2023 Grant Recipients

We Care Services for Children
$100,000

Since 1960, We Care Services for Children helps infants through 5 years of age and their families reach their full potential after facing trauma early on in childhood. They provide services to help the whole child including developmental, educational and mental health programming. With the IMPACT grant, they will hire additional mental health clinicians which will serve a greater number of high need, high trauma children and their families from underserved areas in CCC.

We Care Services for Children

With IMPACT Diablo Valley’s grant funds, We Care Services for Children is helping an additional 100 children and their families by hiring a new, full time therapist to work with these children to get them the help they need to heal the wounds from their early childhood trauma. They estimate that there are 10,000 children in Contra Costa County with diagnosable Mental Health, Behavioral or Developmental challenges. This organization supports families and children from birth to five years old with targeted and effective early intervention services to help children reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstances.  We Care provides much needed mental health services and therapy to children healing from extreme trauma.

This program directly impacts the mental health needs of ~100 children and their families by providing them full wrap around therapy services to help these children reach their full potential.

 

Dentists On Wheels
$25,000

Dentists on Wheel's mission is to provide FREE EMERGENCY comprehensive dental care for people in pain and financially struggling in Contra Costa County. DOW is the only free provider in CCC, and has an ongoing waitlist for patients that are in pain and can’t afford dental care. Dentists on Wheels is using IMPACT’s 2023 community grant, of $25,000, to expand the number of days they can provide services, including Saturdays, to reach even more people struggling with dental health in CCC.

Dentists On Wheels

Shelter, Inc.
$25,000

Shelter Inc. believes that everyone deserves a home, and has worked since 1986 in Contra Costa County to help people remain housed, and for those who have already lost their housing to become rehoused quickly. The IMPACT Diablo Valley community grant of $25,000 will go towards the complete renovation of the commercial sized kitchen in their Mountain View Family Shelter. During the next 10 years of service, the renovations you fund will enhance the lives of up to 1,000 clients and over 800 volunteers.

Shelter, Inc.


2022 Grant Recipients

STAND! For Families Free of Violence
$100,000

Since 1977, STAND! has been working to end partner and family violence and as the organization has grown, they have become a full service center for families facing trauma and needing support to get back on their feet. They provide a safe place for adults and children to recover from an unsafe home, seek medical attention, start new schools, and get services to help them establish independent lives free from their abusers. Each year, STAND! supports over hundreds of youth and their families in Contra Costa County.

STAND! For Families Free of Violence

With IMPACT Diablo Valley’s grant funds, STAND! For Families Free of Violence was able to purchase 2 gently used vans for their Concord shelter. This organization had only 1 very old van to help families flee from their unsafe homes, provide rides to school, doctors appointments, DMV appointments, and more. These vans will also provide transportation of much needed items like food, clothing, and other supplies necessary for the families living in this shelter. Lastly, these vans will help families rebuild their lives by taking them to doctors appointments, DMV appointments, and job training and services. The addition of two passenger vans (operated by STAND! staff only) would be a game-changing benefit to our services - one that would allow 240 adult & child victims of domestic violence basic access to necessary appointments multiple times each year & for many years.

The addition of the two passenger vans is a game-changing benefit to our services - one that would allow 240 adult and child victims of domestic violence basic access to necessary appointments multiple times each year for many years to come.

 

Dentists On Wheels
$21,000

Dentists on Wheel's mission is to provide FREE EMERGENCY comprehensive dental care for people in pain and financially struggling in Contra Costa County. DOW is the only free provider in CCC, and has an ongoing waitlist for patients that are in pain and can’t afford dental care. Dentists on Wheels is using IMPACT’s 2022 community grant, of $21,000 to purchase a crown making machine. This machine has a lifespan of 30 years, fabricating 420 crowns for our 300 patients treated yearly.

