What We Do
Engage local initiatives
By partnering with community groups, nonprofits, government agencies, and funders we strengthen the flow of information across the social service system. Our work ranges from expanding access to information about essential services like food (Text Food/Comida) to facilitating events that generate ideas and new understanding for social justice, like the Festival of Belonging and Homes For All conference (iBelong).
Connect Community
Our unique model weaves together the skilled contributions of socially-minded tech volunteers, public health interns, and individuals with firsthand knowledge of challenges in our communities. We leverage these diverse gifts to strengthen communication across the system of care (social safety net) through our iBelong and Text Food/Comida programs.
At Justicewise, we are driven by a collective vision of a connected community, where equity is the norm and every individual feels a sense of belonging.
iBelong
A volunteer-powered initiative of the heart sponsored by Justicewise. We believe that human connection lies at the heart of community wellbeing.
iBelong exists to build neighborly connections as the foundation of a healthy, vibrant community that works together to solve shared challenges. Our work in Sonoma County, CA is growing.
Text Food
Did you know Sonoma County has over 100 locations where people can get free food? Text Food/Comida is a bilingual service that texts nearby locations to anyone with cell phone.
HOW TO USE IT: See How
Text the word FOOD (for English) or COMIDA (for Spanish) to 707-353-3882 and follow the prompts. Then, get a list of food distributions near you texted to your phone or sent to your email. You can also find us on WhatsApp!
Visit our new website to learn more about how to use the service. Social workers and food providers will find convenient, up-to-date informational resources to share with clients.
Justicewise founded
Justicewise was founded in 2017 to support collaborative efforts to address complex community challenges like homelessness. We embarked on our mission guided by the belief that learning from people most affected by the problem to be solved is key to solving complex challenges.
Fiscal Sponsorship – In May 2018, Justicewise became a fiscally sponsored project of Inquiring Systems (ISI), a 501c3 corporation committed to whole systems thinking and moving beyond the paradigm of capitalistic extraction. This relationship enabled us to pioneer an adaptive business model rooted in the economy of care.
Fiscal Sponsorship
Core Program Established
Core Program Established – To this day, The iBelong Project supports community-led problem-solving. Working with community partners, we planned the Homes For All conference in 2018 and produced the Annual Festival of Belonging in 2018 and 2019.
March 2020 – As outreach for the 3rd Annual Festival of Belonging was underway, orders to shelter in place shut us down. We quickly shifted gears to help our community in this new reality. The result was our Text Food/Comida program.
Text Food/Comida Program
Video
As a member of the Sonoma County Intersections Coalition, Justicewise responded to reports of widespread hunger during the early days of the pandemic. Support from coalition members helped us launch Text Food/Comida in four short months. This 5-minute video highlights Text Food/Comida and the coalition’s primary focus on housing equity through tenant organizing and policy advocacy.
The 2nd Annual Festival of Belonging featured an evening with Dr. Joshua Bamberger. The video begins with Gillian’s 5-minute introduction on the connection between homelessness and the social isolation epidemic, followed by Dr. Joshua Bamberger’s talk on ending homelessness and what he’s learned from treating homeless patients for over 25 years.
