EBALDC Celebrates the Lunar New Year

“I want to partner with EBALDC to build deeply affordable housing here in the city of Oakland … If we want to see a thriving community, a thriving Oakland, a successful Oakland, a healthy Oakland, we have to invest in stability, and I know, and you know, that stability starts with the stability of housing.”
— Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. Photo credit: Cutis Jermany

Hosted by Square at their headquarters in Uptown Station in Oakland, EBALDC’s Acting CEO Sean Sullivan and Board Member Agnes Ubalde welcomed EBALDC staff, fellow board members, community partners, and elected officials to ring in the Lunar New Year, kicking off EBALDC’s 48^th year of building healthy neighborhoods.

Finding time in her busy schedule to join in the celebration of the Year of the Rabbit, Mayor Thao noted, “I do this work and I call it love work. I know the privileges I have. I know how I got here. I want to make sure that every single family has the same opportunity that I was afforded because other people believed in me when I was sleeping on a couch as a single mom in a stranger’s home.”

Sean called out EBALDC’s continued commitment to our workforce and their unwavering dedication. “A lot of people think of EBALDC and they think about buildings, but the reason EBALDC has endured for 48 years is because of the incredible commitment of our staff. They are 160+ unsung heroes who come into work every day because they believe in our vision of an Oakland where everyone has a place to call home and the resources to thrive.” Continuing, Sean noted our core mission, “We’re all about building healthy neighborhoods.”

Dennies Vann, VITA Coordinator Photo credit: Cutis Jermany

While guests enjoyed a “lucky menu” prepared by EBALDC commercial tenant Plenty and delighted in Hung Sing Martial Arts’ energetic lion dance performance that warded off bad luck, EBALDC guests learned how our Healthy Neighborhoods approach to community development impacts thousands of individuals, specifically through our Economic Opportunities programs led by Associate Director Elizabeth Maggio. The core programming for Economic Opportunities includes one-on-one financial coaching through SparkPoint Oakland and free tax preparation through the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program.

“I started using VITA for my taxes and the volunteers offered services to get my refunds faster and encouraged me to focus on savings,” said VITA client turned Site Coordinator Dennies Vann.

“I love the energy and the way that I am motivated by the people who come in — I am actually helping people in my community. Ultimately, this has been a good way for me to pay off some debts that I had accumulated and save up money for grad school.”

(l-r) Elizabeth Maggio, Associate Director of Economic Opportunities. Cathy Eberhardt, EBALDC Resident and Board Committee Member. Photo credit: Cutis Jermany

Cathy Eberhardt, EBALDC resident and Board Committee Member, credited SparkPoint Oakland for helping her come out of homelessness, raising her credit score “way above 740”, and securing housing. Recently, we shared Cathy’s inspiring story.

Dennies and Cathy’s stories helped bring in over $10,000 to support our Economic Opportunities programs – a step towards ensuring more Oaklanders are on the road to financial health. “In addition to the support for Economic Opportunities, our partners came together to raise over $20,000 to support EBALDC’s general operations,” said Sean. “This is a nearly 4000% increase from when we first held this event in 2020. We are incredibly thankful for this community that believes in and supports our vision.”

EBALDC Board of Directors Top Row (l-r): Sean Sullivan, Acting CEO, Agnes Ubalde, Chris Ferreira, Leslie Francis, Richard Quach, Klein Lieu (daughter Yuri); Bottom Row (l-r): Dr. Dianne Rush Woods, Beth Rosales, Ted Dang, Rosalyn Tonai.  Photo credit: Curtis Jermany

Noting Mayor Thao’s ambitious plan for building 30,000 units of housing in Oakland over the next eight years, EBALDC Founder and Board Member Ted Dang noted, “The demand for housing and related services is at an all-time high and at EBALDC we have a solid track record that prepares us at least to kick off some of the challenges with a little bit more resources in terms of personnel and reputation that we didn’t have 48 years ago. I think that’s one advantage we can take pride in and that makes me comfortable that we are ready.”