Tipping Point Community Holds Fifth Annual Awards Breakfast

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tipping Point Community, the Bay Area's leading poverty-fighting organization, honored grantees Aspire Public Schools, Ravenswood Family Health Center and the SF State Guardian Scholars Program at its Fifth Annual Awards Breakfast this morning. In addition, HP was honored with the first-ever Tipping Point partner award presented to an organization or individual that has given dollars, time and effort to support Tipping Point and its grantees. The event was held at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. 

Presenters at the breakfast included Tipping Point Board Chairman Alec Perkins, Tipping Point Board Member David Zierk and Michael J. Holston, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at HP and Tipping Point Board Member.

"In today's world, there are so many reasons to feel hopeless. Some call growing national homelessness and soaring unemployment a crisis, but I call it an invitation to act," said Daniel Lurie, Tipping Point Founder + CEO. "Because if we don't act, we let the potential of the 600,000 Bay Area families and individuals who are ready to do the work required to move out of poverty fade, and I can think of no bigger crisis than that."  

Each year, Tipping Point Community honors Bay Area organizations working to prevent poverty in the region. The 2011 grantee honorees will each receive a grant of $50,000 from Tipping Point.

The 2011 Tipping Point grantee honorees:

James Willcox, CEO, Aspire Public Schools
Aspire Public Schools operates high-performing public charter schools across the state of California that focus on one goal—preparing urban students for college.

"We are a team of people who care deeply about the families we serve, who work to build great schools, who teach our students as if they were our own children, and who will continue to be guided through this financial crisis with our values as our compass. We have a saying that we live by—College for Certain. It means that we're all going to college—it's not a matter of whether your parents went, or if you know the way—we're all going together."   – James Willcox, CEO, Aspire Public Schools

Luisa Buada, CEO, Ravenswood Family Health Center
Ravenswood Family Health Center is a federally qualified community health center that provides healthcare for the underserved, uninsured and most vulnerable low-income residents of communities in southeastern San Mateo County.

"It felt like someone had put this community in a little container. Like they just decided the people in East Palo Alto didn't have the desire to work or contribute, so we didn't deserve the same things other communities did. I kept thinking, 'How is this possible? We are right in the middle of everything, and yet, we have nothing.' I did not have a lot of money to give, but Ravenswood taught me how to use my voice and my story to inspire people. Ravenswood starts with quality healthcare, but there is a ripple effect. It reminds me of an elephant stomping its foot – you can feel the vibration throughout the entire community." – Carlota Flores, Ravenswood Family Health Center Community Board Member

Xochitl Sanchez-Zarama and Dr. Sonja Lenz Rashid, Co-Founders, SF State Guardian Scholars Program
Guardian Scholars addresses the barriers facing former foster youth attending San Francisco State University by providing the emotional, social, academic, housing and financial support they need to stay in school and graduate from college.

"I knew I'd go to college, but I didn't know how I'd pay for it or where I'd live. After applying to eight schools, Xochitl from Guardian Scholars spent over an hour on the phone with me answering my questions about SF State—this experience just didn't happen anywhere else. I had no idea who this lady was, but her friendly voice made me feel safe. A few weeks later, when she called to say that I had been accepted, I couldn't stop crying. I'm the first in my biological family to go to college and I'll be the first to graduate. My dream is to go to law school and to represent foster children who have been abused or taken from their families." – Jessie Peterson, Guardian Scholar

The 2011 Tipping Point partner honoree:

Michael J. Holston, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, HP
Michael J. Holston joined Tipping Point's board of directors in 2009. Over the past three years, HP has contributed more than $1.2 million in cash to the fight against poverty as well as over $1.3 million-worth of new products, including servers, computers and printers, to 13 organizations in the Tipping Point portfolio.  In addition, HP employees have committed 160 volunteer hours to training Tipping Point grantee staff and clients on legal and technology matters.

"Today, I ask all of you to join me in honoring Tipping Point – our partnership with them makes us feel like a success every day. As each of my colleagues at HP who has become involved with Tipping Point would tell you, they get far more out of their association with Tipping Point than they have ever given." – Michael J. Holston, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, HP

About Tipping Point Community
Tipping Point Community screens non-profits rigorously to find the most effective groups connecting Bay Area individuals and families to the services and opportunities needed to break the cycle of poverty and achieve economic self-sufficiency.  Tipping Point's board underwrites all operating and fundraising expenses so that 100% of every dollar donated goes directly toward the fight against poverty.  More information about Tipping Point Community is available at Tippingpoint.org.

SOURCE Tipping Point Community