90% of Job Training and Placement Program graduates placed within 6 months of program completion

100 unique initial placements, plus 66 alumni advancements and re-placements

Opportunity Junction served 1,015 people this year, an increase of more than 15% over last year

Message from theExecutive Director:On the one hand, innovation, and on the other, proven best practices. We need both to serve the under-resourced East Contra Costa community.

Take our Job Training and Placement Program (JTPP). It embraces the best practice of combining training with a strong employment focus, along with comprehensive support services. The results are outstanding: 44 unique initial placements last year into administrative posi-tions starting at an average of $15.57 per hour (see page 3). And innovation: two years ago, we started piloting the Alumni Advancement Academy, making the position of Manager of Alumni Programs a full time post. Our rate of persistent employment (employed at least 15 of the first 18 months) jumped from 54% to 87% to 89% (see page 4).

Meanwhile, our Road Map to College represents what could be a quantum leap in our ability to help more people! Local community college Los Medanos College (LMC) will tell you that their supports are designed to help the greatest number of students at the lowest possible cost. That’s a best practice. However, some job seekers need more. California communi-ty colleges have a 65% drop-out rate, frequently for issues unrelated to the course work. Road Map engages job seekers in a planning process to design the support that will help each of them complete a Career Technical Education program at LMC. Then we provide that support. Results from the first year of the pilot are promising. We have already completed a Toolkit for replication of the model and we hope to scale the approach.

Thank you for your help,

Alissa FriedmanExecutive Director

ON THE ROAD TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY

Headquarters: 3102 Delta Fair Blvd., Antioch, CA 94509—SparkPoint Office: 3105 Willow Pass Rd., Bay Point, CA 94565OpportunityJunction.org or call (925) 776-1133

Annual Report FY2014-15Innovation and Results

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Cornerstone Society ($10,000+)Anonymous Fund at EBCF (2)AT&TThe California Wellness FoundationChevron CorporationCommunity Services BureauDean & Margaret Lesher FoundationEast Bay Community FoundationFiredoll FoundationNRG Energy, Inc.Paul FoundationRichmond Community FoundationSan Francisco FoundationStrive for Change FoundationHarry TassellThomas J. Long FoundationTipping Point CommunityWells FargoY & H Soda Foundation

Visionary Council ($5000 to $9999)Callison FoundationDiablo Country Club FoundationJerry and Belinda LuceyPaladin fsSwift River Fund

Leadership Circle ($2500 to $4999)Berkeley Patients Group, Inc.Cheri Smith

Benefactor ($1000 to $2500)Linda and Ed BestJane and Bill CollettElizabeth Vinton Sanderson FoundationLynn and Avner FriedmanAlissa Friedman and Victoria HerzogSue and Stephen GeorgeJoseph and Lagene GoodreaultGordon GravelleJim and Liz JonesErnie and Carole LeopoldLowell Berry FoundationJean McCarterMorrison & Foerster Foundation

Orinda Woman's ClubPG&ERebecca and Tom RileySidney Stern Memorial TrustSoule FoundationThomas and Cynthia StuckerWestAmerica BankCharlotte and Tyler Will

Partner ($250 to $999)Elinor Axup and Steve HowardCecily BarclayGary BeitchJacqueline and Mukund BhagavanKathy and Anthony BieblChristie and Bill BoothRobin Bot-MillerBoundary Oak Women's GolfRobert and Marilyn CarrelDoug Chamberlin and Alison FinchSamuel ChangShou-Shen Chen and Michael DreilingRobert and Jody CoakleyKevin CoppaSharon and Tony DanielsKatie and Matt DohertyMaria DonahoeCarol and Bill DunklePaul EilersPam and John ElliottAlan and Vicki ElnickBill and Mary FredericksonKate GeorgeGoogle Inc.Lisette Gozo and Chris SanfordMarc and Dana GrishamMary Jane HargroveJean HarrisMatthew and Theresa HartTony and Dagmar JimenezMark and Kathy JonesKrista JuliRick and Theresa KaiserGurpreet KaurMark and Barbara Kehoe

