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OP-ED: On the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Does a True Disaster Loom in Oakland?

Published

10 years ago

August 27, 2015

A real disaster for Oakland, that we cannot let happen, is the loss of one of our most important community partners: CARD – Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters.

CARD is a genuine Oakland success story.

If you don’t know about them, and if you haven’t supported the organization, you should. CARD offers what Oakland needs most: a different, effective, and positive approach to public safety and disaster readiness.

Right now, the group’s future is threatened by a multitude of funding delays from committed partners and the unrealistic expectation that they should continue to create successes for our communities without the levels of public and private support that we’ve long and generously given to other disaster services agencies.

Created by local nonprofit agencies in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, CARD has maintained a laser focus on what actually works for lower-income, vulnerable communities, and the nonprofit and faith agencies that serve them.

If you’ve heard local companies trying to come up with less threatening, more engaging ways to share preparedness, it’s likely because they attended a presentation from Ana-Marie Jones, CARD’s executive director, or a member of her team.

CARD has embodied the research on how harmful fear-based messages are, and how they STOP people from embracing preparedness. CARD does not use fear/threat-based messages and images in their offerings.

Unlike any other emergency services agencies, CARD’s approach is to NOT focus on the scary, threatening, or bureaucratic aspects of disaster readiness. Their philosophy is “Prepare to Prosper!”

With CARD, you learn to train your brain, leverage your mobile technology, and control the things you CAN control in your environment – so that you can be your best, especially when responding to emergencies or disasters.

The organization won many awards for its innovations. We need to award the group with dollars — from individuals, foundations, and businesses.

We need CARD to succeed in its mission to prepare our nonprofits, faith agencies, and all of the people dependent on these services.

CARD has created unique preparedness tools for service providers, curricula tailored for our hardest-to-reach communities, and they rewrote the government’s complex “Incident Command System” so that virtually anyone can step up, create a team, and make a difference in an emergency.

CARD also has classes addressing the unique needs of limited English proficiency audiences, LGBT communities, and so many more.

The agency’s office is set up copying Israeli hospital design, so that in a disaster, it will convert into an Emergency Operations Center for local nonprofits, while other CARD staff deploy to the Alameda County Emergency Operations Center in Dublin.

Losing CARD would be an epic failure for our city and our region, especially as we face the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

CARD is one of our best hopes for creating future success, and to avoid becoming the “Katrina of the West” as many predict for us. Immediate donations can be made via www.GoFundMe.com/GoFearFree.

To discuss sponsorships and other partnerships contact: Ana-Marie Jones at 510-451-3140, or AMJ@CARDcanhelp.org, CARD: 1736 Franklin Street, Suite 450, Oakland, CA, 94612.

The need is urgent. CARD has been there for us, so now let’s all be there for CARD

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

7 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

12 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

12 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.