Santa Clara County Community Service & Support Digest

Resident Bakary Diame comes to the Mountain View Senior Center almost every day to enjoy a meal and socialize with his friends, and he relies on a careful combination of biking and public transit to get there.

Since 1987, the San Jose Conservation Corps has enlisted thousands of young adults in job training programs, but nothing prepared them for what they uncovered while cleaning up parks and trails. A recent city audit found that some of young adults weren't trained to handle used needles, broken glass and other dangerous materials.

When Palo Alto rolled out in 2020 a new program that allowed local congregations to host vehicle dwellers on their lots, the Highway Community Bible Church was the first to step up to the plate. Now, it's the first to seek renewal.

Los Altos Community Services Agency, which has expanded several times over the past few decades, has retained its same space. Now, after making a deal with the school district, the agency will get a bigger, better building to continue providing essential services to the city.

Members of various nature groups, including Grassroots Ecology, the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the city of Los Altos, worked together to restore Manresa Trail at Redwood Grove Nature Preserve in Los Altos.

A Lifestyles Home Tour in Willow Glen will once again be offered, this time on May 6-7. All proceeds will benefit the San Jose Day Nursery. This is the 39th year of the tour, with five grand homes on display.

Vietnamese leaders are calling for equitable funding across community-based organizations in an effort to ensure residents aren't left behind. Vietnamese nonprofits have faced a gap in resources, despite the population’s significant presence in the region.

Assemblymember Evan Low recognized Anne Kepner, who serves on the West Valley Mission Community College District Board of Trustees, at a March 17 luncheon he hosted at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Santana Row.

The abrupt closure of Silicon Valley Bank has hit dozens of local nonprofits, raising concerns about making payroll and being able to provide direct services for the disenfranchised residents who rely on them.

Josh Selo—who last month took the reins at the Bill Wilson Center, which helps homeless teens—faced bullying and intimidation as a gay youth.

Scout Blood is an organization devoted to saving lives through blood donations in developing countries, created by San Jose-based 11th-grader Annmaria.

Mark Ashford has been in and out of the criminal justice system for 26 years, never staying out for more than five months at a time. A few years ago, everything changed with the help of a support program.

Local activist and community leader Bea Robinson Mendez, 88, died from pneumonia on Jan. 13, but her legacy lives on.  She founded Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, the first bilingual shelter in the country and second domestic violence agency in the state.

Signs of segregation may not be as brazen as the days of Martin Luther King Jr., but Black leaders in San Jose say racism still rears its head and is why the Black community keeps shrinking.

Christian D. Malesic, the president/CEO of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber, has accepted a new position in Texas with greater responsibility and reach.

The foundation will work not only in its core counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo, but also with the other Bay Area counties and Santa Cruz to address the devastation left by recent storms.

Girl Scouts of Northern California received its largest donation to date from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott for $4.9 million. The record-setting donation was part of a larger gift of $84.5 million to Girl Scouts of the USA and to 29 Girl Scout councils.

Now in its 30th year, the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund is looking to raise $600,000 to support local nonprofits that serve children, families and individuals.

At the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020, Sunnyvale Community Services was faced with a dilemma. The need had skyrocketed during COVID, but no one was sure how to manage and limit the face-to-face interactions with customers.

A review by San José Spotlight of donations from several Santa Clara County-based tech companies shows these corporations gave a fraction of 1% of their revenue to local nonprofit organizations.

The First Congregational Church program is Palo Alto’s latest “safe parking” proposal, which aims to provide secure parking and assistance for unhoused individuals. Senior pastor David Howell believes the spot is well-suited for such a program. “We really think once it starts, people will realize it’s really not intrusive,” Howell said.

For those living in wildfire-ravaged regions, help might be on the way. Covered California recently announced an application window for victims of wildfires, as well as those who live in fire-prone regions, to apply for assistance.

San Francisco will hold its traditional flagship Pride festivities during the weekend of June 25. Several other South Bay and Peninsula communities are getting in on the action

The City of Morgan Hill hosted a Pride Flag raising ceremony May 21 at the city’s civic center campus on Peak Avenue. The rainbow flag, which represents the LGBTQ community, will fly over several of the city’s facilities throughout June.

To carry on a son's legacy, the Tone Yao Lee scholarships will support mental health educators, psychologists and research.

An estimated 200-300 protesters converged at the Mountain View Caltrain station and marched down Castro Street, chanting and making their way to all four corners of Castro and El Camino Real.

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley has bought a prime site in north San Jose’s Alviso district where the charitable agency aims to consolidate its head offices along with food handling operations.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian immigrants call California home, and many of them are still processing the shock they’ve felt at the Russian invasion into Ukraine. For those hoping to help, these groups are providing aid to affected Ukranians.

The Cupertino City Council made new appointments to fill vacancies during its Jan. 24 and Feb. 1 meetings. New commissioners will hold their position for a four-year term, ending Jan. 30, 2026.

For many years, Jewish organizations have thrived in the Midpeninsula. Now, Mountain View residents will be getting their own Chabad Jewish Center. "We cater to all the needs of the Jewish community —religious and social needs. We're here to provide classes, services and holiday events," Rabbi Ber Rosenblat said.

When an equestrian coach was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a minor, the story was familiar to Woodside resident Carrie Kehring. Her own daughter had been groomed and abused by a different instructor.

Kiyoshi Taylor and Kenan Moos, co-founders of the Los Altos-based racial justice organization Justice Vanguard, have created an educational resource titled “100 Years of Black History.”