housing Archives - Oakland Voices

Unhoused families left waiting months for West Oakland apartments

March 11, 2026 Rasheed Shabazz

Unhoused families said they lacked housing while waiting for affordable complex to open.

California rent control bill dies in Assembly committee

January 27, 2026 California Black Media

For the second year in a row, the state Legislature hals a rent control proposal.

East Bay organizations address racial wealth gap, promote Black homeownership

December 26, 2024 Katharine Davies Samway

Some racial justice advocates promote Black homeownership as a form of reparations, seeking to address the longstanding effects of slavery.

A Black woman wearing a beanie is holding back a smile.

One Oakland Woman’s Journey From the Streets to Being an Advocate for the Unsheltered

December 23, 2021 Debora Gordon

On any given night, over half a million Americans experience homelessness. A 2019 count indicated more than 4,000 unhoused residents live in Oakland. Resheemah White, also known to friends as “RoRo,” was one of them

black and white image of tents set up in the early 1930s in Oakland, dubbed "Pipe City"

Pipe Dreams: Makeshift Living in Oakland is Nothing New

May 11, 2021 Kat Ferreira

Oakland Voices correspondent Kat Ferreira digs into the history of unhoused populations in Oakland, from Pipe City to the current encampments at the same location.

An image pf a smiling African American woman in front of a mic.

Looking back on 2020: My Family’s Housing Journey and A Pandemic

January 5, 2021 Aqueila M. Lewis-Ross

Editor’s Note: We asked our alumni and correspondents to reflect on 2020, and/or what to look forward to in 2021. Below, poet/writer Aqueila M. Lewis reflects on what a year 2020 has been for her

cellular image of novel coronavirus with the word Oakland above

Oakland residents donate masks, meals on Thanksgiving

November 30, 2020 Rasheed Shabazz

COVID-19 has changed the way families gather on Thanksgiving holiday, and how residents give and receive charity.

a woman with blonde hair and glasses smiles at the camera in front of a car.

Love and Justice in the Streets’ Talya Husbands-Hankin sees homelessness as “absolute human rights violation”

June 2, 2020 Iris Crawford

“What COVID-19 shows us is that we are all connected, so if we don’t take care of the most vulnerable, everyone will be impacted.”

Moms 4 Housing: A Movement Begins

January 22, 2020 Brandy Collins

On Monday, November 18, 2019, two mothers boldly began occupying a West Oakland house that had been vacant for two years on Magnolia Street. Dominique Walker, 34, and Sameerah Karim, 41, members of Moms 4

East Oakland Congress of Neighborhoods Celebrates First Year

September 26, 2018 Howard Dyckoff

Residents of East Oakland are being invited to a birthday party for an infant community organization. Its been a year since the call went out and the new East Oakland Congress of Neighborhoods formed. Now