RESTORE A Vision of Development without Displacement
Restore Oakland
Photo by Brooke Anderson
ReportRetrospective
RESTORE ContentContent71 2 3 4 5 6 Letter to the People pg 8 Truth Reinvestmentand pg 10 A Better Vision for Safety pg 20 Strategies for Shared Prosperity pg 32 CommuityPower pg 40 Our Vision for the Future pg 48
theLetter1toPeople
Whether it is your first time learning about Restore Oakland or you are a long-time supporter, I am excited to share the origins, inspiration, and work that went into this groundbreaking initiative.
Dear friends, As an honorary board member of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and a supporter since its founding, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Restore Oakland.
I believed in the Ella Baker Center when I was working down the street as a civil rights lawyer in 1996, and I believe in them now. They have remained true to Ella Baker's vision: that the strength of every person and the power of the organizations they build is what fuels meaningful change. A project of this scale could not have been accomplished alone. In the following pages, you will see the incredible contributions of our partners and community members who made this vision a reality. I hope that after reading this report, you feel as hopeful as I do for the future of the movement for racial and economic freedom.
My life's work has been dedicated to exposing systemic racism in our country, particularly in the criminal justice system, and I am inspired by Restore Oakland's visionary approach to public safety and restorative healing.
With gratitude, MICHELLE ALEXANDER Honorary Board Member at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights Civil Rights Lawyer, Legal Scholar, and Author of TheNewJimCrow
2 Truth Reinvestmentand
Located in the heart of Oakland's Fruitvale District, Restore Oakland (RO) is a community advocacy and training center that mobilizes Bay Area community members to transform our economic and justice systems and make a safe and secure future possible. Our community organizing and advocacy efforts help shift resources away from prisons and punishment and toward community reinvestment and restorative justice. We strengthen our communities by mobilizing our collective power to demand that local institutions and decision makers invest in neighborhoods like ours. Our vision is founded on the pillars of Truth and Reinvestment: telling the truth about the impact of our country's long history of racial injustice, building the power of those who have been harmed, and engaging them as leaders to reinvest resources in healing our communities. We believe in a local people-powered economy and accountability-centered justice system where everyone belongs and thrives, including people who have been incarcerated, working people, immigrants, and people of color.
Restorative justice is a set of principles and practices aimed at addressing harm, rebuilding relationships, and promoting community healing. It is based on a theory of justice that recognizes crime as hurtful to individuals and communities rather than as a violation of the law. By engaging persons who engages in harm, persons harmed, and community members in dialogue together, restorative justice offers an inclusive and transformative alternative to a costly and inefficient criminal justice system rooted in punishment. From leadership development and civic engagement to job training and restorative justice mediation, Restore Oakland responds to the most urgent needs of vulnerable communities in Oakland – with an emphasis on the surrounding Fruitvale neighborhood.”
What is Restorative Justice?
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NWAMAKA AGBO Board Member of Restore Oakland Inc, CEO of the Kataly Foundation, and Managing Director of the Restorative Economies Fund by Nwamaka Agbo is under CC BY 4.0
2RESTORE | ReinvestmentandTruth 13 What is Restorative Economics*? Restorative Economics is a community-based movement towards inclusion, healing, and restoration of vulnerable communities. Restorative Economics leverages communityowned and community-governed projects to build community, self-determination, and collective political power. "Restore Oakland is a shining example of what is possible when neighbors come together to organize and articulate a shared vision for their community, and to practice participatory decision-making for shared prosperity.”"
* Restorative Economics Framework © 2017
licensed
We believe in...
15 PEOPLE POWER Our model is unique because we lead with organizing and advocacy to mobilize the power and self-determination our communities hold. We provide hands-on job training, business incubation, restorative justice mediation, and housing rights services—all in one space.
The restaurant sector holds promise for creating jobs and careers, particularly for immigrants and people who have been formerly incarcerated. Restore Oakland acts as a model for generating economic opportunity by providing living wage jobs and empowers individuals who want to work in the culinary industry.
