Affordable Housing, Remembering Gus Newport, and More Berkeley News
$20 Million Approved for Creating and Preserving Affordable Housing
Concept art of the proposed 65-unit Woolsey Gardens that would provide affordable condominiums and cooperative housing. Final design may differ from the above rendering. Source: Northern California Land Trust
The Berkeley City Council recently approved just over $20 million for three affordable housing projects in South Berkeley. Combined, the three developments will provide 170 units of affordable housing, with a majority of the units reserved for households with very low incomes.
$14.5 million was reserved for Ephesian Legacy Court, being developed by Community Housing Development Corporation in partnership with the Ephesian Church of God in Christ, which is providing the land. The project will provide 80 transit oriented units for seniors. Roughly 75% of the units will be available to individuals earning 50% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI), and the remaining units are for seniors and/or homeless individuals at or below 30% AMI. The AMI for Alameda County is $103,550 for an individual, and $147,900 for a household of four people.
Additionally, $1 million was allocated for predevelopment of Woolsey Gardens, which will provide 65 units of limited equity housing. 41 of the units will be residential condominiums and 24 units will be shared cooperative housing. It will cover a wide range of affordability, from 30%-120% AMI. The project will be owned by the Northern California Land Trust.
Lastly, $4.5 million was allocated for the purchasing and rehabilitation of the Russell Street Residence, a 17-bed board and care operated by Insight Housing (recently renamed from Berkeley Food and Housing Project (BFHP)), located at 1741 Russell Street, and two adjacent lots at 1743 and 1747 Russell Street, each with a four-bedroom single family home. The main building hosts formerly unhoused individuals diagnosed with serious and persistent mental illness and the adjacent properties providing housing for people with disabilities experiencing homelessness. The funding will help with the needed repairs and system upgrades for the properties. Funding the acquisition of Russell Street will preserve critically-needed supportive housing in Berkeley for people with a disability or mental illness who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Berkeley Receives State Grant to Address Homelessness
Super 8 will become the latest motel in Berkeley to be converted to provide housing opportunities for those experiencing homelessness.
Last week, the City of Berkeley was awarded $4.9 million in State funds to convert the Super 8 motel on University Avenue into a shelter that will house 72 people. Nearly $200 million was allocated across 23 projects, including in Berkeley, in the most recent round of the Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF), including nine in the Bay Area. The ERF was established in 2021 to support local jurisdictions and provide shelter and support to people experiencing homelessness in encampments, with the ultimate goal of creating a path to stable housing.
The City Council is expected to vote to accept the grant and approve a lease with Insight Housing at its July 11th meeting. Insight Housing (formerly called the Berkeley Food and Housing Project) will operate the shelter and brings years of experience of providing homeless services and low income housing throughout the region.
To date, the ERF has provided $295 million in grants for 50 projects. During the first round of funding in February 2022, $4.7 million was awarded to the City of Berkeley to convert the 43 room Rodeway Inn on University Avenue into an interim housing program. This motel had originally been converted to a homeless shelter during the pandemic in 2020 under Project Roomkey. With the ERF funding in 2022, the City, in partnership with UC Berkeley, was able to move and support dozens of people who had previously resided in People’s Park.
New City Whistleblower Program to Launch
Earlier this month, the City Council approved a plan for the City Auditor to implement a new Whistleblower Program for the City of Berkeley. Currently, there is no formal avenue available to Berkeley residents to report concerns regarding City fraud, waste, and/or abuse. The program will include a confidential hotline for reporting such concerns 24/7/365 days of the year. This hotline will be available to all city employees, contractors, vendors, and residents. The City Auditor, who is independently elected by the citizens of Berkeley, would oversee the program, which will launch once an audit manager is hired and the hotline and protocols are established. Stay tuned in the coming months for updates on a launch date. In addition to improving government transparency and accountability, such a program could significantly reduce costs associated with fraud.
Free Youth Summer Lunch Program
Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday through August 10 (excluding July 4), the Berkeley Public Library will be hosting a free lunch for all youth aged 18 and younger. Lunch is served at the community room on the third floor of the Central Library at 2090 Kittredge Street from 12pm-2pm. In addition to lunch, youth can play board games, take home a free book, and engage in various other activities, including arts and crafts. Menus are designed to fulfill USDA nutrition standards, with the weekly menu being posted on the Library’s event calendar. Baby food pouches are available for babies and toddlers ages 6 months to 3 years, and snacks are available for caregivers, while supplies last. Children under 8 years old should be accompanied by an adult.
The Summer Food Service Program is a program of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, administered in California by the California Department of Education. The Library’s participation is funded in part by the California State Library’s Lunch at the Library grant program supported with funds from the State of California, and with meal sponsorship from Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD). Additional funds for supplies provided by the Friends of the Public Library.
Remembering Gus Newport
Gus Newport, who served as Mayor of Berkeley from 1979-1986, passed away on June 17 at the age of 88. Originally from Rochester, New York, Newport began his storied career of political activism there in the 1950s and 1960s, at one point working alongside Malcolm X to address police brutality against Black Muslims. After a stint working for the Department of Labor, he moved to Berkeley in 1974, where he worked for the City of Berkeley while getting involved in local activist groups. In 1979, he was encouraged to run for Mayor, which he won.
As Mayor, Newport led Berkeley into becoming the first city in the United States to divest from apartheid South Africa. He worked alongside San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk on LGBTQ+ issues, with Berkeley becoming the first city to provide benefits to domestic partnerships. He was also among the first mayors to participate in a Pride Parade. He partnered with progressive mayors across the country, including Bernie Sanders who was mayor of Burlington, Vermont at the time. He supported several initiatives to create rent control, improve social services, increase government transparency, reform policing, and expand economic development. His mayorship took place during the height of turmoil and civil wars in Central America. During this time, three sister city relations in Central America were established, and Berkeley’s Sanctuary City status was expanded to support Central American refugees.
After his two terms as Mayor, Newport worked with cities across the country on community development projects that support neighborhoods that have been impacted by gentrification and institutional racism. A notable example is the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston, a critically acclaimed program that enabled local residents to buy homes at affordable costs, which he served as director of. After Hurricane Katrina, Newport worked on rebuilding impacted communities along the Gulf Coast. As a lifelong advocate for social justice and human rights across the world, he would go on to be a member of the National Council of Elders, co-chair of the U.S. Peace Council and Vice President of the World Peace Council.
We are eternally grateful for Gus Newport’s service to the Berkeley community and his unyielding commitment to human rights that has inspired countless people throughout the world to continue his legacy. He will be greatly missed.