Nation's First Green Shelter Opens in Oakland
Healing the homeless inside and out

Feb 4 | archive | subscribe

 

Crossroads building of the East Oakland Community, a new homeless shelter in East Oakland, was built “green” from the ground up, including solar panels on the roof supplying electricity, artful but practical ceiling fans, nontoxic paint, windows that can be opened to let in fresh air, and desks, bureaus made from pressed wheat and water-based hydronic heaters warming rooms in the 125-bed shelter.

Now, with the first homeless individuals moving into the green shelter, Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, hopes the facility will become “a model for others around the country.”

The green features are not the only thing that makes the shelter stand out. It contains a whole floor just for families. Each family will have its own living quarters, complete with a private bathroom and even bathtubs for the little ones.

The emergency housing facility offers 125 dignified transitional/emergency-housing beds and comprehensive support services that help homeless people, including those living with HIV/AIDS, achieve self-reliance and independence. On any given night, about 6,200 people go homeless in Alameda County — and about 16,000-experience homelessness sometime in a year in the area. Families make up 43 percent of the county's homeless population and children about 28 percent.

Crossroads replaces the East Oakland Emergency Project's current shelter, which has been housing the homeless for 17 years. Doors opened to residents on Jan. 31, 2008. Crossroads operates 10 residential units as transitional homes for families seeking to regain a foothold in society. The program includes support services and connections to resources that aid in the journey to a better life for parents and their children.

The state-of-the-art $11 million shelter is already a landmark in Alameda County was funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program; the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency; the City of Oakland Community Development Block Grant program; the California Emergency Housing Assistance Program, and some private foundations, including StopWaste.org, the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund and Y & H Soda Foundation. eocp.net