Jo Bruno here, Peer Support Specialist, Lived-Experience Advisor and Self-Published Memoirist. I’m also the founder of Delta Peers and branded a #CupOfJoBruno (ACoJB); a bitter-sweet blend of peer support, resiliency, hope, and a passion for policy change. After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Anthropology (2014), I traveled the 11 western states, where I quickly found myself in crisis. I saw crisis after crisis and became homeless in the City of Antioch in late 2019 as I fled domestic violence. I had lost all hope. I was suicidal. I was chronically depressed with no support and I didn’t know where I was going to eat, take a shower, or even sleep some nights. I was one of the lucky ones though, sleeping in my car for a year and a half, not in doorways or in a tent. I kept dry when it rained, many others did not.

While homeless, I put my anthropological studies to work and treated it like a field study; the start of a written thesis for my Master’s Program in Public Policy. Right as COVID took our freedoms and encouraged everyone to stay home, I lost all public support. No public restrooms. No restaurants. No parks. Nothing was available except the darkest of human desperation. I treated the experience, while battling my depression and addictions, as an opportunity to learn something about a community I didn’t know much about; the homeless. With my observation and study throughout my experience and while still in recovery of my homelessness, I created and self-published The Delta Peers Housing Action Plan Workbook. 

Peer Support has always been a part of my life, I tend to lean toward self-reflective practices while managing my emotions and dark childhood memories. I’ve always sought out others who I can relate with and who understood me through my traumas instead of casting judgment against me and my behavior. Things didn’t always work out for me, which is why I’ve dedicated my adult life to Delta Peers and the Housing Action Plan. It’s mine; something I produced. As I used my wellness tools to get myself out of homelessness, I was voted as the Lived-Experience Advisor for the Contra Costa Council on Homelessness where I sat for 4 years. I used my story and my skill to change public policy. Through my recovery of homelessness, I was accepted to the SPIRIT (Service Provider Individualized Recovery Intensive Training) program at Contra Costa College, where I graduated valedictorian (2021) and created the Constitution of Intent for Delta Peers. It’s the document that holds us accountable for the intentional peer support we provide.

I know my story changed policy in the county I was born and raised in. I know I influenced our system of care, and I intend on continuing that throughout the 9 Bay Area Counties, maybe even statewide. My grandmother would be proud. She’s always told me I was a born leader. So, in her memory, now I lead! I am a third generation born in Pittsburg, and it was my Bruno family that built the sister city to their home town in Sicily. Antioch 94509, however, has a special place in my heart since my vibrant street life in the early 2000s. Just north of Highway 4, I was well involved in many influential positions as I worked the streets from mid 1990s to 2016. I eventually left the street life and went to college to study journalism, graphic design, writing, and anthropology. I came back home to build an establishment. I failed. Then, failed again. But, I’m moving forward now. This is where you come in. I’m here today, asking you for support. I’m seeking donations from small and large businesses who want to support Delta Peers (ACoJB) and help build a peer foundation for the unhoused communities.

GO FUND ME CAMPAIGN

The Delta Peers Housing Action Plan is a 9-week course that focuses on housing insecurities and peer support. I will facilitate the program with fellow SPIRIT graduates. The Housing Action Plan is a step-by-step workbook, self-published under ACoJB, that guides an individual who is using housing resources to articulate their needs and self-reflect on their behavior when it concerns their housing journey. It is not a program to help anyone find housing even though that’s what we need (2024 PIT Count), but instead focuses on the individualized stories to find hope as they’re looking for housing. The 9-week course is structured in a way that provides intentional peer support for both the service provider and the person they’re serving. It’s a bridge between housing and behavioral health. It’s the glue that puts lived-experience into the fundamental discussions around homeless and housing policy. Even though the Housing Action Plan is very personalized, the sessions are done in groups with interactive art projects. It mirrors the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), but has a focus on housing that WRAP doesn’t have.Becoming a financial sponsor of Delta Peers comes with clout because I have established a name for myself throughout the Bay Area and surrounding communities when it concerns the discussion of lived-experience and homelessness. Nothing About Us Without Us! I am the lived-experience advisor, representing Contra Costa County, Antioch specifically as I visit other counties. 

So, if your pledge is $200 or more, as I continue to pitch the 9-week Housing Action Plan to housing service providers throughout the Bay Area, your logo will be present on all print and social media publications that ACoJB creates, including a most up-to-date print of the Housing Action Plan Workbook. 

The goal is to bring the program statewide and have it implemented in all shelters. Also, you’ll have the opportunity to get involved with more in-depth discussions about how you and your business can help reduce homelessness by 75% in California per Gov. Newson request. We know it takes a village to raise a child, and it takes overlapping communities and businesses to end homelessness. Will you support us?

The financial support you give today will cover multiple cohorts tomorrow. To make sure Delta Peers has covered all wellness tools and topics for the Housing Action Plan and before I pitch it to the Bay Area Housing Service Providers, I need at least 30 reviews. In light of this, the Delta Peers team is putting together two 5-hour pilot runs (Eventbrite), July 12 and July 20, 2025. These sessions are the same, and are set up as crash courses of the 9-week cohort structure and outline. We’ll cover all 9 sessions within each 5-hour period so Delta Peers can receive feedback from community members, SPIRIT graduates who have lived-experience of homelessness, and housing service providers. 

We don’t have space to work yet and we need something that can accommodate up to 30 people, providing table and chairs and counter space for crafts and food. While dealing with housing insecurities, it’s difficult establishing residency let alone a location to work out of. My resiliency is what’s keeping me motivated and it’s the hope I built within my recovery that gives me courage to ask you, someone I may have never met, for support in making my dreams a reality. Please, share this with your network, your coworkers, your church groups, your family and friends. All donations are helpful, and I look forward to meeting with you if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Please, don’t hesitate to reach out, and take good care.

If you or someone you know needs help finding housing resources, contact 211.

Peer Support Specialist
Lived-Experience Advisor
Self-Published, Author
#CupOfJoBruno     
DeltaPeers@gmail.com
ACoJB.com

Budget for a 9-week cohort

This is for a 12-member cohort with 2 facilitators and a SPIRIT intern. The max amount of people per cohort is 15 members. For special group sessions, we can move it to 20 participants, adjusting rates as needed. In one year, we can do 4 cohorts. This snapshot of the budget reflects 20-hours a week, covering facilitation and administration for both facilitator and co-facilitator. 

Workbook & Printing $300

Participation Incentives (food and stipend, provided by service providers) $6,700

Art & Office Supplies (used for future cohorts; costs vary) $600 

Facilitation & Administration $9,200

Total: $16,800

GoFundMe Campaign Budget

The two pilot runs are going to be used to solidify reviews and feedback from the community before bringing the Housing Action Plan to other counties within the Bay Area.

Rental space for both 5-hour pilots approx. $900

Printed ACoJB workbooks approx. $300

Supplies: large sticky pads, markers, post-it notes, art supplies approx. $600

Establish 501c3 status and insurance in the City of Antioch approx. $900

Total: Approx. $2,700