PICO
CALIFORNIA
Impact Report
PICO California’s mission is to organize faith institutions and spiritually motivated individuals in California to contest for power and act to ensure racial and economic justice for all. PICO
CALIFORNIA
2023 Impact Report
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Letter from the Director By Joseph Tomás McKellar
Our 2023 Victory What We Accomplished
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Home is Sacred Spotlight 2023 Housing Campaign
Our Impact in 2023 By the Numbers
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The PICO California Network California Federation Map
Restorative Justice Spotlight Public Safety Reform Efforts
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A Shared Organizing Agenda The Roots of ‘Home is Sacred’
Grassroots Leaders PICO California’s Backbone
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Campaign Launch SB567, SB4, and AB1418
School of Faith & Power Our Formation Efforts
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Springing into Action A Statewide Movement
Strengthening PICO California Building an Organizing Ecosystem
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Home is Sacred Summer Putting Faith into Action
Donor Recognition Our Generous Friends
picocalifornia.org
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2023 PICO California
Letter from the Director Reflections from 2023
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o choose to organize is to believe in the promise, potential, and power of people. To organize is to commit to revolution — a revolution of values, of public structures and systems, and of human hearts. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince: “It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”
As I reflect on PICO California’s journey in 2023, I am drawn to the moments where my heart was doing the seeing. Across California, our shared values motivated us to radically transform the root of what afflicts our communities. Together, we declared that Home is Sacred through dozens of actions in 19 counties that mobilized tens of thousands of Californians. We won the Homelessness Prevention Act and other critical legislation at the state, county, and city levels that will prevent evictions and accelerate the creation of deeply affordable housing for rent
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Joseph Tomás McKellar
burdened families. We completed our first full year as an independent, California-based organization, strengthening our network and growing our power to deliver material improvements to the lives of the state’s most vulnerable. We organized to reduce gun violence and transform our public safety system towards restoration and healing. We upheld the dignity of our immigrant families by ensuring that migrants fleeing violence and poverty would not be abandoned in their greatest time of need. And we strengthened California’s overall power building ecosystem by heavily investing into the development of people, organizations, and systems that center those closest to the pain in our communities. As an organizer, I am drawn to the individual journeys of each grassroots community leader, clergy leader, tribal elder, and community organizer who chose to believe in a better future and put their faith and spirituality into
action. I’d like to share three stories that spoke to my heart from our work this year. As part of our “Home is Sacred” campaign, we gathered in April for a Day of Faith in Action in front of the capitol building in Sacramento. Nearly 700 people of faith from different races and places gathered for a morning prayer service and rally, and then met with our state representatives to share stories about the impact of the housing crisis on families in our communities. One of those PICO leaders came in from Faith in Action East Bay in Oakland. Her name was Jennifer, and she is a Black mother experiencing houselessness. She met, along with other clergy and community members, with their State Senator. She shared a story about losing her job and getting evicted because she could no longer afford the rent. So she moved into a van with her two children. Her children are struggling in school, and she’s having a hard time finding an affordable apartment to rent.
As the meeting was ending, the State Senator stood up and shook her hand. On her way out of the Senator’s office, she burst into tears. A fellow church member hugged her. “He actually shook my hand,” she said. “For the first time in my life, I feel like someone actually cares, like I have a voice.”
