Community

At Children’s Hospital Oakland, the brave go bald for childhood cancer research

On Saturday, 44-year-old Irma Lira will walk onto a stage at Children’s Hospital Oakland, sit in a barber’s chair, and have her head shaved. Cheers will ring out as her thick black tresses, and her full, curled set of bangs, fall to the floor. A hat for donations will pass through the lively crowd, and people will eagerly fill it with money. And Lira won’t be alone—about 200 people will be shorn clean to benefit childhood cancer research through an organization called St. Baldrick’s.

East Africans in Oakland: A mother’s long journey, and sacrifice

Many of the 20,000 people from Ethiopia and Eritrea living in the Bay Area call Oakland home. Oakland North is taking a look at the culture and history of the Ethiopian or Eritrean community in Oakland with “North Africans in Oakland” a series of profiles of everyday people living in the city.

County board of supervisors urges governor to keep shelter law on the books

Angie Markle is proud of her dog, Regie, a small, black Chihuahua Terrier mix. Regie is a social therapy dog with Paws for Healing, a nonprofit that provides canine assisted therapy. Markle takes him around to visit children and veterans in the hospital, and sits with kids when they’re reading in the library or nervous because they’re in court. Markle carries around business cards with a picture of Regie sitting like a good boy on the front, and information about his breed, and his story, on the back.

Girls Inc. headquarters moving to Oakland, rehabbing downtown building

Last June, Girls Inc. of Alameda County purchased a five-story building as the site for their new headquarters located in downtown Oakland. The 34,000 square foot structure is strikingly different from their current headquarters in a 1950s warehouse in San Leandro, and it will include staff and administrative offices, a mental health clinic, fitness center, teaching kitchen, and other amenities for the 145 teenage girls who are served by the organization.