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By Ken Epstein
About 100 tenants of Sojourner Truth Manor, joined by community supporters and local political leaders, packed into the lobby of one of the buildings of the nonprofit senior citizens’ complex in North Oakland last Friday to meet with their landlords to seek solutions to residents’ concerns about deteriorating living conditions, lack of communication on the part of management and ongoing bullying and intimidation.
“Sojourner Truth was founded in 1974 by 15 strong, Black community-minded women, who would be raising hell about the conditions that currently exist here at Sojourner Truth Manor,” said Beverly Colston, chairperson of the tenants’ association, who chaired the meeting.
Among those who attended the meeting of the 85-unit, three-building housing complex at 6015 Martin Luther King Jr. Way were Dan Kalb, District 1 Oakland City Councilmember and candidate for State Senate; Lisa Williams, senior field representative of Assemblymember Mia Bonta; Romario Conrado, representative of State Senator Nancy Skinner; and Breeanna Decker, representative of Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.
Also at the meeting were members of the Berkeley branch of the NAACP; Friends of Adeline, a community organization that has been supporting the tenants; Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb; and residents of a nearby Berkeley senior residence, Harriet Tubman Terrace, who came to show solidarity with their neighbors.
One of the tenants’ major concerns, said Colston, was the closing and demolition of the community room nearly a decade ago, a central place where residents and their families could come together, learn about each other’s cultures and “exchange laughter and joy: cooking, playing games, knitting and crocheting, dancing and exercising.”
Colston asked management a question: “What is the timeline to start, and what is the timeline to finish construction on building our Community Room?”
HumanGood, the property management company hired by the board of directors that owns the complex, was brought in a year ago to revitalize Sojourner Truth after years of neglect under the past property managers.
The new company said it has been trying to renovate the community room for the past year but told tenants it was unable to obtain city building permits. However, during last week’s meeting, it appeared that HumanGood had not yet applied for permits.
Human Good is the sixth-largest nonprofit senior living provider in the country, operating nearly 100 affordable housing communities, serving about 8,880 residents.
Another major tenant concern was the elimination almost a year ago of the position of Social Services Coordinator, who used to help organize social events, providing counseling, and help tenants prepare for the annual recertification of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and housing requirements as well as help with their phones, tablets and other issues.
Colston also said communications between the board and the tenants would improve if four of their residents were added to the board of directors.
Tenants have said that the former social services coordinator helped alleviate stressful situations. “Since she’s been gone, mental and emotional stress have had an adverse effect on all aspects of our lives,” said resident Nancy Delaney.
Another tenant, Joyce Rodriquez, also voiced tenant concerns.
“We need security and safety,” she said. “Our residents are feeling unsafe in our own apartments.”
Communication is minimal or nonexistent, she said. Information from management arrives on tenants’ doors written only in English and often not comprehensible, though there are six different languages spoken at Sojourner Truth. “Tenants need translation in all their languages,” she said.
Not all entrances and exits are wheelchair accessible to the residents, Rodriguez continued.
There is also a lack of pest control. “We have infestation problems in the buildings: rodents, roaches, and bedbugs, and they’re not being addressed properly.”
Walter Johnson, president of the Sojourner Truth board, criticized tenants for not communicating with him or telling him about Friday’s meeting, which the tenants denied.
“I’m insulted,” he said. “No one has contacted me to see the status of the things that were going on here. I never stopped trying to work for Sojourner Truth.”
Johnson, who worked for many years as an administrator for the City of Oakland, said he was committed to improving conditions at Sojourner Truth.
But the way forward is not to blame anyone or hold large meetings with outsiders with lots of shouting. What is needed is a small group of tenants who will work with board to see solutions and ensure “the correct information gets in the newspapers.”
“I want to work with Beverly (Colston) and whoever else she wants to put in the group, but we’re not going to solve this with 100 people in the room,” Johnson said. (We need) a committee that’s committed to do what needs to be done.”
Kendra Roberts, who oversees operations for 100 senior communities for HumanGood, said the first time she walked through Sojourner Truth Manor, “our hearts were broken,” seeing a construction project that had begun years ago was never completed.
Along with the Community Room, “a total of five apartments have been off-line for five years, which has had “a tremendous financial impact to the community,” meaning that there is not sufficient income to pay the salary of a social services coordinator.
However, tenants said they spoke with a HUD supervisor in April, and he said to tell HumanGood to hire a social services coordinator and pay for the position from the money paid to HUD. However, tenants were told the board had to make the decision, and nothing more was said about the matter.
Wrapping up the meeting, Colston said she was pleased with what had been accomplished.
“We have the city, we have the state, we have the county, we have the federal government – all here in one room,” she said.
“I have accomplished what I wanted to do. We live here, and we have been here. Let’s have communication,” Colston said.
“Now let’s move forward. Let’s get this building back where it should be.”
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