we partnered with united bay area -- united way bay area that you just talk to.nd other small and medium and large nonprofit organizations. we also partnered with more than 2000 individuals and families of toners. through their generosity, that will help us give more than 70 -- $707 million in the bay area. >> you give out a lot of grants but to individuals who have scholarships, right? >> we do. we serve donors, scholarship funds to help students achieve their dreams community college or college education. we work with donors to set up funds to ensure that their dreams are fulfilled. >> you talked about the main goal, that is to create equity. is that something that you are working on in housing, in early childhood education, maybe financial stability and emergency response? in all of those areas, is there work to be done to create more equitable conditions? >> so you mentioned it. christopher did as well. we have been in one of the most unequal regions in our country. and the only way that we see that we will achieve our vision of a more equitable and just sili

abc 7 has partnered with united way bay area to help build a better bay area by supporting and upliftings in need during this season of giving. today at three i spoke with representatives from united way bay area who explained how the need is particularly great here. >> especially in the bay area and in many places, can cause an income of over 100 $10,000 a year just to make ends meet just to meet your basic needs. and if you are not able to do that you are stretched, you are basically living in poverty. it is a very common situation, roughly half the folks in the bay area are not meeting those basic needs. >> it is an honor to serve our communities and neighborhoods and we have served over half a million last year. >> this year united way bay area marks 100 years of fighting poverty across the bay. we invite you to join us for abc 7's season of giving, a month-long effort to give back and shining light on people and organizations in need of help. we have created a list of vetted organizations that make a big impact, find the full list where you can donate or get involved at abc7news.com

nonprofit is bringing businesses and government sectors together to address poverty across the bay area, united wayizes the region to dismantle the root causes of poverty and build equitable pathways. to prosperity with us in studio is christopher borini , who is the chief advancement officer of u w b a. chris. thanks for joining us, we were talking a little bit about the root cause. when when? when i met you over there of poverty, and what are they? because i don't think a lot of people even know why some people end up the way they are. is it because it's been passed down from generation to generation or something else? you know, there are all kinds of complicated reasons that people end up in poverty, but it's certainly clear that we have a society that isn't built in a fair way that everyone gets a fair shake at, um getting ahead and so we know that from looking at the data in this region alone , one in four families struggles to make struggle to make ends meet, which means they have trouble paying for their housing their shelter there. excuse me, their childcare, their food healthcare, and that

kevin swick, the ceo of united way bay area says it makes practical sense to help people before they end up in a crisis. >> so it this focus putting equal attention to prevention, to getting upstream is a great solution. it's a faster solution, more cost effective. we have great non-profits on the ground working with cities and counties that know how to do this. >> reporter: jennifer runs one of those non-profits and is keeping a positive attitude that the government is serious this time. >> i'm a sucker for having my heartbroken. >> reporter: they say hope is not a strategy, but feeling hopeless may be what's keeping us where we are now. >>> tonight, elon musk remaining silent after his poll asking twitter uses if he should step down as ceo showed a clear majority of people who said yes. musk put out a poll saying he would abide by the results whatever they may be. more than 17 million votes cast about 57% who said they should quit. musk's poll had people talking on social media and even snoop dogg weighed in on all of it if they should run the site if musk were to step down. more t

kevin, the ceo of united way bay area says, it makes a practical sense to help people before they end up in a crisis. >> this focus, putting equal attention to prevention, to getting upstream, is a great solution because it is a faster solution . it is more cost-effective and we have great nonprofit on the ground working with cities and counties , that know how to do this. >> jennifer runs when of those nonprofits and is keeping a positive attitude that the government is serious this time. >> i am a sucker for having my heart broken, so i will have my hopes up that they'll actually invest. >> they say hope is not a strategy, but feeling hopeless maybe what is keeping us where we are now. >> john tells us there is an estimated 10,000 homeless people in san francisco alone a new data released last week shows, there are now more than 582,000 and housed people nationwide. >>> let's take a live look outside. this is an alert in effect for today and tomorrow. bay area air quality managers say it is because of all of the smoke that people have been putting out from the fireplaces. calling th

