Message from the Executive Director:

Very dear Opportunity Junction family,

Every hour you volunteered, every job you referred, and every dollar you invested this year combined to generate the greatest impact ever. Our team placed 120 new job seekers into initial employment, a 20% increase over last year. Further, another 80 alumni were supported in re-entering employment or earning a raise or promotion.

The revenue generated by just the 200 job seekers we placed this year exceeded $2.7 million. And we know our alumni keep those jobs: our five-year retention rate, based on verified employment status, stands at 73%.

Unfortunately, the resources to serve these residents did not grow in step with the need. Although individual donations and event income grew (our highest total ever), foundation grants did not. And as low-income families are being displaced from more expensive parts of the Bay Area to East Contra Costa, the need will grow. Your

support will be more important than ever.

Going forward, we would love to expand Road Map to College (see page 3), introduce a part-time job training program, and add more advanced training for local workers. Together we can help our friends and neighbors succeed.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership,

Alissa Friedman Executive Director

ANNUAL REPORT

FY 2015-16

120 unique initial placements, plus 80 alumni got new positions or raises.

Opportunity Junction fights

poverty by helping

low-income Contra Costa

residents gain the skills and

confidence to get and keep

jobs that support themselves

and their families.

Headquarters: 3102 Delta Fair Blvd., Antioch, CA 94509—SparkPoint Office: 3105 Willow Pass Rd., Bay Point, CA 94565

OpportunityJunction.org or call (925) 776-1133

Opportunity Junction served 903 people this year, with 337 receiving direct, intensive services.

* Your support is important to us. If we inadvertently misspelled your name or omitted your gift,

please accept our apologies and contact us at (925) 776-1133.

DONORS AND FUNDERS

hank you to the donors, funders,

and contracting agencies who

financially support our mission. The

life changing work that Opportunity

Junction does would not be possible

without your generosity.

As a single mom, Elayna went to college and supported her son by working part-time and receiving CalWORKs assistance. But the degree wasn’t enough. Elayna needed more help to succeed.

“With the interview skills and confidence I learned in the program, I landed a mid-level position in health care. Today, I am able to buy things for my son and enjoy life with him. Thanks to OJ, I was able to buy a new car and am saving to buy a home. My dream has finally come true!"

Cornerstone Society ($10,000+) Anonymous EBCF (2) Antioch Area Community Fund AT&T The California Wellness Foundation The Callison Foundation Chevron Corporation Community Services Bureau Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation East Bay Community Foundation Firedoll Foundation Ken Graunstadt, Jr. Keller Canyon Landfill Richmond Community Foundation Strive for Change Foundation The Thomas J. Long Foundation Tipping Point Community Wells Fargo Y & H Soda Foundation

Visionary Council ($5000 - $9999) Anonymous Educational Testing Service Sue and Stephen George Jerry and Belinda Lucey Brent Noorda NRG Energy, Inc. Umpqua Bank

Leadership Circle ($2500 - $4999) Lynn and Avner Friedman Google Inc. Heffernan Insurance Brokers HA Logistics Lowell Berry Foundation Meryl Natchez and Larry Rafferty Paladin fs Cheri Smith US Bank Charlotte and Tyler Will

Benefactor ($1000 - $2500) Anonymous Shannon Adkins Alliance of Chief Executives, LLC Bruce and Amy Baumgarten George Birdsong Robert Calkins and Marc Fox Shou-Shen Chen and Michael Dreiling Jane and Bill Collett Community Safety Foundation CSAA Insurance Group Jacob Emmert-Aronson

First Republic Bank Leo Fontana Alissa Friedman and Victoria Herzog Gordon and Molly Gravelle Matthew and Theresa Hart Jim and Liz Jones Ernie and Carole Leopold Jean McCarter The Morrison & Foerster Foundation Orinda Woman's Club Sasha Rabsey Rebecca and Tom Riley Debra Rivera Jackie Seeno Soule Foundation Harry Tassell Travis Credit Union WestAmerica Bank Rick and Christine Wise

