My Eden Voice Members Celebrate at Sparking Connections
Sparking Connections 2022: Welcome Home
Thank you for joining us at Sparking Connections: Welcome Home! It was a very successful night of fundraising with friends and colleagues. Many guests said it was a joy to gather in person with old and new friends alike. Together, we raised over $170,000 to support the creation of more affordable housing in the Bay Area.
We loved celebrating the creation of A link to: My Eden Voice (MEV), a new grassroots organization, created through RCD’s Community Development work in unincorporated Alameda County. We were also pleased to honor our long-time legal partner, Scott Barshay, and announce the naming of Rick Judd Commons in memory of our former board member.
Thank you especially to our title sponsors, A link to: Union Bank and A link to: Nibbi Brothers General Contractors!
Congratulations to our 2022 Irwin Mussen Scholars
At Sparking Connections, we were also pleased to announce RCD’s 2022 Irwin Mussen Resident Scholars! Six resident scholars from Antioch, Berkeley Oakland and El Cerrito were awarded a total of $31,000 to help their pursuit of higher education.
One of our RCD scholars, Batul Aledlah, is attending UC Berkeley to pursue her goal of becoming a college counselor. She is working on a research project about her home country of Yemen and will use part of the scholarship to help with her research goals.
“Coming from a low-income community, I understand the implications of not having the financial advantages to complete my education without worry or fear of not being able to cover the expenses to obtain all of my goals and aspirations. I am extremely grateful to have been granted this scholarship that will allow me to move forward with my education and also complete research I am especially passionate about with financial support.”
– Batul Aledlah
Batul Aledlah shares remarks on what the Irwin Mussen Scholarship means to her and her future education.
Progress at Sango Court Continues
Our outstanding team led by A link to: Nibbi Brothers General Contractors placed the first module of our first modular housing community last month! The team placed an impressive 8 to 13 modules per day and now all 102 apartments are in place. Check out our picture gallery for photos of the process.
Staff Spotlight: June Cummings
June Cummings is celebrating 9 years in the Resident Services team this year! We sat down with her to learn more about her role as a Senior Mobile Resident Services Manager.
What brought you to RCD?
Transitioning into working in affordable housing was my “next right move.” Throughout my career, I’ve worked with people who lived on the streets and shelters so I understood how challenging it can be to be without a home and how just given the right tools, they can succeed.
At RCD, I started as a resident services manager working at a handful of properties. After about 5 years, the department created a new position of a mobile resident service manager which focused on ensuring that all RCD properties had resident services. I really like working with property managers and meeting new residents so it was a great fit.
Tell us a little more about your work providing services for residents
Our first focus is always making sure residents stay housed. We help residents connect to different programs that they might need at different times in their lives. For new residents, especially those transitioning out of homelessness, we make sure they have the comfort of home from the beginning by connecting them with agencies that can provide furniture and necessities. We find resources to help make people’s lives more comfortable and help people thrive in our housing.
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