the ceo of united way bay area says and makes practical sense to help people before they end up in as. >> this focus, putting equal attention to prevention and getting upstream is a great solution. it is a faster solution. it is more cost-effective. we have great nonprofits on the ground working with cities and counties, that know how to do this. >> reporter: jennifer runs one of the nonprofits. she is keeping a positive attitude that the government is serious this time. >> i am a sucker for having my heart broken. i will have my hopes up that they will actually invest. >> reporter: they say hope is not a strategy, but feeling hopeless may be what is keeping us where we are now. >>> ♪ [ music ] ♪ >> the nutcracker is back at the war memorial opera house for its 28th season. the famous ballet made it back in 1944. now, the valet is breaking black principal ballerina. we have the story of the sugarplum fairy. >> reporter: nakisha has been waiting for this moment all year. >> it is always a moment before you go on stage that is very special. i have a little mantra that i say before. >>

bay area this past weekend. of course it modifies. it makes way across the united states now really. >> a very dangerous storm in a huge storm stretching across the entire united states all the way up from the south all the way up the canadian border and they continue to deal with this storm system is not done by any means. it's got a long way to go here. the south of it. you run into the warmer air and that's what they had. and they had all the thunderstorms popping up and before, you know, look at all the report the tornado is seen here in the red, the white here, all the spots here as many as a dozen, 2 dozen tornadoes being reported across the south and a lot of damage to go along with that dangerous storms continuing. there's watches up now posted across a good part of the south as well all the way into parts of florida to so overnight tonight, going to be another scary night as the system only continues to grind its way eastward and to the north, you got all that cold air and it is very, very cold. we're talking a blizzard conditions. some gusty winds over 45

bay area jefferson award winner. >>> she is no for fighting discrimination and organizing events like this to build bridges. she creates a way to unitend not divide people who are different. so she helped organize a thanksgiving interfaith service at st. mark's lutheran church? >> all religions have the common thread of love and faith and of surface. >> born in jordan, she grew up palestinian in the bait area . her childhood experiences stuck with her . >> i got beat up and felt isolated . >> she has served in various public service roles shining a light on injustice . >> i really do this for the use. i do not want him to be bullied in school. i do not want them to feel isolated and not loved or protected . >> she started as special assistant to her mentor, former mayor, willie brown . she has helped champion civil, human and religious rights. she has helped launch anti-bullying and anti-he campaigns and led women's marches. she helped secure $500,000 in grocery vouchers for people in need. she organized the first dinner and let the charge to pass a law to preempt former president donald trump's plan for a muslim registry. government

just build housing the same way and expect again, this crisis in the bay area takes 5 or 6 years to build an apartment building at perhaps $800,000 of construction cost per unitd so it's a matter of finding more innovative nimble ways to do this where we've been experimenting, for example, is quick build housing. this prefabricated housing that we're using often on public land. i caltrans land near freeways, for example, other developers may not want to build there, but we can build that. >> there was so much more that we talked about. so we posted a link to the entire interview up on kron 4 dot com. pam. >> thank you. ella. the city of santa rosa has selected natalie rogers has its next mayor making her the first black mayor in that city's history. in a statement, she said, quote, i'm grateful to my colleagues for appointing me to this position for my constituents, for and for all 7 rosen's for building a great community in the north bay. i'm ready to roll up my sleeves, work with my partners in council and continue to find real solutions to the issues facing the city and region such as prevalent, homelessness, economic, vibrancy and equity sustainability an

bay area award winner. >> she works on the front lines and behind the scenes to fight discrimination and to foster unity. >> she creates a way to unite and not divide people who are different. she helped to organize a thanksgiving interface service at st. mark's lutheran church . >> i think every religion, that all have that common thread of love, faith, of service. >> born in amman, jordan, she grew up palestinian and her childhood experiences stuck with her. >> i got beat up , i felt isolated . >> for the like 16 years she has served in various public service roles shining a light on injustice ? >> i do this for the youth. i don't want them bullied at school are on buses. i don't want them to feel that they are isolated and do not feel loved or protected. >> reporter: she started as a special assistant to her mayor, the former mayor. she has helped champion civil, human and religious rights. she has helped much anti-bullying and anti-hate campaigns actually help secure $500,000" grocery vouchers for people in need and coordinated a large blood drive. she led the charge to pass the law to preempt former president donald trump's plan

