Housing

Long-time community activist’s fight against eviction highlights loophole in tenant protections

On a chilly Wednesday morning outside the Hayward Hall of Justice, a group of about 100 people gathered in support of long-time community activist Frances Moore, affectionately known as Aunti Frances, who has been feeding homeless and low-income people in North Oakland since 2009. Outside the courthouse, a group of Oakland activists set up two tables filled with fresh vegetables, fruit, pastries and coffee. Their rally in support of Moore began at 8 o’clock in the morning, just as the…

A village for the homeless

The City of Oakland approved a new experimental short-term housing solution, called The Village. After a year of negotiations, they’ve been granted land by the city, and are building houses for the homeless.

Restore Oakland combines restorative justice and economics

Several Oakland organizations are uniting to bring economic growth to the city by opening a community advocacy and training center in a renovated building on International Boulevard, in the center of the Fruitvale community. Restore Oakland will provide community members with job preparation programs and offer services like a tenants’ rights clinic and a restaurant that will also be a work training site.

“Neighborhood Design Session” reveals Oakland’s Chinatown residents’ safety concerns

On Tuesday evening, about 120 people gathered at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center to attend a “neighborhood design session” held by the city. The session was a public meeting to discuss challenges in Oakland’s Chinatown and to generate ideas for the city’s “Downtown Oakland Specific Plan,” which will lay out a long-term vision for the area. “There are three big ideas that we are working with as part of this plan,” said Gregory Hodge, a social change entrepreneur at Khepera…

Oakland North’s 2017 year in review — our top stories

2017 brought a new group of student reporters to Oakland North from across the country and the globe. They covered a city in flux: a housing and homelessness crisis that shows no sign of abating, a school district facing millions in budget cuts, a citywide crackdown on warehouse spaces in the wake of the Ghost Ship fire, and local reactions to the new immigration and sanctuary city polices coming out of Washington under the new Donald Trump administration. But they also dug…