Affordable Housing Associates (AHA)
AHA was founded in 1993 to increase the supply of low-income housing by upgrading existing homes and building new ones, as well as to contribute to the community and economic development of the neighborhoods and communities which they serve. Over 700 Bay Area residents are now living in affordable properties built or rehabilitated by AHA in East Bay cities. In September 2001, AHA purchased 160 14th Street in downtown Oakland, and plans to develop this site as a mixed-use project including 76 artists’ live/work apartments, community service facilities, offices, studio space, and ground floor retail and parking. AHA believes an arts-oriented development here will build on the strengths of this downtown Oakland neighborhood, which is located within blocks of the Main Library, the Oakland Museum, and the Alice Arts Center. AHA was awarded a $10,000 planning grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (September 2003) to support the development of up to 8,000 square feet of commercial space at Madison Lofts for lease to arts non-profit groups at below-market rates.

Ark of Refuge, Inc. (Ark)
The Ark secures housing vouchers for homeless members of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ who are living with end-stage HIV/AIDS. During its ten-year history, the Ark of Refuge has grown to an agency with over 40 staff and a budget of $2.7 million. The Ark will serve approximately 900 individuals through a wide range of services, including residential programs, individual and group counseling, case management, money management and benefits support, peer advocacy and educational activities. In addition, 400 African American clergy will receive technical assistance and leadership development support; and 5,000 individuals will be provided with AIDS awareness and prevention services. Ark was awarded a $171,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (July 2002) to renovate their multi-tenant community youth center.

El Campanil Theatre Preservation Foundation (El Campanil)  Founded in 2002 with the goal of purchasing, restoring and operating the historic El Campanil Theatre, El Campanil now operates the theatre as a regional and community-based performing arts center.  Through its theatre rentals and presenting schedule, El Campanil programs a diverse set of performances and community-based events, serving Antioch and the east Contra Costa region.  El Campanil was awarded a $70,000 capital grant from our Performing Arts Program (January 2006) to support Phase Two of their theater renovations.  A renovated theater will help stimulate economic development in Antioch’s downtown re redevelopment district, as well as provide an important venue in this fast-growing region.

Filipino American Development Foundation (FADF)
FADF exists to strengthen the social, physical, and economic well being of the Filipino American community and the South of Market community with special attention to the underserved segments of the community. FADF was awarded a $100,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (August 2003) to support the development of the Bayanihan Community Center. This center will be located at the corner of 6th and Mission Streets in San Francisco's South of Market (SOMA) which is the site of the former Delta Hotel.

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts (JMCA)
Founded in 1979, JMCA brings arts into the lives of people in the Bay Area by providing a performance home for diverse audiences, with an emphasis on regional performers. A hub of activity for performances, training, rehearsal and arts education, JMCA rents their historic home to other groups, in addition to using it for its own productions and education programs. Designed by Julia Morgan, JMCA’s building is a Berkeley Historical Landmark and is in the National Historical Register, and includes a 328-seat theater, dance studios, and classrooms. JMCA was awarded a $152,000 capital grant (May 2005) from our Performing Arts Program to support repairs and renovations to their building. Improvements include: stage floor replacement, installation of new theater equipment and fixtures, electrical upgrades, roof replacement, plumbing/HVAC and repair of hardwood floors. Improving this historic building will enable JMCA to better serve its audiences and to attract a greater number of groups to use the space.

Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center (Los Cenzontles)
Founded in 1994, Los Cenzontles is a multi-disciplinary arts organization based in San Pablo with programming and training offered in crafts, music, and dance.  Los Cenzontles offers a year-round calendar of events at the facility ranging from student recitals to workshops and performances by both their professional faculty and visiting artists.  The touring company of musicians and dancers also perform throughout the United States and Mexico.  Through its education programs, Los Cenzontles works extensively with children, youths, and their families in San Pablo and Richmond.
Los Cenzontles was awarded a $30,000 planning grant from our Performing Arts Program (January 2006) to support the exploration of the feasibility of expanding, acquiring, and/or relocating from their facility in San Pablo.

