At The Crossroads

Thanks to your generosity, we're closer to our goal of raising $70,000 this Giving Tuesday week. Until Tuesday, 12/8, your donation will be DOUBLED thanks to a challenge grant from The Moca Foundation. Will you help us close the gap so that we can put $70,000 towards being a critical support system for our unhoused neighbors? https://bit.ly/ADifferentApproach

This week we launched a campaign to invite all members of our community to do better. It ran in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday and you may see it on social media this week. We envision a Bay Area where no one is left behind and we have eliminated chronic homelessness. It will take all of us to get there. Learn more here: bit.ly/SFCanDoBetter #SFCanDoBetter

ICYMI - Hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money from Proposition C (a measure that passed in 2018 focusing on taxing local businesses with annual revenues surpassing $50 million) are now eligible to be spent by the city to tackle homelessnesshere are some of the oversight committee's ideas of where to spend the funding.

We are excited to announce that ATC's Executive Director, Charles Lerner, will serve on San Francisco Mayor’s Alternatives to Policing Steering Committee. The task of this committee is to create a vision for the city that creates a more robust safety net that the most vulnerable will not fall through. We know that SFPD is responding to many calls each day that they are not best equipped to handle. They are situations involving individuals who do not need a police response, rather a trusted and calming presence. With 23 years of experience, ATC has a tried and true model of how to respond to people in crisis in a way that builds trust and connection. Read more about the Alternatives to Policing Steering Committee in the Mayor’s Office News Release: https://sfmayor.org//mayor-london-breed-announces-launch-a

We’ll make this briefthis Giving Tuesday you have the chance to support a DIFFERENT approach to tackling homelessness, and every dollar you donate will be DOUBLED. http://atthecrossroads.org/donate What makes ATC different? At ATC, we know that behind the 8,035 people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, there are 8,035 individuals with different stories, needs, and dreams. Our wraparound support is rooted in compassion. When we work with young people, we are in it for the long term and never waiver in our support. We prioritize people over arbitrary rules or bureaucracy. This Giving Tuesday, support a different approach to homelessness, one rooted in compassion. http://atthecrossroads.org/donate

At The Crossroads is hiring! Please share this post with anyone in your community who might be interested. At The Crossroads is currently seeking a committed, enthusiastic individual to join our fantastic staff as a Communications Coordinator. You’ll have the opportunity to work with a dedicated team intent on creating a more equitable Bay Area for all. Your job will consist mainly of implementing community engagement strategies, growing and cultivating our community supporte...rs, and creating compelling media for each of ATC’s different communication channels. Read more about the position and how to apply here: https://atthecrossroads.org/job-opportunities/

A quick note to remind you to join us tonight at 6:30 pm on Zoom to hear about our impact over the last year and to learn about our 3-year Strategic Plan. There will be a short presentation and discussion and plenty of time to ask questions of ATC's staff and board. We hope to see you there! Register here: https://bit.ly/StateOfATCAddress

This year, ATC accepted the offer to participate in Rising Up, a partnership with The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), Larkin Street, and several other nonprofit agencies. The program consists of three approaches: problem-solving, rapid rehousing, and education and employment services. This summer, we started seeing our first participants through the program. Read more about the program here: https://atthecrossroads.org//rising-up-initiative-has-lau/... Together with our Rising Up partners, we released an Op-Ed in the San Francisco Examiner in August that outlined the importance of including resources for young people experiencing homelessness in the budget. Thanks to our collective advocacy efforts, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors included emergency housing and rental assistance for young people experiencing homelessness in the upcoming budget. Read the Op-ed here: https://www.sfexaminer.com//our-citys-budget-needs-to-sup/

We're excited to share with you our first-ever Impact Report, which highlights our accomplishments over the last year and shares our bold plans for the future. It's been a wild year and through it all, ATC has continued to provide in-depth counseling services, food, and supplies to young people experiencing housing instabilitywith the urgency and care that this work requires. Read the report here: https://bit.ly/ATC2020ImpactReport

Joey Harrison and his team of Temescal Ambassadors are going above and beyond to build a strong community of unhoused and housed residents in north Oakland. We admire his compassion and commitment to building an Oakland for all of its residents, not just those with housing.

