Let’s Share Life
Dear Friends,
As we travel together through this challenging time of sheltering in place, our network of community partners has been critical to finding ways to address the fast-changing problems that impact the neighborhoods that we serve. A Tongan proverb refers to the importance of sharing resources, exhorting us to:
Pikipiki hama, kae vaevae manava — let’s join our outriggers and share life.
Since EBALDC was established 45 years ago, we have accomplished more by bringing people, organizations and resources together. Our partnerships and collaborative partners are more important than ever. Together, we are working to ensure that over 6,000 residents and neighbors can be safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For nearly 2 months, EBALDC’s resident services, neighborhood collaborations, and property management teams have been in daily communications with our community partners so that our residents, neighbors, and small businesses have access to the most basic necessities that many of us may take for granted: food on the tables, heat in the home, learning tools for themselves and their children, physical and mental health services, and financial assistance.
Though this is just a partial list of the many organizations that are joining together with EBALDC, our residents and neighbors to help us get through the pandemic together, we salute and thank you!
Youth Services
Attitudinal Healing Connection is coordinating an art kit drive for youth in the San Pablo Avenue Corridor in West Oakland;
BANANAS, Inc. has built a childcare infrastructure for essential workers, developing Lion Creek Crossings Family Resource Center as a distribution hub for newborn essentials (e.g. diapers, diaper wipes);
Community United Elementary School and Futures Elementary School have distributed laptops to families in the Havenscourt neighborhood;
Destiny Arts is providing digital hip hop classes to our kids;
Moving Forward Institute and Reading with Relevance donated books so families can have in-home libraries;
Oakland Unified School District‘s district-wide distribution of 16,637 Chromebooks and 965,711 grab-n-go meals has been essential for our resident youths’ continuing education, wellbeing, and health; and
Something Labs donated science books and craft materials for kids.
Food/Meal Services
Alameda County Community Food Bank set up services at Casa Arabella though The Unity Council. We are exploring working with them to set up services at the San Pablo Hotel, Lion Creek Crossings and Madison Park Apartments;
CalFresh Healthy Living is connecting with California Hotel residents via email for wellness checks and has continued health education via Zoom;
City of Oakland Summer Lunch Program will start the summer lunch in May, rather than June, to support eligible Oakland families;
Coliseum College Prep Academy has served as a grab-n-go meal distribution center;
Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano is providing food distribution for Lillie Mae Jones Plaza and Giant Road Apartments;
Food Recovery Project (Oakland Sherriff’s department) is providing grocery delivery for the California Hotel;
Mercy Brown Bag has increased its grocery distribution capacity at Lion Creek Crossings for door-to-door delivery by staff;
Oakland Police Department is providing food delivery to residents throughout the EBALDC portfolio who have voiced a need for food access; and
Spectrum Community Services, Inc. has provided and delivered heat-at-home meals for our residents at Lion Creek Crossings.
Health Care
Asian Health Services, Lifelong Medical, and Center for Elders’ Independence are helping us think through ways to protect our residents who live in Single Room Occupancy (SRO) housing;
Creative Health Services is providing digital art therapy and phone therapy services;
Center for Elder Independence organizes case coordination in the management of resident needs;
La Clinica de la Raza continues to provide healthcare services to low-income residents and most vulnerable (e.g. undocumented community); and
Lifelong Medical is providing support at the California Hotel and for networking around resources during the Shelter in Place.
Financial and Small Business
City of Oakland, Economic & Workforce Development Department (EWDD), through its Oakland Small Business Emergency Grant Program and in partnership with Working Solutions, recently awarded 90 grants to extremely low-income business owners, earning 35 percent of Area Median Income or less, with more grants underway.
Keep Oakland Housed and Season of Sharing are providing rental assistance to families in need.
Oakland Chinatown Improvement Initiative is working to assist small businesses that were already suffering before the shelter-in-place orders
United Way of the Bay Area is supporting EBALDC in numerous ways to ensure the financial health of our residents and clients through our SparkPoint Oakland and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program services.
In addition, our national partnerships through NeighborWorks America and National Coalition for Asian Pacific Community Development (National CAPACD) have allowed us to compare notes and share resources with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, Chinatown Community Development Center, Little Tokyo Service Center (LA), Seattle Chinatown International Preservation and Development Authority, and Asian Americans for Equality (NYC) for best practices as we navigate the uncharted landscape of this pandemic and plan for a new normal.
Indeed, when we talk about healthy neighborhoods, this is what we mean: community partners tying our outriggers together, building stability, and sharing life.
Thank you!
In community,
Joshua Simon, CEO