Holly Kernan

If you want to connect with huge numbers of people this weekend, you might want to make your way to Oakland’s biggest street celebration -- The Art and Soul Festival is a two-day celebration featuring live jazz, rock, gospel, and many other forms of soul music, along with art installations and film projections on the streets of downtown Oakland.

A new law, California Fostering Connection to Success Act or AB 12, extends support for foster children until age 20. But because the law is being phased in, youth who turn 19 this year will not receive support until January 1, 2013. David Colby, a former foster child who had been accepted into UC Berkeley, may only be covered by Contra Costa County until August. Until then, he could be on his own.

Just over 36 years ago, there was nowhere a victim of domestic violence could go for help here in the Bay Area. So a group of women banded together to start La Casa de las Madres, California’s first domestic violence shelter and the nation’s second. Today The Home of the Mothers, as it translates in English, offers a range of crisis and intervention services, including an eight-week emergency shelter and a 24-hour crisis hotline – all free of charge.

The recent $26 billion bank settlement found that the nation’s five largest banks engaged in a pattern of unfair and deceptive practices in servicing mortgages and dealing with loan modifications. And yet, hundreds of thousands of Californians have lost their homes. 

Michael Bush is a Bay Area Native who works with small, local businesses through a nonprofit called InnerCityAdvisors. He's developed a workshop called “The 8 Factors” to help businesses succeed. KALW's Holly Kernan sat down with Bush to talk about how to make it in a tough economy.