“Across California, our shared values motivated us to radically transform the root of what afflicts our communities.” Another one of the PICO leaders was from Inland Congregations United for Change in the Coachella Valley named Norma. Norma, her husband, and her children got on a bus at midnight, and they traveled all through the night to arrive in Sacramento by 8:00am. “Tuvimos que estar aquí,” she told me. “We had to be here today.” Norma and her husband work on the farms of the Coachella Valley. They took the day off work, foregoing their wages, which
2023 | PICO California 5
2023 Impact Report
was a big sacrifice for their family. They took their children out of school for the day. During the summer, the temperature rises to 125 degrees on the farms. They start work at 5:00am, and they end by noon because they will die if they do not. After work, they go home to trailers and small homes overcrowded with other farm workers and their children, where there is either no or inadequate air conditioning. They pay too much for rent. The mother told me, “We had to tell our elected officials what our lives are like. I hope, I really hope, it made a difference.” And then the family turned, waved goodbye, saying, “Que Dios lo bendiga,” and headed to board their bus, which would drive eight hours back south and arrive home around midnight. In November, I met a mother of two young children named Geraldina who is organizing with Faith in Action Bay Area. Geraldina is a Black migrant from Venezuela by way of Peru. Geraldina lives in a shelter with her husband and her two small children. The shelter system is overwhelmed in San Francisco. So Faith in Action has been building an organizing leadership committee, made up of people sleeping in parks, living in shelters, sleeping on couches, sleeping in high school gymnasiums. A few weeks ago, Geraldina and the organizing committee held an action to put pressure on County Supervisors to open up shelter capacity. They are organizing to push the County to spend a larger percentage of its budget on addressing the housing crisis through prevention and interim and permanent housing. Geraldina told me: “Jose,” she said, “I thank God for
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this group of women. Not just because they helped us get shelter. These women saved my life because they gave me something to fight for. They tell me I’m not just a helpless immigrant. They make me believe that I matter, that I belong here, too.” For all the suffering in our communities across California, there is an equal amount of people like Jennifer, Norma, and Geraldina who are primed to become change makers. This does not happen by magic or by accident. Jennifer, Norma, Geraldina become community leaders, alongside other people who are marginalized, because of disciplined, focused, rigorous, compassionate organizing and sustainable organizations. Organizing is about accompanying people to make a choice about whether they will choose to cross a bridge from powerlessness to power, from victim to protagonist. This year, in the face of immense pain, uncertainty, and injustice, we chose to organize. We chose to commit ourselves to a revolution of values, of public structures and systems, and of human hearts towards belonging, equity, and opportunity for all. May our Creator bless each one of our steps in our organizing journey, and grant us the courage, resiliency, and love our communities need from us every day. With love, Joseph Tomás Mckellar Executive Director, PICO California
2023 Home is Sacred
Grassroots leaders from LA Voice and Inland Congregations United for Change joyfully participate in the opening ceremonies of the ‘Home is Sacred’ Day of Action at the California State Capitol on April 20, 2023. 7
2023 CAMPAIGN
2023 PICO California
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Spotlight on: Home is Sacred Home is the cornerstone of healthy, thriving communities: where we first learn how to live together, how to put the needs of others before our own, and how to share what we have with others. We believe that every community in California - every family, every person - must have a roof over their head and enough money in their pockets not so they just barely survive, but so that they thrive. In 2023, the PICO California network embarked on a statewide campaign to address the state’s massive and growing housing affordability and homelessness crisis.
Our broad, consistent, and powerful organizing ensured that state representatives heard our voices loud and clear about the urgent need to protect renters and prevent homelessness. As a result, we helped to pass three pieces of legislation streamlining the state approval process for affordable housing development on faith institution and school land, protecting lowwage renters against no-fault evictions and closing common eviction loopholes, and making it unlawful for landlords to use nuisance ordinances to discriminate against renters. Here’s how we got it done.
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2023 PICO Federations
True North Organizing Network
Sacramento Area Congregations Together Faith in Action East Bay
Faith in Action Bay Area
PACT: People Acting in Community Together
Faith in the Valley
LA Voice Inland Congregations United for Change
San Diego Organizing Project
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2023 Home is Sacred
Creating a Shared Organizing Agenda California has the highest number of rent-burdened tenants in the country, with over 3.2 million people spending 30% or more of their income on housing costs. A majority of California’s 172,000 unhoused population were working and living in poverty within the state until they suddenly lost their home. Unexpected shocks, like a sudden drop in income, or a landlord’s rent hike or renovation, meant ending up on the street. In March, our first of two leadership assemblies united leaders from across the network to uplift vulnerable communities and affirm our organizing agenda based upon the urgency of housing justice. And thus, the Home is Sacred campaign was born.
“California has the highest number of rent-burdened tenants in the country, with over 3.2 million people spending 30% or more of their income on housing costs.”
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2023 Impact Report
Campaign Launch Our network selected three bills that affect different areas of the housing market: SB 4: Streamlining the process for affordable housing to be built on faith and educational institution lands.
