Season of Sharing Fund provided some peace of mind to Raymond while he waited for veteran housing benefits to kick in.

Raymond Fiuren has been through a lot of physically and after eight surgeries he's still often in pain. He finds relief in his work at a San Rafael elementary school, where he's known as Mr. Ray.

When he found himself without a home, he was grateful for the Bay Area's uncommonly robust safety net for veterans. Season of Sharing Fund, which provided two months of rental assistance to Raymond, is proud to be a part of that system of care and support.

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, or if you want to find out how you can help neighbors in crisis, go to SeasonofSharing.org/podcast.

Marie Harvey and her cat Mel were able to leave an unhealthy situation and move into a new apartment thanks to rental deposit assistance from Season of Sharing Fund.

Marie was a pre-school before a series of back injuries left her in excuciating pain. She's making progress with her recovery in her new home — thankfully on the first floor — and she's hoping to get back to school soon.

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, or if you want to find out how you can help neighbors in crisis, go to SeasonofSharing.org/podcast.

As food insecurity grows, we'll talk with Troy Brunet, who receives food from the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and volunteers for its Policy and Advocacy Coalition.

We also hear from Chris Padula, the head of philanthropy for the SF-Marin Food Bank, which currently has a waiting list of more than 7,000 families. Chris unpacks the catastophic impact of deep funding cuts at the national level and explains how the Season of Sharing Fund is helping meet the growing need by donating 15% of the money raised to food banks in each of the nine counties of the Bay Area.

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, or if you want to find out how you can help neighbors in crisis, go to SeasonofSharing.org/podcast.

Season of Sharing Fund provided some peace of mind to Jaime and Alejandra Ramirez after their daughter was born prematurely and Jaime's work dried up.

Their daughter had to stay in the hospital for over a year and during that time they depleted all of their savings. They were worried about how to pay rent and their landlord suggested they call 2-1-1. That's how they found out about Season of Sharing Fund, which was able to help with two months rent.

During those two months, Jaime was able to find a new job...and is now a donor to Season of Sharing. In this episode, Jaime shares his family's journey.

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, or if you want to find out how you can help neighbors in crisis, go to SeasonofSharing.org/podcast.

Season of Sharing Fund provided some peace of mind to Olivia Alatorre, who worked hard to take care of her family for nearly 40 years and was then diagnosed with stomach cancer soon after she retired.

Her medical bills piled up as she received treatment and she fell behind on her rent. Season of Sharing Fund helped pay her back rent, so she could stay in her home. In this episode, she shares her story and her cooking!

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, or if you want to find out how you can help neighbors in crisis, go to SeasonofSharing.org/podcast.

Over the course of Season 02 of this series, we are going to introduce you to a few of the folks who've recently received one-time support from Season of Sharing Fund.

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, or if you want to find out how you can help neighbors in crisis, go to SeasonofSharing.org/podcast.

Did you know that one in four people in the United States have less than $1000 in savings? What this means is that many of our neighbors are one crisis away — a car accident, a sick pet, a health emergency, you name it — from falling behind and having to choose between rent and necessities like food and medical care.

Thanks to our donors and partner agencies, since 1986, Season of Sharing Fund has been able to provide some peace of mind to more than 190,000 people in the Bay Area when they needed it most. And as food insecurity grows, we provide funding for more than 4 million meals each year in the nine counties of the Bay.

Together, we help our neighbors remain housed, cared for, and nourished — so they can get back on their feet.

Over the course of this season of episodes, you to got meet a few folks who've recently received one-time support from Season of Sharing Fund — and a couple who help make it happen.

As we wrap up this season, we thought it seemed only appropriate to end on a hopeful note. So I asked many of the people who were profiled: what would you do if you had a magic wand — with three wishes?

If you want to support Season of Sharing Fund's work, you can DONATE here.

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, LISTEN to the entire podcast.

Season of Sharing Fund gave some peace of mind — and dignity — to widower Michael Sharpe as he coped with the death of his wife.

A couple of years after his wife Kimberly died, Michael Sharpe still keeps her clothes in the drawers and closets of his small Novato apartment.

When Kimberly was first got diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2020, she was still able to manage her small business. Her cancer went into remission, but over the next year, the business suffered, losing a significant client. By the time Kimberly died, in October 2022, Sharpe was behind on rent.

That's where social service agency Community Action Marin and the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund came in.

If you want to hear more profiles of help and hope, or if you want to find out how you can help neighbors in crisis, go to SeasonofSharing.org/podcast.