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Formerly Incarcerated to get Decent Housing from Governor’s Homekey Program Award

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Former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown.

Recently Renovated, Former Traveler’s Hotel in Downtown Oakland to be Purchased by Group Including Elaine Brown to House Formerly Incarcerated People 

Led by former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown and others, the 11th & Franklin LLC was awarded $21 million in Homekey program funds to purchase the former Traveler’s Hotel to create homes for the unhoused.

Brown, who is now CEO of the nonprofit Oakland & the World Enterprises, partnered with St. Louis-based developer McCormack Baron Salazar, Oakland’s MPI Homes, and Affordable Housing Associates to purchase the hotel at 392 11th St. in downtown Oakland from owner NDO Group, LLC.

The purpose of the innovative Homekey program is to fund the “purchase and rehabilitation of hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings and other properties to convert into housing for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.”

“There is no population at greater risk of homelessness than people being released back into society, who suffer wholesale denial of housing and employment solely because of their former incarceration, most of whom are Black men and women,” said Brown, who has been an advocate for prisoners for decades. “We are grateful to have this opportunity to provide a place for some of them.”

The building will be renamed The Huey P. Newton.

Partners Ali Kashani, a senior vice president of McCormack Baron Salazar, and Ali Kashani, founder of Affordable Housing Associates thanked Gov. Gavin Newsom, the State Dept. of Housing and the City of Oakland’s Housing Dept., under the leadership of Director Shola Olatoye, not only for facilitating the award process but also for providing $7 Million of the total award from city funds, as required by the State Housing Department.

The group also thanked the Oakland City Council for unanimously approving the City’s contribution.

All participants acknowledged the critical role in this effort of the nonprofit organization BOSS, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, and its Executive Director Donald Frazier.

Frazier worked hard to secure agreements with both the County Probation Dept. and Health Care Services Agency to house the men and women returning to the community from prison.

BOSS is committed to operate and oversee supportive services for the newly-housed residents at 11thand Franklin. Frazier stated he is constantly hunting for decent, affordable housing for vulnerable individuals and families, and applauded this opportunity.

 

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.
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Oakland Post: Week of February 26 – March 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 26 – March 4, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (left) and Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) (Right).

By Scott Horton

United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.

The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.

The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”

In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.

“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.

“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”

In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.

In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.

Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.

Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).

He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.

Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.

Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.

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