WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - Big Day of Giving is a community-wide movement to support local non-profits in our region; a 24-hour giving period that raises thousands of unrestricted dollars for more than 700 non-profits! The Yolo County Children’s Alliance, a non-profit whose Family Resource Center is based in West Sacramento and serves families and individuals throughout the County, participated in BDOG 2022 and was able to raise more than $10,000 for their clients!

BDOG funds are unrestricted dollars, and are often used in emergency situations, similar to what Shelby and Zalayah went through. Shelby is a new, young mother with an 8-month-old baby, Zalayah. Shelby and her partner had been living with extended family to share the costs of living, as they were on the brink of facing homelessness with the shortage of affordable housing in our region. The home they were living in was crowded, which can oftentimes lead to high tempers and conflict.

Recently, our Healthy Families Yolo County staff (HFYC, home visiting program), received a call from Shelby saying her small family had been kicked out of the home, and urgently needed a place to stay, or they would be sleeping in their car with 8-month-old Zalayah. HFYC was able to mobilize and secure the family a night in a motel, while also completing a direct referral to YCCA’s homeless prevention team.

While our homeless prevention team worked in tandem with the HFYC team, Shelby and her family were able to come up with a plan. The swift teamwork of HFYC and their assistance made a critical difference in keeping the family safe and sheltered. In a short time, Shelby was able to transition into permanent housing with affordable rent. Had just one resource in this story not been available, the outcome would have been severely different.

As our Program Manager for HFYC, Lana Casper, speaks to, there are so many more families at risk for similar situations, and the need for flexible resources to meet those needs continues. These flexible resources come from days like Big Day of Giving. Your dollars can literally be the difference of Shelby and Zalayah’s night in a safe space.

If you didn’t get a chance to donate on May 5, community members can still support mothers like Shelby at  www.BigDayofGiving.org/YCCA or at www.YoloKids.org/Donate and help connect her, and others that land in her situation, with support and resources. Thank you for your dedication to our efforts to provide a network of support in our region!