AB 1418: Making it unlawful for landlords to use nuisance ordinances to discriminate against tenants.
With our legislative champions and co-sponsors, we held a press conference in March for the launch of the Homelessness Prevention Act (SB 567), our cornerstone bill.
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SB 567: Protecting millions of tenants from unjust evictions and closing loopholes exploited by corporate landlords.
PICO CA grassroots leaders and allies during the public launch of SB 567, the Homelessness Prevention Act, at Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights on March 10, 2023.
2023 Home is Sacred
2023 Home is Sacred
Springing into Action
April 20, 2023
In April, 672 leaders, organizers, and clergy from 19 California counties descended upon the State Capitol to demand an end to unjust evictions, skyrocketing rents, and corporate influence over the state’s housing policies.
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We met with 43 state legislators and gave powerful public testimonies on the Capitol doorsteps. Our team drove thousands of calls and emails to state legislators and contacted thousands of voters through phone banking with our partners at the Million Voters Project.
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In April and May, we overcame the first major hurdles in our fight. Despite relentless opposition from powerful corporate interests, our organizing efforts and public actions from San Francisco to Pasadena pushed our Home is Sacred bills past their respective committees and onto the floors of the Senate and Assembly, where they would later pass.
Clergy, Organizers, and Leaders
Counties
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Legislators we met with
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2023 Home is Sacred
Sacred Summer O
ur 2023 “Home is Sacred Summer” was an inspiring season of organizing as thousands of grassroots leaders rallied for housing justice across California through community actions, research meetings with legislators, and sharing their stories at legislative committee hearings at the Capitol. Our message echoed in the news, social media, and the halls of the Capitol. Legislators heard our voices and felt our collective power as we called on them to cut off the pipelines to homelessness and keep our families housed.
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NETWO POWER 2023 PICO California
The ‘Home is Sacred’ Campaign
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ORK R San Jose
Dozens of PACT SJ leaders from across Santa Clara county gathered to share how the housing crisis has affected them and their loved ones.
San Diego
More than 200 leaders and clergy from the San Diego Organizing Project dove into our Home is Sacred campaign with Assemblymember David Alvarez.
Oakland
Our siblings from Faith in Action East Bay convened with a shared purpose, rooted in faith and driven by the urgent need to advocate for housing for all.
Sacramento
Nearly 200 grassroots leaders from Sac ACT—Sacramento Area Congregations Together reflected on urgent housing needs and expressed power with their elected officials.
Central Valley
The many stories and experiences of our brothers and sisters from Faith in the Valley echoed the struggles and pain of our siblings across California.
Northern California
Faith leaders of True North Organizing Network in Humboldt and Del Norte counties drove calls to Assemblymember Jim Wood urging him to take action on the state’s housing and homelessness crisis.
Silicon Valley
Dozens of leaders in Faith in Action Bay Area met with council members in Redwood City to demand that the city establish harassment protections and a right-to-stay ordinance that protects renters after renovations.
Inland Empire
Grassroots leaders from across Riverside and San Bernardino counties representing Inland Congregations United for Change drove calls to the state legislature to demand greater protections against unjust evictions.
Los Angeles
LA Voice held a week long Preaching and Teaching series for Home is Sacred with dozens of congregations in their community.
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San Jose
Modesto 22
Los Angeles
Sacramento
Oakland
San Diego 23
VICTORY 2023 Home is Sacred
“We estimate that our Home is Sacred policy priorities passed into law will benefit over two million Californians”
B
y late September and early October, Governor Gavin Newsom signed our three Home is Sacred policy priorities into law.
million Californians by closing common eviction loopholes, increasing the supply of affordable housing, and preventing evictions due to nuisance ordinances.
After months of organizing with clergy, grassroots leaders, organizers, and communicators, and thousands of faith-based, justice-oriented Californians meeting with legislators, marching in processions, making calls, sending emails, flooding social media, writing op-eds, and holding vigils and prayers, our bills made it across the finish line.
And yet, the communities we represent low-income people of color, renters, immigrants, and everyday working families - are still struggling, burdened by skyrocketing rents and cost of living increases, a lack of affordable housing, and a dearth of jobs paying a family-sustaining wage.
