University of Virginia lacrosse player when she was killed by her ex-boyfriend three weeks before […more…]

In the wake of Maui’s tragic 2023 wildfires, relief organizations and the goodwill of the world at large poured into […more…]

World-renowned for its legendary wineries and best-in-class hotels, Napa Valley attracts visitors from across the globe. Often overlooked is the […more…]

This past May, Legal Assistance to the Elderly fielded a call about a 92-year-old senior being evicted in San Francisco. […more…]

As a new parent raising her daughters in the Bay Area, LuLu Roberts found herself far from her own large […more…]

When Creativity Explored began in San Francisco’s Mission District in 1983, the nonprofit for artists with disabilities operated out of […more…]

Before the pandemic, Brad Adams, then the executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, would often drive his two […more…]

As Rachel Bryant, a Black-Latina alumna of the counseling psychology graduate program at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in […more…]

International poaching and smuggling crimes may seem distant to people who live in California, but the consequences of these illegal […more…]