ACCOUNTABILITY
2RESTORE | ReinvestmentandTruth
Together with the community, we create a better model for community transformation that can be replicated in other cities and communities.
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC POWER Community organizing, collective power-building, and community self-determination to advance campaigns drive investment in jobs, housing, and education, not more punishment and prison.
THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY FOR OPPORTUNITY
REIMAGINING SAFETY
Restore Oakland works with hundreds of local community members to hold our institutions and decision makers accountable to our community's collective needs and vision for the future.
2022 ReportRetrospective 16 The families we work with don't lead single-issue lives, and Restore Oakland ensures that we can provide more than a single-issue solution. Restore Oakland serves as a movement incubator where residents can come together to vision, experience, and build strategies for solidarity and healing justice in their neighborhood.
2RESTORE | ReinvestmentandTruth 17 HEALING JUSTICE ECONOMICSRESTORATIVE COMMUNITY ORGANIZING RESOURCECOMMUNITYHUB Trainings to smallentrepreneursempowerandbusinessownersCommunity mediation and healing circles Opportunities for formerly individualsincarceratedGathering spaces for local groups Restore Oakland provides spaces and resources for underrepresented individuals, including queer, immigrant, and formerly incarcerated residents of Fruitvale and Oakland. These focus areas offer an alternative to punishment and incarceration by providing solutions rooted in healing.
2022 ReportRetrospective 18 2013 First Night Out for Safety and Liberation 2014 "Jobs Not Jails" campaign begins to decrease prison population and increase investment in education and jobs 2015 First donation received from Akonadi Foundation for the feasibility study "Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families" is published
Disrupting history by creating pathways towards Justice
Too often, our city's resources have gone to prisons and punishment rather than pathways that lead to security and real safety. From the very founding of our nation to the present day, our political, economic, and social systems have relied on racism and economic inequality to concentrate power and wealth in the hands of the few. Instead of cultivating a world based in care and reciprocity, systems of power have commodified the land and exploited working class communities of color for profit. In Oakland, far too many people have been shut out of job and career opportunities due to prior involvement with the criminal legal system along with decades of unjust economic and criminal justice policies. We all want to live in an Oakland where everyone belongs and prospers, our families feel safe, and all residents are empowered to take part in the benefits of a booming economy and a thriving community. Restore Oakland is helping to build new pathways that lead towards equity and collective prosperity. Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS) brought on board as architectural partner Capital Campaign Acquisitionbegins of Fruitvale space for the center State of California is sued for overcrowding in prisons. begins
2016
2011
Realignment
2RESTORE | ReinvestmentandTruth 19 2019 Capital Campaign officially closes with a grand total of $22M raised over five years Restore Oakland has its grand opening Reem's becomes the first restaurant partner housed in Restore Oakland Our work is informed by a Truth and Reinvestment framework Truth”means reckoning with the reality of racial injustice– from slavery to Jim Crow to our current criminal justice system. Reinvestment”means leading a shift in resources away from the punishment economy and toward programs that promote economic opportunity for families and neighborhoods. Our vision of Truth and Reinvestment means talking about how our country has prioritized and profited from shackles, walls, and jails in communities of color, while divesting from those same communities. Restore Oakland is a solution that reinvests in opportunity and healing for those who have been most harmed. Restore Oakland is a firstof-its-kind project, and is an exemplary model for community transformation that can be replicated in other cities and communities to promote racial, economic, and social justice. By creating a space focused both on providing more economic opportunity, and on preventing more people from entering the criminal justice system in the first place, Restore Oakland helps to create a more whole, healthy, and economically vibrant community. 2017 Received New Market Tax Credit for the Officiallyproject break ground onsite in Fruitvale 2018 Listening sessions begin to understand needs of the Partnercommunitywith Community Works West and Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY) 2020 Restore Oakland closes due to OaklandspacesplatformsthroughProgramsCOVID-19continuedigitalandoutdooratRestore 2021 Soft reopening of Restore Oakland
3A Better Vision for Safety
From the beginning, our capital campaign was driven by our vision to be a community advocacy and training center that empowers Oakland to be a city where everyone belongs and thrives. Securing a permanent home ensures that the Ella Baker Center's work can continue for generations to come, and strong communities need strong community-centered institutions. Restore Oakland is now an anchor in the community to empower local members to safely and effectively create positive change in their neighborhoods. In a time where residents and local groups are being priced out of Bay Area neighborhoods at an alarming rate, the importance of keeping community-serving organizations rooted in the community cannot be understated.
