====== West Oakland Community Fund Application ====== CTP is applying to the Rose Foundation's West Oakland Community Fund: **$100,000** for a 12-month project serving West Oakland residents with disabilities (remote delivery from Berkeley HQ). Application due: **Thursday, October 8, 2026, 5:00 PM**. ===== Status (Oct 6) ===== * Scope-check email sent Oct 6 to grants@rosefdn.org (subject "West Oakland Fund"). Reply received the same day. * Berkeley HQ is fine if the application explains how West Oakland residents will be served. * Remote delivery explicitly acceptable: the requirement is about serving West Oakland residents, not having a West Oakland office. * CTP's disability experience counts (no bright-line test), but a competing applicant with stronger disability experience could be preferred. * Board list supplied and added to the application draft. ===== Recruitment partner ===== Lead: **West Oakland Job Resource Center** — admin@wojrc.org, 510-419-0509, 1801 Adeline St 2nd Fl r (ask how to address). First call: Mon Oct 5. Backups: Oakland PIC West Oakland Neighborhood Career Center (510-419-0392, 1801 Adeline St Ste 209) · East Bay Works / America’s Job Center network (mandated partners with EDD access). Timeline: first contact Oct 6, signed letter of support (max 2 pages) back by **Wed Oct 7 EOD**, submit Thu Oct 8 5 PM. * CTP's own Port tie: technical instructor Jose Rivera interned at the Port of Oakland as a CTP student and now teaches at CTP (strong alignment with the Fund's Port-related focus). ===== Outreach email (ready to send) ===== > Subject: Partnership request by Thursday: workforce development for West Oakland residents with disabilities > > Hi [Name], > > I'm Carrie Moncrieffe, Director of Employment Services at Computer Technologies Program (CTP), a Berkeley nonprofit preparing people with disabilities for careers since 1974. > > We're applying to the Rose Foundation's West Oakland Community Fund (deadline Thursday Oct 8, 5 PM) for a project that would provide free remote workforce development — digital skills, one-on-one coaching, career assessment, and supported job search — to 40 West Oakland residents with disabilities. > > I'm writing because [Organization] is exactly the kind of trusted West Oakland presence that makes a project like this work. We'd love your help in two ways: > > 1. Recruitment partnership: help us reach participants through your channels and community (we'd want 40 West Oakland residents with disabilities enrolled). > 2. A 2-page letter of support for the application, which I'd need back by Wednesday Oct 7 (end of day). I can send you a template — it would just need your signature. > > Your community gets free, proven support: 95% of participants in our most recent evaluation rated their training helpful, and 89% left with clearer career goals. Our staff are mostly program graduates with disabilities themselves — we're peer-led. > > Would you have 20 minutes today or tomorrow to talk it through? A quick call is the fastest path. > > Thank you, > > Carrie Moncrieffe > Director of Employment Services, Computer Technologies Program > cmoncrieffe@ctechberkeley.org, 510-849-2911 ===== Letter of support template (for the partner to sign) ===== Give the partner this draft on their letterhead. Everything in [brackets] needs filling. > [Partner organization letterhead] > > [Date: October 7, 2026] > > Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment > West Oakland Community Fund > [Grant program mailing address] > > Re: Letter of Support for Computer Technologies Program's application to the West Oakland Community Fund > > Dear West Oakland Community Fund Review Committee: > > [Organization name] is a [501(c)(3) nonprofit / community organization] serving West Oakland since [year]. Our mission is [mission], and we currently reach approximately [number] West Oakland residents each year through [programs/services]. We are writing to express our strong support for the Computer Technologies Program's (CTP) application for $100,000 in West Oakland Community Fund support. > > We have known CTP since [year / describe relationship, e.g., "as a fellow disability-serving organization in the East Bay," or "through our shared work connecting Oakland residents to employment"]. CTP is a Berkeley-based nonprofit founded in 1974 to prepare people with disabilities for competitive careers. Seventy-one percent of CTP's staff are program graduates with disabilities themselves. They are a peer-led organization with five decades of experience, and their most recent program evaluation found that 95% of participants rated their training helpful, with 89% gaining clearer career goals. We trust them to deliver on what they promise. > > If funded, CTP's project will provide remote workforce development to 40 West Oakland residents with disabilities over 12 months, beginning February 2027: digital skills training, one-on-one coaching, career assessment, and supported job search. As CTP's West Oakland recruitment partner, [Organization name] commits to the following: > > - Participant recruitment and referral: We will actively identify and refer eligible participants from among the [clients/members/residents] we serve, with a goal of helping CTP enroll 40 West Oakland residents with disabilities. > - Community outreach: We will promote the program through our channels: [e.g., our client mailing list, community bulletin boards, social media, and in-person announcements at our site(s)], and host at least [one/two] program information session(s) for interested residents. > - Ongoing coordination: We will designate [name/title or "a staff contact"] as CTP's point of contact for recruitment coordination and will meet [monthly/as needed] during the enrollment period to keep referrals on track. > > This partnership matters because West Oakland residents with disabilities face compounded barriers to employment: statewide data from the CA Department of Developmental Services show only 15% of working-age Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities served by regional centers earned wages in 2023–24, and the disability community is a named priority population for this fund. Free, accessible workforce development delivered by a disability-led organization, with a trusted local partner connecting residents to it, is exactly the kind of investment that moves that number. > > We are enthusiastic about this collaboration and confident in CTP's capacity to carry it out. Please do not hesitate to contact me at [phone] or [email] if we can provide any further information. > > Sincerely, > > [Signature] > [Name] > [Title] > [Organization name] > [Phone] · [Email] ===== Still needed from the team (by Wed) ===== * Current-year org budget and most recent fiscal-year income/expense statement * Staff headcount and full roster with titles * ED and board demographics answers * Finance contact (name, email, phone) * Two references (name, phone, email, relationship) * BIPOC-served data * Other funders status * West Oakland population figure for the application See also: [[emergency-funding-plan|Emergency Funding Plan]].