Success Stories

Jose and Jessica left their home at only 16 years old and took shelter at a local youth center. After Hope Solutions helped them find their first real home, Grateful Gatherings stepped in and transformed it.

Sabryna* and her 2 and 4-year-old daughters had been at Ruby’s Place, a place for abused women and children, before finding their apartment. They moved in with little furniture, and what they did have, needed to be replaced. The Orinda GIVE girls got together to support this family and [...]

Jose and Jessica left their home at only 16 years old and took shelter at a local youth center. After Hope Solutions helped them find their first real home, Grateful Gatherings stepped in and transformed it.

This year our annual summer fundraiser will be going virtual!  We’re calling it OUTDOORS FOR OTHERS benefitting Grateful Gatherings. Please help us raise $50,000 of critical funds to provide furniture and home essentials for families-in-need. We want to continue to assist families transitioning [...]

Saint Mary’s College Gaels Give Back We were approached by Bay Alliance For Youth & Family Services who serves girls between the ages of 12 and 17, who were referred through Child Protective Services. Often times the children are brought to the foster home with just the clothes on [...]

A Bed to Lay Her Head Tamara* and her 8-year-old daughter Kylie* have been homeless on and off for many years. Tamara most recently escaped her partner who was physically, verbally, and sexually abusive to her. Ruby’s Place provided her with shelter, case management, and housing [...]

Bringing Light and Joy Linda* is a deaf single mother of three who has struggled to provide for her family since her youngest child’s father was incarcerated. She receives no child support and supports her kids on her own. Although she communicates in American Sign Language and in written [...]

Family #1 In order to cover rent, Claudia, her daughter Andrea and her son Maurizio live with Claudia’s friend Carla and her son.  Just about three years ago, Claudia, her husband and children came to the U.S. from Mexico in hopes of better economic opportunities.  After the husband became [...]

Mary was in her own place until her son’s father died.  Barely scraping by, she met a man on an online dating site. After seeing him for a while, the man asked her to live with him. Upon arriving at his place, she found he lived with another woman in an apartment occupied by eight […]

After experiencing a job loss and family medical emergency, Natasha fell behind on rent. The landlord evicted her and her four children and all of her furniture was put into storage. The single mother moved to an emergency shelter with her family and then into Abode Service’s transitional [...]

Jaclyn left her abusive partner when he started directing the abuse toward their children. She was able to provide a stable environment for her children until she was laid off in 2017. Unable to keep up with her bills and rent, the family left their apartment. They couch hopped for 8 months [...]

Emerald* is a single mother with a seven-year-old daughter. She recently escaped significant physical and emotional abuse by her partner. He was a drug dealer who threatened abused her and attempted to take her life on several occasions. He even threatened her family when they offered to help. [...]

Kelly and her twins were referred to us by Ruby’s Place, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence. The twin’s father is not the abuser but doesn’t help financially. Kelly has worked very hard to save money for her new place and feels lucky to have found such a beautiful [...]

Mary is a single mom to three girls, 8-year-old Erin, 4-year-old Cassandra, and 2-year-old Jasmine. She works part-time as a mortgage brokerage assistant. She left the children’s father due to domestic violence and, in the same year, her mother and grandmother passed away. She lost all [...]

“N’s” family was referred to us by Ruby’s Place, a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. “N’s” husband began abusing her after he became addicted to drugs. The abuse made it difficult for “N” to go to work and her [...]

Reina was desperate when she arrived at Homeward Bound, an agency that helps homeless families find housing. The single mother had been sleeping in her van with 3-year-old Rey and 2-year-old Carlton for 4 months. She suffers from PTSD from an abusive relationship and has struggled with [...]

Aja is a single mom with three kids, 16-year-old Oluwaseyi, 12-year-old Niyah, and 10-year-old Love. Aja and her children have been homeless on-and-off since 2014. They were stayed with family, lived in their car, and finally ended up at a GRIP shelter several months ago. Aja struggles with [...]

The kindness and generosity of our community never ceases to amaze us! At the end of November we asked our community to participate in our Adopt-A-Family program and within a few days all 26 families were adopted. Each family made a wish lists and our community answered. Gifts were wrapped and [...]

They are home “A” was in an arranged marriage in India and shortly after became pregnant with her son. During her 6th month of pregnancy, her husband received a temporary work visa in the Bay Area. “A” did not to leave and wanted to have her baby in India but her husband [...]

Maria and her two teens, Natasha and Alex, lost everything— including Natasha’s artwork—in an apartment fire. They were devastated. Maria had worked so hard to create a home for her family and now all was lost. See how our volunteers created a completely new home for this lovely family. Before: [...]

Shinita is the mother of Ulisa, an adorable one-year-old with down syndrome. Shinita and Ulsa just moved into their first apartment after leaving Project Pride, a program for addiction recovery. Shinita has been clean for 15 months and is excited to start her life over with her baby. [...]

TEAM GATHERS TO BRING BOYS BACK HOME “Sarah”, a victim of abuse, has 4 children. Her 5 year old daughter “Amy” is living with her and her three boys are staying with extended family. After being in and out of shelters for the last year Ruby’s Place found her a home. Her boys will be able to [...]

Marin Grateful Gatherings volunteers and donors brought comfort and joy to two families on August 12th. Both families were referred to us from Novato Human Needs and had been homeless for some time. Thanks to your generous donations of furniture, household goods, toys, clothes, other [...]

Thank you to all of our Grateful Gatherings donors and volunteers who participated in our June 10th Grateful Gathering in Oakland! As I write up this thank you, 2 weeks later than planned, I want to acknowledge those of you that were able to carve out time for us. We know how hectic summer [...]