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Tenants Seek Landlord’s Commitment to Improve Conditions at Sojourner Truth Manor

At this week’s meeting with board members and the staff of HumanGood, the private property managers that operate the site, tenants invited local political leaders who have expressed concerns about conditions the senior citizens are experiencing.

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Unrepaired damage to the floor of one Sojourner Truth Manor apartment that flooded in May 2023, creating extreme danger to an elderly resident. Photo by Ken Epstein.
Unrepaired damage to the floor of one Sojourner Truth Manor apartment that flooded in May 2023, creating extreme danger to an elderly resident. Photo by Ken Epstein.

By Ken Epstein

Tenants of Sojourner Truth Manor in North Oakland are scheduled to hold a meeting this Friday with the board and managers of the senior living complex where tenants will seek commitments from the landlord to resolve their concerns about the lack of building repairs and vermin infestation, as well as failure to communicate with residents and disregard and disrespect for tenants and their rights.

At this week’s meeting with board members and the staff of HumanGood, the private property managers that operate the site, tenants invited local political leaders who have expressed concerns about conditions the senior citizens are experiencing.

Tenants of the 85-unit housing complex at 6015 Martin Luther King Jr. Way have told the Oakland Post they are kept in the dark about what the management is planning or what repairs are underway.

They say management often does not respond to their complaints and concerns about needed repairs such as broken fixtures, flooding, and lack of heat or hot water in individual apartments or vermin and poorly functioning security and building elevators, while the complex’s community room has been out of operation for 11 years.

Of special concern are the lack of translation services for the many tenants who speak languages other than English, including Amharic and Tigrinya; and the failure to hire a new social services coordinator, a position that in the past offered community-building activities and provided information and support for residents.

Tenants also say they are experiencing elder abuse, including intimidation and retaliation for organizing and speaking out. Immediately after an article about their concerns was published in the Oakland Post they received a 22-page list of house rules and a new contract they were told they must sign, even though they already had recently signed an annual renewal of their contracts.

In a statement to the Oakland Post, HumanGood, the private management company, explained that they only took over responsibility for Sojourner Truth last year and have had to deal with conditions at the complex that had been deteriorating for years.

“Before we took over management last October, Sojourner Truth Manor was in need of serious repairs and rehabilitation, and we are committed to completing the important work needed within the community,” according to the HumanGood statement (printed in this week’s Oakland Post).

“We are focused on modernizing the community room, addressing needed repairs around the community, and we also expect to move forward with other construction projects around the campus,” the statement said.

An article in the Oakland Post in 2014 detailed the history of the community effort that created Sojourner Truth Manor in the 1970s.

Initiating the project were the National Black Business and Professional Women and the East Bay Area Club, which mentored youth and worked on career development for Black women, and even worked to get late Congressman RonDellums elected.

In 1971, realtor Ellen Winborn came up with the idea of housing for the elderly, pointing out that federal funding was available. The club embraced the idea and approached the U.S. Department of Urban Development three times before becoming the first corporation of Black women in the country to develop such a project, breaking ground in 1975.

Fifteen Black women became part of Sojourner Truth Housing Inc., a non-profit organization that received $1.8 million from HUD and the Mason McDuffie Investment Co.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 18 – 24, 2025

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Juneteenth: Celebrating Our History, Honoring Our Shared Spaces

It’s been empowering to watch Juneteenth blossom into a widely celebrated holiday, filled with vibrant outdoor events like cookouts, festivals, parades, and more. It’s inspiring to see the community embrace our history—showing up in droves to celebrate freedom, a freedom delayed for some enslaved Americans more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

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Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans
Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

By Wayne Wilson, Public Affairs Campaign Manager, Caltrans

Juneteenth marks an important moment in our shared history—a time to reflect on the legacy of our ancestors who, even in the face of injustice, chose freedom, unity, and community over fear, anger, and hopelessness. We honor their resilience and the paths they paved so future generations can continue to walk with pride.

It’s been empowering to watch Juneteenth blossom into a widely celebrated holiday, filled with vibrant outdoor events like cookouts, festivals, parades, and more. It’s inspiring to see the community embrace our history—showing up in droves to celebrate freedom, a freedom delayed for some enslaved Americans more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

As we head into the weekend full of festivities and summer celebrations, I want to offer a friendly reminder about who is not invited to the cookout: litter.

