As Oakland moves into Phase 2 of the Making Connections initiative, the lower San Antonio Collaborative is reassessing its current organizational structure and exploring alternative ways of organizing the Making Connections work. Currently, the Collaborative is organized around issue specific working groups, with a Planning Committee that provides overall coordination. The full Collaborative has been meeting monthly. These meetings are used to update Collaborative members and community residents on work group activities as well as address issue specific topics, such as community safety, redevelopment, and resident participation. Attached is a chart that lays out the current LSA Collaborative structure.

The existing work groups include:

Housing and Economic Development Work Group

This work group has focused predominantly on two areas of work: 1) the creation of a multilingual homeownership assistance center operated by Lao Family Community Development, Inc.; and 2) the development of affordable housing opportunities in the Lower San Antonio.

23rd Avenue Corridor Work Group

The focus of this work group is to organize community residents and merchants around improvements within the 23rd Avenue corridor. Currently the group is working with Urban Ecology to implement a participatory community planning process that will result in a comprehensive land use plan for the corridor.

Health Work Group

This work group is in the process of launching a community health outreach project, which would recruit and hire community residents to assess the health needs of community residents and organize residents around health-related issues.

Arts and Culture Work Group

This work group is spearheaded by the EastSide Arts Alliance and has focused predominantly on securing space for an arts and cultural center in the Lower San Antonio.

Newspaper Work Group

This work group produces the San Antonio Unity newspaper, a monthly publication that covers news and events in the Lower San Antonio.

Making Connections Media Outreach Group

This work group is working closely with KQED television station to use documentaries as a vehicle for conducting outreach and creating dialogue among Lower San Antonio residents on a range of issues related to the Making Connections agenda.

During the fall of 2002, the Collaborative undertook a process to develop specific outcomes for the Making Connections work in Oakland. Each work group was charged with identifying outcomes and indicators to guide the strategic development and monitoring of future activities. These outcomes were then merged with the Casey Foundation’s common ground results to create a master list of outcomes for Making Connections in Oakland.

The outcomes development process has prompted the Planning Committee to reevaluate whether the current work group structure adequately incorporates all of the different pieces of work that the Collaborative intends to take on in the coming years, and whether it is inclusive of all of the potential partners who could contribute to the accomplishment of the outcomes. In particular, there was concern that economic/asset development was not receiving enough attention within the current structure. Therefore, the Committee has proposed a new structure that would incorporate all of the outcomes and provide greater coordination across areas of work.

PROPOSAL FOR REVISED STRUCTURE

Create 3 cluster areas that would replace the existing work groups. These cluster areas would consist of:
Family Economic Success

Housing
Economic Development
Business Development
Asset Development
23rd Avenue Corridor Redevelopment

Safety

Health
Policing
Criminal Justice

Education
After school programs
Small learning communities
Pre-school programs

A work group would be created for each of these cluster areas. The work group would initially be responsible for developing a work plan for that cluster area. Each work group would be expected to conduct outreach to residents to determine their priorities. They would then develop specific strategies, identify partners, and create the actual work plan.

Reconstitute existing work groups as project committees. A number of Planning Committee members were concerned that the some of the current work groups are functioning well, and that focus would be lost if they were disbanded and folded into the cluster areas. Therefore, the Committee agreed that some of the existing work groups should function as project committees, which are responsible for planning and coordination of specific projects or areas of work. The initial project committees would consist of:
- Affordable Housing Project
- 23rd Avenue Corridor Project
- Promotoras Health Outreach Project
- Making Connections Media Outreach Initiative (MCMOI)
- Arts and CultureCenter Project

The Planning Committee will function as the overall coordinating body. It will have the following responsibilities:
- Communication and coordination across cluster areas
- Decide on priorities for the Collaborative
- Implement and monitor outcomes that have to do with resident engagement
The full Lower San Antonio Collaborative will meet on a quarterly basis. Rather than having monthly Collaborative meetings, we will switch to a quarterly meeting schedule. The full Collaborative meetings will be organized as Town Hall meetings, where residents will have opportunities to provide input on specific issues of community concern, meet with elected officials to advocate on issues, and receive updates on the Collaborative’s work.