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In 2013, members of EBC partnered with other social justice organizations across the country on a community project called "Who Pays? The True Cost of Incarceration on Families". The report received nationwide coverage, and brought to light many of the harms caused by the modern policing and prison systems. However, through this project and many previous efforts in the restorative justice space, EBC realized that much of the focus and dialogue around these issues highlighted problems around incarceration without offering solutions to transform the harm done.
to"Howdowebuildamoreholisticapproachcommunitysafety?"
This was the question that the team members of the Ella Baker Center (EBC) asked themselves in the early 2010s, before anyone had heard of Restore Oakland.
We responded with a vision for a partnership that focused on restorative justice and economic opportunity as a way to address the broken system. The initiative, named Restore Oakland, would serve as a local space to connect with members of the community through a restorative justice approach to addressing trauma, in which victims feel heard and supported, conflicts are resolved, and communities are strengthened.
Through Restore Oakland, EBC and our founding partner Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United envisioned a community advocacy and training center that will empower its beneficiaries to transform local economic and justice systems and make a safe and secure future possible for all.
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2022 ReportRetrospective 24 Feasibility In early 2015, EBC partnered with CALSO Community Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization based in the Bay Area that designs and implements innovative solutions generating positive economic and social impact, to complete a feasibility study on the scope of the Restore Oakland project. Community data was collected and analyzed to evaluate the potential locations, facility design, key services, and programming Restore Oakland would offer the community. Several key factors were identified in the study that grounded Restore Oakland as a fully functioning community advocacy and training center for the surrounding community of Fruitvale. These supporting identifiers gave shape to Restore Oakland's concept and tethered the mission to the community by taking into account the current barriers residents were facing so the project could meet the needs of our community. ACCESSIBILITY visitors and employees alike needed Restore Oakland to be centered and in close proximity to them AFFORDABILITY increasing costs of real estate in the Bay Area underlined the need for Restore Oakland to be a permanent space be permanent NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY decades of divestment from resources signified the meaningful impact Restore Oakland would have on the community
Oakland– A
History
The Bay Area has a rich and devastating history of segregated city-planning, exclusionary policy making, and race based violence– realities that were met with equally strong resistance and community organizing. When the urban renewal project in the mid-1950s began taking place, West Oakland was decimated as a hub for African American and Latinx families, forcing residents of this area to move east towards the Fruitvale and Melrose districts in Oakland. The Unity Council, one of the first organizations created to combat poverty in the Latinx communities in Oakland, was created in 1964 and still exists today as part of our family of partners at Restore Oakland. Through the 60s and 70s, organizing in these East Oakland neighborhoods grew rapidly with the draft of the Vietnam War taking young African American and Latinx men, and the rise of incarceration and police brutality. Numerous community groups were created to provide resistance against race-based injustices, demand more jobs for the community members, and ramp up community organized safety. The Black Panther Party and other groups emerged to organize walkouts and marches to protest the war, set up free breakfast programs, and create free drug use and addiction education programs. Through these turbulent times, Oakland has proven to be a place of resistance and progress with our community at the center of its ideation and execution.
