OPINION

By Pastor Kenneth Chambers

Special to The Post

The summer of 2024 promises to be a season of reckoning for both the City of Oakland and Alameda County. The ever-present threat of gun violence, high rates of burglary, robbery and car break-ins, the lack of accessible mental health care, the scourge of sex trafficking, and the imperative need for affordable housing needs to be reckoned with.

The Interfaith Council of Alameda County (ICAC) is committed to working with the faith community, service providers, advocates, businesses, and city and county officials to address the reckoning before us.

The need for emergency housing is apparent. The number of unhoused people in our city and county is both staggering and heartbreaking with a 9% increase in Oakland’s unhoused community since 2022, according to a recent report from EveryOne Home.

ICAC provides emergency housing in Oakland with a safe car park and tiny homes for people living in their cars. ICAC is also planning to develop a transitional housing village at West Side Missionary Baptist Church in Oakland with 25 trailers available to house individuals and families that are currently unhoused.

West Side MBC, at 732 Willow Street in West Oakland, is looking to partner with other congregations across Alameda County that are interested in developing transitional housing with trailers on their properties.

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“There is a need for more action and funding from the state, and city and county officials to provide solutions to the homelessness crisis in Alameda County,” said Rev. Ken Chambers, Sr., pastor of West Side MBC and president of ICAC. “We want to provide unhoused people with stable, transitional housing where they can feel safe and give them some hope. But we can’t do it alone. Working together works.”

“How much more can we take?” asks Dr. Kenneth Anderson, pastor of Williams Chapel Baptist Church. “Public safety is my No. 1 focus and the need for more affordable housing for all people in Oakland. Too many people are homeless, sleeping in their cars and deserve a safe place to sleep.”

Tree of Life Empowerment Pastor Phyllis Scott also supports the proposed collaboration. “As the president of the Oakland community chaplain program, we stand in agreement and in total support of the mission. And the great reckoning that needs to take place and the belief that ICAC is the organization that can see that happen.  All for the shalom of the city,” she says.

On Thursday, July 11 from 1:00-2:30 p.m., community members are invited to join ICAC at Williams Chapel Baptist Church, 1410 10^th Ave. in Oakland, to reckon with the unfolding crises before us. We believe having “all hands on deck” can move our communities in the necessary direction towards solutions.

For more information or questions, visit www.interfaithac.org.

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