Partner ($250 - $999) Anonymous Amazon.com Steve Austin and Evanthia Spanos Elinor Axup and Steve Howard Cecily Barclay Linda and Ed Best Jacqueline and Mukund Bhagavan Kathy and Anthony Biebl Christine and Ed Bonifacio Kevin and Claire Brady Jackie Buettner Steve Catton and Maureen Sheehy Robert and Jody Coakley Tracy Craig Katie and Matt Doherty Bryan and Denise Eaton Paul Eilers Pam and John Elliott Alan Elnick Mary Erbez John and Lisa Evans Tamara Friedman Joseph and Lagene Goodreault Mary Jane Hargrove James Hudak Randy and Shellie Jerome Tony and Dagmar Jimenez Kevin Jordan Rick and Theresa Kaiser Pamela and Mark Kan Karon and Michael Kennedy Patricia and Gary Kirscher

Kathy and Tom Leahy Angela Lowrey Gregory McConnell Jan and Reg Monteyne Lori and Mark Oczkus Alyssa Postlewait and Greg Gable Tom Ramirez Nancy Reuther Brianna and Kenny Robinson Jeff and Jan Schults Mary Ann and Paul Shattuck Trish Shattuck Nicole Sherman Denise and Ed Silicani Smart & Final Charitable Foundation Anita and Stanley Soule Betty and Jim Stokes Thomas and Cynthia Stucker Laurie and Steve Tennant Maurice Van Sickle and Leslie Brown Lynn and Patsy Weis Shahram Zarrinkhat

Advocate ($100 - $249) Amy Alanes Karen and Richard Baker Lynn Baskett Gary Beitch Dennis and Billie Burkman Jim and Dianne Chandler Samuel Chang Kris Chase Norman Cheng Nathan and Ilona Clark Sue and Hale Conklin Al Davis Kevin Finck and Kathy Miller Will French Eva Garcia Natalie Georgia Martha Goralka Sally Gray Bobby Gruela and Sherry Martija Victoria and Andrew Hansen Laura Hogan Alan Huttmann Mark and Kathy Jones Krista Juli Mac and Nancy Kaiser Gurpreet Kaur Steven and Mary Laine Steven Lassair

Ann and Stuart Lutzker Lisa and Alan Mac Gloria Martin Lea Mason David Matson and Susan Gerson Florence McAuley Rich McDaniel Patricia McGill Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California Diane Nowak Patrick Nurre Olorunfunmi Oliyide Richard Pagano Philoptochos Society, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church Pittsburg Women's Community League Chris Potts Samantha Seals-Martin and Wesley Martin Raminder Somal Leonor Sotelo Alan Soule Melissa Stone Lucky Thammalangsy Anna van Oosten and Ton van Eijs David and Karen Wahl Clayton Wallace Kate Walsh Catherine and Sandy Warren Mark and Barbara Wille Nancy Williams Alma Williams Palmer Patty Wintroath Rana Zarour

Gifts in honor of Alumni JTTP Class #9 Matthew Eilers Sue George Andrea McFarlan Ismael Mendoza Laurie Phillips and her family Charlotte Will

Gifts in memory of Robin Teixeira

Pro Bono Professionals Chris Verdugo of CCTV Morgan Lewis PhotoSophistry.com Ray Zenoni

Joanna was in transitional housing and unable to get a

job when her counselor at Shelter Inc. recommended

she apply to Opportunity Junction. Joanna left OJ with a

part-time job at an appliance company. Five months into

that position, an opportunity for her dream career opened

up with Contra Costa County as an Eligibility Worker.

“I now have permanent housing with rooms for all of

my girls; I have a car I purchased with the money I

saved; and I am finally off of all welfare, food stamps, and MediCal. Honestly, without OJ, I don’t know

where I’d be.”