Throughout each decade, the people of Oakland have come together and created groups and projects to uplift each other. The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights was founded in 1996 by Van Jones and Diana Frappier. Throughout our history, we have engaged in campaigns related to civic engagement, violence prevention, the green jobs movement, juvenile justice, and police Unity-basedbrutality.action
3RESTORE | VisionBetterA 25 OAK,CA
is not possible without the collaboration of the many community-based organizations in Oakland that have unwaveringly remained on the front lines against the injustices that have been plaguing our vulnerable communities for a century. Oakland has become a model for collective resistance, organizing, and healing, and has held space for the emergence of a radical addition to the movement– Restore Oakland. Brief
2022 ReportRetrospective 26 Fruitvale Neighborhood in Numbers* 53k populationEstimated size 50% 4547378% People of color 350+ identify IndigenousLatinx/ housing units federally subsidized (Oakland Housing Authority) total enrollees in Oakland Housing Authority/Housing and Urban Development home ownership program small businesses Fruitvale's vibrancy and resilience come from the multiple generations of Black and Brown community members that have called this neighborhood home. While most are renters, there is a presence of federally subsidized housing in the neighborhood and a home ownership program that is critical for fighting against displacement. With over 350 small businesses, Fruitvale has a diverse economy that Restore Oakland can support with its community driven and entrepreneurial approach that models components of restorative economics. * These numbers reflect data compiled between 2020 and 2022. See appendix for citations.
RESTORE 27 3 | VisionBetterA Why Fruitvale FruitvaleforPotentialSucess ViabilityCommunityNeeds ResourcesSupport Access to BART and AC Transit Proximity to most affected communities Emphasis on support for individualsunderrepresented Affordable space for institutionscommunity After considering several options, Restore Oakland decided on a location on International Blvd and 34th Ave near the Fruitvale BART station.
Photo by Brooke Anderson
2022
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SHELLEY ROBERTS Project Architect at Designing Justice + Designing Spaces
Designing Justice
The Restore Oakland community center is a safe place for Oakland residents to dream, organize, and act together. The space was thoughtfully created through an iterative process that prioritized community stakeholder needs. In 2013, Deanna Van Buren, Design Director at Designing Justice + Designing Spaces (DJDS), put on a community workshop with the Bright Research Group to understand how to engage people around creating restorative justice cities. As trailblazers in restorative justice, DJDS and EBC partnered to create a permanent space that could house our county's most essential organizations and provide invaluable resources to restore our communities. Community engagement was an integral part of the process DJDS undertook to design the space. DJDS conducted extensive studies to better understand the community that Restore Oakland serves and designed creative engagement programs, including workshops and community events, to encourage widespread participation from community members. It was important for the project that community engagement was not a one-off interaction; time, effort, and care were taken to build trust and make people feel heard. This was a process that was shaped and reshaped by stakeholder needs and our program vision: to create a space that supports restorative and economic justice. "It is impossible to design effectively for experiences you haven't lived. And it is necessary to connect both with the people doing the programming work, as well as people in the neighborhood who have been impacted by unjust systems."
Photo by Brooke Anderson
Finding Our Home
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Having a permanent space where organizations like Restore Oakland, the Ella Baker Center, and Causa Justa Just Cause are housed is vital in the fight against gentrification and creating space and resources for those in the community. EBC moved nine times in its 23 year history before breaking ground with Restore Oakland. Ever-increasing rents in the Bay Area have made community-centered organizations like the Ella Baker Center especially vulnerable to displacement and destabilization. For EBC, the location is also crucial to collaborating with our partners under the Restore Oakland project, building collective power, and increasing self-determination. The synergy of the organizations housed in Restore Oakland empowers them to extend their impact.
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Restore Oakland is the first building in the nation built specifically for restorative justice. In order to provide the community a pathway to shared prosperity and healing, Restore Oakland needed to build strong partnerships with like-minded organizations that could then support the program offerings and use community input to tailor the building design, and maximize our physical space.
Restore Oakland is rooted in restorative justice and community reinvestment, placing the wellbeing of the community directly into the hands of the community.
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Investing in Programming for Shared Prosperity Community needs are dynamic and often fluctuate. We are committed to being a restorative space designed for and with the community. As our communities strengthen and evolve, we will too.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has directly impacted Restore Oakland's initial program concepts. Each partner has navigated their own shift in support services to best serve residents safely and collaborate together to rethink what was possible. Throughout the pandemic, Restore Oakland has evolved with the community and has shifted based on community needs. As our community continues to experience hardships from the pandemic, we know it's critical to stay adaptable and experiment with new ways we can support community development that drive democratic practices.
