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Update on Richmond Rapid Response Fund, Seek Support for Phase II

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Richmond Mayor Tom Butt is joining community and government leaders including staff from the city, RYSE Center, EdFUND West, Richmond Promise, Building Blocks for Kids (BBK), and the Richmond Rent Program to seek the public’s help in closing the fundraising gap for Phase I of the Richmond Rapid Response Fund (R3F) and gain support for Phase II.

R3F, which was born out of a group of over 100 cross-sector stakeholders called the West Contra Costa COVID Community Care Coalition, is a wraparound initiative working to meet the immediate and ongoing needs of the community during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The fund is designed to support the community in three phases – 1) direct financial disbursement to residents 2) expand financial assistance and support for community-based organizations; and 3) facilitate a community needs assessment and ongoing infrastructure support. A fundraising goal of $1 million was set for Phase I of the fund and a total minimum goal of $9 million has been set to support all three phases of R3F.

“For many households, R3F is making the difference in whether parents can put food on the table for their kids or cover other essential expenses,” Butt said. “We need as much help as we can get to continue supporting Richmond residents struggling to make ends meet. If you have the means to give during this time, I urge you to support the work being done through R3F,” the mayor continued.

Since launching on May 5, 2020, R3F has raised over $375,000 towards its Phase I goal of $1 million – 100% of which has gone to residents through direct financial disbursements. To date, R3F has supported approximately 330 families and individuals with more expected to be served through Phase I funding.

As R3F leaders work to meet their Phase I fundraising goal, the response fund is simultaneously seeking funds for Phase II which will provide support to community-based organizations and establish a Rent Assistance Program for Displacement and Homelessness Prevention to provide greater financial assistance to residents at risk of losing their housing as eviction moratoriums expire.

“In Phase I, we recognize many of the residents that received a disbursement used the funds to pay their rent. This reality prompted the team to move into Phase II with an emphasis on ensuring people in Richmond can remain housed. With the support from the community and philanthropic partners, we are building one of the first community-led funds while simultaneously responding to the crisis impacting our community” said the R3F Core Team.

Since launching in May, R3F has received donations from several foundations, organizations, and businesses including The California Endowment, Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation, East Brother Beer Company, Hellman Foundation, Mayor’s Community Fund, SH Cowell Foundation, Richmond Community Foundation, RYSE Center and The San Francisco Foundation.

The fund also received more than $10,000 in donations from over 50 individual donors. R3F’s earliest support came in the form of a $25,000 technical grant from the Hellman Foundation, and Butt was the first to commit a donation to the fund through a $25,000 contribution from the Mayor’s Community Fund.

In addition to using direct financial disbursement funds to pay rent, survey data from Phase I shows that food and groceries are among the most common expenses paid using R3F’s direct financial disbursement funding.

Other top expenses include utilities, household expenses, transportation, and school supplies. Survey data also shows that Latino and African-American residents are the leading recipients of R3F’s direct financial disbursement funding.

“I was just rehired after being laid off for the summer due to COVID, but my fall hours have been cut. Thank you for considering me and trying to take care of the folks of Richmond,” said a recipient of direct financial disbursement, who will remain anonymous.

To help support long-term fiscal sustainability for direct financial disbursement recipients, R3F has partnered with Community Financial Resources (CFR) to help individuals and families work toward economic security and financial literacy. As a result of the partnership, some R3F recipients are opting to use their pre-loaded debit card that contains their funding as a bank account.

“Our partnership with CFR highlights the uniqueness of R3F,” said the R3F Core Team. “R3F is looking beyond just providing resources during COVID-19 and we’re providing tools to build and sustain lives after the crisis is over,” R3F leaders continued.

R3F’s unique work thus far has helped earn a National Philanthropy Day Award for Outstanding Foundation or Grantmaking Organization and other award nominations. As R3F closes the gap in Phase I funding and expands to Phase II, the fund will continue focusing on its core priority areas: Food and Essential Supplies, Education and Learning, Health and Healing, Housing and Homelessness, and Economic Recovery and Security. Donations for Phases I and II of R3F will continue to be used to directly serve Richmond community members in most need of assistance.

For more information about the Richmond Rapid Response Fund, including how to donate and how funds will be distributed to the community, visit www.richmondresponsefund.org. All donations are tax-deductible.

Jasmine Jones is the executive director of the EdFUND West and Christopher Whitmore is the chief of staff for Richmond Mayor Tom Butts.

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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Activism

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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Activism

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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Alameda County

After Years of Working Remotely, Oakland Requires All City Employees to Return to Office by April 7

City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week. These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

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Oakland City Hall. File photo.
Oakland City Hall. File photo.

By Post Staff

The City Oakland is requiring all employees to return to the office, thereby ending the telecommuting policy established during the pandemic that has left some City Hall departments understaffed.

City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week.

These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

The administration may still grant the right to work remotely on a case-by-case basis.

In his memo to city unions, Johnson said former President Joe Biden had declared an end to the pandemic in September 2022, and that since then, “We have collectively moved into newer, safer health conditions.”

Johnson said “multiple departments” already have all their staff back in the office or workplace.

The City’s COVID-era policy, enacted in September 2021, was designed to reduce the spread of the debilitating and potentially fatal virus.

Many cities and companies across the country are now ending their pandemic-related remote work policies. Locally, mayoral candidate Loren Taylor in a press conference made the policy a central issue in his campaign for mayor.

City Hall reopened for in-person meetings two years ago, and the city’s decision to end remote work occurred before Taylor’s press conference.

At an endorsement meeting last Saturday of the John George Democratic Club, mayoral candidate Barbara Lee said she agreed that city workers should return to the job.

At the same time, she said, the city should allow employees time to readjust their lives, which were disrupted by the pandemic, and should recognize individual needs, taking care to maintain staff morale.

The John George club endorsed Lee for Mayor and Charlene Wang for City Council representative for District 2. The club also voted to take no position on the sales tax measure that will be on the April 15 ballot.

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