We estimate that our Home is Sacred policy priorities passed into law will benefit over two
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We are just getting started in charting a path towards real dignity, security, and belonging in California.
2023 Home is Sacred
Despite speculation from Capitol insiders about the insurmountable influence of corporate real estate lobbies, the faith and dedicated efforts of our network prevailed, resulting in the successful passage of key housing bills.
2,680,354
Real-world impact: Key legislators acknowledged the efficacy of our social media campaign after they aligned themselves with our platform.
Total Impressions Online
667,216 People Reached Online
82,390 Video Views
12,144 2,046 275 10 26
New Text & Email Sign-ups
New Social Media Followers
Grassroots Financial Contributions
Mainstream Media Outlet Features
By the Numbers
Communications Impact
2023 Impact Report
Home is Sacred 80
6,053
48
14,098
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155
Total Research Actions
Legislators Met With
Local Public Actions
Total Calls to Legislators
Voters Contacted
Local Organizing Teams
1,449
Total Attendees HOME is SACRED
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2023 Home is Sacred
Spotlight on:
RESTORATIVE
JUSTICE
In 2023, as police misconduct, gun violence, mass incarceration, and the cruel treatment of migrants continued to lead headlines across California and the entire country, grassroots leaders, organizers, and clergy across the PICO California network led public safety reform efforts.
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2023 Restorative Justice
Oakland
Central Valley
Faith in Action Bay Area (FIAEB) continues to organize to address the root causes of violent crime and the cycle of mass incarceration that disproportionately affects the lives of young people of color.
In Stockton, a unique team of medical professionals offers an alternative to only sending armed police officers to assist people dealing with a mental health crisis. The city’s Mobile Community Response Team (MCRT), which recently completed the first of a three-year pilot program, is composed of outreach specialists, licensed clinical social workers, and medical assistants. MCRT emerged from efforts made by Faith in the Valley to create community-led mental health interventions and solutions to prevent police brutality following the murder of George Floyd. The team now handles thousands of calls per year and has expanded into neighboring counties in the Central Valley.
This year, FIAEB won commitments to reduce probation sentences in Alameda County, prevented gun violence and homicides through Ceasefire - an award-winning partnership between the City of Oakland, police, and faith and community partners - and pursued public and private sector partnerships to eliminate barriers that block economic development and prevent the hard-to-employ from obtaining jobs.
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2023 PICO California
San Jose Grassroots leaders and clergy from People Acting in Community Together (PACT) in San Jose held community rallies and organized around funding for an independent police auditor to increase public safety and police accountability.
Los Angeles As a member of the Reimagine LA Coalition, LA Voice is supporting divestment from incarceration and policing and investment in our communities and ongoing solutions to our housing and homelessness crisis. This year, the coalition tackled the 1000+ page LA County Budget in its Care First Budget Report. The coalition ran an analysis of whether the Board of Supervisors shifted investment away from systems of harm and into our communities and upheld their “Care First, Jails Last” promises.
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2023 Restorative Justice
San Bernardino In San Bernardino, grassroots leaders and clergy from Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC) organize to reduce gun violence through a local violence intervention program called SB Common Ground for Peace. Through prayer walks, police-community dialogue, faith forums, and town halls, these leaders are reducing gun violence and improving relations with law enforcement by shifting San Bernardino’s policing towards community and belonging.
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2023 Impact Report
Sacramento In June, Sacramento unexpectedly became the new waypoint in the journey of 36 migrants, each in search of a brighter future. Brought under false auspices, they were embraced by our faith community at Sacramento ACT who came together to provide temporary housing, help enroll them in health insurance, provide them with bikes and transportation passes, and open bank accounts. “This is the best of American values,” said Sacramento Mayor Steinberg on the willingness of the Sacramento faith community to step up for our brothers and sisters in need.
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Two migrants, recently arrived 2023 Home is Sacred in Sacramento, share a heartfelt embrace following their moving interviews with reporters from the Los Angeles Times. This poignant moment was captured at a congregation associated with Sacramento ACT.
