As of this printing, on April 1, 2010 The Alameda County Board of Supervisors decision to make drastic cuts to the General Assistance program will take effect. The County optimistically claims a savings of $7 million per year, but the shortsightedness of this decision will cost us much more. A similar wave of cuts was passed in 1997, with the result being an increase in crime, homelessness, and food insecurity. Social advocates statewide have urged the Board of Supervisors, specifically, Supervisors Scott Haggerty, Alice Lai-Bitker, and Gail Steele – who all voted for these cuts – to reconsider.
Emergency and transitional housing in Alameda County
In today’s economic climate it is almost impossible to pick up a newspaper or turn on the television or radio and not hear the words “recession,†“crisis,†or “foreclosure.†According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of January 2009 the national and statewide unemployment rates were 7.6% and 10.1%, respectively, both at their highest marks since the mid-1990s. You would be hard pressed to find a community unaffected by the recession. East Oakland Community Project is no exception.