It was a brisk October morning in downtown Richmond, when community members gathered at a vacant lot on MacDonald Ave, Richmond’s historic mainstreet, and 16th St, across from the Richmond BART station. Some of the group who live nearby mentioned that the lot had been vacant for as long as they could remember. Mostly everyone … Read more
No matter how much the Bay Area changes over the years, it will always be home to me. I grew up in Oakland, and after living in Los Angeles for ten years, I returned in 2020 to a region that had become much harsher to many of those who make the Bay Area diverse and … Read more
I can never forget that it was 2001 when I first moved to San Francisco because September 11th happened that year. It was a weird time. Like the pandemic we’re currently living through, there was a lot of fear and uncertainty. I accepted my first job after graduating college at a public affairs company and moved … Read more
I used to think I was one of only a handful people who enjoyed talking about affordable housing policy on a Friday evening. But a few weeks ago I was blown away when over 300 people came together in East San Jose to learn about San Jose’s proposed Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA). SOMOS Mayfair, a … Read more
After spending most of their lives in a neighborhood and homes that have brought them much comfort and joy, Melieni Felmaka Talakai and Germany Fomby are facing the unsettling reality: they might be losing their homes. In the Spring of 2020, Melieni, Germany and their neighbors at Palo Mobile Estates, a mobile park home in … Read more
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more evident that many of our systems, especially those in housing, are broken. Despite years of public discussion about the affordable housing crisis, nothing brought the dire need to build a future where everyone has a stable and affordable place to live into starker relief than COVID-19. While … Read more
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