In 2020, PYATOK launched a Community Investment Fund and the commitment of our staff task force to identify local organizations that are countering systemic injustice, racism, and white supremacy. For its third year, the task force opted to focus on groups engaging in direct action, youth-based initiatives, and education programs. We are again honored to lift up these Bay Area organizations, and invite you to join us in supporting them:

• Operation Dignity houses and serves the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in Alameda County by providing shelter, housing, street outreach, and supportive services with a special focus on veterans.
• East Oakland Collective supports residents of East Oakland, prioritizing Black residents, to navigate challenges and barriers to inequities through resource distribution and advocacy. Their work includes homeless services, economic empowerment, and community action.
• Reading Partners SF Bay Area partners with parents, teachers, and school and community leaders to ensure all children have the individualized support they need to become strong readers and lifelong learners.
• Fam 1st Family Foundation empowers and elevates underserved youth, contributing to broader economic, athletic, educational, and experiential opportunities that impact long-term community growth and self-sustainability. The Fam 1st Family uses sports as a metaphor for life, emphasizing adaptability, resilience, and determination.
• Youth Spirit Artworks is a Berkeley-based interfaith art jobs and job training program committed to empowering homeless and low-income Bay Area young people ages 16-25. Along with their job programs, YSA runs a transitional housing village for homeless youth from Berkeley and Oakland.

The community-based design and housing efforts that form the scope of PYATOK’s professional efforts can only go so far in righting social injustices. We are committed to continuing our annual support of community-based organizations that provide needed services in ways that our own work does not.