Karon and Michael KennedySteven and Mary LaineLauri and Wayne LambertSteven LassairKathy and Tom LeahyLos Medanos College, Honors SocietyGloria MartinLea MasonJohn and Judy McNultyJan and Reg MonteyneHal Moore and Denise BeltLori and Mark OczkusCristina Perez-AbelsonJeanette PetersonLynette and Paul PhillipsAlyssa Postlewait and Greg Gable PostlewaitBoyd and Vicki PurserLisa RaffertyTom RamirezNancy ReutherDebra RiveraKenny and Brianna RobinsonKate SeminskyMary Ann and Paul ShattuckBob and Sue TemenTesoro Refining CompanyBeth and Frank TraftonJoe and Betty TupinAshoo and Yvette VaidDavid and Karen WahlShahram Zarrinkhat

Advocate ($100 to $249)Barbounis Insurance AgencyTeresa BoatwightJackie BuettnerDennis and Billie BurkmanKen and Jeremy CarlsonJim and Dianne ChandlerKris ChaseNathan and Ilona ClarkSue and Hale ConklinRasheeda DavisCarol and Rich DiamantineEducational Testing Service

Emerald HPC International, LLCJohn and Lisa EvansTracey and Glenn FarrellKevin Finck and Kathy MillerDenise FragaRobert FriedbergNatalie GeorgiaMartha GoralkaBobby Gruela and Sherry MartijaRandy and Shellie JeromePeg KemperRebecca and Juliet Kinkade-BlackPatricia and Gary KirscherBecky and Dale ManningEarleen MorningstarSarah MorrillDiane NowakEd and Cathy O'DeaNancy ParentPhiloptochos Society, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox ChurchPeter RaisbeckKris and Julie RambrichMichael RobertsMary Jo RossiVanessa and Carlos SanabriaTonya SmithAlan SouleWalter StewartCharlotte TanUnion BankAnna van Oosten and Ton van EijsJanet and David Van EttenClayton WallaceCatherine and Sandy WarrenElaine and Gordon WatsonNancy WilliamsPatty WintroathRana Zarour

Pro Bono ProfessionalsChris Verdugo of CCTVJ. Stokes AgencyMorgan Lewis PhotoSophistry.comTaproot Foundation

We offer our gratitude to the donors, funders, and contracting agencies who financially support our mission: fighting poverty by helping low-income Contra Costa residents gain the skills and confidence to get and keep jobs that support themselves and their families.

After college and 12 years of marriage, Rana found herself entering the job market as a single mother of two, with very little work experience to support her family. Rana learned about Opportunity Junction through her CalWORKs worker. “If it weren’t for OJ, I would still be struggling in low-paying jobs with no future. Now, I feel strong, accomplished, and determined to overcome any challenges I may face.”

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Board of DirectorsJodi Avina Linda Best Bob CoakleyJane Collett Jim Jones Ricardo M. Perez Julin Perez-Berntsen Adriana Ponce-Matteucci Debra RiveraJackie SeenoDavid Wahl Charlotte Evans Will Rashell Wright Sean K. Wright

Advisory BoardIris Archuleta Keith Archuleta Hon. Susan Bonilla Sandy Bustillo Allan Cantando George Carter Val Davis Aimee Durfee Lester Ellis Hon. Jim Frazier Sue George Hon. Federal Glover Ruth Goodin Tom Guarino Laurie Huffman Jim Jakel Rick KaiserChristine LambertAngela Lowrey Meryl NatchezSharon Pappas Nancy Parent Juan Prieto Hon. Kevin Romick Timothy Silva Arne Simonsen Tonya Smith Tse Ming Tam Hon. Tom Torlakson René Tucker Debbie Walls Alma Williams

Alumni CouncilBecky Amenta Lilia Barajas Lopez Donald Buchanan Maria Rigazio Nicole Sherman Norma Shearin Lada Velichkov Leslie Wood

Gala CommitteeCarol Altwarg Elinor Axup Cathy Carle Kathy Leahy Mary Anne Shattuck Betty Stokes

The daughter of a teen mom and a father in and out of her life, Niya’s success was never handed to her. She started working when she was 14 to help pay the bills and excelled in school. She earned a B.A. in Social Work. Two months into her new career after graduation, Niya was diagnosed with epilepsy. She lost her driver’s license and her job because of her illness. Unable to support herself, Niya then lost her focus, her dream, and her hope. She found Opportunity Junction, learned new skills, and rebuilt her confidence. “I am so happy to have a permanent job with health benefits! The program changed my outlook on life. I’m now off welfare and food stamps

– I’m finally making it on my own. I look at my son and know that everything I’ve accomplished sets the right example for him.”

