Building Bridges Child Development Center strives to support the diverse groups of children and families of Oakland by providing a safe and nurturing environment where children can thrive in all areas of development.  BBCDC understands the need for working families to have access to high quality infant-toddler care. In order to offer such care we must build community partnerships and public support of early care and education that will allow us to provide the best possible care to our youngest members of society.

BBCDC was created to provide families with quality infant-toddler child care in Oakland, California. We support the healthy development of young children by providing individualized attention and support families by giving parents increased opportunities to obtain and/or sustain full-time employment. A fixed percentage of available spaces will be reserved for low-income families. We are currently in our “growing phase” and plan to open in 2009.

 

Independent Arts & Media is a producer's co-op and media/culture incubator with a mission to expand civic dialogue by increasing access to independent voices.

FAQ: What is a producer's co-op? (PDF)

Indy Arts was founded in 2000 to provide resources and support for media, arts and cultural programs and producers who are doing important work, but who lack support from existing commercial media outlets and traditional arts institutions.

Our production, sponsorship, promotional, educational and support services are always free or affordable, and strengthen a culture of democracy in which individuals fully participate in their communities through vibrant arts, media and public affairs experiences.

NEWSDESK.ORG is a commercial-free, nonpoliticized news source covering important but overlooked issues from around the world -- and your own backyard.

We are a nonprofit news bureau, and count on the support of readers like you. You can donate right now.

Newsdesk's exclusive articles break ground on issues that later become front page news, such as the FCC and net neutrality, faith-based politics, Nigeria's oil strife and veterans' health care.

News You Might Have Missed, our weekly roundup of important but overlooked news from around the world, has been published Wednesdays since February 2002, and draws from dozens of English-language news outlets worldwide.

Subscribe for the latest.

Let us know what you think.

The Fabulist is a new home for fables, yarns, tall tales, weird fiction, magic realism, and literary fantasy & science fiction.

Your words, images and other media are welcome. The website is open to readers and contributors. In particular we seek to free the literature of the fantastic from the burdens of genre. But genre is fine if it’s in service to the telling.

The East Bay Jewish Community Teen Foundation (EBJCTF) is made up of a group of high school students determined to make a difference through the application of tzedakah and other Jewish values. We engage directly in the practice of philanthropy and collaborative grantmaking for the purpose of tikkun olam, repairing the world.

We participate in a weekend retreat (in conjunction with the Bay Area’s Jewish Community Teen Foundations) and seven Sunday meetings from December through June in order to:

Run our own foundation—learn to fundraise and make grants Discuss Jewish values and their application to social justice Gain leadership, teamwork and philanthropic skills
By participating in meaningful activities that offer responsibility and the opportunity to practice Tikkun Olam in a community of peers, the East Bay Jewish Community Teen Foundation helps to ensure that Jewish youth in the East Bay community carry forth the philanthropic spirit of our heritage well into the 21st century.

On March 5th, 2009 Kara Andrade and David Cohn of Spot.Us presented their new model for crowd funding local investigative journalism. 

Spot.Us is a nonprofit project of the Center for Media Change and funded by various groups like like the Knight Foundation.

Here's what Kara had to say about Spot.Us:

"We are an open source project, to pioneer 'community funded reporting.' Through Spot.Us the public can commission journalists to do investigations on important and perhaps overlooked stories. All donations are tax deductible and if a news organization buys exclusive rights to the content, your donation will be reimbursed. Otherwise, all content is made available to all through a Creative Commons license. It¹s a marketplace where independent reporters, community members and news organizations can come together and collaborate."

Here's a short video of David explaining the Mission and Guiding Philosophies of the organization:

How you can help:

And here's a slide show of how and why to use the site:

Here's a list of things you can do to support the project:

~ Register! Please sign-up at www.spot.us.

~  tart submitting tips and story pitches. This is community-driven journalism so it's what YOU think is important to cover that will make the news and be supported by the community.

~  Donate and support to stories! No donation is too small!

~  Spread the word and help us find possible collaborators.

~  Don't give up on journalism!

 Contact David at spot.us

On February 5, 2009 Ada Pinkston talked to Soup Stone about a public art and community storytelling project by artist Rene Yung called Our Oakland: Eastside Stories.

> Click here to see her presentation. (4.1MB PDF)

Our Oakland is creating an online web archive composed of stories by and for the community of East Oakland.  One of the many ways the project is gathering content for the archive is through community events called Community Storytelling Days.  These are family-oriented events where East Oakland residents can gather for a day of food, activities, and meeting their neighbors, while having the opportunity to record their stories in front of the video camera. 

Here's an example of one of the videos that was shot at the first CSD:

> Click here to see some of the other stories from the project.

The project is gearing up for its second Community Storytelling Day and needs some help.  Our Oakland is currently seeking:

~ Contacts with local grass-roots organizations in East Oakland

~ Volunteers for the next Communty Storytelling Day on March 28th, 2009

~ People with expertise in video and video editing

~ Druple development skills

~ Connections with potential food sponsors

For more information about the project, and how you can get involved please visit the Our Oakland website: http://oaklandspeaks.weebly.com.  If you have any further ideas about how to help, also feel free to include them here in comments.

Drop Ada an email about Our Oakland