Bay Area
Is a Billionaire Serving Unhoused Oakland Residents Eviction Notices?
In mid-December, Game Changer LLC, delivered eviction notices to and erected a fence around nine unhoused residents who live on a tract of land west of Wood Street in West Oakland in an effort to force them to leave property the company owns but has left unused since its purchase.
Game Changer appears to be owned by Fred Craves, who owns or has owned two other corporations worth over a billion dollars each. Some of the nine unhoused residents have lived on the land for over eight years. The company has recently hired a security guard to keep watch over the area.
“With regard to the eviction suit, well over 90% of the campers who were on the private property left without the need for legal action,” said Pat Smith of Smith LLP, a firm representing Game Changer. “Almost all of them are looking forward to improved conditions that will result from the Safe Parking Center.”
Smith’s statement refers to a proposed city plan to convert the site temporarily into a city-run safe parking site for unhoused residents who live in vehicles. While city documents show plans for a new West Oakland safe parking site that had originally been set to open in November 2019, an email from October 2019 to The Oakland Post from Oakland Assistant City Administrator Joe DeVries, said that “the owner would need to clean [the site] thoroughly first before it could be developed into such use.”
If such a site were opened and were similar to other city-run safe parking sites, it wouldn’t be available to most of the nine residents still staying on Game Changer’s land. So far, the city run safe parking sites have only been available to those living in vehicles. Several of the residents on the land don’t live in vehicles, but in self-made homes or tents. Other city-run safe parking sites haven’t allowed oversized vehicles or vehicles that are inoperable. Several of the residents on the land live in large buses and one lives in a broken down RV. Other city-run safe parking sites also have limited resident stays to six months.
On Nov. 5 and 6, 2019, the City of Oakland and the Oakland Police Department cleared abandoned vehicles and asked residents on the site to leave. While it’s difficult to say how many were on the site at the time, most residents estimated the population at around 100. Most residents did leave when asked and many who left moved either to the curbside of Wood Street or onto bordering land owned by Caltrans. But some residents, with the support of a protest staged by more than three dozen Oaklanders, decided to stay on Game Changer’s land. Those who remained are now the ones both fenced in and subject to legal action by Game Changer.
“The owner of the property has entered into a lease with the City of Oakland to enable the city to operate the property as a safe parking center,” said Smith in a Jan. 3 email to The Oakland Post, confirming Game Changer’s plans to let the city use its site. “The initial term of the lease is 18 months from commencement of operations. Rent is one dollar per year.”
Neither Game Changer’s lawyers nor the City of Oakland have yet mentioned who the owner of the company is. But a search into California’s Secretary of State’s online service for information on LLCs shows that Frederick B. Craves, who also goes by Fred Craves, registered Game Changer LLC in June 2012.
While the company’s jurisdiction is listed as “Delaware,” its mailing address is listed in downtown San Francisco. Game Changer’s listed mailing address is the same as Bay City Capital LLC, which Craves registered in 1997 and whose website describes it as “a life science investment firm” that has over $1.3 billion in capital commitments.
In 2009, Forbes reported that Craves funded a firm called Reliant Pharmaceuticals, which he sold to a company called GlaxoSmithKline for $1.7 billion in cash in 2007.
The Oakland Post contacted Bay City Capital and spoke with Craves’ assistant, who said she would pass our inquiry onto Craves. At press time, Craves had not commented and it remains unclear what his intentions are for the site after the 18-month lease is up.
Activism
Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association
The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”
Youth-Led Black August Event Brings Past to Present at East Oakland Boxing Association
The East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA) and Youth Alive! came together on Aug. 21 to share with their community all that Black August means to them.
Held on EOBA’s patio at 816 98th Ave. in Deep East Oakland, the two organizations hosted their second annual Black August Experience, featuring a food tasting, financial literacy and mindfulness workshops, and voter registration with the League of Women Voters Oakland (LWV).
Black August is known as a time to uphold the legacy of prisoners who protested their conditions by fasting, fighting, and educating themselves on the economic and political circumstances that contributed to their incarceration.
According to its website, “EOBA is a multi-service youth and community development hub that goes far beyond the ring. While rooted in the discipline of boxing, for nearly 40 years EOBA has also integrated robust programs in workforce development, food justice, afterschool enrichment, financial literacy, mentorship, and wellness.”.
The mission of Youth Alive! Is to “break the cycle of violence, heal trauma, and uplift a thriving community of leaders, to save lives in Oakland and beyond” by serving “as mentors, youth leaders, counselors, case managers, intervention specialists and violence interrupters,” working “to help violently wounded people heal themselves and their community.”
Through Coro California, another leadership organization serving young people across the state for 80 years, they gained a broader understanding of Black August.
EOBA Executive Director Dawna Williams spoke about how much she learned about Black August from the youth who created it. “I let them educate me,” she said. Instead of talking about prison reform and mass incarceration, Williams and youth interns found that Black August meant so much more. “We would have done a disservice if we had just focused on who the people were and what their situation was…We tried to take their message from back in the day and make it relevant to the young people today. What do they need to know?”
Youth interns created and placed posters around the patio to help participants understand how traditional Black foodways, civic engagement, financial literacy, and the power of education are relevant to Black resistance today.
An EOBA member described Black August with Youth ALIVE! as “a whole vibe. “This year we added the Fun Zone for the kids, because you really cannot go wrong with a Fun Zone. I also loved seeing everyone chillin’ in the outdoor lounge, catching some Vitamin D and just enjoying a Friday evening together.”
The food tasting, a popular event from last year, featured traditional Black foods such as black-eyed peas, johnny cakes, and fried chicken. Led by Williams, the tasting included a talk about how these traditional foods were made and why they are forms of Black resilience.
The “‘Plate of History’ was a favorite of the online writers. “Fun, educational, and did I mention delicious? Our Taste of History cook, Angela Southall, served up some good eats while connecting food to history and culture.”
The writer also commended the “League of Women Voters Oakland for their civic leadership and for getting our young people informed, ready, and registered to vote.”
Overall, it was a “good Friday event in East Oakland,” the writer said.
Upcoming Black August events: Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The websites for East Oakland Boxing Association, Youth Alive! and CORO are sources for this report.
Jana Lang is an Oakland resident, teacher, gardener and poet participating in the Propel News Initiative.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of August 26 – September 1, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 26 – September 1, 2026
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Activism
Oakland Post: Week of August 19 – 25, 2026
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of August 18 – 25, 2026
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