SV@Home continues to bring together the Community Roots Collaborative (CRC), a cohort of over 15 Santa Clara County-based nonprofit organizations interested in making community development a reality in our region. Two weeks ago, SV@Home took the cohort on a charter bus to visit Oakland’s Oakstop and Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation (BCZ CDC). In case you haven’t heard of Oakstop, they are a small business in Oakland that provides creative spaces to artists and entrepreneurs of color and communities of color at large to spur economic development and community empowerment. By focusing on place-based initiatives, Oakstop fosters collaboration and professional development in Oakland. Oakstop often partners with BCZ CDC to support their programs and projects by offering space to meet, hold events, and collaborate with other nonprofits.
During the first stop of the tour at Oakstop, after touring two of their buildings filled with breathtaking art, six of our members, including our Executive Director Regina Celestin Williams and one Oakstop staff member, got stuck in the elevator as the cohort headed to lunch. This unexpected event turned into an unconventional bonding experience for the group.
Fortunately, once folks were rescued out of the elevator, took a breather, had a few bites, and drank some water, they were ready to go to Oakland BCZ at Liberation Park in East Oakland. We only had 30 minutes to tour BCZ and covered a small fraction of all the stops, but it was absolutely worth going! BCZ CDC was formed in 2019, weathered the storm of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is leading impactful work to transform Oakland for the benefit of those native to the city. Since they’re a relatively young CDC, the CRC cohort learned valuable, relatable lessons they could use in Santa Clara County. In contrast, the CRC cohort’s first tour was in San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center, formed in the late 1970s. These two tours combined gave the CRC a visionary example of what could happen in our region 50 years from now and practical steps they can take today to get it started.
Our speaker at the BCZ CDC, Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, the CEO, provided a deep and meaningful historical context of the area’s Black community. She and her colleagues shared several exciting community programs/events, land acquisition projects, and housing developments they’re working on. A key takeaway (out of many) that we learned from BCZ CDC was the importance of building trust, moving “at the speed of trust,” and establishing mutual dependence among the community, nonprofit organizations, and local government. And it shows because Liberation Park was absolutely stunning! Not only was it filled with beautiful art transported from Downtown Oakland from the George Floyd protests a few years back, we learned that the park serves as a unifying cultural hub for East Oakland. It’s a space to serve a long list of community needs, such as (but not limited to) farmer’s markets, health resources/equipment, a public roller skating rink, small business support, performances, and outdoor movie screenings.
Despite the inconvenient delay at Oakstop, after meeting with the BCZ CDC, the tour participants were filled with determination and excitement for a change in Santa Clara County. We’ll have to go back to Oakland BCZ to get the full tour experience, but for now, we want to thank everyone at Oakstop, CAST, and the BCZ CDC for making us feel so welcome and for their support in building out community development capacity in our region. We’ll see you again!
This is the last tour of the year, with two more important convenings left in October and November. SV@Home plans to continue this program through 2025, so stay tuned!
