Case Study Report
Our Process, Our Approach, and Our Learnings
This is the story of the Berkeley Black community’s experience of decades of displacement and disinvestment, and how a small, grassroots community organization helped to advance the right to stay, right to return and right to thrive in South Berkeley.
We asked, you spoke, we listened. What did we discover?
Ready to see transformation in action? Tap below for an exclusive peek at our E4BB brochures – your inside scoop on the groundbreaking ideas from last year's People's Assemblies! Don't just watch change happen, be part of it. Subscribe to our newsletter now and secure your spot in the next phase of revolution!
The Affordable Housing Preference Policy (AHPP)
In July of 2023, the City of Berkeley passed its first Affordable Housing Preference Policy (AHPP). The policy became law January 1, 2024. It establishes 7 preferences that give community members priority for affordable housing. 👊🏾✊🏿
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Listen to the first episode! The Telling Our Stories Podcast
Meet Wilhelmenia Wilson (Executive Director), Ayanna Davis (Deputy Executive Director), and Suzette Chaumette (Board President) of Healthy Black Families, Inc. Who are they? What let them to this work? What does housing have to do with a human’s overall health?
Equity 4 Black Berkeley is the beginning of the City of Berkeley repairing harm to the Black community caused by institutional racism, segregation and redlining.
Over the next 2 years, Healthy Black Families, Inc. (HBF) will be continuously engaging community to share developments and gather input from community members. Our mission is to support the city of Berkeley in understanding what it means to repay, repair, rebuild, and restore the Black communities of South and West Berkeley.
The first step of action is for current and past community members of South Berkeley to take our survey. This will ensure we have your input and voices to be represented in future planning.
The City of Berkeley has experienced historical and unprecedented mass displacement of its Black and Brown residents and families.
Equity 4 Black Berkeley is engaging community to envision what will be built block by block throughout the corridor.
Community Resources
Why Reparations Matter Now
Welcome To The Neighborhood
When artist Mildred Howard, daughter of legendary Berkeley activist Mable Howard, loses her South Berkeley home due to soaring rental prices, it costs Berkeley a piece of its history and its legacy. This story of an African American family illuminates both personal power to create possibilities in adversity and the broader issue of gentrification and a housing crisis that threatens a community.
African American Holistic Resource Center
Members from the African American Black Professional and Community Network (AABPCN) and Berkeley NAACP (BNAACP) have been advocating and leading efforts in the city of Berkeley since 2011, for the creation of the African American Holistic Resource Center (AAHRC).
The mission of the AAHRC is to eliminate inequities and disparities by using community-defined best practices and approaches to support wellness in the African American Community.
Friends of Adeline (FOA) is a diverse group of caring South Berkeley residents working in partnership with local businesses, nonprofits, and others to affect change so that our neighborhood is an inclusive and just place for all people. Guided by principles of social justice and solidarity, FOA has been convening community for over a decade to speak truth to power around proposed development of the Adeline Corridor. At the core of their advocacy is that development of and within this community must be inclusive, empowering, and respectful of the diversity of the people of South Berkeley. It must recognize the historic and ongoing importance of Japanese American, African American, immigrant, and other communities of color in shaping and determining the growth and culture of this neighborhood.
The Adeline Corridor Specific Plan Area (“Plan Area”) is located in the southern portion of the City of Berkeley and extends approximately 1.3 miles north from the Berkeley/Oakland border along Adeline Street and a portion of Shattuck Avenue. It serves as an important gateway to Berkeley’s Downtown (to the north) and to Oakland (to the south).