Nonprofits Create Community is NIA’s theme for 2026, as we celebrate the ways that nonprofits come through for their communities in spite of all the challenges facing them. In this series, meet some NIA-insured nonprofits who share their stories of creating community in their own words.
Meet the Lend A Hand Foundation of Oakland, CA
Dee Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of the Lend A Hand Foundation, explains:
“Our mission is to uplift underserved children, youth, and families throughout Oakland, Alameda County, and the Bay Area by providing educational support, health and wellness resources, and essential basic needs that help families not only survive, but to thrive.”
How does your nonprofit and your mission create community for the people and places you serve?
Being a constant presence for under-resourced children, youth, families, and seniors.
“For nearly 30 years, Lend A Hand Foundation has been a constant presence for under-resourced children, youth, families, and seniors across Alameda County.
Community is built into everything we do.
Even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we stayed in the trenches: Getting school supplies into students’ hands, delivering food to families, holding masked events, and running drive-thru resource giveaways so no family was left without support.
Since the Stay In School Program began in 1999, we have provided more than 173,000 back-to-school supply kits, each one a moment where a child, family, volunteer, and school come together around that child’s future.
Through Community Closets in local schools, Joy of Giving each holiday season, and our senior and Youth Action Team programs, we bring elders and young people together for connection and growth.
We don’t just deliver services; we bring people together. As we approach our 30th anniversary, that web of community is our proudest accomplishment.”
What are your nonprofit’s biggest challenges or obstacles to creating community?
The community’s needs outpacing the growth of available resources.
“Our greatest challenge is meeting a need that grows faster than our resources.
Every year, more families reach out for school supplies, food, housing-stability support, and a sense of belonging, and we are determined never to turn them away.
As a lean, community-rooted organization, sustaining reliable funding and the capacity to scale is an ongoing effort, especially as we work to reach every corner of Alameda County and the families who don’t yet know help is here.
Those challenges are exactly why community matters: Our volunteers, partners, and longtime supporters help us stretch every dollar and every hour.
As we enter our 30th year, we’re focused on building the partnerships and capacity to serve even more people, just as reliably, for the next 30 years.”
