Professional Services in Emeryville

Hamilton Family Center works to transition more than 300 families into permanent housing every year and prevent its clients from becoming homeless with a comprehensive array of housing solutions and support services. The organization places families with sustainable income into permanent housing and provides shallow-rent subsidies and support services to help them achieve stability. Furnishings help turn the new houses into livable spaces, and monthly food boxes, job training, health screenings, financial-literacy coaching, and afterschool activities for children foster a community atmosphere and encourage personal advancement. After placement, case managers and family therapists work with the families to maintain their housing situations and rebuild their lives.

As a local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco partners with families, community volunteers, and donors to build affordable homes for residents with low incomes in San Francisco and Marin, and on the Peninsula. To date, the organization has built more than 160 homes, with 36 new dwellings currently under construction.

Other projects include the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. Through this program, Habitat Greater San Francisco works alongside community partners and residents to respond to community-identified needs, whether that means refurbishing a youth center, repairing a resident's roof, or creating a community garden.

Junk King’s red trucks travel to houses around the country to clear homes of clutter while maintaining environmentally safe practices. Friendly haulers give customers a call when they're en route, then cart away anything except hazardous materials, including garden clippings, outmoded furnishings, and cursed Cadillac trunks. The refuse rangers sort through everything they take away, donating what they can to charity, recycling what they can’t, and even sweeping up when the job is done. So far, Junk King has saved 908 tons from entering landfills by striving to recycle more than 60% of what they collect. All appointments are scheduled within two-hour time frames, often with same- or next-day service.

The Spark Program addresses the nation's dropout crisis by connecting students from underserved neighborhoods with professionals who help motivate them to succeed academically and professionally. Each student identifies his or her dream job, and Spark matches the student with a mentor who has that job and can provide a one-on-one workplace apprenticeship. During the fall or spring session, students work on a specific project with their mentors at their workplace once a week for two hours after school. Additionally, students attend an in-school Leadership Class, led by a school staff volunteer, where they learn professional skills such as resumé writing and public speaking. Each session culminates in a Discovery Night, where students present their projects.

To date, Spark has provided more than 1,500 apprenticeships to middle-school students across the United States. Nearly all participating students come from neighborhoods where dropout rates exceed 50%, but Spark's alumni data show that apprentices have significantly higher graduation rates from high school, improved academic performance and attendance, and fewer suspensions.

The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) helps support underserved communities around the world through development training programs for students and professionals that address local health, environmental, social, and economic issues. Programs include short-term global service trips, internships abroad, and international volunteering, where participants work at program sites in Argentina, India, Kenya, Bolivia, Nicaragua, or Uganda. As part of FSD's commitment to grassroots, community-based action, participants work directly with local partners at each site to create economically and environmentally sustainable programs.