June 2015 Newsletter

 

In this month's newsletter, meet one of our partners, read about recent events, and learn about a new HOPE project launching this month! 
 
HOPE Spotlight
Kelly Carlisle, HOPE Partner
Kelly Carlisle, Executive Director at Acta Non Verba
This month, we would like to highlight Kelly Carlisle for her outstanding leadership in promoting urban gardening, working towards a healthy and local food system, and empowering East Oakland youth and residents.

 

Kelly is the Founder and Executive Director of Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project, a community-based and community-backed organization that works with youth and adults on increasing healthy food access and providing garden education on their quarter acre urban farm located in East Oakland's Elmhurst neighborhood.

 

Acta Non Verba (ANV), which means "deeds, not words," makes its name a reality by teaching youth, ages 5-13, about urban gardening; the children receive an A to Z education, from the basics of gardening to actually planting and caring for plants and crops. To support the long-term success and growth of youth participants, ANV uses the proceeds from selling its crops to establish college savings accounts for program participants.

 

Most of the children participating in the program live in the Elmhurst neighborhood in which HOPE Collaborative, along with residents and Oakland-based organizations, is implementing the Elmhurst Planning Initiative. ANV and HOPE Collaborative have been strong partners on multiple community health projects. Currently, ANV is developing a website so residents can conveniently access information on social and educational resources they benefit from. Additionally, ANV will be supporting HOPE's Healthy Corner Store Project by designating One Stop Liquor as their CSA pick-up point. This partnership will bring more people to the store looking for healthy food and encourage the store owner to keep improving his selection. In return, the store will be a place where community members can learn more about the work Kelly and ANV are doing in the community.

 

Recently, Kelly was named Veteran of the Year by State Assemblymember Rob Bonta. ANV was also awarded a Playmaker grant, which the Contra Costa Times covered. Considering the great success of Kelly and ANV, HOPE is happy and honored to call Kelly and ANV a partner in the community.

 

Food Systems 
Healthy Food and Fresh Art Coming to One Stop
Leonard and Chelsea Charles are the owners of One Stop, located at 8400 International Boulevard, and are working with HOPE on the Healthy Corner Store Project to bring healthier food to Deep East Oakland. Growing up, Leonard would work in the store alongside his father, who was the previous store owner. After graduating from college at University of Southern California, Leonard worked as an Engineer at the Alameda Naval Air Station until it closed. Faced with the choice of being relocated across the country, Leonard decided to stay in Oakland and took over ownership of One Stop. According to Leonard, One Stop is now one of only three remaining African American-owned corner stores in Oakland.

 

On Saturday, April 18, a group of volunteers came together on a corner store workday to begin the first steps of transforming the store. Community members cleaned up the store and removed an old copy machine, a broken freezer filled with trash, and unused display racks. Afterwards, the group was able to reorganize product shelves to highlight healthier foods. Now, the store is more open and welcoming and bananas and healthy cereals greet customers at the entrance. Customers also got to sample some healthy sandwiches and salads that will soon be available in a cooler at the front of the store. 

 

In the coming month, East Oakland residents will notice a transformation of One Stop - inside and out. HOPE is working with Eastside Arts Alliance and Tarika Lewis, social justice artist and former member of the Black Panther Party, to design and install mural panels promoting healthy foods and beverages on the exterior of the store. The mural is funded by Nutrition Services of Alameda County Public Health Department. Inside the store, customers will soon be able to pick up fresh produce grown down the street at Acta Non Verba (ANV) and healthy sandwiches and salads as part of Last Mile Foods. One Stop will become ANV's only pickup point for its weekly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) pilot, running from June 15 to July 10 and July 20 to August 14. Anyone can sign up for ANV's CSA box here.  

 

HOPE is proud to support these innovative partnerships between Oakland-based African-American small business owners, farmers, entrepreneurs, and artists!


Banking Good Health

HOPE Collaborative is excited to announce the launch of Last Mile Foods, a mobile-based urban logistics and delivery platform connecting local food businesses to small retailers and consumers with the goals of addressing some of the distribution barriers to bringing quality food to underserved markets and supporting food entrepreneurship in low-income neighborhoods. HOPE has been working on the development and launch of this Oakland-grown business in collaboration with local entrepreneur, David Derryck.

 

Last Mile Foods brings a variety of affordable, prepared, ready to eat meals such as salads, fruit cups, and balanced homemade meals to small retailers and other community sites via healthy coolers. Starting in June, Oakland residents can find Last Mile Foods coolers at One Stop Liquor, located on 84th & International and Blue Bird Market, located on 34th & San Pablo. Over the coming months, Last Mile Foods will expand to different community sites such as hospitals, housing developments, community centers, schools, and more corner stores. A Last Mile Foods mobile app will be developed for residents to locate healthy coolers and see what's in stock. The mobile app will also offer a rewards program that encourages users to make smarter health choices.

