Commitment to community that comes from the heart

March 2021

East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation

45 Stories for 45 Years

Contributor: Suzanne Van Houten, Founder and Owner of Swans Studios Boutique Salons

I have owned my business at Swan’s Market for seven years. Swans Studios Boutique Salons is, in many ways, the culmination of my 35-year-long career in the salon industry. Having three boutique studios gives me a chance to work with two other women hair stylists who lease the additional spaces from me. The three of us have developed a great working relationship. We enjoy having our own spaces and also enjoy spending time together and learning from each other.

I have been very impressed with how EBALDC rose to the occasion as COVID-19 hit and thus the economic impact the pandemic would have on mine and my associates’ small businesses. EBALDC immediately understood that they needed to defer the rent and, with support through their COVID Commercial Tenants Resiliency Program, I also received two additional grants. This enabled me to forgive eight months of rent for my tenants. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to support two women-of-color owned businesses in Oakland to stay afloat.

Building community, and fostering neighborhoods where residents come together to support each other, is what EBALDC does best. I know this as both a commercial tenant, and as a resident of the Swan’s Market Cohousing. My husband, Michael, and I were part of the original group looking for a space to develop a Cohousing community in Oakland in the 1990s. We were deeply involved in designing the residential space at the Historic Swan’s Market under the leadership of then program manager Joshua Simon. And making the mixed-use space really work for us residents and for the commercial tenants that brought the building back to life.

The value of the close-knit community we built together and have maintained over 20 years became ever more evident when the pandemic came to Oakland, and to Swan’s. On top of the stress that I and others faced at the beginning of the pandemic — not knowing what would happen with our businesses, as well as collaborating with my Cohousing neighbors to figure out safety procedures that worked for all of us — we were also worried for the safety of our daughter, a registered nurse.  From the earliest days, our Swan’s neighbors took the time each night to applaud and sing for the essential workers that were on the frontlines of this crisis. We have done so every single night for a year.

The support of EBALDC and the support of my neighbors — at home and at work — has been a gem during this difficult time. As a nonprofit landlord dedicated to building healthy and diverse neighborhoods above all else, I know that their commitment to the Swan’s community comes from the heart.

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