Turning Houses into Homes in East Oakland, Calif.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, East Oakland battles some of the recession’s fiercest outcomes, including an 11 percent vacancy rate—up 221 percent since 2000. The community, which received a federal foreclosure-response grant through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), also suffers 16 percent unemployment. Those statistics have helped brew what Anne Griffith, head of the Oakland Community Land Trust (OakCLT), calls the “perfect storm” over Oakland’s economic recovery.
OakCLT formed in 2009 and is working to transform many of Oakland’s 9,000-plus foreclosed homes into neighborhood assets. It has acquired 17 homes and rehabbed eight, creating good jobs in the process. Even with the land trust’s shared-equity model, qualified buyers like Elizabeth Lockerbie (left) are scarce.
Elizabeth, who learned about OakCLT at a homebuyer class, purchased her home to share with her four younger siblings, ages 19 to 11. The family lost their mother a few years ago. With homeownership, comes a kitchen big enough for everyone to pitch in at dinner, the freedom to turn a garage into a dream-come-true art studio for her sister and, most importantly, the opportunity to remain together as a family.
Anne says the OakCLT has learned a lot from fellow NSP grantees through the Enterprise-led East Bay Collaborative, which is aligning and strengthening revitalization efforts of NSP grantees and their development partners. Enterprise also provided OakCLT with a $50,000 grant and expertise in program design, loan structures and green rehabilitation.
“Enterprise has been a bright star in an otherwise nearly impossible constellation,” says Anne. “Everyone wants to see success. Enterprise understands that our metrics may look different because of our community’s unique challenges.”