| Dear Friends,
It is my pleasure to update you on the work I have been doing to make Alameda County an even better place to call home.
In this edition you can read about my work to provide resources to our most vulnerable populations, including young children ages 0-3 and those experiencing homelessness.
You can also learn about the various events I held in my district, the free tax preparation provided at my district office, and much more.
It is an honor to serve you. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any comments, questions or concerns that you may have regarding the district or Alameda County.
Sincerely,
 Wilma Chan
Supervisor, Third District
Protecting Immigrant and Refugee Communities
 One in three Alameda County residents are immigrants and over half of all the county’s children live in families with at least one parent who is an immigrant. In light of the Trump Administration’s recent decision to detain and separate children from their families, I called a press a conference to denounce these inhumane immigration policies. I would like to thank our speakers: Oakland Unified School District Board of Education Directors Shanthi Gonzales and Roseann Torres, Jane Garcia of La Clinica de La Raza, Steven Li of Asian Health Services, and representatives from Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s and Congressman Eric Swalwell’s offices. I would also like to thank my colleagues on the Board of Supervisors for standing united in solidarity with our immigrant and refugee populations. Alameda County is proud to welcome all immigrants into our community and we must work together to protect the human rights of all our residents, regardless of immigration status.
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Eden Area Municipal Advisory Council Update
Alameda County is currently in the process of forming a
Municipal Advisory Council – or MAC – for the unincorporated Eden area. To support
this effort, I created the Eden MAC Ad Hoc Committee, in partnership with
Supervisor Nate Miley, to assist in the formation process. The Committee, which
consisted of nine community members from San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, and
Hayward Acres, held five meetings between February and May to discuss the MAC’s
structure and advisory responsibilities. I would like to thank Keith Barros,
Nestor Castillo, Chas Pisano, Eva Poon, and Diane Wydler for serving as my
District 3 appointees.
Earlier this month, the Ad Hoc Committee submitted its
recommendations to myself and Supervisor Miley. We will work together to submit
a final plan to the Board of Supervisors for approval in the coming months.
Supporting Those Experiencing Homelessness
I am proud to partner with the City of Alameda, Building Futures with Women &
Children, and Alameda’s faith community in working to establish a new
winter warming shelter program for homeless residents in the City of Alameda. This
facility, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2018, will be open from
November to April on nights projected to have inclement weather, including rain
or temperatures below 40 degrees. The initiative’s working group is currently
in the process of securing a location and finalizing other logistics to ensure
a November start date.
Leading up to the opening of the warming shelter, Building
Futures and the shelter working group will sponsor a monthly dinner for
Alameda’s homeless residents. Each dinner will be hosted by a different house
of worship in the city, with other faith leaders providing food. For information
on upcoming dinners, contact Building Futures at 510-357-0205.
Building Futures is also offering a weekly laundry service
for the homeless of Alameda every Thursday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM at 645
Central Avenue. One load of laundry per person will be washed and the last load
goes into the washer at 12:15 PM.
In February, I participated in
a Countywide Homelessness Forum at the San Leandro Library organized by
Supervisor Keith Carson. The event brought together elected officials, homeless
advocates, service providers, and other stakeholders from across Alameda County
to propose sustainable, compassionate solutions to homelessness. Participants
attended a panel featuring four Alameda County mayors, as well as a discussion
group that included the perspectives of several formerly homeless residents.
The Forum also featured a collaborative workshop that invited attendees to
propose recommendations on issues surrounding homelessness throughout the
County.
Celebrating the Holidays in San Lorenzo
 In December, I welcomed over
50 community members to my annual holiday celebration at the San Lorenzo
Library. Attendees had the opportunity
to meet new neighbors, celebrate the holidays, and enjoy a live musical
performance from the talented students at East Bay Arts High School. In
addition to celebrating the holidays, the community donated over 50 toys and
books for my annual toy drive benefiting low income children in the area. I would like
to thank Gala Bakery, Ros Doughnuts, and Kacey Brett for generously donating
sweet treats for the community to enjoy and the San Lorenzo Library staff for
their assistance in hosting another successful holiday celebration!
I was also proud to support the San Lorenzo Village Homes
Association’s annual Christmas Party in December with assistance on
the planning committee and a $50 donation towards a Lucky Supermarket gift card
that was raffled off to a lucky San Lorenzo resident. The SLVHA gave out 300
cups of cocoa, over 700 cookies, welcomed nearly 400 local residents, and
collected donations for the San Lorenzo food bank.
