AREA SERVED

The San Francisco Bay Area is a combined area of 7,051,906 people across nine counties. The region has an average official poverty rate of 10%, and estimates indicate that 1 in 5 people are unable to meet their basic needs in some counties.

BACKGROUND

Rey Faustino was inspired to start the organization – and founded this original chapter – through his experience growing up in a working-class Filipino immigrant family in Los Angeles. While his parents worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, like many new immigrants, his family still faced the challenges of meeting their basic needs, such as health care, educational programs, and immigration services. Knowing where to go for help was simply too hard.

After moving to the Bay Area to work at a nonprofit organization serving low-income high school students, Rey saw that very little had changed in the social service sector in 20 years. While technological advancements and companies like Facebook, Google and Yelp were thriving, nonprofit and social services continued to use three-ring paper binders, and technology was not being used to benefit vulnerable communities. Rey founded One Degree to ensure everyone has access to the critical, life-saving resources he and his family needed.