With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Rubicon was quick to pivot in order to provide our services to as many participants as possible, despite having to close our office doors. One way that Rubicon transitioned to providing virtual services is by utilizing Google Classroom.

If you’re unfamiliar with Google Classroom, it is an online hub that allows users to view content as well as complete assignments. Rubicon has found Google Classroom to be a strong fit to ‘house’ all of our Foundations workshops, which provide information on financial, employment, and wellness skills.

Rubicon also offers our Foundations workshops virtually via live Zoom sessions. However, due to those being at a scheduled time every day, Rubicon realized that offering the information on Google Classroom could expand our reach to more participants, who could complete the workshops on-demand as their schedules allowed. It's also been useful for participants who may miss one or two of the live Zoom workshops, as they can make them up by accessing the information on Google Classroom. “Participants that are working or have children and unable to get child care, are enjoying being able to log on to Google Classroom at their convenience,” says Rubicon Impact Coach Ruben Cantu. Rubicon further supported our participants by providing free laptops and Wi-Fi hotspots to those that needed them to access Google Classroom.

Participant feedback overall has been positive, as many are grateful for the flexibility that Google Classroom’s on-demand access provides. Participant feedback wasn’t always so solid, however; early on, many participants became frustrated because of their lack of familiarity with Google Classroom and their confusion over accessing all of Rubicon’s uploaded workshop material.

Rubicon responded by creating a new employment position, technical assistant, who would serve as a help desk or support line for participants who had questions navigating Google Classroom. And even better, this position is staffed by a few tech-savvy Rubicon participants. James Toalu, one of the technical assistants, explains that “once participants understand how to navigate Google Classroom, they are completing the workshops with ease.”

By having the Foundations workshop material on Google Classroom and offering live workshops via Zoom, Rubicon has been able to maintain providing our valuable services and information to our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, Rubicon’s positive experience with Google Classroom has us believing that it's here to stay. Its on-demand ability makes it so convenient and a better option for many of our participants than scheduled programming. Thus, even when we’re back to offering our workshops fully in-person in the office, the Google Classroom option is likely to remain.

What the future holds is unknown, but what we do know is Rubicon is committed to providing our services and effectively reaching participants, one person and one laptop at a time. 

Rubicon Programs will distribute hot meals and toys to approximately 200 program participants and their families on Saturday, December 18 and Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at four of its East Bay locations. This marks the 12th year that the organization has provided gifts and food as part of a winter holiday celebration.

Rubicon’s Chief Program Officer Donté Blue says the giveaway events are a reminder to community members that they matter. “Since the beginning of time, sharing a warm meal has symbolized caring for another’s well-being in the same way a holiday toy brings joy – because someone cared enough to think about you,” Blue says. “We want our participants to know Rubicon is thinking about them and their well-being during this holiday season.”

A group of nearly 20 people across the sites, comprised of Rubicon employees and Participant Advisory Board members, will be on hand to distribute the toys and meals. Due to COVID-19 safety concerns at last year’s event, meals were not provided at the toy distribution, making this year’s festivities a welcome return to tradition for both Rubicon staff and participants.

Director of Community Based Programs Rhody McCoy looks forward to interacting with participants and their families at these events each year. “Rubicon considers the community we work in family,” McCoy says. “We are pleased and honored to be able to invite people to our sites, host these special events and participate in each family's holiday celebration and share the joy!”

Ron Thomas, Site Manager for Rubicon’s Concord location, secured the toys through the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation’s local campaign in Concord, CA, known for its annual collection and distribution of toys during the holiday season. In total, Rubicon distributes 400-500 toys each year in partnership with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation and Centerforce, which receives additional donations through community churches.

“Every child needs a village. Rubicon is that village for families in the community,” Thomas says.

Participants who are enrolled in Rubicon’s programs have already received their invitations to the events. The food and toy distributions will take place at the following locations and times:

Saturday, December 18, 2021, 12:00 – 2:00 pm, Reentry Success Center

Tuesday, December 21, 2021, 4:30 – 6:00 pm Rubicon Antioch, Richmond, and Concord locations

When it comes to finding sustainable employment, many people don’t recognize the variety of ways that even minor legal issues can become barriers to work. That’s why Rubicon Programs has a team of lawyers whose goal is to identify and remove legal barriers to employment, both at individual and systemic levels.

Rubicon’s legal department works with participants at multiple points during their journeys through the programs. In the Foundations workshop series, staff attorneys offer two workshops, “Getting Started with Legal” and “Looking for Work with a Criminal Record,” that introduce program participants to the legal support that they can engage with at Rubicon.

Pat Kaspar, Senior Staff Attorney for Rubicon Programs, says the key to supporting participants is through preventative rather than reactive services. “We want to identify potential issues before things become a crisis,” Kaspar says. “Sometimes, people might not even know what is a legal concern until it’s too late; that’s where we can ask questions to learn more about their situation.”

In addition to the group workshops, attorneys meet with participants one-on-one to perform “legal checkups” that help them determine the next steps. Attorneys and participants work together to decide what might work best for their particular situations before coming up with a holistic strategy together.

“It’s nuanced,” Kaspar says. “Especially in family law, we have to decide what makes sense in the long haul. Litigation isn’t always the best option.” Because of the emphasis on individual participants’ goals, Rubicon attorneys spend a lot of their time outside of the courtroom negotiating and advocating on behalf of participants.

Senior Staff Attorney Sarah Williams says that Rubicon attorneys have the benefit of working with participants over many years to help improve their outcomes. “That’s something a lot of attorneys don’t have, is helping people take little steps,” Williams says. “We can see the whole person and their progress over years and years.”

