East Palo Alto Shows Up to Speak Up
East Palo Alto faces a quintessentially Bay Arean constellation of challenges: escalating housing prices and declining affordability; gentrification associated with the displacement of longtime residents by well-paid tech workers; and a rising bay encroaching upon the densely populated, low-lying city near the foot of the Dumbarton Bridge.
Throw in a proposed new mixed-use development abutting vital marshlands already vulnerable to flooding and the stakes get even higher, says Roxana Franco, programs manager for Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto. That’s why the nearly 20-year-old nonprofit is now working closely with current and longtime residents, many of them lower-income people of color, to give local context to climate change and sea-level rise, disaster preparedness, and — perhaps most importantly — civic engagement.
Through a 12-week program called the Environmental Justice Parent Academy, Nuestra Casa (“Our House”) is leading in-depth discussions about these and related issues among cohorts of African American, Pacific Islander, Latinx, and youth residents of East Palo Alto. All 85 participants, 75 of whom are parents, receive a stipend for their time and are encouraged to continue their work outside of the group.
“We have facilitators that reflect the community, and they’re also community elders here in East Palo Alto,” Franco says. “We try to make it about building communities and empowering our participants to sit at city council meetings and speak up … We encourage them to show up to these meetings, and they feel more comfortable to be involved or at least show up.”
Four major development projects have been proposed for the end of Bay Road, just south of the Dumbarton Bridge and hugging the edge of the marshes close to sea level.
Other Recent Posts
Rising Waters Bring New Toxics Threat to Hunters Point
S.F.’s Hunters Point is already toxic for residents and the Bay. Sea level and groundwater rise, along with bigger storms, threaten to make the problem worse.
Harmful Blooms Spur More Wastewater Upgrades
To reduce nitrogen loads, the Bay Area is facing an overhaul of wastewater plants to the tune of $16B. Sea level rise calls for other retrofits. The two could require the heftiest investment in clean water infrastructure in decades.
Cultivate Climate Champions with Nature-Based Education
Everyday Climate Champions Podcast
Growing Resilience with Seed Libraries
Sierra Garcia, San Francisco
Fifth Graders Model Climate Resilience
Laurel Dell Elementary, San Rafael
Resilience is like? Caption Contest
Cartoons can tell so many stories about being kneedeep in climate resilience work. What’s your idea for a cartoon?
Teaming Up to Tackle East Bay Wet Spots
Partners push for three projects and a big grant to protect a critical swath of the East Bay shoreline from sea-level and groundwater rise.
The Itchy Cost of Hotter Summers
Mosquito-borne disease is on the rise thanks to climate change. Will the Bay Area get new mosquito species? Climate change might push them to cooler climates.
Rail Line Reinvents Itself After Pandemic Slump
This North Bay rail system is winning back ridership against the odds, catering to bikers, hikers, shoppers and commuters.
Hard Park Going Soft in Alameda
The City of Alameda is planning to de-pave an area of the former Alameda Naval Air station the size of nine football fields and transform it into an ecological nature park.