Dentists On Wheels

White Pony Express
$21,000

White Pony Express is a volunteer-powered food rescue organization with a mission to eliminate hunger by delivering the abundance all around us to those in need – with love. With the $21,000 investment from IMPACT Diablo Valley, WPE will launch an app based initiative called Food Rescue Hero (FRH), a pioneering tech solution that connects food producers’ surplus fresh food to available volunteer food-runners. the technology necessary to provide 600,000 additional pounds of food per year—more than 500,000 meals—to our hungry neighbors.

White Pony Express


2021 Grant Recipients

Youth Homes
$100,000

Since 1965, Youth Homes has provided trauma-informed programs for foster youth living in Contra Costa County.They are fiercely committed to creating opportunities for youth to process and heal from trauma, develop self-sufficiency and confidence, build supportive networks, and create healthy and meaningful lives. Each year, Youth Homes serves over 250 youth and their families through unique and impactful programming.

YOUTH HOMES

With IMPACT Diablo Valley’s grant funds, Youth Homes was able to make a complete renovation to one of their 5 foster youth homes, called the Cherry Lane House. This particular house is a 40+ year old home that had safety and health issues including drainage, electrical work, gutters, painting, and HVAC. In fact, in 2020 Youth Homes housed fewer youth because of unanticipated and severe capital maintenance needs at Cherry Lane that caused its closure while repairs were being done. With IMPACT Diablo Valley’s help, Cherry Lane has completed all repairs and renovations it needs to be safe and welcoming for years to come. These funds will fix old problems and create new spaces, like outdoor play spaces and a much needed meditation room. These renovations mean that we don’t have to worry about turning youth away because something broke again, because these repairs will last for several years with proper maintenance.

This program directly impacts the security and access to care for ~200 foster youth by providing them with a peaceful, healthy, and safe living environment for several years to come.

 

COLLEGE IS REAL
$20,000

College Is Real's mission is to change the college-going culture in Richmond’s high schools in order to uplift the community through having more of its students, who are mostly low-income people of color, attend and be the first in their families to graduate from college. College Is Real is using IMPACT’s 2021 community grant, of $20,000, to broaden the support of the organization to include incoming 8th graders and additional support to students in their first few years in college.

COLLEGE IS REAL

WINTER NIGHTS
$20,000

Winter Nights protects homeless families by providing shelter in a clean, safe, and warm environment and they help families break the homelessness cycle by assisting them toward self-sufficiency and into stable housing. Winter Nights is utilizing their $20,000 grant to expand their safe parking program, to ensure more families and individuals living in their cars have access to showers, food and a safe place to park at night.

WINTER NIGHTS


2020 Grant Recipients

Meals on Wheels
$80,000

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For more than 50 years, Meals on Wheels Diablo Region (MOW Diablo Region) has improved the lives of vulnerable seniors living in Contra Costa County by delivering nutritious meals and wraparound services that allow seniors to remain in their homes, safely and with dignity.  An estimated 7% of seniors nationwide are food insecure. In economically challenged communities in East Contra Costa County, like Bay Point and Bethel Island, the percentage of seniors facing hunger is even higher. For 13% of the seniors MOW serve, the meal they receive from MOW Diablo Region is their only meal of the day.

MEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION

With IMPACT Diablo Valley’s grant funds, MOW extended the Breakfast Bags program, to serve seniors in Bay Point and Bethel Island. This program delivers five breakfasts per week to our most vulnerable seniors. These are seniors who live alone, have no/limited support system, do not drive, are homebound, low-income, and have told us that one meal a day is not enough to keep them from experiencing hunger. The Breakfast Bags program reduces food insecurity among our most vulnerable seniors. 50% of all diseases impacting older adults are directly connected to inadequate nutrition. By reducing hunger and improving their nutritional intake, these seniors improve their health and are better able to fight off disease.

This program – simple in concept, yet powerful in impact – allows seniors to continue to live at home, independently and with dignity, for as long as possible.