Our community of supporters never ceases to amaze us! This summer, a group of friends came together to gather hygiene supplies and crochet beautiful warm hats for our clients in advance of the colder months to comepictured here! A big, warm thank you to Nann Phoenixx-Dawn, Amy Walthall, Annalisa Tay, Laurie Lockdown, and Shoshana Phoenixx for your caring and thoughtful donation!

Even as cases continue to rise in the Bay Area, ATC remains steadfast in creating a more equitable Bay Area for all. Since the Shelter-In-Place, we have been determined to continue providing in-depth support to young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Thanks to your support, we’ve increased our distribution of food and personal protective equipment. Here’s a snapshot of our impact since the start of SIP. We couldn’t have done it without your help. THANK YOU!

ICYMI - Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle released its 2020 SF Homeless Project, a week of coverage on homelessness in the Bay Area (https://projects.sfchronicle.com/sf-homeless/landing/). This year's coverage features several dives into the ways that the pandemic is affecting people experiencing homelessness and shaping the social service landscape. Check it out!

***A Message from our Executive Director*** Dear ATC Community Members, I have been asked on several occasions over the past week whether ATC would be making a public statement in response to the persistent profiling and murders of Black and Brown community members including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery. Our team has had several conversations and expressed concern about the message that we would be sending if we remained silent. However, there ...was also concern that our message would feel hollow or take up important space that should belong to others. We decided that we would wait to release a statement until now. I sent a message to our ATC team last week that made it clear that I do NOT expect our staff to compartmentalize what is going on for them. If they are angry, we will support them in expressing that anger. If they feel a deep sense of sadness, we will do the same. We will mobilize resources to support the well-being of our staff just like we do our clients. Discussions around inequity, institutional racism, police harassment and degradation, and social service systems that hurt more than they help occur frequently at ATC. Our clients are disproportionately black and brown and we can not truly say that we are by their side if we are not having these conversations with everyone who is willingand perhaps, not so willingto have them. It is one of the reasons why several weeks ago we launched our Committed to Change pledge (https://bit.ly/Commit2ChangeWithATC). The goal of this long-term ATC initiative is to create a Bay Area for All where there is greater justice and dignity for our most vulnerable neighbors. Our aim is to get louder, bolder, and build community in order to accomplish this goal. ATC stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, civic leaders, and organizations that are tirelessly devoted to dismantling the foundation which has preserved social inequality for black and brown lives for over 400 years. We must continue to be outragednot just today, but tomorrow, the next day, and as long as these atrocities persist. There is a quote by Frederick Douglass that has always resonated with me. Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. To ATC’s black and brown staff, board members, community supporters, and clientsI am driven to my core to respond to injustice with the urgency and outrage it deserves. The survival of my family depends on it. I will continue to leverage my privilege and resources to demand change and disrupt inequitable and unjust systems. I will be accountable to you for delivering on that promise. In solidarity, Charles Lerner

Last night, ATC's staff hosted a live panel to discuss our Covid-19 relief efforts, our Committed to Change Pledge, and answer questions from the community about our work. If you missed it, you can watch the full panel here!

Last night, ATC's staff went live to discuss the effects of Coronavirus on the streets and the changes we want to make in the Bay Area. It was a lively conversation and we answered several questions from our community. Check it out! The content starts at 6 minutes and 30 seconds.

For those who didn't catch us live, the content starts at 6 minutes and 30 seconds! Thanks for tuning in! And here's the Committed to Change Pledge that we mention during the discussion: https://bit.ly/Commit2ChangeWithATC

Over the next few years, At The Crossroads is going to do whatever it takes to make positive changes in our city and region. We will intensify our client support, take bold action, pressure our leaders to shift priorities, and contribute to a social movement that is highly coordinated and relentless. We believe that together we can build a Bay Area for allbut we need your help. Will you join us and commit to change? https://bit.ly/Commit2ChangeWithATC