Dixon Family Services continues to save parents and children from losing their housing and utilities.  We also assist anyone struggling to have enough food for their households.  We do all of this thanks to help from many sources, including foundation grants, churches, schools, service organizations, businesses and many individual community members and donors like yourself, who believe in our mission to improve lives and keep children safe and healthy.

 This month we were granted $25,000 from Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Community Benefit Program and $25,000 from The United Way Bay Area Ambassadors-Led Housing Justice Grant Program.  The overarching goal of both of these grants is to keep people housed, which is also the current focus of Dixon Family Services.

 Describing exactly what our non-profit has been doing to fight homelessness since the beginning of Covid-19, with all of Covid’s consequences on households that were already living “paycheck to paycheck” resonated with the grant committees.  They agreed with our methods and decided to assist our efforts with their generous financial contributions.

 We have been doing everything we can to prevent people from losing their housing in an unprecedented time in history.  Many people suffered one or more adverse effect of the pandemic and economic shutdowns.  Numerous parents reached out to us who were unable to stay current on their rent and other bills.  We decided early on that keeping people housed was the only way to prevent more homelessness.  It is unfortunate, but there are not enough shelters or programs out there for people that become homeless.

 Now the issues of living with insufficient incomes are even more complicated by the increased costs of housing, food, gas . . .  inflation and recession.

 With these two recent grants, Dixon Family Services can plan to assist an estimated additional 56 families who are struggling to pay their rent, mortgage, PG&E and other utility bills in fiscal year 2022/2023 in our Basic Needs Program.  We are very grateful for the support of these two grants, as well as the support of our many other partners/donors who contribute to our work continuously.  We seek out new partnerships going forward because we expect the need for our services to be real for quite some time to come.

 About the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit Programs:

“Kaiser Permanente’s community involvement uniquely pairs grant funding with 70 years of clinical expertise, medical research, and volunteerism to support prevention-focused, evidence-based programs that are expanding access to care and creating healthy environments.  Kaiser Permanente recently awarded Dixon Family Services a $25,000 grant that will help more people in this community get access to the resources they need to lead a healthy life.  For more information about Kaiser Permanente’s work in the community, visit about.kaiserpermanente.org/community-health”

 About the UWBA Ambassadors-Led Housing Justice Grant Program:

“The Ambassadors grants funding is decided by UWBA Ambassadors who have lived experiences with combatting housing insecurity.  The grants will help increase access to stable and affordable housing, address the racial wealth gap, prevent homelessness, and support organizations engaged in policy advocacy around the issue.  United way bay area inspires and connects people to break the cycle of poverty.”  UWBA.ORG