Bay Area

Moms 4 Housing Hosts International Solidarity Event

Published

6 years ago

April 23, 2020

Dominique Walker (front left) and Carroll Fife (front right) of Moms 4 Housing stand with Tur-ha Ak (top left) of Community Ready Corps and Fred Hampton Jr (top right) outside of the Magnolia home that Walker and other homeless and housing insecure Oakland moms occupied for 57 days. Photo courtesy of Dave ID / Indybay.org

Oakland’s Moms 4 Housing hosted an international online solidarity event called “Reclaim Homes from the US to the UK” with representatives from the Focus E15 Campaign in London. It took place on Sunday at 10:00 a.m. in Oakland and 6:00 p.m. in England.

“This meeting comes at the time of the great coronavirus emergency, but for many, the emergency was already here, especially for homeless men, women and children who are across the globe. At the same time we know there are many homes and buildings which lie empty,” said Focus E15 member Saskia O’Hara from London at the event.

Both Moms 4 Housing and Focus E15 are housing justice groups that are calling for all people to be housed who wish to be. They have highlighted the fact that housing units remain empty in their communities while people who could live in those empty units remain unhoused.

“There isn’t a housing crisis, there is a profiteering crisis, there is a capitalism crisis, there is a moral crisis that’s allowing this to happen,” said Moms 4 Housing member Dominique Walker.

Both groups have relied on direct action to seek and achieve their goals, prioritizing occupations and protests over negotiations with politicians and owners of vacant housing units. The groups introduced themselves to each other and the over 160 people who attended the meeting and talked about some of the work they have done.

“Focus E15 is a direct action campaign that was formed in September 2013 when a group of young mothers was served eviction notices while living in Focus E15, a hostel for young homeless people. That’s how the campaign got its name,” said Carolina Talaver, a doctoral anthropology candidate at U.C. Berkeley who lived in London, studied the group, and has become an active member.

Talaver explained that the young mothers and their supporters became organized because, after the eviction, the local government told them that “because of cuts to housing, welfare support, and the lack of affordable housing in London, they would have to accept private rented accommodation in different parts of the country if they wanted to be rehoused…these young moms got really organized and they started fighting back,” said Talaver.

On the one-year anniversary of Focus E15’s formation, the group occupied a social housing complex called the Carpenter’s Estate in Stratford East London, which was owned by the local government but left vacant. Focus E15 opened the estate to the public for two weeks as a social center.

“They raised awareness that this estate, which was in good condition and continues to be in perfectly good condition, sat empty. While London’s most in-need and marginalized were being forced out of the city due to lack of affordable housing, the Carpenter’s Estate was empty,” said Talaver.

Focus E15’s occupation and the circumstances it arose has similarities to an action that sparked Moms 4 Housing. Beginning on Nov 18 2019 and ending on Jan 14 of this year, when the county sheriff’s department evicted them, homeless moms who were members of Moms 4 Housing occupied a home on Magnolia Street in West Oakland that a corporation named Wedgewood owned but had left vacant. Wedgewood owns at least 125 properties in the Bay Area.

“We moved into this house to bring awareness to the crisis in our city, which is speculation. Corporations have come into our community…and pushed folks out,” said Walker of Moms 4 Housing.

After hosting rallies and events that regularly attracted more than 100 supporters during their occupation, securing vocal support from Oakland City Council members Rebecca Kaplan and Nikki Fortunato Bas as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom, Wedgwood agreed to sell the home to the mothers through the Oakland Community Land Trust. Wedgwood and the Oakland Community Land Trust are currently in negotiations to get the moms back into the home.

When both groups had finished speaking of their separate struggles and actions, the event, which lasted two hours, hosted a discussion and a Q & A. Those who participated were from Oakland and Sacramento Ca., Portland, Ore., London and Lisbon in Portugal.

“This is only the beginning. We really welcome everyone from around the world,” said O’Hara of Focus E15.

Focus E15 and Moms 4 Housing plan to host another meeting again together.

