Bay Area

ICAC to Host Benefit Concert Jan. 20 to Keep Safe Car Park for Unhoused Open

It was chilly Monday evening at the reopening of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County’s (ICAC) Safe Car Park Program in West Oakland – a stark reminder of just how cold the night would be for those in the community without shelter. The safe car park has been temporarily closed due to lack of funding, and ICAC needs money to bridge the gap during these cold months until additional financial support from the city kicks in several months from now. To help bridge that gap, ICAC is sponsoring a concert at the Oakland Temple Hill Auditorium at 4780 Lincoln Ave. on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. The whole Bay Area community is invited to join this cause.

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Lena Byrd Miles will perform at a concert to help keep the Safe Car Park open this winter. Courtesy photo.

By Debbie Bromley

Special to The Post

The safe car park has been temporarily closed due to lack of funding, and ICAC needs money to bridge the gap during these cold months until additional financial support from the city kicks in several months from now.

To help bridge that gap, ICAC is sponsoring a concert at the Oakland Temple Hill Auditorium at 4780 Lincoln Ave. on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. The whole Bay Area community is invited to join this cause.

This special evening of top-notch entertainment will feature Billboard artist Lena Byrd Miles, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, and Destined2Dance.

Attendance will help support the ICAC in their charitable efforts in the community, especially their work to improve community health and safety and to feed and care for those in need of food and shelter.

Tickets are $20-35 and are available online at TempleHill.org.

At the Safe Car event on Monday, Miles stepped to the mic to share a song with the poignant lyrics, “If I can help somebody, as I travel along, if I can help somebody, with a word or song…my living shall not be in vain.”

Miles said she is honored to lend her gift to this effort. “We are to do as much as we can to help the needy and God repays us. And as we give to them it’s as if we are giving unto the Lord.”

As the cars began to roll in for the night, warmth began to emerge from all the service being rendered, making the chilly evening more bearable.

The portable trailer from WeHope was standing ready to offer showers, laundry facilities and a caseworker.

Paul Bains, CEO of Project WeHope and pastor of St. Samuel Church of God in Christ commented, “WE ALL help make this happen, as it truly does take a village to positively impact a community!”

LaMel A. Smith, director of the nonprofit Helping Others Win was also on hand. Smith helps provide a food distribution service at the site that serves about 3,000 people per week.

Dr. Kenneth Anderson William, pastor of Temple Baptist Church, added, “It was with joy to see families living in their cars return back to a Safe Car parking site. Safe car parking is needed in every city to provide resources for more sites.”

Dr. Michelle Myles Chambers, assistant pastor of West Side Missionary Baptist Church and director of the San Francisco Foundation’s FAITHS program, has been there from the beginning. “The San Francisco Foundation was excited to be on the ground floor with ICAC,” she said. “We’re all in on housing and fully support innovative supportive housing models.”

ICAC is grateful to the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and the Kapor Center for funding support, along with The San Francisco Foundation for supporting the reopening.

Other supporters attending were Natalie Walker of WeHope, Lena Byrd Miles’ manager Tina Carter, representatives from the office of Oakland City Council members Rebecca Kaplan and Nikki Fortunato Bas, and CBS News reporter Itay Hod.

As Dr. Ken Chambers, founding president of the ICAC and pastor of West Side M.B.C. and often reminds us, “Working together works!”

Attending a concert is an easy way to show support for these efforts.

Debbie Bromley is the Oakland Temple Hill communication co-director of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

4 days ago

March 1, 2026

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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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.