PROGRAMS AND LEADERSHIP VOLUNTEERS

200 EMPLOYED Board of Directors Bruce Baumgarten Linda Best Christine Bonifacio Bob Calkins Bob Coakley Jane Collett Jim Jones Richard Pagano Julin Perez-Berntsen Adriana Ponce-Matteucci Debra Rivera Jackie Seeno Brian Siebold David Wahl Charlotte Will Dr. Sean K. Wright

Advisory Council Iris Archuleta Keith Archuleta Jodi Avina Jacqueline Bhagavan Hon. Susan Bonilla Sandy Bustillo Allan Cantando George Carter Val Davis Aimee Durfee Lester Ellis Hon. Jim Frazier Sue George Hon. Steven Glazer Hon. Federal Glover Ruth Goodin Dr. Laurie Huffman Jim Jakel Rick Kaiser Christine Lambert Angela Lowrey Meryl Natchez Sharon Pappas Nancy Parent Ricardo M. Perez Juan Prieto Hon. Kevin Romick Timothy Silva Arne Simonsen Tonya Smith Tse Ming Tam Hon. Tom Torlakson René Tucker Debbie Walls Alma Williams

Alumni Council Becky Amenta Donald Buchanan Shaunette Buchanan Lilia Barajas Lopez Maria Rigazio Leslie Serrano Nicole Sherman LaToya Shovan Lada Velichkov

Gala Committee Carol Altwarg Elinor Axup Kathy Leahy Mary Ann Shattuck Betty Stokes

Job Training and Placement Program (JTPP) and Alumni Services

What’s New? Alumni who participated in the Alumni Advancement Academy (AAA) received significantly higher pay increases (averaging $3.14/ hour, bringing them to $18.87/hour), than alumni who didn’t participate.

What Worked? 92% of our graduates entered employment within 3 months of completing the program at an average starting wage of $14.01/hour.

Long-term Impact: 73% of alumni who have been placed into employment are still employed 5 years later.

Career Development Services and Road Map to College

What’s New? With funding from the Workforce Accelerator Fund of the Cali-fornia Workforce Development Board, Road Map to College will target low-income and former foster youth, aged 18-24. Two organizations are now rep-licating the program in West Contra Costa and Alameda County.

What Worked? 64 initial placements averaging $14.80/hour.

Technology Center

What’s New? To better meet the needs of Technology Center job seekers, our Career Counselors offered evening office hours to provide individualized coaching.

What Worked? Usage remains high, serving nearly 550 low-income resi-dents in computer classes, English and Spanish language classes, and open computer labs.

Do-It-Yourself Taxes

What’s New? 207 families received over $360,000 in federal and state re-funds in 2016.

What Worked? Experienced, trained alumni volunteers run the program for four months. Services are free to households making less than $62,000 per year.

120 unique

initial placements,

plus 80 alumni

advancements and

re-placements

903 SERVED

Everyone who is willing to work hard deserves an opportunity to succeed.

There are many ways to support Opportunity Junction. Visit OpportunityJunction.org/support-us or call (925) 776-1133.

Opportunity Junction is a 501c3 organization, Tax ID 68-0459131.

Over 150 supporters gathered on April 23, 2016 for an upbeat night of festivities and fundraising: the 2016 IMAGINE Gala, Make Your Mark on the World, our tenth annual event. With the support of sponsors, committee members, board members, and guests, this event raised more than

$115,000 to support our life-changing employment programs.

“I came to Opportunity Junction with a broken spirit. Now I am soaring!” - Tracie Long (JTPP, Class 38)

See featured alumna Tracie Long’s full story here: http://bit.do/Tracie

Special Thanks to Our 2016 Sponsors

Chevron Corporation Seeno Homes Craig Communications Diablo Magazine Future State J.Stokes Agency Temen, Kaiser & Cameron, CPA's LLC Adhesive Products, Inc.

Berkeley Patients Group Cosmetic Dental Spa Dow Chemical Company Mechanics Bank Mt. Diablo Recycling, a Garaventa Company NRG Energy, Inc. Wells Fargo BAC Community Bank

Bishop-Wisecarver Group Comcast Kaiser Permanente Peterson Properties Phillips66 Pittsburg Power Company Summit Financial Group USS-POSCO Industries

Save the Date 2017 IMAGINE GALA

Saturday, April 22, 2017

If you want to get involved

in this year’s event, contact

Eva Luo at

(925) 776-1133.