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 Seeds of Hope Silicon Valley of San Jose, CA
Debra Wiegert, Board Member of Seeds of Hope Silicon Valley, explains:
“Seeds of Hope Silicon Valley creates innovative permanent homes and supportive communities where chronically homeless neighbors experience safety, belonging, and purpose through the proven Community First model.”
How does your nonprofit and your mission create community for the people and places you serve?
Bringing different people and groups together with a shared vision.
“Seeds of Hope Silicon Valley believes that ending chronic homelessness requires more than providing a roof — it requires creating a true community where people know they belong.
Inspired by the proven Community First model, Seeds of Hope Silicon Valley is working to create a new approach to ending chronic homelessness in our region — one built on permanent housing, supportive relationships, and a true sense of belonging.
As we work toward establishing a permanent supportive housing community in Silicon Valley, we are building the partnerships, volunteer base, and community support that will make it possible.
Our vision is a neighborhood where people who have experienced chronic homelessness can experience not only a safe place to live, but also opportunities to work, volunteer, share meals, participate in community life, and build lasting friendships.
Even before the first home is built, we are creating community today. We bring together volunteers, local businesses, faith communities, civic organizations, public leaders, and individual donors around a shared vision.
Through initiatives like Haircuts of Hope, lived-experience focus groups, our annual fundraisers, and community presentations, we create opportunities for people to connect, listen, learn from one another, and become part of the solution.
We believe that community is not something you build after housing is complete — it is the foundation that makes permanent housing successful.
When people stop seeing homelessness as “someone else’s problem” and begin seeing one another as neighbors, hope begins — not just for those who will one day call our community home, but for Silicon Valley as a whole.”
What are your nonprofit’s biggest challenges or obstacles to creating community?
Changing perceptions about homelessness and overcoming isolation.
“One of our greatest challenges is changing long-held perceptions about chronic homelessness.
Many people assume that housing alone solves homelessness, but research and experience show that isolation is often just as damaging as the lack of housing itself.
Helping people understand that community is a critical part of the solution takes time and ongoing education.
Another challenge is bringing together the many partners needed to make a permanent supportive housing community successful.
Creating lasting change requires collaboration among nonprofit organizations, local government, businesses, volunteers, healthcare providers, and neighbors who share a common vision.
Like many nonprofits, we also work to build sustainable funding while balancing today’s immediate needs with the long-term investment required to create permanent supportive housing.
Yet, we remain optimistic because every new volunteer, donor, partner, and community conversation brings us one step closer to creating a place where homelessness ends and hope begins.”
