Niles Pie

Building Economic Sustainability One Pie at a Time

Nearly a decade ago, Carolyn Berke, a long-time baker, started baking and delivering pies locally in Niles and surrounding areas. She took orders online and delivered twice weekly to a few local establishments. Soon Niles Pie grew from a part-time endeavor to a full-time bakery.

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Advocacy to Preserve Community Development Financial Institution Funding

In May 2017 Catherine Howard, our Director of Strategic Initiatives, represented Community Vision at Opportunity Finance Network’s Advocacy Day which included legislative visits to the offices of Senators Feinstein and Harris and Representatives Jim Costa and Jimmy Panetta. In addition, Community Vision’s policy activities have been focused on the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund budget and…

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Community Vision Partners with Community Alliance for Agroecology to Connect Bay Area Food Retailers with Central Valley Farmers

Farm operations in the Central Valley and food businesses in the Bay Area enjoy a symbiotic, if imperfect, relationship.  The Bay Area represents a large marketplace for locally sourced and organic food produced by Central Valley farmers and manufacturers. Though the relationship can be mutually beneficial, small farmers often lack the capacity and finances to…

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Daniel Hlad

Community Vision Updates: Partnering with and for Our Communities

At Community Vision we’re committed to the places where we live and work. We encourage our staff to be directly involved with their communities – from volunteering with local, direct-service organizations to serving on boards and committees. It’s integral to our work that our staff are directly involved in our communities and take leadership positions to…

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Blog: Updates from Capitol Hill

Last month I represented Community Vision in Washington, DC, joining Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) colleagues from across the country to meet with legislators and their staff and advocate for continued federal funding for programs that CDFIs leverage to benefit low-income communities.

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Community Vision receives highest independent rating from Aeris

Independent, third-party rating viewed as a mark of transparency and accountability Last month, Community Vision was notified that we received a four-star impact performance rating with policy plus and AAA financial strength and performance rating from Aeris. Aeris provides comprehensive, third-party assessments of a community investment fund’s financial strength, performance and impact.

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Berkeley Food and Housing

Berkeley nonprofit responds to city homelessness with dedication and compassion

For more than 45 years Berkeley Food and Housing Project (BFHP) has provided a holistic range of services to support homeless individuals and families. The organization offers housing, food and support services and is often the sole point of entry for anyone seeking homeless support services in Berkeley. Founded originally as a soup kitchen, the…

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Real world impacts of budget cuts on poverty

by Mary A. Rogier, Community Vision’s President.  I’ve been thinking a lot about poverty lately. That is probably not surprising, as we recently have been launching some new activities to combat hunger and food inequity, especially in parts of our Central Valley service region where people suffer greatly from lack of access to food.  We’ve…

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Community Vision’s lending team supports affordable housing development in Oakland and Fremont

For nearly thirty years, Abode Services has been providing emergency and permanent housing in Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Santa Cruz counties. The organization secures permanent homes for homeless individuals and families. Serving nearly 5,000 clients annually, Abode Services works with landlords, manages governmental rental assistance programs, builds new housing stock, and provides case…

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