There’s so much incredible work at the intersection of climate change resilience and housing in the East Bay to celebrate. 2024 has been an especially exciting year for Greenbelt Alliance and our partners, as we launched major initiatives to protect our diverse East Bay communities and ecosystems, while honoring the people and nature that make our region special.
I’m grateful to have celebrated this work at Greenbelt Alliance’s third annual East Bay Happy Hour on June 4th, 2024. Our gracious host Zack Wasserman offered his gorgeous home to Greenbelt’s vibrant community of supporters to learn more about our advancements in the East Bay and how they can take action. See photos of the event below.
Greenbelt Alliance’s work to create resilient, sustainable, and vibrant communities across the East Bay would not be possible without our supporters. It can often be difficult to keep up with all of the city-wide work that happens as communities across the state struggle to adapt to a changing climate and address the housing crisis. Fortunately, Greenbelt’s community partners and supporters are key to creating the change we need for our communities.
One project that’s close to home for me is the Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee’s (OAAC) work to adapt the Oakland Alameda Estuary and San Leandro Bay Shorelines. Near where I live, our shoreline is vulnerable to coastal inundation, rising groundwater and contamination as a result of rising sea levels and liquefaction from earthquakes. These climate -induced hazards will put critical infrastructure at risk, damage habitat, and further burden the already vulnerable communities in my neighborhood. Greenbelt Alliance is working with the City of Alameda and Oakland to lead the community engagement efforts for adapting to rising sea levels along the West and East Oakland shorelines. We’re partnering with community leaders who have deep roots in the East Bay to ensure our frontline communities are aware of these threats and can be prepared for future hazards.
If there’s something that Greenbelt’s 65-year history has taught us, it’s that local land use policy is key to how we build communities. We’re engaging East Bay communities to create equitable land use plans and resilient infrastructure for the future. In addition to our OAAC work, we’ve recently contracted with California Jobs First, the state’s first-of-its-kind council to create thousands of more jobs across the region with an emphasis on climate jobs.
Additionally, we are deepening our partnership with Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and recently co-hosted sea level rise adaptation community workshops in North Richmond, Oakland, and across the Bay Area. See photos of these interactive workshops here.
I’m personally thankful for each and everyone of our supporters who make all of this work possible. Your support ensures we are able to work on multiple projects in the East Bay and across all nine Bay Area counties.
I hope to see you as we continue to celebrate our shared work at our upcoming Hidden Heroes of the Greenbelt party on August 28th at Preservation Park in Oakland! Tickets will be live later this June. If your company would like to be a sponsor that event you can click on this link for more information.
Thanks again for joining us and for your support! Please feel free to reach out to me with ideas or questions, and if you have an East Bay focused land-use or climate issue you can reach out to me at vflores@greenbelt.org.