Mercy Housing California (MHC)
MHC was established in 1988 as the California branch of Mercy Housing, Inc., a national, nonprofit affordable housing development, management, advocacy and technical assistance enterprise sponsored by a number of Catholic women’s religious orders. MHC has successfully completed 82 multi-family housing developments plus 2,684 self-help single-family units. MHC develops commercial space as a corollary to its affordable housing, in order to meet the goals of neighborhood revitalization and to provide critically needed space for community-serving tenants such as senior centers, childcare centers, nonprofit service organizations and nonprofit arts organizations. MHC was awarded a $100,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (January 2003) to support the development of the adult day health center. The proposed 6,080 square feet site will be occupied by the North and South of Market Adult Day Health Center (NSM-ADHC), an established health services provider that has served San Francisco’s low- and very low-income seniors since 1983.

The Mexican Museum
The Mexican Museum was established in 1975 in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission district. Now located at the Fort Mason Center, the Museum’s permanent collection has more than 14,000 objects and is one of the largest and broadest collections of Mexican and Latino art in the United States. The Mexican Museum was awarded a planning grant of up to $15,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (September 2004) to support the development of their permanent home in the Yerba Buena Garden district of San Francisco.

Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA)
Founded in 1989, MACLA provides a contemporary art space in San Jose’s SoFA downtown entertainment district where Latino artists can create and showcase their new work in the visual, literary, and performance arts.  The cross-pollination of Latino and non-Latino audiences has been a distinctive feature of MACLA since its inception, creating opportunities for interaction between traditional audiences and new art forms and emerging artists.  Their Visual Arts and Performance and Literary programs serve over 16,000 people a year.  The City of San Jose’s Redevelopment Agency is currently planning a mixed-use development, with space for MACLA’s programs and offices on the ground and second floors.  MACLA was awarded a $25,000 planning grant from our Performing Arts Program (June 2006) to support the development of MACLA’s improved and expanded visual and performing arts center in the proposed project.

Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD)
Established in 1999, MoAD utilizes the art, culture, and history of the African Diaspora to examine and portray the achievements of communities of African descent worldwide. Their exhibitions will employ objects of art and culture, and their programming will include performing arts, film, discussion groups, artists’ workshops, and school programs. In addition, MoAD will couple art with technology to enable visitors to discover the depth and breadth or local, national, and international African-based culture. MoAD was awarded a $100,000 capital grant from our San Francisco/Alameda County Program (July 2005) to construct tenant improvements for the Museum of the African Diaspora, to be located within the “Museum Tower” in the St. Regis Hotel and Residence at Third and Mission Streets in San Francisco. MoAD was also awarded a $10,000 planning grant from our San Francisco/Alameda County Program in 2004.

Native American Health Center (NAHC)
NAHC was formed in 1971 and is the only health care provider whose mission is to service the more than 80,000 American Indians residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. NAHC has over 30 years of experience providing high quality, holistic, and community-based health care services for un-insured, under-insured, and low-income residents of Alameda and San Francisco counties. NAHC was awarded a capital grant of $200,000 from our San Francisco/Alameda County Program (July 2005) to develop and construct the new Seven Directions Health Care Facility. The healthcare facility will accommodate primary family medical care, comprehensive dental care, outpatient mental health services, and a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Located in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, the property will house a 26,000 square foot community-based health care facility and will be co-located with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC). EBALDC will develop 38 affordable family housing units above the health care facility.

Nihonmachi Little Friends (NLF)
NLF was founded by a group of Japanese American community educators, parents and activists in 1974 to provide culturally and linguistically sensitive programs for preschool age children. NLF opened its preschool program in October 1975 with 15 children, with an after school program for elementary school age children opening in 1979. In 1985 a second preschool-age site was opened to meet demand. A total of 84 preschoolers (2 1/2 - 5 years) and 74 elementary school-age children receive childcare and educational services on an annual basis. A majority of these children are from low-to-moderate income families, and nearly a third of the preschoolers' families qualify for, and receive, low-income subsidies. Services for parent and families are also provided and include mental health consultation, resource and referrals, parenting workshops, Friday evening respite care and family socials. NLF was awarded a $200,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (September 2002) to acquire and renovate the historic Japantown YWCA.

Ninth Street Media Consortium (Ninth Street)
Ninth Street is a collaboration of eight media arts organizations (Film Arts Foundation, Frameline, National Asian American Telecommunications Association, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Canyon Cinema, San Francisco Cinematheque, Teaching Intermedia Literacy Tools, and National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture), occupying the Ninth Street Independent Film Center on 9th Street, South of Market. Ninth Street was awarded a $400,000 grant from NCCLF’s San Francisco/Alameda County Program (November 2001) to support their partnership with a private developer to purchase and build out their new building on Ninth Street.  The innovative partnership between a private developer and the arts organizations enabled the arts groups to gain equity in a custom designed building while capping the organizations' monthly occupancy costs.  The result is the Ninth Street Independent Film Center—a permanent home for San Francisco and the Bay Area’s independent film community.

