Community

DreamCatcher Shelter for Youth Opens New Building

Published

8 years ago

May 16, 2017

Press conference celebrates the opening of the DreamCatcher shelter for youth’s new building in Oakland.

Alameda County’s only shelter for 13-18 year old youth – DreamCatcher – last weekend opened a brand new building, equipped with its first-ever medical clinic, a new drop-in center, kitchen and residential rooms.

The new building adds six beds to the organization’s capacity. This new wing will be called “Nika’s Place” and will specifically serve formerly sexually exploited girls.

DreamCatcher will move operations from their current building, located next door to the new shelter, in June.

“These children are point zero at the intersection of our greatest social ills, and it is in the fight to save their voices that our communities become stronger and more compassionate, more prepared for a better tomorrow for all our children,” said Amba Johnson, director, DreamCatcher Youth Services.

A dedication ceremony was held Saturday, May 13 speeches from youth who rely on DreamCatcher services, as well as Oakland City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, Senator Nancy Skinner, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Assemblymember Rob Bonta, and other Oakland City Councilmembers, many of whom have been champions of the organization and have supported its recent capital campaign.

The building was purchased by a grant from Alameda County in November 2010. Over the last seven years, the small non-profit pieced together grant funding from the federal government, the State of California, Alameda County, City of Oakland and other funding sources to develop the new shelter.

DreamCatcher has been serving homeless and at-risk youth since 1990. Youth access DreamCatcher services for a variety of reasons. Some have grown up homeless and have aged out of the shelters where their parents stay.

Some have been kicked out of their homes for their LGBT status. Some have been forced into labor trafficking while crossing the border, and approximately 40 percent have been sexually exploited.

In addition to shelter, DreamCatcher provides daily meals, counseling, access to laundry machines and a safe place to hang out.

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

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