 

Community sites interested in serving as an outlet for Last Mile Foods should contact Sabrina Wu at sabrina@hopecollaborative.net.

 

Kicking off Healthy Changes at Eihab
On May 15th, our four healthy corner store interns from Coliseum College Prep Academy (CCPA) held an event at Eihab Discount at 6680 International Boulevard to celebrate their accomplishments, raise awareness of healthy food, and promote new healthy foods coming to the store. Event activities included a corner store scavenger hunt to find ingredients at the store that could be made into a healthy meal; taste testing pre-made salads and sandwiches which will be piloted at the store in collaboration with Last Mile Foods; a fresh fruit tasting and feedback activity to expose people to new fruit and learn which people prefer; and a photobooth activity where people could pose with a sign about the changes they hope to see at the store.    

Over the course of the year, the CCPA team was able to collect over 100 surveys from customers who shared their shopping habits, impressions of the store, and ideas for improvements. They also hosted a workday to clean and reorganize the store, developed working healthy food standards for the store, developed a list of potential new healthy snack items, and informed their fellow students about their work to bring healthy food to the community. The interns shared that they enjoyed learning about healthy food and doing something to help their community while building their leadership and public speaking skills.

We appreciate all their hard work and accomplishments and look forward to them being able to find even more healthy food at Eihab when they return to school in the fall.
 
Community Engagement 
Residents Meet with Mayor Schaaf
Oakland residents meet with Mayor Schaaf about the Healthy Development Guidelines.

Last year, Resident Leaders from East Oakland Building Healthy Communities (BHC) hosted Oakland Speaks, a resident-led forum that asked over 10 mayoral candidates on their plans for increasing opportunities for flatland residents around healthy food access, job creation, and economic development and hear resident concerns. All candidates were asked to commit to a follow up meeting, if elected.

 

On Tuesday, May 17, East Oakland BHC Resident Leaders - including HOPE members Esther Goolsby, Leon Davis, and Paula Beal - organized a follow up meeting with Mayor Schaaff at the Eastmont Towncenter. Partner organizations including HOPE Collaborative, Alameda County Public Health Department, Communities for a Better Environment, and Causa Justa::Just Cause were also present. This meeting was facilitated by Esther and was scheduled to inform the Mayor about the Healthy Development Guidelines, a tool created and shaped by residents in partnership with local Oakland organizations and the City of Oakland Planning Department for the city to adopt when planning new development.

 

East Oakland BHC Resident Leaders, collectively called Oakland Community Neighborhood Voices (OCNV), began the meeting by reading resident written poetry, highlighted the importance and need for the Healthy Development Guidelines, and shared stories. Paula told Mayor Schaaff how her son and his family were forced to move from Oakland, the place they had called home all their life. Ideally, the Healthy Development Guidelines could support the creation of more affordable housing and improve community health resulting from rapid development in the city.

 

What happens when a group of dedicated, prepared residents meet with a key local decision-maker? In the case of OCNV's meeting with Mayor Schaaff, the meeting shows that working with decision-makers is a long-term process. This meeting was an important start to a continued partnership with the Mayor's Office. With the Healthy Development Guidelines still in development, the meeting also highlighted the importance of doing further outreach to educate residents and decision-makers about the Healthy Development Guidelines and why such policy change is needed for the benefit of all Oakland residents.

 

To learn more about the Healthy Development Guidelines or to get involved, please contact Ruben Farias at ruben@hopecollaborative.net or (510) 444-4295.

 

Stay tuned for more updates from the HOPE Collaborative. You can also visit us at  www.hopecollaborative.net or connect with us on social media for more frequent updates.
 

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Since
rely,
HOPE Collaborative
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In This Issue
Upcoming Events

HOPE Healthy Corner Store Workday on
Saturday, June 20 from 10am-2pm at Sunbeam Market (1400 Adeline St.)

Built Environment Action Team (BEAT)
meeting on
Tuesday, June 23 from 4-6pm at
RISE Elementary (8521 A St.)

FEEST Community Dinner
on Friday, July 10 from 5:00-7pm at Oakland Sol (1236 23rd Ave.)

HOPE Steering Committee meeting
on Tuesday, July 14 from 4-6pm at HOPE (221 Oak St., Suite D)

Alameda County Social Services Agency
Farm Stand every Monday from
10am-2pm at
Eastmont Self-Sufficiency Center (6955 Foothill Blvd.)

Every Saturday from
10am-3pm, get fresh and healthy produce at the Freedom Farmers Market (5316 Telegraph Ave.)

 

© 2015 HOPE Collaborative

 

221 Oak St. Ste. D, Oakland, CA 94607 | Office: (510) 444-4133 | Fax: (510) 444-4819

 HOPE is a project of The Tides Center