ODC/San Francisco (ODC)
Founded by Brenda Way in 1971, ODC is a contemporary arts institution comprised of a community theater (with a visual arts gallery), producing organization, dance company and dance school. ODC is currently located at 3153 17th Street in San Francisco's Mission district. The ODC Theater is the oldest contemporary dance producing and presenting organization in San Francisco and has operated in San Francisco's Mission district for 26 years. The ODC Theater has produced hundreds of performances showcasing over 2,000 artists in its 187-seat theater. ODC/San Francisco, the resident Dance Company, is a professional ensemble of ten men and women. The Dance Company presents two Bay Area home seasons spanning three weeks and twelve weeks of performances across the nation and abroad each year. The ODC School provides classes with professional artist teachers and accompanists for approximately 5,500 adults and children per year, including off-site classes in the San Francisco Unified School District. ODC also contributes strategically to the development of dance artists in its home region. During the recent space crisis, ODC offered assistance to other groups and was widely perceived as a key resource for other dance groups in need of space and other support. ODC was awarded a $400,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda County Program (July 2002) to support the renovation of their new facility and creation of a dance campus. ODC also received a $500,000 grant from our Performing Arts Program (April 2005).

Portola Family Connections (PFC)
PFC was established in 1993 by the E.R. Taylor Elementary School's Healthy Start Collaborative in response to an extensive community assessment that identified a priority need for a neighborhood service center for children and families. PFC partners with other providers to provide an array of children's and adult services in the community. Current co-located partners include City College (ESL and child observation classes), UC extension (nutrition programs), SFUSD (Home Instruction for Preschool Youngsters program), the Silver Avenue Health Clinic and Asian Pacific Islander Family Resource Network branch. SF Recreation and Parks, San Bruno Merchants Association, San Francisco Organizing Project and SF Family Resource Center Consortium all use the PFC facility for meetings and community planning work. PFC also provides afterschool and summer programs for children from the E.R. Taylor Elementary School. PFC was awarded a $50,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (July 2002) to support the renovation and expansion of their program space.

Raphael House, Inc.
Established in 1971 as the first shelter in San Francisco for homeless families, Raphael House is dedicated to helping at-risk children and their families achieve stable housing and financial independence, while strengthening family bonds and personal dignity.  For over 27 years the organization rented its 40,000 square-foot facility on Sutter Street on a month-to-month basis.  Raphael House was awarded a $300,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda County Program (November 2001) to support their purchase and renovation of their leased facility, ensuring that this important City resource will be able to continue to provide services to the San Francisco community. 

San Francisco Conservatory of Music (The Conservatory)
Founded as a piano school in 1917, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music incorporated in 1929.  The Conservatory’s mission is to serve society and to create a vibrant future for students through an intense, personal educational process.  The Conservatory is an educational institution that serves people of all ages, including children and youth, college students (undergraduate and graduate), and adult extension students.  The Conservatory is Northern California’s premier institution for training young musicians between the ages of 4-18.  The Conservatory was awarded a $100,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda County Program (April 2004) to help fund the construction of 106,400 square feet of nonprofit space to house the Conservatory in San Francisco’s Civic Center.  Scheduled to open in August, 2006, this new state-of-the art facility will provide the space needed to fulfill the Conservatory’s educational and artistic mission, to expand enrollment in all divisions, to add new educational programs, and to increase the number of people who attend public performances.

San Francisco Girls Chorus
Founded in 1978, the San Francisco Girls Chorus is a regional center for music education and choral training for girls and young women ages 7-18.In 2004, more than 325 singers from 160 schools in 47 Bay Area citieswere participating in this internationally renowned program. As many as 100,000 people annually hear the San Francisco Girls Chorus in 60-90 live performances, and thousands more through recordings. The discipline and concentration learned by the student-artists in rehearsal and performance instill the values necessary to succeed in music and in life. The San Francisco Girls Chorus was awarded a $100,000 capital grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (April 2004) and a $150,000 capital grant from our Performing Arts Program to support the purchase of their performing arts facility at 44 Page Street in San Francisco. This purchase ensures that this important City resource will be able to continue to provide services to the San Francisco community, in an ideal location. In addition, the San Francisco Girls Chorus is committed to providing permanently affordable nonprofit office or program space, in the offices that the Girls Chorus does not occupy.

