Community
Kaiser Gives $5.2 Million to Affordable Housing
Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO Bernard Tyson and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced the first $5.2 million investment from Kaiser Permanente’s $200 million Thriving Communities Fund.
This investment will fund the purchase of a 41- unit apartment building in East Oakland—a first step in the health care giant’s efforts toward ending homelessness.
Kaiser created this fund in 2018 to improve community health by addressing homelessness, together with other pressing public health issues.
“Housing security is a crucial health issue for vulnerable populations,” said Tyson. “Access to affordable housing is a key component to Kaiser Permanente’s mission to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve and to advance the economic, social and environmental conditions for health,” he continued.
Tyson said that none should go without the human necessities of food and housing.
This announcement came because of Mayor Schaaf’s effort to end homelessness for more than 500 Oakland residents.
“The health and wellness of Oakland is tied to housing in Oakland,” said Mayor Schaaf. “I’m grateful for partners like Kaiser Permanente, the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation, and Enterprise Community Partners, who are taking a new approach to improving the health outcomes of all our residents by improving housing security for our most vulnerable residents.”
“I’m pleased that Kaiser Permanente’s first impact investment to address housing and homelessness is in Oakland, demonstrating our organization’s commitment to our communities here and in the Bay Area,” said Janet Liang, regional president for Kaiser Permanente of Northern California.
This is a bold investment to improve Oakland’s health.
Schaaf pledged to continue to innovate and create new pathways until all Oakland residents, in all neighborhoods, feel secure in their housing.
