Homelessness
Organizers and activists gathered Friday for a discussion on the election’s implications on justice and safety in Oakland. But despite certain results that horrified the crowd, the gathering focused on the opportunities for change. “When there’s a crisis or an emergency in our community, it’s an opportunity to come together and choose how we respond, and to learn,” John Jones III, the discussion host and director of programs at Urban Strategies Council, told the 40 of so people gathered. The…
Oaklanders who frequent the waterfront paths along Lake Merritt are accustomed to seeing encampments and trash heaps. Last spring, though, they came upon a surprising sight. A small hand-built cabin suddenly appeared in a grassy clearing on the lake’s western shore, just a short walk from the swanky Lake Chalet restaurant. The structure looked as if it was made with permanence in mind. Sturdily built of measured wooden planks, with plexiglass windows and a corrugated steel roof, it was big…
As Oakland confronts an ongoing homelessness crisis, one strategy that has shown promise is buying hotels and motels and converting them into permanent housing. Oakland received $31.5 million from California’s Homekey program, a statewide initiative that supports this strategy, in March 2022. The city has used the funds for the conversion of the Piedmont Place Hotel, the Kingdom Builders Transitional Housing and the Inn by the Coliseum into permanent housing for homeless people. While the first two projects have successfully…
Lunch, haircuts, health tests, even pedicures for unhoused residents at Alameda County resource fair
Donnie Martin’s first stop at Alameda County’s Homeless Resources Fair on Thursday was at a stall that offered haircuts, manicures and other grooming services. He got his feet done. “They needed it,” he said. “They were looking kind of bad.” Martin, a former basketball player and coach, has been living in Crossroads transitional housing for seven months. He is moving into a new apartment in Rockridge this week and came to the event looking for leads on coaching jobs. “It…
Residents of Oakland’s 100-bed cabin shelter program on Wood Street have raised concerns about the program’s effectiveness, saying that it is unclear whether they will be able to move into permanent housing. Last April, the city shut down the Wood Street encampment and removed the 60 remaining residents from the site. Thirty-nine people moved into the cabins at 2601 Wood St., and 11 moved into the adjoining RV safe parking lot, according to a city news release. Some spread into…
Every Sunday for the last six weeks, Craig Morris has walked through Oakland streets populated by drug users to St. Mary’s Center, the shelter, soup kitchen and transitional housing provider that pulled him from the brink. There, Morris, who is 60 years old, painted a canvas as part of the Sacred Storytelling Art Project, a program created by St. Mary’s and the Center for ArtEsteem to uplift older Oaklanders. Morris and 11 others worked on self-portraits depicting some difficult aspect…
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Wednesday that allows churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious organizations along with nonprofit colleges to build affordable housing on their properties. The bill, SB4, introduced by State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, allows religious organizations to build housing without conducting environmental reviews, receiving approval from local governments or requesting zoning changes. “It’s simple math — California needs to build more housing and ensure the housing we have is affordable,” Newsom said in a statement. “In partnership with the Legislature,…
The editors at Street Spirit, an East Bay newspaper focused on homelessness, are nearly halfway to meeting their fundraising goal to revive the shuttered newspaper. Bradley Penner, the newest editor of Street Spirit, and Alastair Boone, its outgoing editor, are working on a long-term funding plan for the paper once they secure enough money to relaunch in January. So far, they’ve raised $100,000 of their $250,000 goal through private donations. “Part of the work we’re doing now is developing a…
The 17-member Oakland Youth Commission met with new members for the first time this month, focusing on a project to provide more housing and mental health support to young people. The commissioners — Oaklanders between the ages of 13 and 21 who are appointed by the mayor — are hopeful about the next year. “This year, I want to speak at more events and engage with the community,” said Quincy Russell,15, who began his appointment last year. “I want to…