unidad del valle." i am damian trujillo, and today, some important research about our communities put on by the sacred heart community services of san jose on your "comunidad del valle." male announcer: nbc bay area presents "comunidad del valle" with damian trujillo. damian: again, that research was conducted by sacred heart. rachel wright here is one of the authors of that research, and she dug in and dug up a lot of valuable information. she joins us here on "comunidad del valle." welcome to the show. rachel wright: thank you. damian: well, tell us, first of all, about the research and maybe what you've found from that. rachel: okay, so we do research in the community to make sure that we're addressing the right problems in santa clara county. we're the santa clara county community action agency. we receive money from the federal government to fight poverty. and so, what we first do in the research is we ask people in the community what they think is the most important issues in the county.

we did surveys with our customers, about 150. we also do focus groups, and we did a survey of other non-profit organizations that serve low-income people. damian: we do--while you talk, we do have some video of your agency and the folks you help there. i'm sorry, go ahead. rachel: so, we do a lot of direct services, but we also do community organizing. and so, the results of our research showed that one of the big issues facing low-income people is being able to pay high rents that we all kind of deal with here in santa clara county, especially when you have rather low wages. and so, one of the ways that we try to combat that is that we understand that's an issue about housing policy, and what kinds of housing get built, about how we protect renters, about how we fund affordable housing. and so, we do a lot of grassroots organizing in addition to the service work that you see on the screen in order to try to create a more socially just community. damian: did something stick out that you said, "wow, i didn't know that," or are we learning things that we

kind of already knew, but this kind of puts a stamp on it and says, "yes, it's actually happening"? rachel: i think that, for the most part--i was a graduate student at stanford, and a lot of the work that we did on poverty, the results were that housing is a major cost. and if we could make housing cheaper, we could decrease poverty. so, for example, the work at the stanford center for poverty and inequality tells us that if we could assume low housing costs as part of people's budgets, we could decrease the poverty rate by 7%. that's a big deal, right? and we knew that. but i think what's really nice about touching base with the community is that we get personal stories of the situation and how it's affected people. and we also get verification, that it's not just numbers, it's also people's lives. so, we had about 27% of our clients that we surveyed said housing was the number one biggest challenge in their life, and 44% ranked it as a major challenge in their life. that's a big deal. ninety-five percent of non-profits we talked to said that affordable housing was inadequate to meet

the needs of the community. and over half of them also ranked housing as the number one issue facing their clients. damian: and these are families who are probably working two jobs, both husband and wife, trying to just make ends meet and put that roof over their heads. rachel: exactly, they're--we pulled--at our event, we pulled some actual cases that we serve, people with rental assistance and deposit assistance when they need to move. and you can have a family that's a nurse and a construction worker, both working full-time, bringing home about $5,500 a month. and it's--when your rent is $3,000 a month, you don't have a lot of wiggle room there, right? so yeah, a lot of working families, this is--it's not just--it's not just people who are unemployed. damian: i mean, do folks in other parts of the country kind of--their jaws drop when they see what we're facing here? because we were talking before the lights came on that, you know, what's happening here is not happening in alabama or other parts like that. rachel: exactly, so, one of the cool things about this federal

program is that it allows the local community to decide what to do with federal antipoverty funds. and yeah, somewhere--there's widespread poverty in places like alabama and missouri, but they have very different problems. it might not be housing. it might be you have to drive 40 miles to the nearest grocery store and you don't have transportation, things like that, right, where we don't necessarily experience that. so yeah, i think anyone i know who moves here, just the first apartment they see, they walk right out the door because they're having sticker shock, right? damian: let's try modesto and see what that commute's like. rachel: yeah, they're like, "this for $2,000, what?" you know? damian: and we saw the images, the video of your agency there. i mean, that's, you know, the core of what sacred heart does on a daily basis. it tears my heart when i see those images when i'm there personally. what's it like for you, yeah? rachel: you know what? i find it to be a really hopeful place. people are really grateful for our services that we provide.

