Health
On a recent Friday night at All Out Comedy Theater in Uptown, comedians Wonder Dave and Kristee Ono wandered about the stage telling stories of troubled minds. The stories — and minds — were their own, and involved things that people usually hide behind the curtain: confrontations with demonic, pre-sober selves, nomadic journeys into family trauma, the slow burn of relentless overwork. The mantra, repeated throughout the night: “We are not OK, and that’s OK.” On the second Friday of…
Workers at Asian Health Services approved a union contract on Friday, weeks after more than 300 employees last month had threatened to go on strike. The three-year contract for members of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 raises wages by an average of more than 21%. “A lot of our staff are really thinking about staying now, which is what we wanted,” said Vicky Tan, a medical assistant at Asian Health Services. “Such a heavy feeling has been lifted.”…
Shortly after giving birth to her first child in 2021 at an Oakland hospital, Krista Hayes began hemorrhaging due to a retained placenta. She was rushed into emergency surgery and lost nearly 3.5 liters of blood. Even though she almost died, Hayes recalled, no one took the time to explain what had happened. In the days following the surgery, she said her concerns about pain were ignored. When Hayes returned home, she struggled with processing her near-death experience and was…
On his birthday in 2020, Walter Hood planted six trees in front of his house. That same year, he tore out the concrete parking strip and planted a dozen more. Now children come by to pick his lemons. It’s not much, he says, but it’s an investment in Oakland’s future. Hood, a UC Berkeley professor and the creative director of Hood Design Studio, has lived for 25 years in West Oakland, where tree canopy coverage is a mere 5% —…
Writing saved Edward Gunawan’s life. And he hopes his story can help others. His comic “Press Play,” on view at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center until Monday, draws from his own struggles with lifelong depression. The title refers to a triangle the main character touches on his wrist “to make all the swirl and whirl come to a standstill,” as well as restart. On Saturday afternoon, Gunawan was in conversation with Bay Area poets Christine No and Michelle Lin for…
For many, getting prepared for emergencies is a daunting task, leading them to procrastinate from taking simple preemptive steps to manage critical situations for themselves, their families, and their communities. About 500 people set those fears aside last Saturday to participate in an Emergency Preparedness Day at Chabot Elementary School in Oakland, where they had fun while learning practical steps to take in planning for emergencies. The event normally is held every other year, and last week’s was the first…
When Oakland resident LeJon Loggins lost his cousin to gun violence in 2006, he designed the obituary as he would a piece of artwork. It was an eight-page, double-sided pamphlet full of colors, images, quotes, and memories. “Kind of like a school yearbook,” Loggins said. “I wanted people in the community to know that his life was more than a number discussed on the news. When you look at the obituary and start smiling and remembering, you start the healing…
The union representing Kaiser Permanente mental health workers said Tuesday afternoon that the sides have tentatively agreed to a four-year contract, ending the 10-week strike. The National Union of Healthcare Workers said in a news release that the agreement will benefit patients and improve access to mental health care, “while at the same time recognizing and better supporting mental health therapists in their important work.” Nearly 2,000 Kaiser Permanente therapists represented by NUHW will vote on the contract over the…
On a sunny Monday morning this fall, dozens of Oakland residents lined up outside East Oakland’s Roots Community Health Center, waiting patiently to get tested, treated, or vaccinated against COVID-19, for free. About 10 medical volunteers worked in five outdoor tents set up outside the single-story nonprofit medical center, providing one shot in the arm at a time. It is all part of Roots’ community health outreach strategy to address worryingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in Oakland’s underserved Black communities….