Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article In March, Michael Peterson was a finish carpenter — a skilled artisan with a knack for designing intricate woodwork. In the past, he oversaw as many as six workers executing his plans. Now, in the middle of a work day, he sits at a slightly awkward distance from […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article Clarice Patterson answers her door in a bright red embroidered dress and red leggings. The interior of her small living room has been decorated top to bottom for the holidays, as festively as possible. Along the banister and above the window hang stockings for each of her 13 […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article Napa Valley is not only beautiful; it’s also expensive. That’s no secret. But what’s less known is the difficulty seniors, many of them deeply rooted residents, are having surviving in the valley as rents soar. Larry Hyson, a 71-year-old Calistoga man, is among those struggling. A longtime chauffeur […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article Sandra Quiroz’s new apartment, in the Casa de Vilarrasa affordable senior housing complex in Benicia, is modest: Its walls are bone-white and beige, its shelves are strewn with family photographs, and its windows look out to a sun-dappled courtyard. But compared with the mobile home where Quiroz has […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article Unemployment is down and the economy is strong, but that doesn’t mean hunger has ebbed across the Bay Area. Local food banks have not seen any drop in demand for free groceries over the past few years, an indication that the incomes of the working poor aren’t keeping […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article Annie “Lonie” Battle, 73, is yet to finish emptying the moving boxes in her new Hayward home. But one of the first things she unpacked and situated since getting the keys a month ago are the pictures of her late husband, his big, brawny arms wrapped around her […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article For much of her life, Jill Townsend’s biggest focus was on herself, but her recovery from addiction has changed her attitude about who and what is most important in this world. Alcohol and drugs got her in trouble as a youth, ruined her marriage and might very well […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article Larry Williams sat on a thick folded blanket on the floor of his studio apartment, back to the wall, an ancient-looking laptop perched on his thighs. It was the first time he’d turned on his laptop in years — it took two days just to update the software, […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article Watching 3-year-old Xavier Pequeño race around the house in a pair of Minions socks, one would never guess that he spent last Christmas in hospital isolation following a bone marrow transplant made necessary by a rare and deadly immunodeficiency condition. “I’m so fast!” he yelled as he zoomed […]
Explore OurStories of Hope Share this Article After nine months living in an RV that had to be moved every three nights, Andrea Johnson thought she’d lost her two children behind one of the many doors in their new two-bedroom apartment. Johnson was doing dishes when the place went silent so she mounted a search […]
