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Our Initiatives

Housing for All

 
 

Problem

Housing in the US is treated as a market commodity rather than a fundamental human need and right that benefits the public good, like public education or healthcare.  Low income and increasingly middle income people are then left to fend for themselves when housing costs escalate far beyond reach.  Research and lived experience show that a growing group of the new homeless in Bay Area cities are people who are working but can’t afford the new rents.  

 

SOLUTION

We need an comprehensive approach that includes 1) PREVENTION of housing loss and homelessness; 2) PRODUCTION of new housing that people in need can actually afford; 3) ACCESS to all private and publicly subsidized housing by removing discriminatory barriers against people with criminal records or undocumented; and 4) JUSTICE INNOVATION because the traditional ways of housing production, programs, and policies aren’t working for the new times.  Examples of our achievements include:

  • Fair Chance Housing Policy Development and Campaign centers the leadership of formerly incarcerated residents and their families combined with the government and policy development/implementation expertise of Just Cities leaders and partnership with government officials.  Working together we have designed the nation’s best fair chance housing policies.

  • Housing Oakland’s Unhoused & Public Land Solutions centers the voices and experiences of unhoused people in defining both the problems and solutions to their housing needs.  We combine Just Cities’ policy research and design expertise to develop a plan that would provide immediate dignified and secure housing for Oakland’s unhoused population within 6 months, including the use of available public land and funding. 

  • A $30 Million Anti-displacement Safety Net to fund the strategies struggling low-income tenants and homeowners identified as critical to preventing their displacement.  The new public funds we designed and secured from Alameda County and the Cities of Oakland and Berkeley are now helping thousands of vulnerable residents annually through AC Housing Secure, Oakland Housing Secure, and Berkeley groups like the East Bay Community Law Center.

  • $45 Million Homeownership Preservation Fund to fund capital needs for low income, disproportionately Black/African American elderly homeowners at risk of losing their homes.  These funds we designed and secured are now administered by Habitat for Humanity’s Renew Alameda County.

  • $5 Million Homeless Prevention Allocations from Alameda County and the City of Oakland budgets.

  • Comprehensive Housing Policies–the Oakland Housing Equity Roadmap created a national model for comprehensive anti-displacement, affordable housing, and healthy housing policies that were adopted by the City of Oakland and utilized by other cities.