Ruben Farias, HOPE Project Associate.

We would like to welcome Ruben Farias to the staff of HOPE Collaborative. Ruben will support the implementation of HOPE Collaborative's built environment work. Ruben grew up in South Central Los Angeles with his mother and siblings. In the summers, he took the bus everyday with his mother to work. Those trips were slow, inconvenient, and sometimes dangerous. These experiences influenced his career choice to make neighborhoods safer for people to live, work, and play in. At the time, he knew there had to be better ways and wondered why the people who ran the transportation systems didn't make better decisions with families in mind. 

Ruben first formally explored issues of racial discrimination and inequality at Occidental College, where he conducted independent research projects on the No Child Left Behind Act and urban poverty. Because Ruben enjoyed doing research, he went to grad school at Texas A&M and studied in the Ph.D. program in sociology. One day during finals, surrounded by a stack of books, he realized that he missed working directly with people like his family. So, he moved to the Bay Area with his wife and completed a policy fellowship at ChangeLab Solutions where he learned more about public health. Now, luckily and happily, he joins the team at HOPE Collaborative where he hopes to work with all of you to improve health outcomes for Oakland communities.

Photo courtesy of Urban Releaf.

On a chilly Saturday in late October, residents and community groups gathered in the rain to envision a G Street without illegal dumping. Together, they planted 12 trees with flowering native plants along 8 blocks that is usually used to growing piles of mattresses, broken appliances, car parts, used needles, and dead dogs wrapped in trash bags. Additionally, they collected several bags of litter and had large waste removed by the city. Now the block has budding signs of life and neighbors say the illegal dumping has already slowed down. But this is just the beginning of a larger plan and vision, Phase One of the "G Street Transformation Project."

During the Elmhurst Neighborhood Planning Process lead by HOPE's Built Environment Action Team (BEAT), residents identified reducing illegal dumping on G Street as a high neighborhood priority. G Street is bound by a few houses along with large industrial businesses like A&B Towing. It's a wide street that is not inviting to travel by foot and faced by a lot of blank warehouse walls and fences. Cars race down it, especially at night, and it has been a magnet for large amounts of illegal dumping. Block by Block Organizing Project, District 7 (BBBON D7) had also noticed this issue and organized a successful MLK Jr. Day of Service event in January 2014 that attracted over 80 volunteers. Building on this momentum, BBBON D7, a participant and adopter of the Neighborhood Plan, applied for a HOPE Collaborative mini-grant to make lasting change on G Street. Their "G Street Transformation Project" envisions a comprehensive strategy to engage residents, businesses, churches, and local organizations to reclaim G Street and turn it into a place that is clean and feels safe for residents - a place people can be proud of. Their plan is to support neighbors with trees, planter boxes, motion-activated lights, cameras, and signs to let dumpers know that the community cares and is watching.

YAB members volunteering at a Healthy Corner Store Project Redesign workday.

Each year, the Youth Action Board (YAB) recruits new members. This year, the YAB selected 8 new members out of a total of 26 applicants to join the YAB, totaling 18 YAB members. YAB may welcome additional members to the group as activities grow.  

Recently, the YAB held their first meeting and are in training mode to learn more about HOPE's work around food systems, the built environment, and the connection to various social justice issues. YAB members will all select a workgroup over the coming weeks to focus their work for the rest of the year. Workgroups include FEEST, Healthy Corner Store Project, Elmhurst Neighborhood Project, school food, and Story-Telling Project.  

We are excited to welcome the new cohort of YAB members to HOPE!