 

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
$12,000

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St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County continues to be an important nonprofit in our community, helping thousands of people in need. SVDP is using IMPACT’s 2020 community grant, of $12,000, to support its broader effort of developing electronic medical records and utilizing telehealth visits to serve more people. Getting current with technology is critical and will allow more people access to healthcare.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

DISCOVERY COUNSELING CENTER
$12,000

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DCC is utilizing their grant to subsidize mental health services to families and students living in the San Ramon Valley that currently can’t afford to pay for their mental health needs.

DISCOVERY COUNSELING CENTER


2019 Grant Recipients

Village Community Resource Center
$100,000

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Local homeowners, the City of Brentwood and the Brentwood Police established VCRC in 1997 as a community center – a safe, fun place where kids could gather, play, and enjoy arts and crafts.

Fueled by donors, volunteers and it’s staff, VCRC has developed into a comprehensive East County resource for resilient families. Their programs interrupt the cycle of despair, giving families health and prosperity building tools so that they and their children can create better futures.

With their integrated services they partner with families for the long term, helping kids learn and stay healthy and helping parents navigate the school system and pursue their life priorities.

VILLAGE COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER

 

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
$12,000

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St. Vincent de Paul of Contra Costa County was founded in 1964. We provide direct services at our Family Resource Center in Pittsburg and throughout the county through 29 parish conferences. SVdPCC strives to provide concrete aid to those in need. Our many programs provide food, clothing, shelter, rental assistance, medical services, employment, and workforce development to our neighbors in Contra Costa County. We collaborate with several Bay Area agencies including Loaves & Fishes, Catholic Charities, RotaCare Bay Area, Winter Nights Shelter, One Warm Coat, and the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties.

Our Member-volunteers, known as Vincentians, are drawn from every ethnic and cultural background, age group, and economic level. Vincentians are united to help neighbors in need.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

BRIGHTER BEGINNINGS
$12,000

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Brighter Beginnings began their work in 1984, responding to the needs of families in resource-poor neighborhoods. The organization was created due to the alarming differences in mortality and illness rates among African American babies compared to other children.

As they developed, so did the array of programs to help families cope with personal, familial and economic problems, as well as a robust collaboration with like-minded agencies that give families access to vital services such as healthcare, childcare, housing, education, job training, and temporary public benefits.

They have grown into a respected and well-connected organization locations in Oakland, Richmond, Bay Point, Antioch, and Pleasant Hill.

BRIGHTER BEGINNINGS


2018 Grant Recipients

WHITE PONY EXPRESS
$65,000

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White Pony Express (WPE) began in 2013 to help the thousands going hungry each day or suffering from unhealthy diets. It started with a Food Rescue program, delivering surplus food to organizations that serve those in need. WPE expanded rapidly and in 2014 incorporated as a nonprofit with the goal of uplifting lives through a broad-based community program.

As of July 2019, WPE has distributed over a half a million items of clothing, books, and shoes to those in need and over 9 million pounds of high quality nutritious food has been distributed.

WHITE PONY EXPRESS

 

BEYOND IMANCIPATION
$4,000

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In 1995, a handful of social workers from the Alameda County Child Welfare Department founded what has become Beyond Emancipation as a way of providing emancipated youth with more flexible services than the County was able to offer.

The organization started out securing donations for scholarships, housing assistance, and other needs of young adults learning to live outside the system for the first time.

Over the past almost 25 years it has continued to expand programs and grown into an organization providing a wide range of services to youth leaving foster care. The staff provide transitional housing, education support, employment assistance, emancipation planning support, and information and referral services.

BEYOND IMMANCIPATION

EDEN I&R
$4,000

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Eden I&R started in 1976 in response to the community’s need for assistance in obtaining information about, as well as gaining access to, community resources. For 41 years they have been linking people and resources, consistently and creatively responding to the community’s changing needs. The agency’s services are the result of collaborations with hundreds of community-based organizations.

Because no other centralized source for health, housing, and human services information exists in Alameda County, Eden I&R has become a critical resource for youth, non-English speakers, the economically disadvantaged, people living with HIV/AIDS, domestic violence survivors, the elderly, disabled, the homeless, and human service agencies seeking services or housing for their clients.

EDEN I&R