Spreading Holiday Cheer at
Garfield Elementary School
 Every December, I partner with child care centers in my district to
provide holiday gifts to low-income children.
As a part of my ongoing partnership with the Garfield Elementary School
community in Oakland’s San Antonio district, I had the pleasure of donating
toys to over 175 students in their pre-school, transitional kindergarten, and
Kindergarten classes. In addition to the toy distribution, I enjoyed a special
musical performance from one of the Kindergarten classes featuring holiday
favorites like “Jingle Bells” and “Up on the Rooftop.”
Thank you to all of the community residents, commissioners, and
Alameda County staff who graciously donated toys, books, and stuffed animals to
my annual toy drive, which helped bring holiday cheer to many local families.
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Resources for Our Youngest Learners
Research shows that a child’s brain develops most dramatically
during the first five years of life. This critical period is an opportunity
to lay the foundation for all of the years that follow. But due to limited access to quality &
affordable child care, over half of Alameda County’s children are not fully
prepared to start kindergarten and 20 percent are not even partially ready. And while families struggle to afford formal child care and early
education programs, child care and early educators are also unable to make
basic ends meet with an average salary of $29,000 a year.
In February, the Board of Supervisors unanimously
voted to place an initiative on the June ballot to address the child care and
early education crisis in Alameda County. Although Measure A narrowly lost,
our advocacy on this issue is far from over.
Earlier this year, I also convened a working group tasked with
creating a pilot program to provide childcare for homeless families. I have been
working with the Alameda County Early Care & Education
Program, Parent Voices Oakland, child care referral provider Bananas, Building
Futures, Oakland Family Front Door, and Oakland Head Start to create a
coordinated system of outreach, navigation, and services for ten families with
children ages 0-3. The pilot’s goal is to create a sustainable, scalable
program that will benefit Alameda County families with the most urgent and
unmet childcare needs. To help make this happen, I contributed $100,000 out of my office budget to provide these subsidized childcare slots.
Island City Interns Youth Career Fair
 In March, I was honored to partner once again with the
Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth and their Families (ACCYF), City of
Alameda, and Alameda Unified School District on the fourth annual Summer
Internship and Career Fair for high school-aged youth in Alameda. This annual event, an initiative of ACCYF’s
Youth Employment subcommittee, is an opportunity to introduce Alameda high
school youth to different career pathways, summer employment opportunities, and
local employers.
Over 50 local government agencies, union trades,
community colleges, and businesses representing industries such as marketing,
sports medicine, health care, digital media, and retail attended the fair to
discuss their education and employment opportunities with over 300 youth. I
would like to thank the county departments – Alameda County Information &
Technology Department, Alameda County Probation Department, and Alameda County
Health Care Services Agency – for attending and supporting youth career
pathways.
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Hesperian Streetscape Update
 The Hesperian Boulevard Streetscape
Improvement Project is a revitalization and beautification initiative in San
Lorenzo between I-880 and A Street for which I secured significant funding. In
April of 2018, Alameda County Public Works discovered that utilities from
AT&T & EBMUD were mapped incorrectly, which has prevented some utility
wires from being undergrounded as planned.
To address this issue, Public Works will
limit undergrounding to the northern and southern ends of the project, with
existing poles and wires along the median islands remaining in place. This is
expected to reduce overall project costs while allowing for completion by June
2021.
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ALL IN Alameda County Update
 One of the guiding principles for ALL IN Alameda County – my
initiative to end poverty in Alameda County – is that the affected community
has the best knowledge on how to remedy systemic barriers to economic
inequality. In the fall of 2015, ALL IN began the Community Listening Sessions
mini-grants, a community-based research project on issues relating to poverty in
the County, to support this principle. The third cohort of grantees, launched
in February, includes 32 community organizations, businesses, and residents
entrusted to hold small discussions, including one-on-one interviews, in their
communities to explore ways to address poverty in Alameda County. This year,
ALL IN asked grantees to select issue areas on the topics of affordable
housing, child care, healthy food access, and jobs. It was motivating and informative to hear what the community had
to say on these issues at the Grantee Learning Circle on May 31.
In addition, ALL IN is excited to partner with StopWaste and
the Oakland and Livermore School Districts to expand the Smart Cafeteria
Initiative thanks to the Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant from CalRecycle.
This partnership aims to decrease
wasted food in schools, increase donation of edible, nutritious foods, and
expand the Smart Cafeteria Initiative to 30 more schools. I am
looking forward to ALL IN providing the workforce to pick up and deliver the
surplus food for this program, which is projected to capture 275 tons of edible
food over two years.
