Thoreau Giving, a nonprofit founded by Ronnie Harris ’14 M.S. ’15, is taking a swing at the Bay Area’s affordable housing crisis with its third annual charity golf tournament.
The scramble tournament, which will be held Monday, Oct. 6, at the Stanford Golf Course, is part of the nonprofit’s efforts to raise $250,000 by the end of 2025. The event netted $12,000 in its first year and grew to $81,000 last year as they welcomed 144 golfers to the tournament.
Proceeds from participant fees, sponsorships and a silent auction will support Thoreau Giving’s longer-term goal to purchase its first Bay Area property — likely a duplex or triplex in Oakland or Antioch — by 2027. The property would offer affordable rental prices to families in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets. For Harris, the organization’s mission is personal.
“When I moved to Northern California from Atlanta at 17 years old and I took my first trip to San Francisco, I almost cried,” Harris said. “I’ve never seen homelessness on that scale, and I think after the pandemic, it definitely exacerbated the issue.”
Harris’ commitment to lowering housing costs first took root during his coterm year at Stanford. For his communications thesis, he explored how virtual reality could foster empathy for homelessness in the Bay Area under the mentorship of Jeremy Bailenson, director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction lab. At Stanford, Harris also captained the 2015 Rose Bowl-winning football team.
After graduation, he volunteered with the Peninsula chapter of the Boys and Girls Club, a nationwide nonprofit providing after-school programs for youth. There, he witnessed firsthand the community’s urgent need for affordable housing.
“The biggest need that I saw was these kids didn’t want to leave the Clubhouse,” Harris said. “A lot of them were transient when it came to having a home or some of them were actually homeless themselves.”
Drawing on his parents’ experiences as affordable housing owners in Toledo, Ohio and his own work in venture capital and real estate, Harris founded Thoreau Giving in 2023. The nonprofit specifically focuses on supporting single mothers and at-risk youth.
“It’s not just about [families] affording a property,” Harris said. “It’s about us wrapping the financial literacy services, the health and wellness services, and the job enrichment services around them so they can start to understand what generational wealth is and build the fundamentals of becoming more sustainable renters and homebuyers of the future.”
Beyond fundraising through golf and grants, Thoreau Giving is building partnerships with other local nonprofits, like Second Harvest Food Bank, to expand wellness and educational resources for its future residents.
As of this past weekend, Thoreau Giving has raised $60,000 towards its $250,000 goal and is seeking 80 more golfers for its tournament. Stanford students can receive a discount on the registration fee by emailing Harris, who said he understands the “sticker shock” that can come with the cost but emphasized the event offers free food, drinks and networking opportunities.
Additional info about the tournament and the sign-up page can be found here.