4RESTORE | ProsperityShared 35 Healing an d RestorativeJusticeOaklandRestoreInc. OaklandRestorativeJusticeforYouth(RJOY) WorksCommunityWest immIgrant/Migrant Em powerment 67 Suenos CJJC JusticeRefor m EllaCenterBaker HousingDefense/TenantRights Causa Justa Just(CJJC)Cause EconomicJustice OpportunitiesRestaurantCenter(ROC)United Our partners come together in unique ways with Restore Oakland; many are also doing complementary work in the surrounding areas of Oakland. Our current partnerships between the Ella Baker Center, Causa Justa Just Cause, Community Works West, Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth, and Restaurant Opportunities Center United intentionally bring together peer organizations leading the restorative justice movement in Oakland. Our Partners CocinaLa
2022 ReportRetrospective 36 Causa Justa Just Cause A base building organization that provides leadership development and rights-based services to tenants and immigrants in a Black and Brown unity model cjjc.org Community Rooms Offers an affordable meeting space to community-based organizations, coordinated by Restore Oakland, Inc. OaklandRestore Inc. Restore Oakland Inc. creates empowermentsafetyvisionandcenteredcommunity-spacestohealcreateasharedforcommunityandeconomic restoreoakland.org
37 4RESTORE | ProsperityShared Parking Lot A space for mutual aid for the community Ella Baker Center Organizes in community to shift resources away from prisons and punishment, and towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong ellabakercenter.org Kitchen & Restaurant an evolving space that currently houses Reem's, provides affordable meals, and hosts classes. reemscalifornia.com Peace Room A space dedicated to and designed to support restorative justice initiatives
Outside Restore Oakland, community members are greeted with a mural that covers the entire exterior side of Restore Oakland. 67 Suenos (American Friends Service Committee) partnered with Restore Oakland to paint the mural titled "Heal Your People, Heal Yourself." The work showcases the beauty of the neighborhood's diverse backgrounds, cultures, and lingo. The mural reminds residents of the importance of healing generational trauma and ending cycles of pain.
Cultural Investment In order to serve the community, Restore Oakland needed to represent the community physically.
Inside Restore Oakland, additional murals give homage to influential Oakland leaders, activists, and artists. Afro-centric, Latinx, and Ohlone symbols are used throughout, honoring the history of the people and diverse migrant stories that make up Fruitvale.
Photo by Brooke Anderson
The Restore Oakland project is made by a collective of people whose work together is leading to liberation for all.
"Strong people don't need strong leaders."”-ELLABAKER
Photo by Brooke Anderson
Community5Power
2022 ReportRetrospective 42 Initial Forecast Final Capital Campaign million$3 $22 million
The Restore Oakland capital campaign began as a vision for what community safety looks like when we reallocate money from the industrial prison system back into our communities. What started as an idea in 2014 then developed into the real possibility of constructing the first restorative justice center in the country. Increased ambitions for the project, paired with the rising cost of living in Oakland in the mid-2010s dramatically increased the capital required for Restore Oakland, though we decided early on not to compromise on the center's offerings based on costs. Thanks to the generosity of our many donors, we were able to fully realize our vision for the project, and close the capital campaign completely debt free. We were also able to use the remaining funds to offer community programs through the pandemic. With the funds from the capital campaign laying the foundation needed for Restore Oakland, the center will serve as an anchor for better economic opportunity and safety for years to come.
