Job Announcement: Social Worker – Housing Practice

The East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) seeks a Social Worker to work alongside EBCLC attorneys and other staff providing holistic representation to individuals experiencing a broad range of housing-related legal problems. The position requires a strong advocate with excellent case management and organizational skills, a willingness to work collaboratively across legal and social work disciplines, an interest in teaching and mentoring the next generation of social workers, and a desire to help grow an exciting and challenging new endeavor of integrating social workers into a legal organization.

 

 

The shield and the sword: Two tools to address the housing crisis

The crisis cannot be addressed merely by new construction nor in implementing anti-displacement measures alone, says Rooted in Home, a November 2018 report from nonprofits Urban Habitat and the East Bay Community Law Center exploring alternatives to market-based land and housing.

U.S. Marshals Poised to Evict Oakland Tenants in Potentially Illegal Action

“I know of no authority that gives the U.S. government the ability to circumvent and ignore the application of Oakland’s Just Cause for Eviction ordinance as it attempts to remove these lawful occupants,” said Meghan Gordon, an attorney who is the director of the East Bay Community Law Center’s housing practice.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner introduces bill to offer legal aid for at-risk tenants

In introducing the bill, Skinner said she wanted to replicate the success of Keeping Oakland Housed, according to the press release.  Founded Oct. 15, Keeping Oakland Housed partners with Bay Area Community Services, Catholic Charities of the East Bay, and the East Bay Community Law Center to provide legal representation and financial assistance to Oakland residents.

Oakland’s plan to battle homelessness: Stop it before it starts

In the view of Frank Martin, deputy director of the East Bay Community Law Center, the legal services offered by Keep Oakland Housed will give pause to property managers looking to evict tenants as a ploy to boost rent.“Generally speaking, 90 percent of landlords have lawyers and 90 percent of tenants do not,” he says. “That makes for an imbalance and leads to people losing their cases even when they have legitimate reasons for why they couldn’t pay their rent. Having lawyers who will negotiate settlements with landlords or who show up in court with tenants levels the playing field.”

Clinic Suit Spurs Oakland to Repeal Public Housing Loitering Ordinance

Berkeley Law’s East Bay Community Law Center, working with four other organizations, brought the litigation on behalf of plaintiffs Darren Mathieu and Edward Jackson. It asserts that the Oakland Housing Authority ordinance is unconstitutional, and that the OHA Police Department has used it to hassle and intimidate public housing residents through racially discriminatory enforcement practices.

Keep Oakland Housed has already helped dozens stave off homelessness

The 61 year old Ross represents just one of 60 households that have been helped so far by a program launched just ten days ago, a partnership that includes Catholic Charities, the East Bay Community Law Center, the San Francisco Foundation, Bay Area Community Services, and the City of Oakland.

Oakland to pay rent for low-income residents at risk of homelessness

At a City Hall news conference, Schaaf and executives from the East Bay Community Law Center, Catholic Charities of the East Bay and Bay Area Community Services presented a $9 million pilot plan called Keep Oakland Housed, which is designed to provide support services for low-income city residents.