Copyright © 2019 · All Rights Reserved · Razing The Bar
CONTACT US
1400 Parkmoor Avenue, Suite#240
San Jose, CA 95126
(669) 215-5310
information@razingthebar.org
Copyright © 2019 · All Rights Reserved · Razing The Bar
CONTACT US
1400 Parkmoor Avenue, Suite#240
San Jose, CA 95126
(669) 215-5310
information@razingthebar.org
About Us
About Razing the Bar
Every young person deserves more than survival.
Since 2017, Razing the Bar has walked beside emerging adults in Santa Clara County experiencing homelessness, on the road from Survival to Sufficiently Self™: a life you build and belong in.
Our Mission
Razing the Bar believes that relationships are the key to successful youth development. Through mentorship and housing support, we help transition-aged youth achieve permanent connections and self-sufficiency.
Our Vision
A Santa Clara County where every young person has a home, people who stay, and the chance to build a life they belong in.
Our Name
Tear it down. Build it right. Raise the bar.
Razing
To raze is to tear something down to the ground so it can be rebuilt. Our name was chosen to express fundamentally rebuilding, from a systems standpoint, how agencies serve young people.
…the Bar
A play on “raising the bar”: high expectations, matched by high support, for every young person we walk beside.
Sufficiently Self™
From the Latin sufficere, “to lay a foundation under; to be enough.” A sufficient self is a supported self, not an unsupported one.
Our Story
We started with a point to prove.
Razing the Bar began in 2017 on a shoestring, self-funded budget, with a simple belief: invest in young people, be genuine in your approach, and they will start to invest in themselves. That same year, we opened our first home for six young people. They helped write their own house rules, and with them, the model we still follow today.
Today, Razing the Bar is a partner in Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry System, walking beside young people who arrive from every road that leads to homelessness.
Our Values
For us. By us. With us.
For us.
We exist for emerging adults in Santa Clara County experiencing homelessness, whatever road brought them here.
By us.
We are built by people with lived experience. We know this road from the inside. Lived experience is valued, never required to be disclosed.
With us.
The young person is the builder. Always. We walk beside them, not above, not ahead, beside, with every mentor, neighbor, partner, and donor who chooses to stand with them.
For each of us.
Every young person is a specific, rights-bearing person, and shapes their own goals.
People who stay.
Our relationship with a young person does not end when they move on. Former mentees are always welcome at our community gatherings.
Not perfect. Not alone. Enough.
The goal is not a perfect life. It is a life a young person can build, sustain, and belong in.
Our Approach
Housing First. The order matters.
No one has to prove they are “ready” for a home. Housing comes first, and everything else is built on it.
Taking part in services is never a condition of a young person’s home. Services are voluntary, meetings happen where the young person chooses, and as a trauma-responsive organization, we build safety into how we work.
How We Serve
A home, and people who stay.
Transitional housing and rapid re-housing
Safe, stable homes across San José and Santa Clara for young people working toward a lease of their own.
Permanent supportive housing
Lasting homes, with support that stays for as long as a young person wants it.
Community Mentors
Every young person has a Mentor who walks beside them each week, toward the goals they choose.
Workforce readiness
Paid work experience as a host site for the County’s Intern & Earn program, New Door Ventures, and work2future.
Food and life skills
Groceries, shared meals, and hands-on workshops in cooking, budgeting, and running a home.
Community gatherings
Meals and gatherings where young people, former mentees, mentors, and neighbors build community together.
The Road
From Survival to Sufficiently Self™
Every life is built in order, like a house. Safety is the footing. Trust is the foundation. Belonging is the frame. Every young person travels the road one sign at a time, and at every sign, someone needs to be standing beside them.
Our Goals
Eight outcomes we work toward.
Permanent connections
Supportive adults a young person can count on in a crisis.
Stable, permanent housing
A home to move on to, and no return to homelessness.
Safety, health and healing
Health coverage, care, and safety, on the young person’s terms.
Education
Enrolled in school, or a credential earned.
Employment and income
Work, training, and growing income.
Financial capability
Identity documents, a bank account, a budget, and savings.
Agency and life skills
Goals the young person chooses, and the skills to run a home.
Interdependent community
Ties beyond the systems they grew up in.
What We Build
Last fiscal year, the build looked like this.
July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026
Since November 2023, we have walked beside 35 young people. Seventeen of them now hold the keys to apartments of their own. And when we reached young people one year after they moved on, every one of them was still stably housed.
Leadership
The people beside them.
Dontae Lartigue
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Dontae Lartigue knows the road from the inside. A former foster youth who aged out of the system, Dontae has lived experience with homelessness and co-founded Razing the Bar in 2017 on what that road taught him: no one should have to walk it alone. He has served on the Santa Clara County Continuum of Care Board, the Board of Destination: Home, and Destination: Home’s Lived Experience Advisory Board.
Brandy Wright, MNA
Chief Operating Officer
Brandy Wright joined Razing the Bar in June 2026 to build the structure that holds the work up: the systems, policies, and people that keep the homes open and the road clear. She brings deep expertise in the HUD Continuum of Care Program, federal grants management, nonprofit financial accounting, and California employment and landlord-tenant law, and built Razing the Bar University, the organization’s year-long training curriculum for its team.
Board of Directors
The people who hold us accountable.
To reach the Board, email boardofdirectors@razingthebar.org.
With Us
Those who stand with them.
Our work is made possible by public partners, foundations, businesses, and neighbors across Santa Clara County.
Accountability
Every gift, accounted for.
Independently audited
Our financial statements are reviewed each year by an independent auditor.
Open books
Our most recent financial statements and IRS Form 990 are available on request.
Donor rights
We honor the Donor Bill of Rights. Every gift is used for the purpose for which it was given.
Request financial information at information@razingthebar.org, or view our profile on Charity Navigator.
Need a Place to Stay?
If you are a young person who needs housing, start here.
Young people come to Razing the Bar through Santa Clara County’s Coordinated Entry System, the County’s shared front door to housing. Taking the Coordinated Entry assessment is how young people are matched with housing programs like ours. Email information@razingthebar.org and we will help you find your way in.
Take your place on the road.
Public grants pour the footing. Young people build the rest. Gifts like yours open the doors.
Donate Contact UsRazing the Bar, Inc. · 1400 Parkmoor Avenue, Suite 240B, San José, CA 95126 · A California nonprofit public benefit corporation and 501(c)(3) public charity · EIN 80-0441705