and they're really, really powerful when they join our political advocacy work. so, in the fall, we won renter's protections as part of a coalition. we won measure a, which will be $900 million to build affordable housing to really get at the root causes. and so, we meet people with their immediate needs when they're in an emergency. we just did a ton of flood relief work. but we also ask those people and invite those people to become part of the deeper political solution. damian: let's talk about that in the next segment. this is sacred heart community services agency, there is a web address for more information. we'll be back and delve more into this topic when we come visit this. [music]

community services agency. so, now that we see the problem, so it's housing, it's employment, are there solutions? or now that you have your research, is that something we can take to washington,

or to the stakeholders here, the big corporations and say, "here's a problem, how can we collaboratively fix it?" rachel: absolutely. so we do--a lot of our policy work is right here, it's local because all politics is local. so, we work a lot with the county supervisors in the city of san jose. but absolutely, and even to keep the funds that we're getting from the federal government, we are a part of a wider coalition of community action agencies that advocates for that program and why it's so important. so yeah, so our next step, i just mentioned we passed measure a, which funds affordable housing, but now we have to places to build it. and that's a lot harder because there are a lot of people who don't want a newer or bigger building in their neighborhood. and so, we need to educate people about why it's so important, why affordable housing would be great neighbors, and ask them to come out and support those decisions for siting it. damian: and how affordable is affordable housing? because i know when we talk about low-income, there

is a low-income bracket and a very low-income bracket now. we've had to develop kind of a new rung there. but how affordable is affordable housing? rachel: so, when they've--i'm not an expert on affordable housing development-- damian: as a percentage of your-- rachel: yeah, when they--when they do affordable housing, what they try to do it have people pay about 30% of their income towards their housing so that the rest can be used for their other basic needs. very little affordable housing has been built in the county in the past, you know, 8, 10 years. san jose has been a real leader in that, but the other cities in the county--mountain view's done a very nice job, but other cities in the county can also step up toward that. damian: you mentioned the measures that we've passed. what gives you optimism? what makes you optimistic that, you know, we will right this ship, and there won't be as great a need as there is now? rachel: i think what gives me optimism, we had a big event on saturday, and 55 people showed up to learn more about this actual issue. and what give me optimism is the engagement of people who come

and they say, "this feels like a crisis, this is a problem. how can i help, how can i be involved?" and our door is always open to activists who want to be involved, to being involved in coalitions if people find--if people already have something going and they need more support, they need leadership development, all of that. that's the part that makes me really optimistic, but i do think it's directly proportional to how much people want to step out of their comfort zone and do that hard work of organizing and political advocacy. damian: you know, and a lot of that poverty is in the shadows of the googles, and the apples, and the samsungs. i mean, the disparity is just incredible. i don't think there's any other region in the country like there is in silicon valley. damian: yeah, and we try to--we also try to do some education work at sacred heart so that people who might not be aware of it can come in and learn more, which was what our saturday event was about. but we have those events going on year round. and we're happy if a corporation wants to come and volunteer,

but also to learn more about the issues, and to learn more about what it's like. we want to have that conversation with them. i would say, like in our flood relief, just to tell a story, we learned that a lot of families double up in their housing. so, you'll get two or three or four families in one unit. sometimes, it works out really well. i met a gentleman, it was four adults renting rooms, it seemed like everyone was pretty happy. but i've also heard stories of the, you know, single mom and her two kids living in a closet for $800 a month because that's what she can afford. and we can all imagine the stress and the difficulty of trying to raise your kids, and do their homework with them, and provide them safety and stability when you're in that kind of situation. it's very stressful. damian: during those floods, you were kind of the tip of the spear in trying to make things better for these families. but again, given those housing costs, they must have been difficult to really match folks with whatever was available out there. rachel: yeah, our goal was to provide enough money to really keep people from being homeless.

so, either to cover their rent because they're going to be paying two rents while they're displaced, or to cover a new deposit, so. damian: all right. well, again, this is great research by the sacred heart community services agency. there is the web address for more information. any final thoughts, rachel, before we let you go? rachel: if you feel like there's a housing crisis and you want to get involved, just know that sacred heart is a great place to come. damian: all right, great work. thank you for coming on the show, all right. rachel: thanks for having me. and up next here on "comunidad del valle," a message from mariachi vargas. stay with us.

all: [speaking foreign language] male: [speaking foreign language] male: [speaking foreign language] damian: this is the semillas project by the foundation for hispanic education. adrian buenrostro is with the foundation. well, he's a teacher over at the louis valdez

leadership academy in san jose. welcome to the show. adrian buenrostro: thank you, damian, for having us. damian: well, i mean, i think that the word says it all, semillas. and i can see where the foundation is going with this. but that's basically what you're doing with that, right, with the semillas project? you're planting that seed. tell us--tell us about it. adrian: yeah, so we're planting the seed. you know, the most important thing is allowing that opportunity for students to develop skills in the classroom and then, you know, of course creating this product for us to be able to showcase our, you know, work through our community. so, we designed the foundation, the foundation for hispanic education, at three schools to design a project that would involve the community, and also that it would have, like, a learning experience for them as well. so, the semillas, this year, we decided to create two video clips that involves the students, and as well the family members. so, basically we talk about how diabetes is affecting our community, our latino community, and how it's impacting that

