Town Bizness

06/08/2026

The City of Oakland is paying $1500/hour **right now** to throw away houseless folks' only shelter with no notice. Today was supposed to be just a cleaning. Things have actually gotten so much worse this year.

We just got this message and found out a cleaning turned into an unscheduled sweep and they are tossing peoples' survival equipment as we speak.

WE NEED TENTS AND TARPS sent to Signe, please:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/HBGQ9CCYDYZQ?ref_=wl_share

06/07/2026

Picture day! 📷
A few pics of team member Carlos delivering our weekly relief bags, and doing housing check ins.

Clockwise from Top left:
🖼 our dearest Theo who is in the housing queue (waiting for a match)
🖼G, who lives curbside with his mom. He's 55 ...so now imagine how old his mom is - living in a ⛺️
🖼our dearest Randy- who we have served years and is in the housing queue
🖼 C, a new member to our family

Thank you to our team members, donors, and volunteers!
Pics by team member Rikki.

06/07/2026

Does anyone have a current contact at Homeless Action Center on San Pablo in Oakland—ideally someone in a decision-making role?

We're running into a significant barrier getting IDs for people we serve. We can't use our PO Box for ID delivery, and I can't use my shared home address. What we need is a partner agency willing to receive IDs on a client's behalf, with our team handling pickup and delivery—not the client.

This is a recurring problem that delays housing, benefits, and services. A collaborative solution between agencies could solve it for a lot of people. If you have a connection, please let Signe know here in comments, by messenger, or text: 707-349-6005

06/07/2026

🚨 Before you keep scrolling, please click like and leave a comment. It helps this post reach more people.

We raised $350 for Robert yesterday, and we're incredibly grateful. But here's the reality: if we don't raise enough for his next month in the motel, we'll have to cover it from our reserves again—and those reserves are getting too low for us to keep doing that.

Robert is 74, nearly deaf, legally blind, and medically fragile. The last time he was living outside, he was being taken to the hospital by ambulance every other month. We genuinely worried he might die on the street.

For years we were told he couldn't qualify for housing because of a 26-year-old charge. Eventually a housing navigator took a closer look and discovered he was eligible after all. We got him into a motel, then into medically fragile housing—but after decades of surviving outdoors, that environment wasn't a good fit.

Thankfully, his place in the housing queue has continued moving forward. We believe permanent housing could be about six months away.

We're not trying to shelter Robert forever. We're trying to bridge the final stretch until housing comes through.

❤️ $2,650 still needed🏠 Goal: $3,000 for two months of motel shelter

Donate here: https://www.every.org/townbizness/f/motel-relief-fundrai

Every donation helps, and every like, comment, and share helps.

We carefully select items that we know our unhoused family members want or need and will use. Help people in the most direct way — by buying items off of our wishlist so we can get them into their hands quickly! 

06/07/2026

White bean chicken chili plus cheese, Hawaiian rolls, and pickled jalapeno 😋 was delivered to our unhoused neighbors today along with Gatorades and other critical supplies.

Thank you donors and volunteers for another delicious, hot Town Bizness meal run!

06/06/2026

🚨 Robert just turned 74 years old. Truthfully, he looks much older. His health is fragile, and while he isn't well, being under a roof has made all the difference. 🚨

Robert needs continuous motel shelter while he waits for housing.

To keep Robert off the sidewalk until his housing comes through, we need to raise $3,000 for the next two months of his motel stay.

A while back we negotiated a reduced rate, so his room costs $1,500 per month. That's half off,, and that's just the room. Food, hygiene supplies, pull-ups, and other necessities come from a patchwork of community support. Huge thanks to Lifelong, whose staff bring Ensures and medical supplies directly to his room and treat him with extraordinary care and dignity.

To reiterate: Robert will be housed. The challenge is keeping him safe and alive until then. We got him into the housing queue last November, but the wait is roughly a year, and we still have a few months to bridge.

The difference shelter has made has been remarkable. Before we got him indoors, he was being transported to the hospital by ambulance constantly. In fact, when we first put him in the room we weren't sure he would survive. Since moving into the motel, he hasn't spent a single day in the hospital.

And if you know Robert, you know he hasn't stopped giving back. Whenever we deliver bags, he's out there with his broom 🧹 sweeping blocks of sidewalk around the encampments because, in his mind, keeping the neighborhood clean is his job.