The legal team also participates in regional and statewide advocacy, as invited. Attorneys respond to requests from other community-based organizations, advocacy groups, and legislatures to write and sign letters of support for policy proposals that align with Rubicon’s values. Williams also compiles an annual legislative update for Rubicon staff so that those working directly with participants can know ahead of time about how new laws might be affecting people differently each year.

Aside from working with participants who might need to appear in court, Rubicon attorneys provide an array of legal services that cover record expungement, traffic ticket forgiveness, housing, employment discrimination, and appealing denial of employment based on the Fair Chance Act, among others. The legal services are designed to reduce barriers to employment and economic mobility that might otherwise prevent a participant from moving forward in life.

“We’re with participants as long as they’re active and engaging with us,” Kaspar says. “One participant showed me that my business card was the only card that he had in his wallet. It’s comforting for people to know that they have someone they can call if something comes up.”

This holiday season, Rubicon Programs is hosting the “Together We Can…” campaign to continue our work of breaking poverty in the East Bay. The campaign will officially launch on Giving Tuesday, although those eager to learn more can check out the campaign website in advance here.

The campaign will help Rubicon further our ever-adapting work in the community, including through collaborations with workforce development organizations, educational institutions, government agencies, and community-based advocacy groups. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we rose to the challenge of shelter-in-place restrictions and the associated increased needs in the communities we serve by participating in the following:

• Bounce Back Contra Costa – We supported over 5700 calls from impacted community members on the warm line in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and responded to 588 service and support requests initiated on the website.
• Better Careers Design Group – Along with Alameda County Workforce Development Board, Alameda County Probation Department, Growth Sector, and Third Sector, we formed a collaborative to engage the community to learn more about the barriers and opportunities that influence justice-involved individuals from finding quality jobs. The result has been a community-driven system-change solution to increase the resources available to our most marginalized workers, better coordinate local service providers, and change the hearts and minds of employers.
• Collaborative Advocacy and Power Partnership (CAPP) – Rubicon’s CEO, Dr. Carole “DC” Dorham-Kelly, represents Rubicon as a CAPP Steering Committee Member. CAPP’s short-term objective is that residents, direct-service providers, and advocacy organizations work in deep partnership to effect significant changes in inequitable policies, systems, cultural norms, and narratives that prevent residents from thriving.
• Contra Costa Workforce Collaborative (CCWC) – As a public-private partnership of workforce development organizations spanning CBOs, Community Colleges, and Adult Schools, the CCWC aims to provide Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) career services in a coordinated effort that leverages existing resources to increase access to WIOA services throughout Contra Costa County.

Our work shows us that together, we can achieve real change for the communities in which we live, both at the systems and individual levels. That’s why, in addition to our collaborations with other community-centered organizations, we partnered with over 1400 participants during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic to build a more equitable East Bay through our individualized supportive services.

As we head into the new year, Rubicon knows that our impact will only continue to grow as we partner with more individuals and organizations that are looking to make real changes to the systems that keep people in the cycle of poverty. If this sounds like you, join us in our mission to end poverty in the East Bay by contributing to Rubicon Programs today. Your tax-deductible donation is an investment that will truly change the lives of so many of our East Bay neighbors.

Together, we can.

At Rubicon, we understand that participants are why we’re here, and we want the participant voice to be deeply involved in our decision-making process. One way we’re tapping into and developing the participant voice is the Participant Advisory Board (PAB). The PAB is an organized group of Rubicon participants with the purpose of enhancing Rubicon’s services and our community. The PAB was just a model on paper until October of 2018, when Alisha Semplar joined Rubicon as our Community Connections Program Manager. Thanks to Alisha’s desire to “put the rubber to the road,” the PAB soon shifted from theory into reality.

Alisha says she “sees the diamonds in every participant” and desires to bring out “their shine” for all to see. In launching the PAB, she sought for it to help participants build their self-efficacy through leadership development and active involvement in helping their community. Alisha loves to see how the PAB. “creates leaders and change agents.” “PAB members are leaders in their communities and drivers of change that are constructing a pathway to success to break the cycle of poverty,” Alisha proudly proclaims. Alisha occasionally helps organize and facilitate PAB procedures, but the PAB is mostly run by the participants themselves.

Alisha feels the PAB “creates a conduit” for Rubicon participants to develop their leadership skills, grow their personal networks, and contribute to making changes that will help their community. The PAB meets once a month, where members vote on action items to determine which ones resonate most with their desired community impact. Examples of PAB action items of the past include creating a voter guide, partnering with Healthy Richmond, working with The Safe Return Project, and contributing to the Contra Costa County’s Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice. PAB members also sit on various public committees to help guide the work and provide a voice for their community.

The PAB is also involved in civic activities, including making recommendations for legislative items affecting the community, such as housing and environmental laws. “These are issues directly affecting PAB members' lives, and we know some communities are disproportionately impacted, so the PAB voice is vital”, Alisha says. Alisha adds that discussions at PAB meetings “are guided by the temperature of society,” meaning whatever issues are relevant to the members are those discussed. But they’re not only discussed; the PAB is focused on creating solutions and “taking actions to better the communities directly impacted,” states Alisha.

PAB members are also heavily involved in the structure of Rubicon. PAB members are asked to be a part of interview panels for potential Rubicon employees. Rubicon wants to get the participant perspective on potential hires, so PAB member feedback is invaluable. Some PAB members are also involved in the Program Implementation Committee (PIC), which is composed of program directors and managers. The PIC evaluates and updates Rubicon’s practices and model; similar to the interviews, PAB members' input is critical.

When recruiting new participants for PAB, Alisha mentions that PAB members share a strong desire for social action and change in their community. PAB members are focused on improving the lives of their fellow community members while at the same time experiencing their own personal growth. Alisha emphasizes that "PAB empowers participants to be the change that they are seeking.”