That was fast: a few days after a service provider announced the looming closure of two West Oakland shelters, the organization and the city reached an agreement to keep the programs open a little longer. However, both shelters — the Wood Street “Community Cabins” and the RV “safe parking” site — will still see their final days soon. The programs, which house dozens of homeless people, will shut down June 30.
The issue for us is always, let’s get to work and solve the problem. I don’t need a lot of ‘I’m sorry’s. Donald Frazier | BOSS CEO
Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, or BOSS, had announced last week that it would be forced to close the shelters on March 31. BOSS has contracts with the city to run both programs and said it had been missing payments from Oakland for months.The announcement caught residents by surprise and raised questions about whether the city and nonprofit would be able to find new spots for them in other shelters or transitional housing on such a short timeline.
Donald Frazier, the executive director of BOSS, told The Oaklandside last week that he’d long pressed the city to issue the back pay. And the money he was told was available for continued operations — $900,000 — would only cover through March, he said.
Stay Informed & Spread Awareness: Sound the alarm, organize your people, and demand that Oakland funds housing—not displacement.
READ FULL STORY HERE: https://oaklandside.org/2025/03/24/wood-street-homeless-shelters-closing-june/
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