By Sponsored by JPMorganChase

Mercy Housing California and JPMorganChase help neighborhoods—and residents—thrive.

Finding an affordable place to live remains a challenge for many as widespread housing shortages persist across the U.S. Rising home prices and high interest rates have made homeownership inaccessible to a large portion of the population. Meanwhile, as rental demand increases, the number of renters facing affordability challenges is rising.

The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reveals that cost burdens for renters reached another record high in 2023. Similarly, the JPMorganChase Institute reports that renter affordability is declining, forcing people to devote more of their take-home pay to housing costs. There is a growing need for affordable housing across the U.S., and that rings true here in Oakland.

To close that gap, it’s essential that all Oakland residents share in its growth, with housing options that accommodate a range of needs and budgets. For Mercy Housing California, this meant delivering a concrete solution to the local community, resulting in housing for individuals and families who otherwise might not have been able to live in the area.

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For older adults living on fixed or limited incomes—including seniors who had been without a stable place to call home—The Eliza offers something that can feel out of reach in today’s housing market: a place to belong in the Oakland community where they’ve put down roots. Developed by Mercy Housing California with support from J.P. Morgan, The Eliza brings 97 new homes to seniors aged 62 and older, with 20 of those homes set aside for seniors who were formerly homeless. Here, “affordable” means rents are tied to what residents can actually pay so that a home stays within reach rather than consuming a household’s entire budget.

“As housing costs continue to rise across California, far too many older adults living on fixed incomes face the heartbreaking risk of displacement or homelessness, often for the first time later in life,” said Tiffany Bohee, President of Mercy Housing California. “Here, seniors can age in place independently, access onsite services tailored to their needs, and find a community where they can truly feel at home. Thanks to the commitment of partners like JPMorganChase, we’re helping ensure Oakland remains a place where seniors of all incomes can age with dignity, stability, and belonging.”

“We’re proud of the far-reaching impact this project will have. It reflects Mercy Housing California’s mission to uplift our communities and expands the supply of high-quality, affordable homes,” said James Vossoughi, Community Development Banking, J.P. Morgan. “Every additional housing unit matters—and increasing the number that are affordable is critical.”

A broader commitment to Oakland’s future

While The Eliza is foundational, the vibrancy of a community depends on much more. In Oakland, the firm provides banking services to more than 675,000 customers and works across sectors to expand economic opportunity. Over the last five years, JPMorganChase has invested $35 million in local nonprofit organizations, supported 61,600 small business clients and delivered financial health education to thousands of residents to broaden access to banking, financial health resources, homeownership and other wealth building tools.

“As we work with local stakeholders to expand housing options, JPMorganChase’s goal is to create inclusive economic opportunity for all,” said Dan Schrauth, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Private Bank and Chair, Bay Area Market Leadership Team, JPMorganChase. “When our communities thrive, we all thrive.”

The journey to close the affordable housing gap continues, with industry leaders like Mercy Housing, Inc. finding a path forward to bring real solutions to the Oakland community.

Locally and nationally, this project reflects JPMorganChase’s American Dream Initiative, a commitment to scaling local housing solutions across the country—learn more at www.jpmorganchase.com/America.

You can also read more about what’s happening in the Bay Area at https://www.jpmorganchase.com/communities/sf-bay-area.

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By Tanya Dennis

For nearly four years, Beverly Shaw fought to bring her husband home.

She watched as David Shaw moved through three nursing homes, became increasingly sedated and repeatedly expressed his desire to return to his wife. Last week, that finally happened.

The National Probate Reform Coalition (NPRC), formed by the Post Newspaper Group in January following years of reporting on alleged abuses within the probate court system, helped Beverly secure the return of her husband, along with the couple’s property and assets.

For NPRC, the Shaw case represents its first major advocacy victory. For David, it means something much simpler: He finally got to go home.

In a letter to the court, Beverly raised serious concerns about her husband’s care at Riverview at the Park Nursing Home.

She alleged that David was frequently heavily sedated and questioned whether his medications were properly documented. She said an aide told her medications were sometimes administered without proper charting, although she acknowledged she had not independently verified that information.

Shaw also said she was unable to obtain David’s medical records and questioned medications he was receiving despite previous medical instructions following his 2023 stroke.

“I believe David has been subjected to abuse, neglect, and unnecessary chemical restraint,” Shaw wrote.

The allegations are Shaw’s account and have not been independently established. But they raise questions central to NPRC’s mission: Who is watching when a vulnerable person becomes subject to guardianship? Who is accountable when family members say they are ignored? And who makes sure the person under guardianship, not the professionals surrounding them, remains the priority?