San Francisco Housing Development Corporation (SFDC)
Founded in 1988, SFDC is a nonprofit housing developer committed to fostering stability in San Francisco’s African-American community through developing affordable housing and facilitating home ownership. As of 2004, SFHDC had developed 220 housing units valued at $33 million, and assisted 225 families to become first-time homeowners, mainly in the Western Addition and Bayview Hunters Point neighborhoods of San Francisco. San Francisco Housing Development Corporation was awarded a $100,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (April 2004) to support tenant improvements to the nonprofit space at Bayview Commons, 4445 Third Street. Located in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood, Bayview Commons has 30 affordable apartments (eight of which will be reserved for individuals with HIV/AIDS.) SFHDC will develop a portion of the ground floor space to house its Housing Counseling Service Center. The Housing Counseling Center provides homebuyer education, mortgage buying assistant and marketing strategies to first time homebuyers, especially in the Bayview Hunter’s Point Community.

San Francisco Museum and Historical Society (SFMHS)
SFMHS, formed in 2002, is the product of a merger of two nonprofit corporations: The Museum of the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Historical Society. The Museum of the City of San Francisco began in 1986 and for many years operated a San Francisco’s official history museum in the Cannery at Fisherman’s Warf. The San Francisco Historical Society, founded in 1988, conducts monthly programs and publishes newsletters and historical journals. The Museum now operates exhibits in the South Light Court of City Hall and at Pier 45. It also maintains artifact storage at Treasure Island, a research center on 11th Street, runs monthly history programs, publishes quarterly publications, holds special events and maintains two history-oriented websites. SFMHS was awarded a $100,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (August 2003) to support their rehabilitation, restoration and seismic retrofit of the Old Mint building located on 5th Street between Mission and Jessie Streets.

San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)
SPUR, founded in 1959, is a membership-based (2,500 members) nonprofit organization committed to improving San Francisco through research, analysis, public education, and advocacy. SPUR promotes good government and planning in the areas of housing, transit, urban design, regional planning, healthy economy, good government, and environmental sustainability. SPUR was awarded a $100,000 capital grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (May 2004) to help fund the development of SPUR’s future home, the SPUR Center at 654 Mission Street in San Francisco.

Santa Cruz Tannery Arts Center (TAC)
Established in 2003, the mission of TAC is to develop and operate the Tannery Arts Center arts campus near downtown Santa Cruz, on the old Salz Tannery site.  Once it is constructed, the Tannery Arts Center will help meet the region’s need for affordable housing and studio space for individual artists, as well as office, classroom, rehearsal and performance space for arts organizations in the Creative Learning Center facility.  The arts campus is a critical piece of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency’s strategy for promoting arts and economic development in Santa Cruz.  TAC was awarded a $25,000 planning grant from our Performing Arts Program (June 2006) to support the development of the proposed 250-seat theater in the arts campus’ Creative Learning Center facility. 

Santa Rosa Symphony (SRS)
SRS, founded in 1927 (and incorporated in 1953 as the Santa Rosa Symphony Association), is the sixth largest and the sixth oldest of California’s 75 professional symphony orchestras. Their ongoing programming includes 21 full-orchestra subscription concerts, at least four special concerts, and one performance each year at the Green Music Festival at Sonoma State University. SRS’s education program sponsors four youth orchestras, twelve youth concerts a year, in-school performances, a ten-month listening program, and a year-round Music Academy offering string training. Their Adopt-A-School program is designed to give a different public school each year an in-depth exposure to the resources of SRS. SRS was awarded a $500,000 capital grant from our Performing Arts Program (June 2005) to develop the Green Music Center, in cooperation with Sonoma State University. The project includes (i) a 400-seat concert hall with additional lawn seating for 10,000 people; (ii) a 400-seat recital hall; (iii) performer and support spaces; (iv) an educational facility which will house sixteen classrooms; and (v) a meeting facility.

Tenants and Owners Development Corporation (TODCO)
TODCO was created in 1971 by a group of low-income tenants from South of Market residential hotels to promote and develop affordable housing in the surrounding area. TODCO has primarily focused on rehabilitating residential hotels and building new housing units, and has developed more than 600 units for low-income seniors and disabled persons. TODCO was awarded a $65,330 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (July 2002) to help fund development of nonprofit office space on the second floor of a senior housing project.

Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC)
TNDC was formed in 1981 to preserve and provide quality, permanent, and affordable housing in the Tenderloin and adjacent neighborhoods. TNDC serves the sixty square block area located North of Market Street and bounded by Van Ness, Post and Powell streets. TNDC has 21 years of experience in affordable housing development, property management, and social services delivery. TNDC has acquired 20 residential properties containing over 1,500 units, providing housing to approximately 3,000 residents. In addition to providing affordable housing, TNDC's on-site support services staff assist tenants in maintaining their incomes and stability, provide crisis management, and offer regular counseling. TNDC was awarded an $50,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda Program (January 2003) to pay a portion of the predevelopment and construction costs to create 6,000 square feet of nonprofit office space in the basement of the Curran House, a new affordable housing project to be developed by TNDC.

Vallejo Community Arts Foundation (VCAF)
In existence since 1991, VCAF manages the Fetterly Playhouse for the Arts, a multi-use, community-based arts facility in Vallejo. VCAF serves as a fiscal sponsor for non-profit arts organizations, re-grants municipal arts funding, and promotes artists and special community events. Some of the projects sponsored by VCAF include the Vallejo Jazz Festival, Vallejo Ballet Conservatory; and Vallejo Phoenix Rising, youth focused spoken word/performance group.  VCAF was awarded a $50,000 planning grant (April 2005) and a $200,000 capital grant (June 2005) from our Performing Arts Program to support the development of The Empress Theatre, a 500-seat theatre located in Vallejo’s downtown entertainment Redevelopment area. VCAF will become operator/manager of The Empress Theatre, which will operate as a performance, movie-theatre and mixed-use space, and will be a cornerstone in Vallejo’s arts and entertainment district.

Visitacion Valley Community Development Corporation (formerly Geneva Valley Development Corporation) (VVDC)
Formally established in 1998, VVCDC grew out of the Geneva Towers Residents’ Council—a group of Visitacion Valley residents elected to represent residents’ views in the future of the Geneva Valley Towers, a HUD-sponsored housing development. VVCDC worked to relocate Tower residents, many of them very low-income families headed by single mothers, back to the Valley and to represent the ownership interests of the ex-Geneva Towers tenants in the housing and community center projects.  VVCDC has evolved from a group of affiliated community organizers and residents into a community development corporation that serves residents throughout the entire neighborhood by increasing the number of affordable homes and improving the quality of life for Visitacion Valley residents.  VVCDC and Mercy Charities Housing California partnered to co-own and manage Heritage Homes, which replaced Geneva Towers and won HUD’s “Best Practices” and “Best of the Best Practices” awards in 1999.  VVCDC was awarded a $120,000 grant from our San Francisco/Alameda County Program (July 2002) to construct the Village West, a multi-tenant community center.   Completed in 2003, Village West currently provides space for VVCDC programs, as well as eight other community-based nonprofit service providers.

Youth Radio
Youth Radio offers after-school journalism and production training programs free-of-charge to approximately 1,400 students per year while also providing academic tutoring, college-bound preparation, and leadership training. Since 1992, Youth Radio has trained thousands of teenagers in broadcast journalism, production, engineering and media advocacy and literacy. Using on-air DJ opportunities as a hook, the organization provides stable, long-term guidance for youth as they transition from school to college and into careers. Youth Radio is currently operating out of cramped, outdated quarters that severely limit their plans, and believes that their potential for developing breadth and depth in programming can only be realized in an expanded and appropriate facility. Youth Radio was awarded a $10,000 planning grant (December 2003) and a $350,000 capital grant (September 2005) from our San Francisco/Alameda Program to support the acquisition and development of a state-of-the-art Downtown Digital Media Center.

Z Space Studio
Incorporated in 1993 as the Z Space Studio, this nonprofit works collaboratively with artists to develop Bay Area theater and theater audiences.  Since inception, Z Space Studio has used several locations to present its programs, and is facing an increasing level of difficulty in securing performance space in the Bay Area.  For these reasons, Z Space Studio is seeking a permanent home to house its offices and programs (rehearsal and performance). Z Space Studio was awarded a $50,000 planning grant (January 2005) from our Performing Arts Program to support architectural and capital campaign expenses for a proposed facilities project.