San Pablo Hotel’s Property Manager and Resident Services Coordinator work in Harmony to Build Community

We are here for our residents. This is where they live, so we just want them to know we’re caring for them and we want to see them healthy, we want to see them happy. We love to see a smile on their faces.

– Nakia Lipsey, Resident Services Coordinator

EBALDC’s San Pablo Hotel in Oakland’s Uptown neighborhood has been a senior residence since the mid-1990s for individuals aged 55 and up. Recently renovated, it provides 144 studio units in what is often considered a refuge for individuals who have endured homelessness, addiction, and other disabling challenges.

(l-r) Nakia Lipsey, Resident Services Coordinator, and Tonia Gaddies, Property Manager, at San Pablo Hotel Valentine’s Day Lunch

“When you go into an SRO (Single Room Occupancy) you have to be more understanding of the residents,” says Property Manager Tonia Gaddies. With over 20 years of experience in the field, she acknowledges that the population at San Pablo requires a particular skill set. “We’re working with people coming from all kinds of hardship; in some cases, just off the streets after being homeless. To be more effective, you listen to them – listen to what they want, what they need. That’s how you get them to be more receptive.”

Working together as a team, property manager Tonia Gaddies and resident services coordinator Nakia Lipsey, ensure that residents receive the care they need – from a safe and secure building to call home to social services they qualify for as low-income seniors including maintaining up-to-date healthcare coverage to veteran’s benefits and other subsidies they might have earned throughout their lifetimes. Nakia says, “We want our residents to be able to live and enjoy their living space and appreciate what we have to offer them. But first, they have to trust us. As long as they come to me and talk to me, I can help. We might refer them to counseling or get them to the hospital for medical care or find a 12-step meeting that they need to go to urgently.” 

In working with new residents who might have not been previously housed there can be a re-learning curve.  “They’re looking for someone to have understanding and compassionate caring,” says Tonia. “We have no idea to what degree they’ve been hurt, put down out in the streets, how they’ve been affected with their finances. In some cases, maybe they need to re-learn personal hygiene, how to wash clothes, keep their dishes and household clean.” 

Nakia has also worked in property management as well as a professional caregiver for seniors. As part of her daily routine, she makes a point of getting out of her office and walking the upper resident floors, knocking on doors, and checking up on residents. She knows very well the needs of an aging population and in particular, the benefits of keeping them socially active. Downstairs off the lobby, she supervises the community room which is open seven days a week from 8 am to 10 pm. Residents watch TV and play dominoes and other board games. Nakia says there’s even a resident who (with her permission) uses the community kitchen to bake pies. There’s also a computer lab where residents can be found taking care of business. And they can do their laundry as well.

San Pablo Hotel Resident Lee Williams reciting “I, Too (Sing America)” by Langston Hughes

The resident services program at San Pablo Hotel includes a range of organized activities that keeps residents engaged. Every Thursday morning there’s a coffee hour and on the fourth Thursday of the month, Nakia prepares a southern breakfast “with all the trimmings.” This February saw two major lunch events – Valentine’s Day and Black History Month – in addition to the regular schedule. A possible field trip to the Oakland Museum is being considered and maybe even a senior prom where residents might be given access to formal attire. And, St Patrick’s Day is going to be a bingo blowout.

The recent Black History Month celebration found the residents together in the community room singing the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” reciting poetry by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou, along with key phrases from speeches by Dr. King. They also enjoyed smoked ribs and chicken along with southern delicacies – mac ‘n cheese, sweet potatoes, string beans and potatoes, cornbread, and other fix-ins.

San Pablo Hotel Resident and BBQ Grilling Expert, Edwin “Terry” Blackmon

Resident Edwin “Terry” Blackmon spent the previous rainy day out in the courtyard under an umbrella. Originally from Alabama and a family of BBQ grilling experts, he took responsibility for grilling the chicken and ribs for his neighbors. Asked how he was enjoying the day, with a big smile he replied, “It’s been a good day today. Yeah, it’s been a very, very good day.”