At Clean California, we believe the places where we gather—parks, parade routes, street corners, and church lots—should reflect the pride and beauty of the people who fill them. Our mission is to restore and beautify public spaces, transforming areas impacted by trash and neglect into spaces that reflect the strength and spirit of the communities who use them.

Too often, after the music fades and the grills cool, our public spaces are left littered with trash. Just as our ancestors took pride in their communities, we honor their legacy when we clean up after ourselves, teach our children to do the same, and care for our shared spaces.

Small acts can inspire big change. Since 2021, Clean California and its partners have collected and removed over 2.9 million cubic yards of litter. We did this by partnering with local nonprofits and community organizations to organize grassroots cleanup events and beautification projects across California.

Now, we invite all California communities to continue the incredible momentum and take the pledge toward building a cleaner community through our Clean California Community Designation Program. This recognizes cities and neighborhoods committed to long-term cleanliness and civic pride.

This Juneteenth, let’s not only celebrate our history—but also contribute to its legacy. By picking up after ourselves and by leaving no litter behind after celebrations, we have an opportunity to honor our past and shape a cleaner, safer, more vibrant future.

Visit CleanCA.com to learn more about Clean California.

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Activism

OPINION: California’s Legislature Has the Wrong Prescription for the Affordability Crisis — Gov. Newsom’s Plan Hits the Mark

Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.

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Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook. Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook.
Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook. Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook.

By Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. VanHook

As a pastor and East Bay resident, I see firsthand how my community struggles with the rising cost of everyday living. A fellow pastor in Oakland recently told me he cuts his pills in half to make them last longer because of the crushing costs of drugs.

Meanwhile, community members are contending with skyrocketing grocery prices and a lack of affordable healthcare options, while businesses are being forced to close their doors.

Our community is hurting. Things have to change.

The most pressing issue that demands our leaders’ attention is rising healthcare costs, and particularly the rising cost of medications. Annual prescription drug costs in California have spiked by nearly 50% since 2018, from $9.1 billion to $13.6 billion.

Last month, Gov. Newsom included measures in his budget that would encourage greater transparency, accountability, and affordability across the prescription drug supply chain. His plan would deliver real relief to struggling Californians. It would also help expose the hidden markups and practices by big drug companies that push the prices of prescription drugs higher and higher. The legislature should follow the Governor’s lead and embrace sensible, fair regulations that will not raise the cost of medications.

Some lawmakers, however, have advanced legislation that would drive up healthcare costs and set communities like mine back further.

I’m particularly concerned with Senate Bill (SB) 41, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a carbon copy of a 2024 bill that I strongly opposed and Gov. Newsom rightly vetoed. This bill would impose significant healthcare costs on patients, small businesses, and working families, while allowing big drug companies to increase their profits.

SB 41 would impose a new $10.05 pharmacy fee for every prescription filled in California. This new fee, which would apply to millions of Californians, is roughly five times higher than the current average of $2.

For example, a Bay Area family with five monthly prescriptions would be forced to shoulder about $500 more in annual health costs. If a small business covers 25 employees, each with four prescription fills per month (the national average), that would add nearly $10,000 per year in health care costs.

This bill would also restrict how health plan sponsors — like employers, unions, state plans, Medicare, and Medicaid — partner with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate against big drug companies and deliver the lowest possible costs for employees and members. By mandating a flat fee for pharmacy benefit services, this misguided legislation would undercut your health plan’s ability to drive down costs while handing more profits to pharmaceutical manufacturers.

This bill would also endanger patients by eliminating safety requirements for pharmacies that dispense complex and costly specialty medications. Additionally, it would restrict home delivery for prescriptions, a convenient and affordable service that many families rely on.

Instead of repeating the same tired plan laid out in the big pharma-backed playbook, lawmakers should embrace Newsom’s transparency-first approach and prioritize our communities.

Let’s urge our state legislators to reject policies like SB 41 that would make a difficult situation even worse for communities like ours.

About the Author

Rev. Dr. VanHook is the founder and pastor of The Community Church in Oakland and the founder of The Charis House, a re-entry facility for men recovering from alcohol and drug abuse.

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