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2023 PICO California
Grassroots Leaders The Backbone of PICO California Our Leadership The recruitment, formation, and activation of people whose lives have been significantly impacted by structural racism and other forms of exclusion are vital components of PICO California’s theory of change. As the core of our Home is Sacred campaign, these leaders: • Invited their communities into civic action • Joined and led organizing teams at their local faith institutions • Educated and built relationships with elected officials • Canvassed and built relationships with voters • Led public actions to improve the quality of life for vulnerable Californians
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Tiffany, an inspiring youth leader with LA Voice, boldly approaches the Capitol steps to discuss SB 567 with Senator Maria Elena Durazo, a highlight of the ‘Home is Sacred’ Day of Action, on April 20, 2023.
2023 PICO California
School of Faith and Power This year, we launched our School of Faith and Power, a statewide training program and curriculum for leaders, clergy, and organizers. Through five-day sessions in Los Angeles and Los Altos, 250 grassroots community leaders, organizers, and new state staff members honed skills for building relational power and moving public power. Participants learned from some of the network’s top trainers: •
• • • • •
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Why we organize and how the principles of our faith traditions ground us in organizing Telling the Story of Self and how we transform that story into power The structural forces at play in the California story What it means to be a leader and what it takes to be impactful in your community The nature of power and how we use it to aid our organizing efforts How to determine what our communities need and how we can achieve it together
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2023 Impact Report
Learning Library We launched an online learning platform with a library of training programs on leadership development and community organizing. These articles, videos, and slide decks help organizers learn about the craft of organizing, understand issues and policy, and engage and educate others.
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2023 Home is Sacred
Building a Stronger Network Strengthening the PICO Network
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s our network celebrates victories in addressing California’s growing housing and houselessness crisis, we are planning our work for 2024 and beyond.
In September, 60 representatives of all nine local affiliates came together in Los Angeles for a three day Network Power Convening in Los Angeles.
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These leaders are developing local and network-wide Theories of Change, a new “Network Covenant” outlining the benefits and responsibilities of network membership, and new governance and decision-making structures that will help build the statewide power we need to win policies that will create a Moral Economy.
2023 PICO California
Building California’s Organizing Ecosystem PICO California is incredibly proud to be part of a growing coalition of community, labor, civil rights, and faith-based organizations engaged in the long-term work to create opportunity for all Californians. In 2023, PICO contributed to growing our broader organizing ecosystem by creating shared power building infrastructure across California. PICO helped lead the development of the Power Building Infrastructure Center (“i-Center”) to deepen and expand the capacity, impact, and sustainability of California’s grassroots movements for racial justice and social transformation. PICO is also on the steering committee of PIVOT, a collaborative of dozens of funders and practitioners in dialogue about key challenges and opportunities to advance power building in California.
“PICO California is proud to be part of a growing coalition of community, labor, civil rights, and faith-based organizations engaged in the long-term work to create opportunity for all Californians.”
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Our Donors Individual Donors Susan Applegate Robyn Archer Manuel Arias Karen Ashikeh Betty Avina Carmen B. Barnard Carole Barnes Teri Barr Nicole Beggs Judith Bell Dana Bell Joseph C. Bellenger Alejandra Benavides Allan Berkowitz Betsy Berman Susan Black Stanley Boghosian Nathan Brenner Alexander Brown Patsy Brown Rob Brushia Patricia Bubenik Meg Burnett Annie Burns Linda Busek Connie Call Tessa Callejo David Caravantes Elizabeth Carey Cecilia Carmona Angelita Carrillo Keith Casto Adela Chavez Kathleen Ciabattoni Jane Cirigliano Maxine Clark Pedro Cocoletzi
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Matilde Contreras Miriam Contreras Ana Coria Cal Cornwell Yolanda Corona Patricia Crawford Christina Creveling Berni Cuellar Richard Cullinen Douglas Daetz Carol Daly Sigmundt J. Daniels Ana Celia de Gonzalez Rev. Carla Dietz Lorraine Doering Dianne Doughty Dorothy M. Downing Thierry Doyen Daniel Eaton Keith Elliott Delrene Enriquez Reed Estabrook Rowan Fairgrove Trish Fay Amy Fitzgerald Sarah Akemi Flynn Sarah Forth Margaret Gainer Debora Garcia Roberto Garuti Jorge Garza Seana George Marci Gerston Diane Glazer Leonor Godinez Edward Grice Michael Griffin Lupe Gutierrez Robert Guzzy Ellen Hage
Jenny Hale Adriel Hampton Melanie Hansen Valerie Harrison Deborah Henry Susan Hernandez Jane Herzog Carlos Hill Carmen Hill Matt Hodson Steve Hong H. J. Hopkins Jim Hopkins Roderick Hunt Stewart Hyland Alyce Jackson Clara Jaeckel David Jansson J. Arnell Jeffery Amanda Jenkins Luis Jimenez Dinny Kam Jim Keddy Sara Kilbride-johnson Ann Kilby Sun Hae Kim Ellen Kolarik Pete Krengel Becky Lake Lizeth Lara Paulette Laster Cynthia Lawrence Sally Leboy Rosemary Lemmis Barbara Levinson Edgar Luna Garcia Helen Lund Jean Lundell Carolyn Mahoney Hasina Malikyar
Grassroots leaders from across the state gathered to engage with their representatives during the ‘Home is Sacred’ Day of Action. Here, a leader leads a cohort in preparation for entering a legislative office for a research action.
