► COMMUNITY POWER
Building the Capacity of Young People & Families to Act on Issues that Affect their Lives
► ABOUT
EBAYC understands direct services alone are insufficient to meaningfully address the needs of young people. Where young people live and what families have endured should not be accurate predictors of their futures.
Young people need to live in communities that are safe, healthy, and vibrant; have great public schools; and provide a full range of support and opportunities for young people and their families.
EBAYC continuously engages in conversations with young people and families to listen to their experiences, discuss their concerns, and explore their aspirations. For those who want to pursue their aspirations for positive change, EBAYC involves young people and families in participatory action research – an ongoing process of listening to others and finding common cause; researching what works and who has the power and responsibility; organizing public actions; and reflecting on and learning from our collective experience. By building the capacity of young people and families to lead, they are able to participate with other groups to amass the necessary power to make change in the public arena.
Through the integration of participatory action research and community coalitions, EBAYC youth and families have achieved significant public policy victories in service to children, youth, and families:
►2022 Sacramento Children & Youth Health & Safety Act
EBAYC Sacramento youth relentlessly worked to establish a local public funding stream dedicated to supporting Sacramento’s young people, particularly those most impacted by poverty, violence, and trauma. EBAYC youth engaged in continuous cycles of action research; campaigned for the 2016 Measure Y (lost); helped author, qualify, and campaign for the 2020 Measure G (lost); and helped author, qualify, and campaign for the 2022 Measure L (won!). Throughout these years, EBAYC worked in close partnership with Youth Forward to establish the Sac Kids First Coalition, which was the driving community coalition behind the 2022 Measure L.
►2014 College & Career Readiness for All Act
The College & Career Readiness for All Act (Measure L) was an Oakland Unified School District tax measure passed by 75% of the electorate in November 2014. The Act raises $12 million annually to provide high-quality three-year college & career pathways for every high school student. Since Measure L passage, graduation rates have increased; dropout rates have decreased; college readiness rates and Dual Enrollment class passage rates have increased; and nearly 100% of all high school students are enrolled in a career pathway. Measure L was created through a working coalition of EBAYC, Oakland Community Organizations, GO Public Schools, and Oakland Unified School District.
► 2012 National Lodge Motel Closure
EBAYC families led the two-year campaign to close and repurpose the notorious National Lodge Motel, located at International Boulevard and 17th Avenue. The motel was ground-zero for sex-trafficking, including the exploitation of minors. EBAYC families worked with their City Councilmember and the City Attorney to bring administrative and legal action against the motel proprietor. After multiple corrective warnings, the court ordered the motel’s closure and the property was sold. Today, the property is a small business hub.
►2006 Brooklyn Basin Community Benefits Agreement
The Brooklyn Basin Community Housing Coalition (formerly known as Oak to 9th) was composed of EBAYC, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), Faith In Action (formerly known as Oakland Community Organizations/PICO), and Urban Strategies Council. The coalition organized community members to advocate the City of Oakland to include affordable housing and hire local residents for its development of the neglected 64 acre waterfront property. An agreement was signed between the City of Oakland and the coalition to include 465 affordable housing units and create local construction jobs. MidPen Housing was contracted by the City of Oakland as contractor for the development.
► 1996 Kids First! Initiative
In partnership with People United for a Better Oakland, West Oakland Violence Prevention Project, and Centro de Juventud, EBAYC youth played central leadership roles in conceiving the Kids First Initiative; qualifying the Initiative via signature-gathering; and campaigning for the Initiative’s passage. The Kids First! Initiative required the City of Oakland to set-aside 2.5% (now 3%, equaling over $20 million annually) of its annual unrestricted revenue in a Children’s Fund and to allocate these revenues to services for Oakland’s young people, ages 0 to 21.
