JULY AT INSIGHT HOUSING

Happy July! We're excited to share all our updates from the past month with you, including our new Substack series which you can subscribe to here. As always, we love hearing from you, and if you have feedback or would like to learn more, please reach out to us at philanthropy@insighthousing.org.

Insight’s New Substack

Subscribe to our new Substack if you want to read more in-depth articles from us about homelessness services, the Bay Area housing landscape, and how housing policies shape where we live and who we serve! We’ll be posting every month on the publishing platform and will cover a wide range of topics authored by Insight leadership, staff, participants, and experts from partner organizations. Read our first article titled ‘Why Supportive Housing Works’ here, written by Elizabeth Potter, Insight’s Public Policy and External Affairs Manager and Guled Muse, Community Engagement Manager from Episcopal Communities Services. Subscribe to our Substack today and don't miss an article!

Centering Voices of Lived Experience

Our Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) recently welcomed a new cohort of participants! LEAP is a group consisting of current and previous Insight Housing participants who provide guidance and feedback to leadership and the organization. This panel serves as a bridge between Insight Housing's decision-makers and the communities we serve, ensuring that the firsthand perspectives of people with lived experience inform how Insight Housing operates. Stay tuned for profiles about our new LEAP members and how the power of advocacy can create change!  

LEAP members and staff after the first meeting with the new cohort

UC Berkeley Summer Program Partners with Insight

Last week, Blaire Frett, Property Operations Manager, collaborated with UC Berkeley summer program embARC on a furniture project for some of our housing sites in the area. EmbARC immerses high school students from around the country in architecture, urban design, and sustainable planning courses over the summer. They designed and constructed over 25 pieces of outdoor furniture and donated them to Insight, where residents at Dwight Way and eventually our MLK House will get to enjoy them. Thank you to the wonderful students and teachers who worked with us!

embARC students constructing furniture that will be donated to Insight

Veteran Community Resource Fair

This week, Steve Marshall, Outreach and Enrollment Supervisor, helped organize an agency-wide community resource fair in Fairfield to connect Veterans experiencing homelessness with housing, services, and other resources. 28 community partners tabled at the event, bringing essential services for Veterans to one communal space. More than 75 people were attended, 10 Veterans were connected directly with the VA, and three were directly enrolled to our Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, helping put them on a path toward housing stability. Thank you to all of our program staff who showed up and helped put this together to reach more Veterans in our community!

Jenilla Arnold, Senior Program Manager; Kenneth Watson, Insight Housing participant and Veteran; and Felix Jackl, Program Manager, SSVF, at the Veteran Community Resource Fair

Volunteer Spotlight

This month, Webcor employees volunteered at the Hope Center in Downtown Berkeley. They helped wash dishes, assisted kitchen staff, and served Community Meal. Thank you to the seven amazing volunteers who spent the afternoon with us! We’ve been providing the public with a free meal five days a week for over 50 years -- if you’d like to be a part of it, click here!

Webcor employees volunteering at the Hope Center in downtown Berkeley

Because of supporters like you, lives are changing. Thank you for being part of Insight Housing. Your continued support helps us build a future where everyone in our community has a home through supportive and sustainable housing solutions!