Leonor Godinez, a grassroots leader from Faith in Action East Bay providing testimony on SB 567, the Homelessness Prevention Act, during an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing on July 11, 2023.
2023 Home is Sacred
Jay and Sandra Marcus Jennifer Martinez Ray Mcafee John Mcconville Veronica Mccune Ann Mcentee Joseph Mckellar Bradley Megginson Danyrea Megginson Daniel Meyer Marji Miller Joseph Mondello Miguel Montano Gloria Morales Patricia Moran Lisa Muthiah Angelica Najera Rosalie Nicholls Robert Nolty Alice O’Neill Kurt Orth Nancy Palmer Jones Lynn Pearl Susan Pelican Rachael Pelzer Cathy Personius Jesus Quinonez Nelson Rabell Mohsin Raza Ty Reath Wilbur Ressler James Richardson Deborah Roberts Thomas Roehr Dani Rojas Joanne Rokosky Irene Rosenthal Benjamin Ross Fran Roth Yvette Ruiz Rosa Maria Ruiz Alfaro Linda Safarik-Tong Sayuri Sakamoto Debora Samuels
Robyn Samuels Deidre Savino Imad Sawaya Mark Sawyer Julie Saxe-Taller Mary Schlarb Nancy Schneider Dana Schwartz Pat Schwinn Megan Shumway Diane Smith Michael and Patricia Smith David Snook-Luther Susan Snook-Luther Aurora Solis Jenny Solorio Paul Speer Laura Stafford Rebecca Stanek-Rykoff Judy Stevens Eric Stockel Linda Tabb Kimberly Tapscott-Munson Margaret Tarver Anne Tipton Michael Tubbs Penny V. Phillips Henrietta Van Konynenburg Astrid Vermeulen Maria Eugenia Villegas Joyce West Darlene Williams Wendy Williamson Benson JD Wilson-Hawkins Karen Winchester Brooke Wirtschafter Catherine Wolff Richard Wood Nina Wouk Hilda Zacarias Carla Zaccheo Ana Zentella Jeremy Ziskind Lyn and Steven Ziskind
Foundation and Nonprofit Supporters Blue Shield of California Foundation California Community Foundation California Endowment California Wellness Foundation Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Common Counsel Foundation Crankstart Foundation David L. Klein, Jr. Fund Democratizing Philanthropy Project East Bay Community Foundation Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund Ford Foundation Friedman Family Foundation Hilton Foundation James Irvine Foundation Libra Foundation Likewise Fund McNulty Foundation Meadow Fund Monardella Fund NEO Philanthropy NTEN Powerful Innovations for Voter Organizing and Transformation (PIVOT) Fund Raikes Foundation Rockefeller Family Fund Ruth Arnhold Endowment Fund San Francisco Foundation Schwab Charitable Susan Sandler Fund Tides Center Weingart Foundation
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PO Box 33334 Los Angeles, CA 90033 916-447-7959
picocalifornia.org