News
March 2020

Preserving Oakland as the Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive City it is Today Through Our Housing Acquisition Fund

“Our long-term vision is for an Oakland that works for everyone, particularly the residents that have made it the vibrant, diverse, inclusive city it is today.” – Joshua Simon, CEO of East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC).  Achieving this vision for Oakland will require all of us to think differently about how to tackle the affordable housing crisis we’re facing. That’s why in 2015, EBALDC launched the Housing Acquisition Fund — an innovative and replicable new model for preserving and expanding quality affordable housing in Oakland.  We are excited to... Read more
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
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
Media
January 2019

Healthcare giant Kaiser buys Oakland building for affordable housing

From SF Curbed
The Oakland-based healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente announced a surprise entry into the housing sector Wednesday, a gesture that the company frames as a health-related move by way of cutting back on housing insecurity. According to a company announcement, “an approximate $5.2 million has been committed to acquire a 41-unit housing complex in East Oakland, near Kaiser Permanente’s national headquarters” for affordable housing purposes. Kaiser identifies the building as the Kensington Gardens Apartments on 26th Avenue, a circa-1928 building that previously sold in 2015 for $4.15 million.... View article
News
January 2019

EBALDC Partners with Kaiser Permanente on Fund for Housing Affordability

EBALDC is proud to announce our partnership with Kaiser Permanente, Enterprise Community Partners, and the City of Oakland on the Housing for Health Fund, a segment of Kaiser Permanente’s $200 million commitment to tackling housing insecurity through their Thriving Communities Fund. Kaiser Permanente has committed to investing $50 million towards housing affordability efforts in the Bay Area, half of which is prioritized for Oakland. Their first investment will be approximately $5.4 million towards Kensington Gardens Apartments, a 41-unit housing complex in the San Antonio neighborhood of Oakland and EBALDC’s latest acquisition.... Read more
Media
January 2019

Kaiser Permanente Announces Three Initiatives to Improve Community Health by Tackling Housing Insecurity

From Cision PR Newswire
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Kaiser Permanente today unveiled several major initiatives that will improve health outcomes by creating stable housing for vulnerable populations. The initiatives — including seeding a real estate investment in Oakland, anchoring a $100 million national loan fund for affordable housing and kicking off a plan to end homelessness for more than 500 Oakland-area residents — are part of a comprehensive strategy to advance the economic, social and environmental conditions for health in the communities that Kaiser Permanente serves. At a press conference with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and several partners, Kaiser Permanente Chairman and... View article
Media
January 2019

This healthcare giant invests millions in affordable housing to keep people healthy

From Fast Company
In an East Oakland neighborhood on the verge of gentrification, when an affordable apartment complex went up for sale–and tenants there risked steeply rising rents–Kaiser Permanente, the largest private integrated healthcare system in the U.S., helped put up the money to buy the building and keep rent low. It’s the first impact investment for the Oakland-based company’s $200 million Thriving Communities Fund, and one of three major projects the company announced today. Along with the nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners, Kaiser created a new joint equity fund called the Housing for Health Fund and contributed $5.2 million... View article