Activism

Four Community Pillars Support Rise East Project in Oakland

“Seeing the disparities in our area, our approach — to be on the ground — best served this population,” said Dr. Noha Aboeleta, the founder of Roots says. “ROOTS is a community-based response organization. Over the years we grew from two people to 200 full-time staff.”

Published

2 years ago

October 15, 2023

Oakland Post

Noha Aboelata, MD, is founder and CEO both of Roots Community Health Center (Roots), and the Roots Community Health Alliance (Roots Alliance). Photos by Talking Eyes Media

Part 4

By Tanya Dennis

Roots are deep in Deep East Oakland.

The Roots Community Health Center was founded in 1998 in Deep East Oakland at 99^th and International Blvd. with a mission is to uplift those impacted by systemic inequities and poverty.

Roots accomplishes this through medical and behavioral health care, health navigation, workforce enterprises, housing, outreach, and advocacy.

Unable to do all the interventions that were needed on their own, and recognizing the value of collaboration, Roots leadership brought together what would become the ‘40 by 40’ Council “to preserve what we have and as a resource to continue to build,” Aboeleta said.

Under Aboeleta’s leadership, the 40 by 40 Council consists of the Black Cultural Zone (BCZ), the Brotherhood of Elders, and the East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC). The four stakeholders and community builders agreed it was time to take their direct services and advocacy to the neighborhood level. Together, they identified a 40-block by 40-block area in Deep East Oakland for development, preservation, and restoration.

Explaining what she terms her intentional selection of organizations for the Council, Aboeleta says, “We partnered with Black Cultural Zone as they work with a coalition of residents, government agencies, churches and grassroots organizing and community groups to help keep Black folks in East Oakland through building power, securing land and directing more dollars to community driven projects.

BCZ provides space at Liberation Park where people can gather and convene, Aboeleta said. In addition, BCZ has a development corporation, and we recognized the need to develop commercial and residential space for us to address those that have been displaced. To assure that they would have the first ‘right of return,’ a development corporation would be vital.”

Next, Aboeleta reached out to the Brotherhood of Elders because they have such an important place in the community: “bringing history wisdom and relationship with a focus on Black men and boys,” Aboeleta said.

Aboeleta regards the fourth stakeholder, EOYDC, as the anchor of the Council.

EOYDC, developed with aid from the Clorox Corporation, has operated since 1978 in Deep East Oakland and has focused on youth development, providing social services to youth for three decades

EOYDC develops the social leadership capacities of youth and young adults ages 5-24 so youth achieve excellence in education, career and service to their community.

According to Aboeleta, “BCZ and the Brotherhood bring together other organizations; are assisting in developing a community land trust; and developing other components important to this work.

“Rise East is really an amazing opportunity none of us imagined,”Aboeleta said.

In April 2023, Blue Meridian Partners Philanthropy wanted to see the 40 by 40 area, so the council took them to Liberation Park at 73^rd Avenue and Foothill Boulevard and the surrounding area. They saw the vision and were impressed.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Aboeleta said. Before Blue Meridian, the Council was raising small amounts of funding from community-based grants, using those grants to align what each organization was doing.

“Blue Meridian was not something we expected but now we can accelerate this work because of the urgency of displacement, violence and health disparities occurring in our community,” Aboeleta said.

Rise East funding is for five years but the plan is for 10 years.

Besides Blue Meridian, Rise East is working with Oakland Thrives, a key partner engaging key leaders from the Alameda County, the City of Oakland and the Oakland Unified School District Board of Trustees.

“They are at the table, which provides an opportunity for us to align private funding with public funding,” Aboeleta said. “We must be asset-based and because of these amazing partnerships in the public sector, we can partner around policy and how things can be implemented at the city, county and state level. That’s our next step. Public funding for Rise East.”

For a comprehensive overview of Rise East go to:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/64d69797b4716c79f3605acc/t/64ff88bd1df20f1859e59344/1694468291491/RiseEast-InvestmentReport-V3-spread.pdf

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Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

Published

4 days ago

June 20, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Juneteenth: Celebrating Our History, Honoring Our Shared Spaces

It’s been empowering to watch Juneteenth blossom into a widely celebrated holiday, filled with vibrant outdoor events like cookouts, festivals, parades, and more. It’s inspiring to see the community embrace our history—showing up in droves to celebrate freedom, a freedom delayed for some enslaved Americans more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Published

5 days ago

June 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

By Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

Juneteenth marks an important moment in our shared history—a time to reflect on the legacy of our ancestors who, even in the face of injustice, chose freedom, unity, and community over fear, anger, and hopelessness. We honor their resilience and the paths they paved so future generations can continue to walk with pride.