Zack Haber

Posts by Zack Haber

Related Topics:Carolina Talaver Focus E15 Moms 4 Housing Saskia O’Hara Zack Haber

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Bay Area

IN MEMORIAM: Longtime OUSD Employee Debra King-Cooper, 73

Longtime OUSD Employee Debra King-Cooper, 73 Caption: Debra King-Cooper. Courtesy photo. Special to The Post Debra King-Cooper, a beloved mother, grandmother, queen, sister, church member, caregiver, and matriarch, transitioned peacefully on May 20 surrounded by family and love i

Published

13 hours ago

June 17, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Debra King-Cooper. Courtesy photo.

Special to The Post

Debra King-Cooper, a beloved mother, grandmother, queen, sister, church member, caregiver, and matriarch, transitioned peacefully on May 20 surrounded by family and love in the comfort of her home. To her children, she was royalty, grace, strength, and unconditional love embodied.

Debra Diane Edgar was born on May 28, 1952, in San Francisco, California, to Charles Edgar Sr. and Mamie Arthur Edgar. She was raised alongside her younger brother, Charles Edgar Jr., affectionately known as “Little Brother” or “Lil Bruh.” She also shared close bonds with her older siblings Carol Edgar-Lang, Maryann Edgar Calloway, and Lonnie Lewis Sr.

A proud product of San Francisco’s historic Fillmore District, Debra attended Andrew Jackson Elementary School, where she met her lifelong best friend and adopted sister, Lynn Green, in the fifth grade. She later attended Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School, Roosevelt Junior High School and Thomas Jefferson High School.

Debra’s mother transitioned when she was only 17 years old, and her father transitioned when she was 23. Despite these profound losses, Debra remained grounded through the love and support of extended family and lifelong family friends,

In 1971, she married Harold King. On Sept. 24, 1972, they welcomed their first son, Dajuan Artese King, affectionately called “Pop” or “Poppa.” On Aug. 5, 1976, they welcomed their second son, Dante Dupree King, affectionately called “Tay” or “Taboocoo the Baby.”

After her divorce in 1982, Debra assumed full responsibility for raising her sons.

She supported Dajuan’s passion for football by purchasing sports equipment and attending games faithfully. She supported Dante’s love of music by enrolling him in the San Francisco Boys Choir, Oakland Boys Choir, and the Castlemont Castleers.

Professionally, Debra built an exceptional career. She worked at Blue Shield of California from 1973 until 1994, earning multiple promotions.

She later joined the Oakland Unified School District, initially in a temporary role before being promoted into management within the Labor Relations Department. She retired from OUSD in 2015 after years of distinguished service. During her years at OUSD, she built meaningful friendships with her colleagues.

Faith was central to Debra’s life. During the 1980s, following personal hardship, she joined Love Center Church under the leadership of Bishop Walter Hawkins, where she brought her children regularly. She later became a member of Triumphant: A Church Without Walls Ministries under Pastor Dr. Larry Short, who became a beloved spiritual mentor.

After Triumphant closed in 1992, Debra joined Cosmopolitan Baptist Church in Oakland under the leadership of Pastor Larry Ashley, where she remained for the rest of her life.

At Cosmopolitan, she worked in numerous ministries. She served on the usher board, sang in the choir, participated in the AIDS ministry during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, helped feed and support unhoused community members, and mentored and supported a group of young girls.

After retirement, she cared for older adults in her church community, driving them to appointments, cleaning their homes, managing finances, preparing meals, and helping families navigate funeral arrangements after loved ones transitioned.

Even while battling Stage 4 cancer herself, she continued caring for others.

Debra was preceded in death by her parents, Charles Edgar Sr. and Mamie Arthur Edgar; her brothers, Lonnie Lewis Sr. and Charles Edgar Jr.; her sisters, Maryann Edgar Calloway and Victoria Stephenson Knight; and her adopted mother, Clara Oliver.

She leaves to cherish her memory her beloved sons, Dajuan King and Dante King; grandson, Tiyler Dajuan Artese King; sister, Carol Edgar-Lang; goddaughters Monique Belle and Ricketa Matthews Jones (Leonard); daughter-in-love Quiona Sullivan; son-in-love Marcel Walker; sister-in-law Delores Lewis; adopted sisters and lifelong friends Lynn Green, Barbara Stephenson Hill, and Sarah Fine; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, great-nieces, great-nephews, extended family members, her church family and dear friends.