ST EOBHCSunset 072321 - Flipbook - Page 36
Even as EOBHC is officially ending, HDG will continue under
the guidance of its Project Management Team, which has
been working together for several years under Nehanda
Imara’s leadership:
A little background: In 2012, the
• Ms. Towanda Sherry (resident leader)
would reduce potential adverse
• ●Tyrone Stevenson (resident leader)
health impacts of new development
• ●Communities for a Better Environment
while working to improve the current
• Causa Justa:Just Cause
conditions faced by those with the
• East Bay Housing Organizations
poorest health. The policy process
• HOPE Collaborative
was grounded in the vision that
• Alameda County Public Health Department Place Matters
healthy land development must
The HDG Project Management Team has transitioned into a
structure that no longer depends on EOBHC. With over 40
policies outlined in HDG, Team members are sharing policy
implementation and monitoring responsibilities among
themselves, allowing each of them to hold policies relevant to
their expertise and existing policy work.
of residents whose communities are
In addition to the Project Management Team, the broader HDG
circle of advocates and gatekeepers continue to be actively
engaged, and includes:
EOBHC Land Use Action Team
launched a resident-led process to
create a set of land use policies that
prioritize meaningful engagement
most impacted by health inequities
early in the design and development
processes, before major decisions
are made, leading to better projects
that meet the needs of new and
existing residents.
The vision for HDG emerged from
• East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
a partnership with EOBHC CBO
• West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
partners, the Alameda County Public
• Just Cities
Health Department, and the City
• Roots Community Health Center
of Oakland Planning and Building
• Oakland Climate Action Coalition
Department. After decades of
• Bay Area Air Quality Management District
incongruent and inappropriate land
• City of Oakland Planning Department
• City of Oakland Office of Resilience
• Housing Security, Oakland Mayor’s Office
• The California Endowment
use decision making, the partnership
was a proactive response to put
health equity at the center of the
development process. In 2018,
the Oakland City Council adopted
HDG’s success is attributable to a host of factors:
five out of the more than 40 HDG
• Being a community-driven process, as evidenced by the
policies. Since then, the Planning and
participation of base-building organizations;
Building Department has had the
• An intentional effort to engage and mobilize residents;
responsibility to continue working
• A cogent and concrete policy advocacy agenda;
with the community to implement
• Engaging supportive individuals within key City of
the health equity policies within the
Oakland departments;
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FOR THE LOVE OF BLACK EAST OAKLAND: EOBHC Sunset Report
HDG framework.
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