Dear Friends
May 2020

Our Vision of Leadership

Dear Friends, How do we build a deep bench for leadership collaborative leadership? As the pandemic forces us to re-think everything we do and how we do it, leadership at all levels becomes even more important. Over a year ago, EBALDC started thinking about an organizational restructure plan that would offer more opportunities for growth and leadership for our talented staff. The plan is designed to support strong, collaborative decision-making that’s fully oriented around our vision for Healthy Neighborhoods and the four pillars and five goals of our strategic plan. Through... Read more
Dear Friends
April 2020

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,... Read more
Dear Friends
April 2020

Appreciation to our frontline staff!

Dear Friends, As we near the end of our 4th week of Sheltering-in-Place in the Bay Area, I want to take a moment to shout-out to EBALDC’s essential workers.  Our on-site Property Management teams, and Resident, Youth and Financial Services teams, are on the front lines, and even more essential during these challenging times.   With 30 properties, our Property Management team has been hard at work to ensure that our residents live in a healthy and supportive environment: Two properties have 24-hour front desk clerks.  They have been critical to supporting... Read more
Commercial Real Estate
August 2019

Grants Support Housing, Homeless Programs

From Look InsideKP
Kaiser Permanente announces 2 new grants in line with its mission to create healthy communities through housing support. Pictured, Melissa Keller, center, and her 2 children, Makayla Griego, left, and Kayden Keller, right, play on the swing set at the Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa homeless shelter. As part of its commitment to support affordable housing and homeless transition programs in Northern California, Kaiser Permanente announced 2 new grants of $1 million each to organizations in Oakland and Santa Rosa. In the last year, Kaiser Permanente has committed over $30 million... View article
Media
June 2019

Innovative Programs by Geisinger Health and Kaiser Permanente Are Moving Providers in Unexplored Directions in Support of Proactive Clinical Care

From Dark Daily
These initiatives are a call-to-action for clinical laboratories to contribute their expertise in support of wellness programs Two of the largest healthcare systems in America are moving in non-traditional directions to proactively address certain healthcare populations. Most recently, Kaiser Permanente announced it will be investing millions of dollars to tackle homelessness and the disease outbreaks associated with it. The health system is even investing in a housing complex in Oakland, Calif., which it hopes will help patients in that area who face housing insecurity. Kaiser’s new direction mirrors a similar project by Geisinger Health designed... View article
Commercial Real Estate
June 2019

Crave BBQ chef opens Grammie’s Down-Home Chicken & Seafood in Oakland

From Berkeleyside
Last year, the local food media was buzzing when news emerged that Rashad Armstead, the chef behind Oakland pop-up Crave BBQ, was opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant at the historic California Hotel in West Oakland. It was to be a permanent place for Armstead to serve his smoked meats and Southern-style sides that first got attention from his pop-ups at the Ashby flea market in Berkeley and at a gas station parking lot in West Oakland. But Armstead was also excited to partner with the hotel’s owner, non-profit East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation... View article
Media
May 2019

Legislation to Establish Major New Incentive for Affordable Housing in Opportunity Zones Clears Key Committee

From Davis Vanguard
Unanimous Bipartisan Support For Legislation that would address concerns from the 2017 federal tax overhaul and build on Governor Newsom’s call for California to direct investments in low income census tracts (From Press Release) – Yesterday, the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee voted unanimously to advance legislation by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D – San Fernando Valley) that would provide a major new incentive for the production and preservation of affordable housing in low income census tracts known as “Opportunity Zones.”  The legislation—Assembly Bill (AB) 791—would provide $200 million in new tax... View article
Media
April 2019

Why housing is now a health issue for Kaiser Permanente

From San Francisco Business Times
Over the eight years that Brian Hopkins has lived in his East Oakland apartment, he’s seen many of his neighbors wind up on the streets. “You know tent city? That was a lot of the people who lived on this block,” said 35-year-old Hopkins, who currently works staffing events at venues like Levi’s Stadium and the Coliseum. “I know them personally, friends’ moms, aunties.” Kaiser Permanente noticed the bulging homeless population in its hometown, too. It also knows the toll it takes on people’s health, with a recent study in a major medical journal finding... View article
Media
March 2019

In Oakland and elsewhere, health care is investing in affordable housing

From Marketplace
When an apartment building sells in gentrifying parts of Oakland, California, tenants often brace themselves for the worst. Rent hikes, disruptive renovations and evictions can follow. But when one building recently changed hands, city officials and housing activists celebrated. Kensington Gardens, a 41-unit building in the working-class, immigrant neighborhood of San Antonio, was sold last November. “I was feeling somebody was going to get it and they were going to raise the rent,” said Ameria Lipscomb, who lives in a first-floor studio in Kensington. Tenants there generally pay below-market rents. When the building... View article