Thank you!

Dear Friends,

Thanks to you, EBALDC’s 45th Anniversary Gala Celebration last week was an immense success, with over $320,000 raised to support our many programs that “bring health home” – to our residents, community serving businesses, clients and the greater East Bay community. If you missed it, you can still watch it at www.ebaldc45.com. 

As this was my last EBALDC Gala as the CEO, I was especially touched by the words of our honorees: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, JPMorgan Chase, represented by Amy Wallace, and Nu Huynh, our Lynette Jung Lee Resident Leadership Awardee.  Each talked about EBALDC’s legacy and how our partnerships at all levels – national, local, and grassroots — have been so important to build healthy communities.

Indeed, the many special (and surprise) guests in our program showcased why collaboration with a range of stakeholders has been the centerpiece of EBALDC’s Healthy Neighborhoods framework for community development. 

To all of you, my most sincere THANK YOU!

2020 has been a difficult year for so many of us, but I am inspired by the words-beyond-her-years of our Oakland Youth Poet Laureate, Greer Nakadegawa-Lee, who urged us to:

Call a rose a rose

Call a murderer a murderer

Even when he has a badge

Call yourself a country

That cares more about white traditions than about black lives

And remember that it’s true

America,

There are nooses growing in your trees

Again,

America,

I’m begging you

Don’t wait around for the harvest

Let our work together create opportunities for those who are otherwise left behind.

In Community,

Joshua Simon

CEO