Oakland’s $9 million homelessness solution: New preventative program launches

The Mercury News - By Marisa Kendall OAKLAND — As growing tent encampments sprawl over the city’s sidewalks and run-down vehicles turned into homes of last resort line the streets, Oakland on Monday launched a $9 million program intended to keep its residents from ending up as another statistic in the city’s exploding homeless population. The new initiative, dubbed Keep Oakland Housed, aims to prevent homelessness by providing low-income residents at risk of losing their homes with emergency financial assistance, legal representation and other supportive services. It will be run as a partnership between three local nonprofits — Bay Area Community Services, Catholic Charities of the East Bay and East Bay Community Law Center — and funded with $3 million from the San Francisco Foundation through an anonymous donor, and up to $6 million from Kaiser Permanente. The program will run through 2022. “No one deserves to spend a single night on the streets,” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said Monday during a news conference at City Hall to announce the program. “And we here in Oakland want to keep Oaklanders here, securely housed.” Continue reading...