As we head into the weekend full of festivities and summer celebrations, I want to offer a friendly reminder about who is not invited to the cookout: litter.

At Clean California, we believe the places where we gather—parks, parade routes, street corners, and church lots—should reflect the pride and beauty of the people who fill them. Our mission is to restore and beautify public spaces, transforming areas impacted by trash and neglect into spaces that reflect the strength and spirit of the communities who use them.

Too often, after the music fades and the grills cool, our public spaces are left littered with trash. Just as our ancestors took pride in their communities, we honor their legacy when we clean up after ourselves, teach our children to do the same, and care for our shared spaces.

Small acts can inspire big change. Since 2021, Clean California and its partners have collected and removed over 2.9 million cubic yards of litter. We did this by partnering with local nonprofits and community organizations to organize grassroots cleanup events and beautification projects across California.

Now, we invite all California communities to continue the incredible momentum and take the pledge toward building a cleaner community through our Clean California Community Designation Program. This recognizes cities and neighborhoods committed to long-term cleanliness and civic pride.

This Juneteenth, let’s not only celebrate our history—but also contribute to its legacy. By picking up after ourselves and by leaving no litter behind after celebrations, we have an opportunity to honor our past and shape a cleaner, safer, more vibrant future.

Visit CleanCA.com to learn more about Clean California.

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OPINION: California’s Legislature Has the Wrong Prescription for the Affordability Crisis — Gov. Newsom’s Plan Hits the Mark

Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.

Published

5 days ago

June 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook. Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook.

By Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook

As a pastor and East Bay resident, I see firsthand how my community struggles with the rising cost of everyday living. A fellow pastor in Oakland recently told me he cuts his pills in half to make them last longer because of the crushing costs of drugs.

Meanwhile, community members are contending with skyrocketing grocery prices and a lack of affordable healthcare options, while businesses are being forced to close their doors.

Our community is hurting. Things have to change.

The most pressing issue that demands our leaders’ attention is rising healthcare costs, and particularly the rising cost of medications. Annual prescription drug costs in California have spiked by nearly 50% since 2018, from $9.1 billion to $13.6 billion.

Some lawmakers, however, have advanced legislation that would drive up healthcare costs and set communities like mine back further.

I’m particularly concerned with Senate Bill (SB) 41, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a carbon copy of a 2024 bill that I strongly opposed and Gov. Newsom rightly vetoed. This bill would impose significant healthcare costs on patients, small businesses, and working families, while allowing big drug companies to increase their profits.

SB 41 would impose a new $10.05 pharmacy fee for every prescription filled in California. This new fee, which would apply to millions of Californians, is roughly five times higher than the current average of $2.

For example, a Bay Area family with five monthly prescriptions would be forced to shoulder about $500 more in annual health costs. If a small business covers 25 employees, each with four prescription fills per month (the national average), that would add nearly $10,000 per year in health care costs.

This bill would also restrict how health plan sponsors — like employers, unions, state plans, Medicare, and Medicaid — partner with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate against big drug companies and deliver the lowest possible costs for employees and members. By mandating a flat fee for pharmacy benefit services, this misguided legislation would undercut your health plan’s ability to drive down costs while handing more profits to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

This bill would also endanger patients by eliminating safety requirements for pharmacies that dispense complex and costly specialty medications. Additionally, it would restrict home delivery for prescriptions, a convenient and affordable service that many families rely on.

Instead of repeating the same tired plan laid out in the big pharma-backed playbook, lawmakers should embrace Newsom’s transparency-first approach and prioritize our communities.

Let’s urge our state legislators to reject policies like SB 41 that would make a difficult situation even worse for communities like ours.

About the Author

Rev. Dr. VanHook is the founder and pastor of The Community Church in Oakland and the founder of The Charis House, a re-entry facility for men recovering from alcohol and drug abuse.