Supporting the San Lorenzo Community
 I was glad
to once again donate $2,000 to the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association for
their annual Earth Day community clean-up and BBQ. Over 200 local community
members volunteered their time to help remove trash and beautify San Lorenzo’s
streets. In addition to the clean-up, this year’s event included a painting
station for decorative rocks and clay pots, a KIDZONE with interactive
activities that provided education on environmental conservation, and a succulent and flower seedling giveaway.
I was proud
to sponsor the new San Lorenzo t-shirts with the saying “IT TAKES A VILLAGE,”
which the SLVHA provided as a thank you to every participant and volunteer. Congratulations
to the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association on another successful Earth Day
event and thank you to all the participants for helping make the San Lorenzo
community a better place to live!
Federal Policy Update
In January, I hosted "One Year into the Trump Administration: An
Update on Federal Policy Changes" as a follow up to the January 2017 special
Board of Supervisors meeting on potential federal policy changes. Nearly 200
residents and public agency staff joined the discussion on the impact of these
changes on Alameda County, including 2017 policy initiatives like tax reform and
immigration enforcement, as well as the current political landscape in Washington.
As the administrator of social
safety net services like Medi-Cal and CalFresh, Alameda County's ability to provide vital
services to our most vulnerable citizens is threatened. Looming
federal cuts to domestic spending have increased uncertainty. I am
committed to continuing my engagement with community partners to educate the
public on these changes and collaborating with state and federal leaders to ensure
the safety and well-being of all County residents.
Earn It! Keep It! Save It!
For the past three years, I
have been pleased to offer my San Lorenzo District Office as a site for the Alameda County Social Services
Agency's (SSA) free Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for low and moderate-income
individuals and families in Alameda County. Starting in January and going until
the end of April, volunteers and staff provide free tax preparation services
and assist eligible residents with voter registration and applications to
safety net services such as CalFresh and Medi-Cal. I would like to thank the SSA staff and community volunteers for continuing to provide this beneficial and necessary service to help hundreds of individuals and families in Alameda County save thousands of dollars in state and federal taxes and also qualify for Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC).
Community Resources
Boards and Commissions
Are you
interested in serving Alameda County and District 3? There are currently
several openings to become a District 3 representative. Learn more at www.acgov.org/clerk/bcc.htm.
Applications, including a cover letter and resume, can be submitted to District3@acgov.org.
Healthy Homes
Lead poisoning, asthma triggers, and safety issues in the home are a
serious threat to our children’s health. The Alameda County Healthy Homes
Department has services to help low-income residents and property owners make
homes safer for young children. If you
own a home or apartment building built prior to 1978 in Alameda, Berkeley,
Emeryville, or Oakland, you are eligible for a free-in-home or phone
consultation to help you identify and reduce lead hazards. Other services
include free lead paint repair and free trainings. For more information or to
sign up for these services, call 510-567-8280 or visit www.achhd.org.
Project Leadership
Series
Are you a parent of a child with special health needs? Family
Voices of California is looking families who can be prepared and supported to
advocate for improved healthcare. Family Voices will offer a Project Leadership
training series, which will include a $250 stipend for participants who
complete all seven sessions. Free on-site childcare and lunch will be offered.
To apply to Project Leadership or for more information, contact Lilian Ansari
at 510-547-7322 ext. 122 or LilianA@FRNoakland.org, or visit www.familyvoicesofca.org.
AAA Senior Resource
Guide
Alameda County’s Area Agency on Aging website has elder
service tips, news, and resources. Click
here to visit the website and learn more about resources available to
all seniors in Alameda County.
Alameda County
Resource Guide
For
information and referrals on Alameda County programs, check out our resource
guide: http://www.acgov.org/government/documents/ACResourceDirectory.pdf.
Starting a Local Business
Do you want to open a business in Alameda County but don’t know where to
begin? Alameda County has two great guides that will help you get started:
-
Guide #1: Starting a
Business in Alameda County
-
Guide #2: Starting a
Business in Unincorporated Alameda County
- (Ashland, Castlewood, Castro Valley, Cherryland,
Fairview, Happy Valley, Hayward Acres, Hillcrest Knolls, San Lorenzo, and Sunol)
East Bay Connects
Are you connected? East Bay Connects provides access to low-cost broadband for
as little as $10 a month. New broadband subscribers can receive a free home
computer, free digital literacy training, a year of free tech support, and
access to many resources to learn how to use broadband. For more information,
call East Bay Connects at (886) 460-7439 or contact James Nixon at (510)
377-7224 or jamesshurdinixon@gmail.com. |