Thank you for caring about Robert. 💛

Goal: $3,000

To give to the dedicated motel fund:

https://www.every.org/townbizness/f/motel-relief-fundrai

06/03/2026

Great news!!!

Drew got his Social Security disability!!! 🎉😭❤️
I am crying. He's already in the housing queue and has his documents, but this income is so life-changing that we are pretty emotional!

We are SO proud of him!

To make this happen, Drew had to hit every mark—especially getting to all of his clinic appointments, something he hadn't been able to do in more than a decade while unhoused.

What did we do?
We have served him since 2021, but with the new RV focus, frankly we started getting really scared for him and found an incredible and bright volunteer *just for him*. And now this is the year Drew caught FIRE 🔥, in no small part to her going down there with burritos and lunches and building that relationship to connect him with HAC and help him navigate the overwhelming hurdles he faced.
You know who you are. ❤️

And soooo many flowers go to the Homeless Action Center attorney, who absolutely knocked it out of the park and got this done without a lengthy appeal.

But please-- understand how much credit belongs to all of YOU, too. This community of restorative justice and love called Town Bizness made this possible with funds and supplies and volunteering (I'm looking at you, Rochelle! 👀)
See what folks can do with support?

Once he's housed, this will be an even bigger victory. And he will be now that he's in the queue and has his documents.

Today, though, we're celebrating this one. 🎉
THANK YOU 😭

06/02/2026

We only have 5 remaining items to fulfill to complete our bags!

Purchase here 👇🏻
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/MUZFUKWBCKYR?ref_=wl_share

06/01/2026

📦❤️ Normally, if our wishlist isn't filled, we purchase the remaining items ourselves.
This time, we can't.

Right now, we're using those reserves to keep an elderly, medically fragile man sheltered in a motel. Before we got him inside, he was repeatedly hospitalized while living on the sidewalk, and we genuinely feared for his life.
That means we need our community to help us fill this wishlist.

We need supplies for our next round of outreach bags, and we'll keep reposting the wishlist until it's filled. Every item purchased helps us continue supporting people living outside while keeping this elder safe and sheltered.

⬇️⬇️ Please help if you're able ⬇️⬇️
[https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/MUZFUKWBCKYR?ref_=wl_share

⭐ Highest Priority ⭐
🧦 Socks – $14
🍫 Protein Bars – $15
🥤Protein drinks - $26
🍒 Fruit Cups – $4
🐟 Tuna Packs – $18
🎒 Drawstring Backpacks – $39
🔥 Hand Warmers – $18

Thank you to Anne Lancaster, Anne Morningstar, Annie Katz, Ana Forest, Andrea Wilkof, Bettina Fernandez, Bruin, Carla Weisend, Cathy, Cheryl Anne Levin, Cynthia Carroll, Cynthia Pohlman, Dana Sandu, David Ratoosh, Deborah Ann James, Em Eisenberg, Emily Earl, Gordon M Hicks, Jean Eller, Jessica Jones, Joanne Pelaschier, Jonathan D. Sorg, Julia Frink, Julie Drassinower, Kana Pettus, Kim Schauer, Kristiann Grove, Kristen BN, Kyna Pettus, L’quinn Foggee, Laura Haynes, Lisa L. Hsia, Lynda Gamblin, M Chang, Madeline M, Maureen Boyd, Marianne Barlow, Mark K. Lee, Martha Price, Melissa Baker, Michelle D. Baird, Nina Costales, Paul Nagai, Rosana Francescato, Sabrina Wenske, Scott Lancaster, Scott Weston, Sharon Brown, Suzan Sabyl Landrum, Tamre Ali, Tony Burgess, Vickie G, and Zeppy. for making our recent relief bag deliveries possible.

05/30/2026

Early this morning when most of us were still having coffee, Meg McAdam Founder of Human and Pet Initiative was taking Bruno to a critical, and costly dental surgery that required a ton of logistical and financial coordination.

Where would we be without them?

It's too easy to forget just how much an organization like our pet partner HAPI does. They work so hard and spend little time posting about it. So we want to lift them up and ask those who can afford to give to help them, so when we call for assistance to vaccinate and protect our folks-- and Oakland at large-- from parvo outbreaks, for example, they will continue to be there as they have for years.

Mom China is grateful for their efforts, as are we.

Please remember HAPI in your giving. Consider signing up for a recurring monthly donation. We depend on them.