“Please let me go home”

Perhaps the most compelling part of Shaw’s case was David’s own voice. Shaw told the court she possesses recordings in which David repeatedly expressed his desire to return home.

After 45 years of marriage and four years apart, Beverly argued that David deserved the opportunity to spend his remaining years at home with his wife, receiving individualized care.

NPRC responded with a “Request for Compassion” letter-writing campaign to Judge Thomas Inman, Associate Circuit judge for Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. The coalition also helped Shaw pursue appropriate legal filings and engaged with her attorney to press for action.

The court ultimately returned David to Beverly’s custody and restored the couple’s property and assets.

“What we have here is the power of coalition,” said Alee Carrino, an NPRC planning committee member. “We applied pressure from all sides, and it worked.”

The victory comes during NPRC’s eighth month of organizing for probate reform. The coalition advocates for greater judicial and governmental oversight, court ombudsmen, mandatory mediation, transparency in probate billing and stronger protections for elders and disabled people.

The Shaw case sends a powerful message: Guardianship is supposed to protect vulnerable people, not permanently separate them from those who love and care for them.

David Shaw asked to go home. His wife fought to bring him home. NPRC supported her every step of the way, and this time, the system listened.

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LOS ANGELES — Mario relied on his job in the car wash industry to raise his three children. It was during a shift at a Santa Ana car wash last August that he was arrested by federal agents, taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center and held for two months.

“They made me sleep on the cold floor for a week without a blanket, a toothbrush or basic medical care for the injured man next to me,” Mario, a 33-year resident of the United States, said at a news conference earlier this summer at Inglewood’s Crenshaw Imperial Car Wash, which is now closed after being raided by federal agents.

Mario, who is being identified only by his first name for safety reasons, is among hundreds of car wash workers detained across Southern California in the year since the Trump administration began an aggressive immigration crackdown in the region, according to the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center.

News of raids by masked agents has faded from the headlines, but the effects still linger for those caught in the crosshairs. Family members have been deported or left to languish in detention, and many who remain live with the fear of being hunted down by immigration officers.

At least 373 car wash workers have been detained at car washes across Southern California since the raids began last summer, according to figures compiled by CLEAN. The group’s data also shows federal agents raided or attempted to raid at least 106 car washes in communities across Los Angeles, Orange County and surrounding areas, including Inglewood, Culver City, Westchester, Bell and Whittier.

CLEAN, an advocacy group founded in 2007, has been fighting to protect car wash workers from exploitation and unsafe conditions. When the raids began last year, the group sprang into action, working around the clock to help detained workers and provide their families with legal and financial support.

“We gathered our information from workers, managers, and owners of the car washes that were being raided,” CLEAN Deputy Director Andrea Gonzalez said. “We also gathered information from rapid response teams who were on the ground responding to the raids.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment on the group’s findings.

Mario said he was one of seven workers at the Harbor Blvd Car Wash detained on the same day last August, but the only one who has been released. He said he refused to sign deportation papers and is fighting to stay in the United States, a process that has drained his family emotionally and financially.

“Being released is not the same as being free,” he said.

During Mario’s detention at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, his wife and children struggled to cope with his sudden absence while fighting for his release, his wife Alejandra said.

“The employer gave us a video showing my husband being taken away under arrest, treated worse than a common criminal, with chains binding his legs, arms and waist,” Alejandra said. “It wasn’t right.”

The experience of a car wash worker named José was recounted at the news conference by the Rev. Andy Schwiebert of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, who said agents “took him” from the La Cienega Car Wash last August.

José’s wife is a U.S. citizen, Schwiebert said, and José had a pathway to gaining citizenship before he was detained. By the time a judge ordered his release on bond, the car wash had shut down, Schwiebert said, leaving José without a job.

“These raids did not just target workers; they destabilized families, congregations, workplaces and entire communities,” Schwiebert said.

The administration’s aggressive enforcement operations have continued across the nation in the months since José’s and Mario’s detention, with ICE arrests in July surging to their highest rate so far under President Donald Trump.

Last month, ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three in Houston. Less than a week later, an immigration officer fatally shot 26-year-old Johan Sebastián Duran Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine.

Back in Inglewood, Mario said he was grateful to share his story and that, even though he was released, his experience in detention stays with him.

“I still feel frustrated and traumatized,” Mario said, “because my life is no longer the same as it used to be.”

Ernesto Ureño is a Loyola Marymount University journalism major and intern at Capital & Main, a nonprofit publication focused on inequality. It is published here with permission.

Based on reporting by Wave Community Newspapers.

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