way back to the united states as we speak. wnba superstar brittney griner has been released as part of a prisoner swap. we begin with the jubilation and relief. nbc bay area's ian call has reaction from a bay area coach who has a unique story about griner. >> reporter: wnba star brittney griner is coming home. new video showing the moments she loaded into a van and on to a plane where we hear her first words. >> happy. >> are you ready to fly? >> yes. >> reporter: the uae was the backdrop for what is now the most high profile prisoner swap between the u.s. and russia since the cold war. griner released after 10 long months, and a swap for viktor bout. a convicted arms dealer serving 25 years prison sentence in the u.s. griner's wife cherrel. >> gratitude for president biden and his entire administration. he just mentioned this work is not easy and it has not been. >> reporter: griner was sentenced to 9 years in a russian prison. she had said they were medically prescribed and packed accidentally. what the u.s. state department saying she was wrongfully detained. the calls to find a way to bring her home have been growing for months. >> welcome home. great t

way to keep kids from dying, then so be it. >> reporter: a new tool in the fight against overdoses reaching a younger generation. >>> our investigative unit looked into why most bay areaools don't have narcan on campus and even asked the state superintendent what he is doing to make narcan available at all schools. watch the full report on our website. >>> we have been in a roller coaster housing market but realtors say now could be a good time to sell. bay area realtors say there are nor more houses on the market right now than last year. if no new houses are listed, all listed houses would sell within a month. that means anyone looking to sell does not face much competition. realtors say the beginning of 2023 would be a good time to put your house on the market. as for buyers, realtors say the buying frenzy is over so they suggest buyers take their time looking for the home they really want. >> just have a payment that you are comfortable with that fits your budget that you can afford. there are a lot of creative loan products right now that allow buyers to get a temporary or permanent lower rate buydown that is available to them. >>> moving you forward tonight, a h

bay area jefferson award winner. >> reporter: holly is known for fighting discrimination and organizing events like this to build bridges. creating a way to unitedivide people who are different. so she helped organize an interfaith service at the lutheran church. >> i don't care how many were religions, they all have that common thread of faith, service and family. >> reporter: born in jordan, she grew up palestinian and her childhood experiences stuck with her. >> i got beat up . i felt isolated. >> reporter: she has served in various roles for the last 16 years, shining a light on injustice. >> i do this for the youth. i don't want them to be bullied in school or on buses and i don't want them to feel that they are isolated and they don't feel loved or protected. >> reporter: she started a special assistance as a mentor. recently of the interfaith council and commissioner, she has helped champion civil, human and religious rights. she has helped launch anti-bullying and anti-hate campaigns. she helped secure half a million dollars in grocery vouchers for people in need. she organized the first ramadan dinner and led the charge to pass the law

bay area jefferson award winner. >> reporter: holly is known for fighting discrimination and organizing events like this to build bridges. creating a way to unitedivide people who are different. so she helped organize an interfaith service at the lutheran church. >> i don't care how many were religions, they all have that common thread of faith, service and family. >> reporter: born in jordan, she grew up palestinian and her childhood experiences stuck with her. >> i got beat up. i felt isolated. >> reporter: she has served in various roles for the last 16 years, shining a light on injustice. >> i do this for the youth. i don't want them to be bullied in school or on buses and i don't want them to feel that they are isolated and they don't feel loved or protected. >> reporter: she started a special assistance as a mentor. recently of the interfaith council and commissioner, she has helped champion civil, human and religious rights. she has helped launch anti-bullying and anti-hate campaigns. she helped secure half a million dollars in grocery vouchers for people in need. she coordinated a large blood drive during covid. she organized the first