BOSS - Approved

• Our mission is to help homeless, poor, and disabled people achieve health and self-sufficiency, and to fight against the root causes of poverty and homelessness. BOSS was created in 1971 to help individuals with severe and persistent mental illness who had become displaced because of public hospital closures. Programs and services expanded over the past five decades to include services for unhoused, disabled, and low-income individuals, families, and neighborhoods in Alameda County. In 2013, executive leadership expanded the mission and began developing solutions for mass incarceration and violence in the community as unaddressed crises stemming from racially biased policies and systemic inequities. Today, BOSS is recognized as a social justice leader with housing, reentry, violence prevention, along with innovative service delivery methodologies.
• • Owner
    Alejandra Plata Zuniga
  • Created On
    01-31-2025
  • Updated On
    02-05-2025
  • Update Reminder
    01-21-2026

• How To Contact

  • Name
    Donald Frazier
  • Phone
    (510) 649-1930
  • Fax
    N/A
  • Email
    dfrazier@self-sufficiency.org
  • Address
    1918 University Ave
  • City
    Berkeley
  • State
    CA

• More Information

  • Start Date
    01-31-2025
  • Expiration Date
    01-31-2026
  • Eligibility
    free
  • Fee
    0.00
  • Organization
    Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency
  • Zip Code
    947043263

• Helpful Links

  • Main Program URL
    https://www.self-sufficiency.org/

• Detailed Information

  • Provides shelter, transitional housing and supportive services to people who are homeless, disabled, or low-income.

    Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the root causes of poverty, homelessness, incarceration, and violence in the Bay Area, California. Established in 1971, BOSS offers a range of programs aimed at housing security, wellness, empowerment, and social justice.

    
    

    Housing Security

    BOSS helps our unhoused neighbors find and keep permanent housing to stay housed and stable. BOSS works to achieve this goal by providing affordable housing options that include both emergency shelter and supported independent living.

    Wellness, Empowerment & Resiliency Campus

    BOSS meets people where they are geographically, economically, culturally, emotionally, mentally, intellectually, and physically -- with direct pathways to socioeconomic inclusion, health, wellness, civic engagement, and mobility. BOSS does this by:

    -Centering the voice of the community’s most impacted in service development and delivery to create a sense of ownership, respect, safety and belonging.

    -Intentional recruitment is to hire and train people with lived experience to help create and deliver services.

    -Developing social justice programs, outreach, and rapid response teams and developing leaders with lived experience to fight for social, racial, and economic equity and to build a foundation for long-term success and stability for communities impacted by policy violence.

    -Utilizing traditional and non-traditional empirical and evidenced-based practices that align with and relate to individual risks, needs, and responsivity of the persons served with culturally tailored programming.

    -Understanding the significance of policy violence and its impact on the lives of the people we serve and relentlessly fighting to uproot inequitable education, employment, housing, criminal justice, land use, and transportation policies that negatively impact those we serve.

    -We believe our work, in this manner, is necessary to raise our people out of despair. We stand fearlessly unapologetic, passionate, and dedicated to give voice to the oppressed until change happens.

    Career Training, Education & Housing Center

    -Workforce Development/Job Readiness/CalFresh E&T

    The Center offers education, job training, career counseling, and employment placement services for those facing barriers to employment and housing, including justice-involved individuals. Partnerships with Oakland Adult & Career Education, Peralta Community College District, and 100+ employers facilitate second-chance hiring, on-the-job training, and permanent job placements. The Center also provides rental assistance for former CDCR inmates and warm handoff referrals for care coordination.

• Eligibility Information

  • States
  • Counties
    • Alameda County
  • Cities
    • Emeryville, CA
    • Oakland, CA
    • Berkeley, CA
    • Albany, CA
  • Zipcodes
  • School Districts
  • Age Groups
    • Adult
  • Languages Served
    • Spanish
    • Tagalog
  • Family Incomes
    • Below $15,000
  • Insurance Providers

• Files