History

Community Working Group (CWG) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that formed out of the urgency to respond to the homeless crisis in our region. CWG supports a collaboration of organizations that developed the Opportunity Center and provides services there.  CWG is now working on other affordable housing projects for low-income and very low-income individuals and families in partnership with local housing organizations.

CWG was formed in early 1998 in response to the El Niño rains that temporarily flooded the outdoor Palo Alto Drop-In Center. CWG's current membership and structure came into being with the aid of Peninsula Interfaith Action, which had identified the acute need for homeless services in this area through an organizing project it began earlier in that year. In May of 1998, Peninsula Interfaith Action brought together 270 citizens of the Midpeninsula for a public meeting, where the community publicly affirmed the vision for the Opportunity Center.

From its beginnings, CWG has been successful in securing the active participation and support of a diverse cross-section of the Midpeninsula area, including the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, Stanford University, religious organizations, local business people, social service providers, philanthropic individuals and families, local foundations and corporations, and local governments.

Recognizing the necessity of having a corporate identity in order to make the dream of an Opportunity Center become a reality, CWG incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1999. The Board of Directors decided that CWG would not become a traditional nonprofit organization with specialized staff, but rather would achieve its goals through partnerships with other organizations that have the appropriate experience and through consultants to perform needed staff work.  Thus, CWG has developed working partnerships with successful nonprofit organizations that share its vision and desire to serve unhoused individuals and families.

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