Homelessness is a “multi-dimensional” problem of extreme poverty. It cannot be solved by emergency shelter and housing vouchers alone. The homeless need specialized help to get the education and skills they need to succeed in today’s dynamic job market. “The real, radical answer to homelessness,” says Dr. Ralph da Costa Nunez, president of the Institute
Anton Salon helps the homeless look great, both for the holidays and for future employment Anton Salon in Berkeley was a busy place on Dec. 22, during the rush before Christmas. Salon owner Joe Escobedo opened his doors and heart again this year to give back to the community, helping Bay Area homeless residents look
A Massachusetts $3.5 million initiative seeks to provide permanent housing and support services, including job training, for about 800 of the state’s chronically homeless. Unlike previous homeless shelter programs, private funders – not taxpayers — assume the risk if the program does not meet objectives. The investment comes from non-profit organizations as well the private
Saffron Strand is moving to larger professional office space to accommodate more computer workstations for a larger number of homeless members. Our new location is only a couple of blocks away: Saffron Strand, Inc. 147 West Richmond Avenue, Suite C Point Richmond, CA 94801 Please note that the Saffron Strand phone and email are going
“Saffron Strand members,” the West County Times reported June 23, “gain work experience volunteering to plan and execute the nonprofit’s events, including its annual conference on homelessness, which draws experts from around the country.” In fact, when reporter Robert Rogers visited the Saffron Strand Center in Point Richmond on June 11, homeless members were preparing
“Our country has not experienced anything like the current upheaval in the workforce since the late Nineteenth and early 20th Centuries,” says Dr. Ira S. Wolfe, president of Success Performance Solutions and author on labor issues and workforce trends. Dr. Wolfe will keynote Saffron Strand’s Fifth Annual Homeless Workforce Conference, June 16-17 in Richmond, CA.
At the annual conference of the California Workforce Association, April 22-24 in San Diego, Saffron Strand’s volunteer program director, Chysandra Nair, received the Outstanding Job Seeker Services Award as one of CWA’s three 2014 Charlie Brown Workforce Professionals of the Year. For the past five years, Chysandra has volunteered 20 hours per week as program
More workforce professionals are taking an interest in the methods Saffron Strand employs to get the homeless and others who are chronically unemployed back into the workforce. These best practices are part of the evolving Saffron Strand Model. The California Workforce Association invited Saffron Strand CEO Yvonne Nair to lead a workshop on “Breaking the
Year-end highlights of Saffron Strand’s 2013 include outcomes from the Saffron Strand Center in Point Richmond. Here we work one-on-one with homeless members from Richmond and other Bay Area communities, getting them off the streets and back into the job market. Saffron Strand outcomes updated through the end of 2013: Since our founding in 2009,
In a ceremony Dec. 9, 2013, the City of Richmond, CA awarded Saffron Strand’s CEO, Yvonne Nair, the City’s 2012-2013 Human Rights Award in the category of Justice. Yvonne was among seven recipients of the Award, which included categories of Image, Education, and Special Award, in addition to Justice. “In Saffron Strand,” the Award organizers