Share the Spirit 2021 stories of help and hope.

 

From bottled water to pop-up vaccine clinics: How four working mothers scrambled to support East Bay farm workers

Ximena Perez remembers the day she was packing corn in a sweltering, east Contra Costa County packaging plant. The lamination process to seal the bags of grain made the warehouse feel like an oven. “Sometimes the main boss pressures us ...
Continue reading...

No landlord would offer this veteran housing – Swords to Plowshares stepped in

Nine years ago, Luis Lujan was driving his two children home from daycare in Fullerton when all of a sudden, a pickup truck carrying watermelons pulled out right in front of him. Lujan’s 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee T-boned the other ...
Continue reading...

Open Heart Kitchen provides meals, and friendly company

The pandemic forced everyone into the confines of their home. For Kristen, Jesus and their four young children, ranging in age from 3 to 7, home is a moss green Ford Expedition SUV. For more than a year, most of ...
Continue reading...

Beyond Emancipation helps young people aging out of foster care

Jessica Mi is 21 years old, has an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, and can boast that she’s now working on securing a master’s degree from that elite institution. Not so long ago, Mi was struggling to find her footing ...
Continue reading...

Experience in building trades strengthens East Bay women’s confidence

Felicia Harper says all she needed was a chance to do something positive. When a six-week construction training program landed in her lap, it led to union membership, employment and a new outlook on life. “I heard about it from ...
Continue reading...

How one East Bay substance use treatment program is leading ‘recovery through the arts’

When Samuel McFarland entered a treatment program for addiction in July 2018, he turned to his sketch pad. He had always been into drawing, even as a kid, but it wasn’t something he had ever pursued full-time. Life was too ...
Continue reading...

Rainbow Community Center is a lifeline for East Bay LGBTQI+ youth seeking acceptance for who they are

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County — a nonprofit organization that builds community and supports well-being among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning and Intersex (LGBTQI+) people — saw a drastic increase in desperate ...
Continue reading...

Livermore’s Goodness Village a ‘tiny home’ paradise for unhoused people

Having your own home may be the American dream, but it wasn’t the kind of dream Luis “Nacho” Nava was chasing more than 30 years ago when he stuffed his belongings into a suitcase before boarding a bus in Mexico ...
Continue reading...

Donors come through for their neighbors in need

East Bay Times Share the Spirit readers are responding generously to the annual effort to help their less fortunate neighbors whose stories are being told in print and online this holiday season. Through December 15th, readers have donated $232,994 so ...
Continue reading...

Meals on Wheels Diablo Region offers more than food deliveries

At least once a week for the last 14 years, 86-year-old Joe Rubi has been greeted at his Pittsburg home by a friendly visitor bearing gifts, like beef, chicken, pasta, salad and bread. The Meals on Wheels food is never ...
Continue reading...