Dreaming Big
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2022 ReportRetrospective 44 $1 Million and Above Anonymous Donor The California Endowment San Francisco Foundation $100,000–$999,999 EastGoogle.orgBayAsian Local Development Corporation QuinnHellmanHeising-Simons(EBALDC)FoundationFoundationDelaney&WayneJordan $15,000–$99,999 Akonadi Foundation Nora Cragen and Al Pfeiffer Bob Deutsch and Donna Terawaza Google Matching Gifts Program Libra Foundation Merle RoseOmniaNaomiLustigBaranFoundationFoundationfor Communities & the SaraRosenbergEnvironmentFoundationSandersenandEric Weaver Unical Roots The Herbert Mclaughlin Children's Trust $5,000–$14,999 HanminGooglersFirstDavidCedricCatherineAnonymousLerzaMooreSalemRepublicBankGiveFundLiuandJennifer Mei Helen Cagampang Holly Delany Cole Pivotal Ventures LLC Mendelsen Family Fund Michael J. Esposito Paula Sneed and Lawrence Bass Richard and Marlene Milikan Family SocialWilliamTheSolidagoFundFoundationMeryashFamilyFundFordJusticeFund Our Donors We are grateful for our donors, whose generous support made this work possible.
RESTORE5 | PowerCommunity 45 $1,000–$4,999 Ann JarayamanZacharyWilsonTiaTheSylviaSuzanneSusanBayShowingSheliS.D.RuthRebeccaMichaelMegMarlenaLovisaLisaLinkedJustinJoshJordanJanHannahGretchenDavidCarolBettyRosenbergandDonStoneBloomDrummondKanitzgHuntandLuccianoCorazzoSantellBaranSteeleFateFundforJusticeSpinaloBrownHendersonRenikBullSillsMorganBechtelJr.FoundationNanandSamTabachnikUpforRacialJustice-AreaDickeyE.SiskelArchitectsInc.KilgfeldFamilyFundMartinezWhiteNorrisandSaru $250–$999 Adrian Schurr Alan KarenJustinJuniperJuneJudithJohnJoannaJillianJeanneJaneHeatherLaw,HammondFransEugeneErikAssociationEnvironmentalEmmaElizabethDanielDanielCheriBenjaminBaynardBarnettBarbarbaAnthonyLevineRagonaAliceRhineTrzcinskiVeillerPetroskyNjemanzeEdelsonStraussSandersonLydonGrantmakersStallmanFrantzvanEerselYoungImmigrationLLCWakefieldHobermanBellKwellerBrentCaryL.MuschelandPaulLowenbergDownsSowaMead Laura Peck and Alan Stein LeAnn Bischoff Lili MiquetteMatthewMarthaMarilynM.LoreleiLindaShidlovskiMarcheschiVillarosaDianeBentonPalla-DrokeM.VolnerHermannandJames Thompson Naomi Richman, LMFT NBC Entertainment Nick Slater Paul ShirleySarahVergerWoodHaberfeld and Bob Allegrotti Stephen Tolkin Susan Banki Terry Kupers and Harriet Charney Thomas M. Meyer Tomkins Family Foundation Virginia Morgan If you contributed to the Restore Oakland project, but do not see your name on this list, please reach out to give@ellabakercenter.org.
2022 ReportRetrospective 46 Aaron Jirron Ashley Claw Ash BobBeckyLynetteBob-WaksbergDeutschandDonna Terawaza Caleb JanJackHollyGeetikaFaniaErinEmilianaElizabethDianaDebbieDeannaDarrisDahni-ElCarmenZigasRojasGilesyoungVanBurenLeggioFrappierFraserPuyanaRossittoDavisAgrawalDelanyColeHorganandLucianoCorraza Special Thanks We are proud and grateful for the people who played a vital role in the success of this project including, staff, board members, contractors, and volunteers. Jason RaymondPhillipPayalNwamakaNolanMiquetteMattMaricelaMariaMarcosMamdouhLovisaLiamKyleKatJohnJocelynJerryJeremyToroMontonJaiWongWongCulbergRawlinsChinnBrownFekkakDavisMorenoGuttierezNelsonThompsonPackAgboPatelSandersPettit Reem Assil Reetu Mody Ruth Morgan Sage Gully Sara Sanderson Saru ZainebZachYejideVanessaVanessaTomTeiahshaTiaTashSuzanneSophieShelleySethSeikouJayaramanSibyBrambleRobertsMiyoshiDockalNguyenMartinezBankheadMcCoyHuangMosesAnkobiaNorrisMohammad
Photo by Brooke Anderson
Thank you to our family, friends, and community members who supported and inspired the Restore Oakland project.
forOur6VisiontheFuture
While we recognize the urgency to tackle the injustice of today's prison system, we know that a transition like this does not take place overnight. Restore Oakland seeks to be a proof of what can be done- a stepping stone toward a tangible, effective alternative to heal our communities and keep our people safe. Starting with our own community in the Fruitvale neighborhood, we believe Restore Oakland can serve as a viable blueprint for cities across the country who are willing to examine a restorative justice approach to community safety. To fulfill its potential, Restore Oakland needs the support of the public and a collective buy-in toward the future that we envision.