TECHNOLOGY CENTERCommunity Resource: Offers basic and advanced computer classes, English as a SecondLanguage, U.S. Citizenship classes, Spanish language classes, and drop-in computer use. High Demand: Benefits almost 600 annually. Leverage: Represents the full utilization of our facilities and computer equipment in the evening.

DO-IT-YOURSELF TAXESEmpowering: Teaches taxpayers how to prepare and file their own tax returns.Accessible: Opens for more than 20 evening and weekend sessions. ROI: 201 families recovered $335,000 in federal and state refunds.

1,015 SERVED

100 unique initial placements, plus 66 alumni advancements and re-placements

Job Training and Placement Program, including Alumni Services

Comprehensive: Combines administrative training, paid work experience, coaching and support, job placement, and long-term alumni services.Effective: 90% of our graduates entered employment within 6 months of completing the program at an average starting wage of $15.57/hour. Lasting Impact: 89% maintained employment for at least 15 months out of the 18 months following program completion.

Career Development Services and Road Map to College

Individualized: Provides coaching to job-seekers with diverse career interests. Covers effective resumes, employment applications, interviewing and job placement. Road Map to College participants also complete Career Technical Education (CTE) at Los Medanos College.Efficient: 56 initial placements into positions averaging $14.04/hour.Collaborative: SparkPoint Contra Costa clients receive access to financial coaching, credit counseling, legal services from partner agencies. Los Medanos College is a key partner in Road Map to College.

166 EMPLOYED

ON THE ROAD TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY

“Thanks to Opportunity Junction, my life is so much better. I just moved into my own place and am off all government assistance. I am not going to be a statistic.”

–Elizabeth Lopez (JTPP, Class 41)

Please go to our website to hear Elizabeth’s story. Elizabeth was the featured alumna at the 2015 gala.

To learn more, please visit OpportunityJunction.org or call (925) 776-1133. Opportunity Junction is a 501c3 organization, Tax Identification 68-0459131.

Growing All Placements

One of the lower-profile programs at Opportunity Junction is our work with previous clients. Sometimes, the first job a participant secures is a starter or temporary job, or maybe things just don’t work out. Or the day comes when it’s time for the next step, and we’re there to help. Over the years as our alumni pool has grown so have our resources dedicated to them. The results speak for themselves.

Increasing Continuity of Employment

Being unemployed for shorter periods of time between positions speaks to resiliency, employ-ability and stability. Over the last few years we’ve measured how many of our JTPP participants have worked at least 15 of the 18 months since they completed the program. Tracking this allows us to continue honing our methods and programs to generate the best possible results for our low-income neighbors. The big jump between FY2013 and FY2014 coincides with our addition of a full time Manager of Alumni Programs and the Alumni Advancement Academy.

The 2015 IMAGINE Gala raised more than $100,000 to support our programs. We are grateful to all who participated:the gala committee, sponsors, auction item donors, volunteers, and attendees. Please contact Director of Development,Samantha Seals-Martin, at (925) 776-1133 for additional information. Sponsors in FY 2014-15:

Chevron, A.D. Seeno Construction, Wells Fargo, Craig Communications, Diablo Magazine, Future State, GaraventaEnterprises, J. Stokes Agency, Temen, Kaiser, & Cameron, CPAs LLP, Cosmetic Dental Spa, Mechanics Bank, NRGEnergy, Dow Chemical Company, Phillips 66, City National Bank, Comcast, Pittsburg Power Company, Travis CreditUnion, USS-POSCO Industries, Kaiser Permanente

FY2014-15FINANCIAL YEAR IN REVIEW

Revenue: $ 1,813,531

Grants: 63%

Government Contracts: 24%

Events/Donations: 12%

Earned Income: 1%

Expenses: $1,640,660

Program Services: 83%

Fundraising: 10%

Administration: 7%