Almaden Resident
Cover Story
Photograph by Diana Diroy
At Home: Anthony King, 22, looks out onto the street from his new apartment steps at the complex opened by the nonprofit Unity Care Group to house foster children who have reached age 18 and have been emancipated from the foster care system. King plans to pursue a career in cooking or nursing. He moved into the apartment the week of Nov. 12.
Paying It Forward
Oprah's $1,000 grant sparks bigger donations
By Anne Gelhaus
For $1,000, Almaden Valley resident Michelle Hall furnished a 12-unit apartment complex for local youths aged out of the foster-care system when they turned 18.
She accomplished this feat of philanthropic wizardry in less than a week after Oprah Winfrey challenged her and 300 other audience members at a taping of her talk show to take $1,000 and "pay it forward" to a charitable cause. With help from her church and a slew of area businesses, Hall turned her initial grant into $38,000, which she divided among three local charities.
Hall's story was not among those chosen to air on another episode of Oprah this week. Regardless, she said she's amazed by the response she received to her "kindness challenge."
"It's been a wonderful experience," Hall said. "So many people have been so generous."
In connecting with Unity Care Group, a nonprofit provider of youth programs based in San Jose's Rose Garden neighborhood, Hall said she learned about the foster-care system and the youth it serves.
"I never even thought about what happens when youth are aged out of the program," she said.
According to Unity Care, a significant number of these former foster youth end up homeless or incarcerated. The group recently opened Unity Place, a low-income apartment complex with 12 two-bedroom units, to house some of these youth.
Unity Care Group founder Andre Chapman said 10 to 15 percent of the more than 100,000 children in California's foster care system age out each year.
"They leave at 18 and have nowhere to go. They end up on the streets struggling to survive," Chapman said.
The apartments, which opened Oct. 28, are the first units in Santa Clara County dedicated exclusively to young adults who have become too old to remain in the foster system.
To furnish these apartments, Hall turned to members of her church, the Almaden First Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One member contacted Michele Kunz, the buying manager for Beverly Fabrics, who got the store to donate 24 wooden end tables and 12 portable oak chopping blocks, and her vendors to donate $14,000 worth of home accessories.
Hall herself contacted Rob Lynch, CEO of Orchard Supply Hardware, who donated more than $700 worth of small appliances, along with a $500 gift card, and offered to organize a work party to assemble some of the furniture.
Randy Mancini of Mancini's Sleep World donated 12 mattresses to the cause, and IKEA kicked in a $500 gift card, which Hall used to procure four place settings for each of the 12 apartments.
Hall's efforts didn't end with Unity Care. She asked an interior decorator friend to lend her expertise to refurbishing two daycare rooms at the San Jose Family Shelter, and organized her church's youth group to act as a work party for the project.
Word of mouth paid off in all of Hall's efforts, particularly at a San Francisco fundraiser for Little Sisters of the Poor and its St. Anne's Home for the elderly. When DJ Don Bleu, who was emceeing the event, made an announcement about the "kindness challenge," those present promised to make $14,000 in donations to St. Anne's.
All in all, Hall said she's pleased with the donations and awareness she managed to raise for the three groups.
"I didn't do it for fame and fortune," she added. "I did it because I wanted to help people. The fact that it's grown to this extent is a tribute to those who stepped up."
Hall said the experience impressed upon her that charity begins at home, and she hopes those who got involved came away with a better understanding of the need that exists in the Silicon Valley.
"We need to open our eyes and see what's going on in our community," she added. "When we recognize that there are others who have less than we do, we recognize our blessings more. I think it's important for everyone to give back where they can."
