A lawsuit settlement required payback for property destroyed during encampment sweeps. Hear from unhoused people who’ve gotten funds this week, and learn how to collect yours.
Author Archives: Natalie Orenstein
Natalie Orenstein covers housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. She was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where her extensive reporting on the legacy of school desegregation received recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal and the Education Writers Association. Natalie’s reporting has also appeared in The J Weekly, The San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, and she’s written about public policy for a number of research institutes and think tanks. Natalie grew up in Berkeley and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.
Posted inArts & Community
Building a bike for the Golden State Warriors’ Juan Toscano-Anderson
A North Oakland bike shop owner got a dream assignment: design a custom ride for an NBA star.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
New West Oakland program could be one of city’s first ‘co-governed’ homeless camps
After a long search for locations to set up emergency campsites, Oakland has approved two.
Posted inHealth & Environment
Is a new regional agency the answer to the East Bay’s wildfire woes?
Advocates in the fire-prone hills want Oakland, Berkeley, and other agencies to team up to create a prevention plan for the region. Cost could be an obstacle.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Homeless Oaklanders can start the day with a free hot shower in Temescal
LavaMaeX offers something scarce for people without permanent housing: a place to get clean and warm up.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
An Oakland homeless activist finds housing—in Fremont
Pastor Preston Walker was a mainstay at protests and encampments. Now he’s exchanged that life for a washing machine and a queen bed in suburbia.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
How segregated is your Oakland neighborhood?
A new study and interactive map from UC Berkeley researchers reveal that Oakland is the 14th most segregated major city in the U.S.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Watch: The pandemic and housing policy in Oakland
Can the COVID-19 crisis teach us how to address Oakland’s housing crisis?
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
‘Depressingly’ behind on building affordable housing, Oakland looks for more money
New data shows the city is still deeply short on meeting its housing needs, so the Oakland City Council may explore a bond measure and wants to hold a day-long brainstorming session.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness
Oakland tenants and landlords left in limbo waiting for COVID-19 rent relief
Households are accruing debt as they try to navigate confusing applications and a patchwork of city, county, and state programs. Meanwhile, fear of eviction looms.