Picking up Trash & Planning for the Future 🌱✊🏾
Black Earth Day | 5-year vision | Get Paid to Canvass
Revitalizing 7th Street: Round TWO!
Last year, over 60 people turned out and collected more than 130 bags of trash along the 7th St. Corridor. We're back at it again on April 20th for our 2nd Annual Black Earth Day! Black Earth Day spun out of EB PREC's 7th St. Cooperative Cultural Corridor Revitalization Plan, which - in partnership with Bay Area LISC - we've renamed 7th St. Thrives (we think it's a little easier on the tongue)!
EB PREC and Bay Area LISC (as 7th St. Thrives) will be hosting this year's corridor cleanup in partnership with the City of Oakland, Soul Blends Coffee Roasters, residents, and more to celebrate Earth Day and honor West Oakland's historically Black-owned business district. Come out and help us continue to grow our vision for a robust and vibrant 7th St.
When: Saturday April 20th, 10AM-3PM
Where: 1724 7th Street Oakland CA, 94607
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! Will you contribute to the reactivation of our community? Email projects@ebprec.org if you can support Black Earth Day in any of the following roles or RSVP below:
- 5-7 Clean-up Captains to guide other volunteers
- Lending Materials: We need 5-7 wagons and speakers
- 1 volunteer w/ a pick-up truck to collect bagged trash
- 1 volunteer w/ a car to be a floater driver on 7th st. (as support)
- 7th St. businesses interested in "adopting a spot" to keep clean
- 7th St. businesses to facilitate a water & snack station
We've reached 5 years. What's next?
The last five years came with some big wins for EB PREC and our land sovereignty movement. We've liberated several properties, increased our staff, and now proudly boast close to 600 members!
Earlier this month, the EB PREC staff collective came together to align on our 2024 work-plan and map out our five-year vision. We've exited our infancy and want to continue to bring the same radical energy and transformative approach to land sovereignty for the next five.
Our staff retreats are designed to leverage our wins, put our cooperative values into practice, and exercise how we share power as an organization. Every member of our staff collective contributed to and discussed our co-op's direction and objectives for the year. Some highlights:
- The first day of our retreat took place in the Barn, one of our 2023 acquisitions! Rooting ourselves in the space inspired our five-year visioning workshop and grounded us in our goals for Esther's Orbit Room and future acquisitions along the 7th St corridor.
- Each Circle within EB PREC developed and presented their goals for the year. We spent an entire day developing a high-level timeline to determine project priorities, improve how we coordinate internally, and identify meaningful ways to fold in community leadership to maximize impact.
- One of EB PREC's mission pillars is #HealPeoplePower, which we practice internally through regular trainings facilitated by our Resiliency Circle. Our retreat included a Resiliency workshop on decolonizing Non-Violent Communication (NVC), removing western notions of "civility" that can often lead to invisible forms of violence. At every turn, we seek to equip our team with authentic strategies for navigating conflict both in and out of the workplace.
- We went on a group-hike and Ojan gently chased some cows off the path.
What comes next: EB PREC's theme for 2024 is focused on seeing projects through and reinforcing our internal systems to sustainably hold our work well into the future. We have a lot on our plate for 2024, but we're feeling energized by our work and our community's support. We're in the process of firming up our 5-year vision and will want YOUR input down the road to ensure EB PREC's goals are closely aligned with our community's needs. Stay tuned!
Get PAID to canvass with DAP in the DEEP!
With the weather warming up, we are SO excited to relaunch our community canvassing series! Join our Displacement Avoidance Project (DAP) team as we connect Deep East Oakland neighbors with housing resources and support to help our community stay rooted! Click the button below to RSVP!
We've made some changes to the schedule, and are now heading out the last Saturday of every other month, starting on March 30th. We're incredibly excited to offer $500 stipends to folks who canvass with us as part of our relaunch! Reach out to here2stay@ebprec.org if you'd like to learn more!
When: March 30th, 1pm
Where: Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors Resource Center
9400 International Blvd (Unit C)
Dive into EB PREC's DNA
Curious how EB PREC came to be? We're not that old! But for those who are interested, Tavi Baker recently published a great piece "Freedom Dreams: A Herstory of the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network".
The East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative was born out of a collaboration between the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network (POCSHN) and the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC). We highly encourage supporters of land sovereignty and our PREC movement to give Tavi's piece a read to learn about POCSHN's past work and what its organizers are up to next!
Attend an Upcoming Orientation!
No matter where you're from, housing is an issue that affects us all. Join over 300 cooperative members who are challenging the traditional, extractive real estate model. We collectively organize to purchase and co-steward land and property in order to keep tenants of color rooted in our community, remove housing from the speculative market, and reverse the root causes of displacement.
We host monthly orientations to connect with our community. Orientations are the perfect place to ask questions about EB PREC's work and learn how to get more involved in the land sovereignty movement! RSVP for our online Orientation below. Invite your network and neighbors too!
Our Movement Needs YOU!
We're HIRING! Check out the job description below and share this within your network if you know someone who might be a good fit!
The Real Estate & Finance Analyst will support our staff and membership by providing the financial & technical tools and know-how to analyze, finance, and acquire real estate assets within the EB PREC model. They will work closely with our Real Estate and Finance teams, as well as groups of EB PREC members working toward property acquisitions. In collaboration with other staff, they will help analyze and troubleshoot projects for financial feasibility, work through scenarios with stakeholders, develop project concepts and prepare projects for acquisition, conduct site visits and assess physical conditions, identify and acquire financing, engage with sellers and realtors in the acquisition process, and manage assets in our portfolio. They will also support the Executive team with organization-wide financial planning and fund management. Role will be open until filled.
Housing Opportunities
The following properties are potential or in progress EB PREC acquisitions looking for new residents! Check out the openings below if you or someone you know is searching for housing and intentional community!
Orchard House: Downstairs unit with 3 rooms.
Click here to learn more about this listing.
Co-op 789: Temporary room available.
Click here to learn more about this listing.