negatively, and is growing, is a growing disease. so, what we're doing now, what we created is this semillas event to fundraise funds for our graduating seniors every year. so, this is something that we hope to have every year to be able to support our low-income families and our first-generation college students to attend colleges. damian: what are the three schools? and talk about the demographics of those schools. adrian: yeah, so the three schools is the first one is latino college prep, who was opened close to 17 years ago. i graduated from there, 2009. damian: oh, you've come back. adrian: yeah, i came back. so, graduated '09. and then we have also luis valdez leadership academy, who i was able to, along with the principal, jeff camarillo, we were able to establish a community by recruiting and knocking, you know, doors, and getting students involved to our schools. and then the third one is roberto cruz leadership academy, who was one of the founders for the national hispanic university, then became the foundation for hispanic education. so, it goes back to the community,

now it goes back to allowing and creating these environments to better assist our students. in our schools, we have close to 93% hispanic/latino in our schools. i would say close to 85% in all our schools, first-generation college students, the first one in their families to attend a college. so, we're helping them with that, you know, preparing them for those sats, allowing them to take, you know, ap classes since they're starting the tenth grade, you know, to be able to design the curriculum and the portfolio, that profile that schools want to see. damian: one thing that i was impressed with in talking to your principal, jeff camarillo, is that--was the disciplinary rate at luis valdez leadership academy. and no suspensions, no expulsions. either you're too lenient or the students are doing something right. my guess is that the students are doing something right, and it goes back to the leadership. talk about what makes it work. adrian: yeah, so i think that there's several things. one of the things that i will say that is helping a lot, our community is a part, that we have an advisory.

i think that a lot of our students, you know, a lot of our parents have two jobs. you know, they're working a lot, they're long hours, come home, they're really tired, they don't really want to check in with students. and if they do, it's something, you know, they're just--they don't really concentrate on a specific subject. and plus our parents, unfortunately, they don't have the opportunity to get involved a lot in schools. that's why our program is designed, we have poder de los padres, which is a class in the afternoons every wednesday where parents get involved, and they learn the same things that the students are learning on the monday lesson through advisory. another thing, advisory. every single student has an adviser. and basically, i serve as an adviser as well, so i have a group of 20 students, and i will be their adviser for the 4 years that they're in school. so, we create this amazing familia, and we're able to work together, create this amazing environment so if the students feel like, "this is not my day, i feel down today," you know, the first person

that they see is your adviser. you know, they know already your background, they know the areas of that you're concentrating, you know, areas of growth, they already know what colleges you wanted to go to. so all that, it makes an impact. and as well reflecting. so every student, you know, they're growing. from 9 to 12, you know, they're finding themselves, they're finding their persona. so, what we do in school is recognizing that, recognizing that you're building that, and that you're going to make some mistakes. but as well, to that mistake, be able to be reflective. so, we have a reflective process. when students make a mistake, they have to make a public apology to the community. damian: now, i mean, that one on one interaction that you're talking about i think is crucial that a lot of--every school should have. they just don't have the luxury of having that. so, the semillas project, does that involve--is it the parental interaction? or what specifically is the mission of that semillas? i know that we kind of talked about it a little bit there. adrian: yeah, so, the semillas, basically in our school, in luis valdez leadership academy and others, in latino college, in roberto cruz, we have

an aspect, and specifically in luis valdez, called actos. as we know, the namesake luis valdez, you know, a playwright, an amazing human being and activist. so, when we talked about the name of the school and having the name under his name, so he decided, "let's add something about the arts, something about theater, something about acting," right? so, we added actos. through actos, students were able to learn digital media, acting classes. you know, so then through that it became the semillas project. so, they designed--the students, you know, designed this video clip that relates to one of our students' family members who was amputated due to diabetes. so, they brought this, you know, that piece, who it was vivid and it was live to this video clip, and then we showcased it in our semillas fundraiser. damian: wow, that is great. i want to hear from your students. if you'd like more information, this is the semillas project by the foundation for hispanic education over in east san jose.

there is a web address for more information. we'll be back. thank you so much for what you're doing.

