Oakland, CA – Councilmember Treva Reid launched the Community Safety Task Force Day of Action with community-based organizations, neighbors, and city and county partners on Wednesday, July 27th from 10:00AM to 1:00PM.
On this day they flooded the 82nd to 90th Avenue blocks along International Boulevard with resources like PPE, free haircuts, hot meals, toiletries, housing programs, community safety services, jobs, nutrition and wellness, workforce training, anti-displacement programs, youth employment, senior care, mental health support, business services, real estate co-ownership models, community land trusts, and more.
“This neighborhood is personal for me and what has been happening in this neighborhood and throughout this city is why I do the work I do. Operation Ceasefire is a strategy to save lives—mainly Black and Brown lives because that’s who we’re losing day-to-day—to keep them out of jail [and] to build community and police trust,” said Reverend Damita Howard, Director of the Ceasefire strategy, “...we know that it takes a village to do the things we need to do in this city. To stop violence, improve services, and improve the outcome of individual lives.”
This marks the first of many events hosted by Councilmember Treva Reid in partnership with organizations deeply rooted in serving District 7. The event represents a unified community strategy to address the violence, open-air drug markets, homeless encampments, illegal dumping/blight, and traffic safety issues impacting this corridor.
“There has been so much division within our community. What the community needs has not reached them. This is personal for me. If we’re not here to empower our people through building and maintaining healthy relationships, the money will not pay for the damage that has been caused,” shared Nina Carter, East Oakland VI/ Liaison KWP Case Manager of Youth Alive!, “...if we don’t give people the tools to fight, we’re going to see the same stuff continue and we’re going to continue to lose our generations. We have to teach people how to get back to policing their own communities through resources.”
Over 20 partners supported the unified vision by providing resources to the residents in the area all with the goal of helping East Oaklanders thrive and stay safely rooted in the city.
“The Department of Violence Prevention works with B.O.S.S., Youth Alive! [and] many other community-based organizations working in East Oakland. Whenever a shooting or a homicide occurs throughout Oakland, the team is on the ground within 30 minutes,” asserted Chief Cespedes with the Department of Violence Prevention, “...comforting families, providing services; money, itself, is not the only answer. Boots on the ground, by people who are trusted in the community, is imperative.”
“I personally have experienced the need for those support systems that met me where I was; as a youth experiencing food insecurity and housing instability, as a single mother, as a Black woman who lost her child to gun violence, as an entrepreneur and more,” said Councilmember Treva Reid, “...I am driven to continue collaborating with partners who know that every resident has a unique set of needs to be fulfilled that will help them safely overcome the traumatic challenges in life as they work to build a foundation for the life they deserve and dream of. With this initiative, we will see this corridor transform, and we will see the motto of this city, which is, “LOVE LIFE,” in action.”
Organizations in attendance included the Black Cultural Zone with Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors, Youth Uprising and Youth Alive!, At Thy Word Ministries and Faith In Action East Bay, Roots Community Health Clinic and La Clinica De La Raza, East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative and OakCLT, B.O.S.S. (Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency), the Oakland Police Department, MACRO, the City of Oakland’s ELF team (Excess Litter Fee), the Alameda County Probation office, Alameda County Social Services, Alameda County Behavioral Health, the Alpha Omega Foundation, CALPET, and the Cancer Society.
These partners met over 100 (BIPOC, youth, seniors, unhoused and non-abled) neighbors where they were by using expertise in gang violence intervention, youth crime prevention, mental health crisis response, senior displacement, homeless outreach, and many other forms of assistance to support them.
“Home is not just a place—it’s a space where ALL residents deserve and have the right to feel safe and free. This Day of Action is one day of many, and the word action is a verb similarly to how I define love,” said John Jones III, Director of Reentry and Violence Prevention Programs for Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), “...we love our City and the residents, and remain committed to striving towards elevating the quality of life for all.”
Historically District 7 has been one of the most socio-economically disadvantaged geographic regions of Oakland. Councilmember Treva Reid is committed to uplifting the vision of District 7's constituents and stakeholders who want an East Oakland they can stay rooted, grow, and thrive in: oaklandca.gov/officials/treva-reid.
The Community Safety Task Force team will track the progression of these efforts through the end of the year to see the realized impact of their collective and concerted work. To keep abreast of the work District 7 is doing in the community, and to hear updates on when the next Day of Action will take place sign up for the District 7 newsletter.