Media
January 2019

Kaiser Permanente Announces Three Initiatives to Improve Community Health by Tackling Housing Insecurity

From Cision PR Newswire
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Kaiser Permanente today unveiled several major initiatives that will improve health outcomes by creating stable housing for vulnerable populations. The initiatives — including seeding a real estate investment in Oakland, anchoring a $100 million national loan fund for affordable housing and kicking off a plan to end homelessness for more than 500 Oakland-area residents — are part of a comprehensive strategy to advance the economic, social and environmental conditions for health in the communities that Kaiser Permanente serves. At a press conference with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and several partners, Kaiser Permanente Chairman and... View article
Media
January 2019

This healthcare giant invests millions in affordable housing to keep people healthy

From Fast Company
In an East Oakland neighborhood on the verge of gentrification, when an affordable apartment complex went up for sale–and tenants there risked steeply rising rents–Kaiser Permanente, the largest private integrated healthcare system in the U.S., helped put up the money to buy the building and keep rent low. It’s the first impact investment for the Oakland-based company’s $200 million Thriving Communities Fund, and one of three major projects the company announced today. Along with the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, Kaiser created a new joint equity fund called the Housing for Health Fund and contributed $5.2 million... View article
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January 2019

Kaiser Announces 3 Initiatives To Fight Homelessness During Event With Mayor Schaaf

From SF Gate
Kaiser Permanente leaders on Tuesday announced three major initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes by creating stable housing for homeless people in Oakland and across the country. Bernard Tyson, the chairman and chief executive of Kaiser, which is based in Oakland, said, “Housing security is a crucial health issue for vulnerable populations.” Joined by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and others at a news conference at City Hall, Tyson said, “Access to affordable housing is a key component to Kaiser Permanente’s mission to improve the health of our members and the communities... View article
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January 2019

Kaiser Permanente to spend $5.2 million on affordable housing in Oakland

From East Bay Times
OAKLAND – Kaiser Permanente announced Tuesday it will spend $5.2 million to purchase a 41-unit apartment building in East Oakland, the health care giant’s first step in its aggressive effort to shelter the homeless and improve health care for the poor. The Oakland-based company also revealed plans to partner with the city and community aid groups to identify, house and provide services for 500 vulnerable homeless people over the age of 50. “Kaiser Permanente believes that in the 21st century there are certain things we should resolve and certain principles we should stand... View article
Media
November 2018

Bites: Truffle season is here, homebrew competition at Old Kan, Crave BBQ

From Berkeleyside
BBQ IS INN A historic hotel in West Oakland will soon become a new spot for blues and BBQ. The California Hotel once hosted blues and jazz greats back in the day, but it fell under hard times and disrepair over the decades. Since 2011, it has been under the management of the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), a nonprofit community development organization which has been working to bring the building, now a low-income housing and social services space, back to its former glory as a visual and performing arts hub. Late last... View article
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November 2018

Crave BBQ to Open in West Oakland’s California Hotel

From Oakland Magazine
In partnership with the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), Bay Area native chef Rashad Armstead announced today that he will move his restaurant, Crave BBQ, to the historic California Hotel and into the newly established California Hotel Live! Visual and Performing Arts Cultural Hub — a community gathering place outfitted for locals to be entertained, meet, and eat, located in West Oakland’s San Pablo Avenue Corridor neighborhood. “We are so pleased that Crave BBQ has found a home in West Oakland where Rashad and his family have such deep roots,” said EBALDC director... View article
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November 2018

A Black Cultural Corridor Takes Shape on Oakland’s San Pablo Avenue

From KQED
On a recent Sunday, in the parking lot behind the California Hotel on Oakland’s San Pablo Avenue, the Harvest Festival is bustling. Parents line up for plates of barbecue; kids decorate pumpkins in the pumpkin patch; and neighbors of all ages hang out while a DJ spins funk, soul and old school R&B. The scene is just one example of how longtime, mostly African-American West Oakland residents are revitalizing a formerly blighted stretch of San Pablo Avenue with the help of East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), one of Oakland’s largest affordable... View article
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October 2018

Oakland’s Historic California Hotel Will Soon Become a Barbeque Destination

From Eater San Francisco
West Oakland’s historic California Hotel is in the midst of a major revitalization project, and with it will come a new destination for barbecue. The space’s central, 1,800-square-foot restaurant will be Crave BBQ, which got its start in 2017 as a pop-up. Rashad Armstead grew a following for his slowly smoked meats and classic sides out of an old gas station in West Oakland — best known now as a common pop-up location for Horn Barbecue — but stopped after less than a year to start looking for a permanent brick-and-mortar. Prior to Crave, Armstead ran a private... View article
Media
October 2018

Investing in West Oakland

From East Bay Express
Community Foods Market, slated for a December opening (formerly called the People’s Community Market), is making a final push for public investors before the grocery store opens in West Oakland, long considered a food desert, and where there hasn’t been a full-service grocery store for more than 40 years. The project was one of the first in California to offer this counter-model to IPOs. Community shareholders, who are California residents and mostly small-scale investors, can buy in for a minimum of $1,000. West Oakland residents who qualify can receive financial assistance... View article