Different cities are faced with different challenges spanning across food security, access to healthcare, and many more. Reach out and listen to the members of your community who are impacted most by inequity and who understand the roots of the problems at the local level.
Think critically about what you are trying to achieve, and the partners who you would like to embark on this journey with. Restore Oakland began with a vision and materialized only through the hard work of several partner organizations and generous supporters of our capital campaign.
The Restore Oakland building and the establishment of the 501(c)(3) were years in the making, and encountered several challenges throughout its development.
If you are interested in using Restore Oakland's model for community safety in your neighborhood, start by asking what your community needs.
If you need any help along the way, or are seeking information regarding the capital campaign, please feel free to get in touch with us at give@ellabakercenter.org.
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Dear SeveralCommunity,yearsago,
This initiative would not be possible without the organizations and team members that worked tirelessly over the last decade to make this vision a reality. Thank you for believing in the wisdom of people who have been excluded from the discussions that impact their lives, the discussions that allow for the ongoing discrimination and caste subordination of people. Thank you for believing that a different world is possible and that we can build it one step at a time. Thank you for your grace- there were a lot of stumbling blocks and there will continue to be obstacles. At the same time, we continue to see people show up and acknowledge that we are better than our worst mistakes. We can only heal in community, and our donors and supporters have helped create that community that recognizes the inherent dignity of all people.
We are now seeing what is possible when we move past divisiveness, and center the wisdom of the people who have been most impacted as we innovate solutions for a more healed future. With Gratitude, ZACH NORRIS Founder of Restore Oakland & Former Executive Director at the Ella Baker Center
Over the last decade, there has become a stronger, more bipartisan desire to reexamine the criminal justice system and create alternatives to mass incarceration. We see Restore Oakland as a response to this need, and as a vehicle toward a future without unjust prison and policing systems. For me, Restore Oakland is like the equivalent of the solar panel for the environmental movement- a tangible solution to a pressing challenge that will hopefully help inspire people to take action and invest in the future of the public. With the same passion and support for our movement, we believe that Restore Oakland can be a guiding light for a new and promising system that champions healing justice over incarceration.
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Restore Oakland was merely an idea that our team had dreamed up in the dimly lit, windowless office of the Ella Baker Center. Today, we are so proud of what it has become- a new home for us and our amazing partners, and a symbol for our larger movement to repurpose funding from the existing imprisonment systems and into real safety infrastructure. In our new home, and in collaboration with the community, we are empowered to create change that moves our world closer to our new vision for public safety.
2022 ReportRetrospective 54 In partnership with YCore and the Summer 2021 cohort members, we are grateful for the individuals who volunteered their time to create this report: Brielle Mariucci, Kaity Galanos, Alex Wing, Caroline Moore, and Tracy Chow. https://ycore.org/
3RESTORE | VisionBetterA 55 Appendix National Housing Preservation Database, https://nhpd.preservationdatabase.org/Data Accessed 12, June 2022 Oakland Housing Authority, disclosed via Public Records Act request submitted 13 April 2022 Rasilla, Azucena. “Fruitvale Merchants Worry about Their Neighborhood’s Future.” Berkeleyside, 24 April www.berkeleyside.org/2020/04/24/fruitvale-merchants-worry-about-their-neighborhoods-future.2020,Accessed 30 June 2022. United States Census Bureau, 2020 Data Results https://www.census.gov/
RESTORE OAKLAND 1419 34th Ave, Oakland, CA give@ellabakercenter.org94601