Using the power of our community to create change

Over the last year, RE BarCamp has dramatically influenced the usage of technology in the real estate industry. We have created a community that filled with some of the brightest minds in real estate and technology.

For the one year anniversary of RE BarCamp, Brad, Andy and I sat around a table trying to figure out how to make REBC bigger and better, but we realized that it doesn’t need to be bigger. The size of the event doesn’t really make it better. So, how do we make it better? Does a shinier t-shirt make it better? No. What could make RE BarCamp better?

Using the power of our community to create change

For RE BarCamp San Francisco, we would like to take the power of our community and make meaningful change. As real estate professionals, our occupations revolve around housing. Unfortunately, not everyone in our society is blessed with the ability to have a place to call home. Consider these statistics:

• Right now there are more homeless children in the United States than at any other time since the Great Depression.
• One in four San Francisco Bay Area families can’t afford the basics of housing, food, healthcare and childcare without some kind of public assistance. (United Way of the Bay Area report)
• The average income for the poorest fifth of San Francisco households is just $10,019 a year. (Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty)
• There is virtually no affordable housing in San Francisco. Applicants for Section 8 federal housing typically spend 5-8 years on the waiting list. (San Francisco Chronicle report

So, how can we individuals and companies in the real estate community impart change on the problem of homelessness?

Introducing…

“Housing for Homeless” is a new ReBarcamp initiative. We hope this idea takes off and is implemented at the RE BarCamp events taking place across the country.

What is Housing for the Homeless?

1. At RE Barcamp San Francisco, I plan to lead a section that discusses just this problem. Through RE BarCamp events, we have developed a tremendously powerful community. Let’s put our collective brainpower together to take a stab at aiding this huge problem that impacts people around the globe. We have an opportunity to create change and make meaningful improvements to peoples lives.
2. RE BarCamp is free. You even get a free lunch thanks to Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate. If you have ever attended an RE BarCamp, you probably know that the value of the conference is almost priceless. We would like to ask that each consider making a donation to the charity that we have selected for Housing for the Homeless/ RE BarCamp San Francisco. Whether your donation is $10 (the cost of your free lunch) or more, any donation will help.

So, who does your donation benefit?

Compass Community Services

Compass opened the Tenderloin Childcare Center (TLC) in 1976, which in 1990 became the first licensed childcare program in San Francisco to reserve slots for children from homeless families. In 1990, the agency opened Compass Family Center, their homeless shelter for families. Their transitional housing program, Clara House, opened in 1994. And in 1995, under a grant from the San Francisco Department of Human Services, Compass began Connecting Point, the citywide entry point into San Francisco’s family shelter system.

Today Compass is a leader in its field, recognized citywide for their expertise in helping families surmount homelessness and extreme poverty. By providing intensive, personalized and long-term services, they not only stabilize families in crisis and meet their immediate needs, but they give clients the tools and resources to obtain permanent housing, earn a living wage, and maintain lasting stability and self-sufficiency. They also work closely with the Mayor’s office, city officials and other agencies to identify the barriers families face in obtaining housing and employment, and to facilitate access to the services that are most critical to families’ success.

Please help us use the power of our community to create change.

100% of your donation (less the paypal credit card charge) will be distributed to Compass Community Services, a not-for profit organization. Please provide your mailing address in the shipping address field. This information will be provided to Compass Community Services for tax purposes.