adrian: no problem, my pleasure. comunidad on que pasa. [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]

damian: and our saludos to those celebrating a special day, felicidades. [music] damian: and here is our contact information. you can follow me on twitter, my handle is @newsdamian. also, pick up a copy of el observador newspaper, and support your bilingual weeklies all across the area. we thank you, once again, for sharing a part of your sunday morning with us on "comunidad del valle." we're going to leave you with a recent interview with silicon valley philanthropist john sobrato. damian: the name that is synonymous with philanthropy, john sobrato is on the board of the national hispanic university foundation, the latino college prep academy, and the cristo rey high school, all in the south bay. he's our guest here on the show. welcome to the show, sir. john sobrato: damian. damian: what is it, sir, that inspires you,

that motivates you to do your philanthropic work? john: well, we were fortunate to start a real estate business, development business back in the late 60s, early 70s, long before it was known as silicon valley, so i guess we were in the right place at the right time. and so, we really feel since we have been able to be successful here that we ought to be--we're obligated to share that success with the other folks in the community that could use a helping hand. damian: no, and i think it's appreciated by all those folks. so, you were actually one of the pioneers who helped transition the valley of heart's delight into silicon valley. john: yes, not the traffic. damian: well, it came with it. now, we do have some artist's rendition. now, this is your latest endeavor, this is a donation to santa clara university. talk about the plans there with the university. john: all right. we're going to be starting construction in the fall of 2018

on what's going to be known as the sobrato campus for innovation and discovery. it'll be a huge building, 300,000 square feet, and probably 3 or 4 times larger than anything else on campus. and the whole purpose of it is to bring all the various disciplines that are taught across the campus in various silos into--under one roof where, you know, the engineering scientists, the biochemists, the nano-science, i mean, all these various disciplines can work together on some of these really important world class problems. education's changing today. now, there needs to be a convergence of all these various disciplines in order to solve some of these big problems, things like, you know, worldwide poverty, energy sustainability. and there's no place on campus now where we can bring all these

various disciplines together, and where the students can collaborate, work together as teams. and this stem as they call it, you know, science, technology, engineering, and math, in some schools include art and call it steam, but it is unique at santa clara. it will be unique at santa clara there because it'll be taught in the undergraduate school. there are other universities that have a stem type educational curriculum, but it's generally in their upper division, in their graduate division, so this'll be unique. damian: all right, congratulations, that's great, and it's appreciated by the university, the entire south bay region. but is it the idea maybe at some point to inspire the next generation of philanthropists by the work that you're doing, maybe get them to give back this way you're giving back? john: well, we think it's important to give back,

not--you know, we kind of focus the majority of our giving to silicon valley because that's where our business was successful. but we also think it's important to give back to those institutions that kind of shaped our lives. in my case, i graduated from santa clara back in 1960. my son and his deceased wife graduated in 1983. my daughter sheri got her master's degree there in the 90s. my grandchildren graduated 5 or 6 years ago, so we got quite a long history of sobratos that have attended santa clara university, so we just think, you know, it's important to give back to that institution that has shaped our lives, jesuit values. damian: sure, and so, that leads me to the cristo rey, your participation with cristo rey, and the other organizations and agencies and institutions in this valley. social--i don't want to say social justice, but those who are in agencies into social reform and social

justice, is that what the interest is with your family? john: well, i think we like to empower individuals from low-income, marginalized, disenfranchised, you know, at-risk populations. and that is pretty much the definition of the hispanic community, unfortunately. you know, about a third of our population in silicon valley lives below the poverty line. and it's our belief that education is the surest way of poverty--out of poverty. and as a consequence, we get involved with all sorts of different charter schools and--but i mean, cristo rey's sort of a favorite of mine because we started that from the ground up. i got a bunch of my friends together about 4 or 5 years ago, and we raised some money, and i made a deal with the bishop of san jose on a closed parochial school over at the five wounds parish.

and so, we made a 30-year lease on that school. and it only housed about 200 children when it was a parochial school. and we have 350 now on campus just through the junior year. and we just finished a new building about 6 months ago, and we started another building a couple of months ago, and it'll be a multi-purpose building. and anyway, next year, when this next class comes in, it'll be the first graduating class, we'll have 500 cristo rey students. and it'll be the second-largest cristo rey school of the 32 that are across the nation. do you know how it work? you know, the kids go to school-- damian: they've been on the show. they do--they do some internships and whatnot. john: absolutely, they--

-when you see this symbol, you know you're watching television that's educational and informational. "the more you know" on nbc. this season on "give," celebrity ambassadors visited small-but-mighty charities that are making a big difference. -you're going to make me cry! [ laughs ] -today, one of these ambassadors, jenna bush hager, takes a look back at her favorite moments. it's time to remember all the good things that happened on "give." -this season, on "give," i was honored to be able to share the stories of awesome people from around the country who are dedicated to giving back. today, on a special episode, i'm going to look back at my favorite moments