Opinion: A stronger Oakland starts with stable housing that supports stronger families

One of the greatest privileges of my career has been creating programs that help families discover what’s possible when they no longer have to wonder where they’ll sleep each night. I’ve seen parents return to school, veterans rebuild their lives, seniors age with dignity and children thrive.

Few stories illustrate that better than Ericka Parker’s.

Years ago, Ericka was a single mother raising a son while pursuing her education. By her own account, Ericka was the fifth generation of her family trapped in a cycle of poverty. As she puts it, her plate “wasn’t just full—it was spilling over.”

With stable housing and support from Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) programs, Ericka built a different future. She completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, learned budgeting and financial literacy through OHA’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which is managed by its Family Community Partnership (FCP) department, and eventually became a homeowner. Today, she works for OHA, helping other families pursue the same opportunities that changed her own life.

While Ericka’s story is remarkable, it also illustrates the life-changing opportunities stable housing can make possible. Hundreds of Oakland families have pursued higher education, achieved homeownership, advanced their careers and built greater independence because stable housing gives Oakland families the foundation to pursue opportunities that once felt out of reach.

This August, OHA is joining the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), California Association of Housing Authorities (CAHA) and housing authorities across the country to speak with one voice about the importance of preserving the federal investments that keep families stably housed. Here in Oakland, the stakes could not be higher.

Oakland remains one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets. OHA serves approximately 35,000 residents, roughly one in every fourteen people in our city. Most of the families we serve earn less than $20,000 a year in a market where rent can exceed $2,000 a month. The gap between household incomes and housing costs has grown too wide for hard work alone to close. Federal housing assistance helps close that gap.

Housing assistance does far more than help families afford rent. It creates the stability families need to pursue education, build careers, improve their health and invest in their futures. Increasingly, health care providers recognize stable housing leads to better health outcomes, fewer crises and lower public costs.

Those benefits are especially important at a time when more than 5,400 of our neighbors are experiencing homelessness. A 10% reduction in federal housing funding could place nearly 3,500 additional Oakland residents at risk of losing stable housing.

Working alongside nonprofit organizations, health care providers and our city, county and state partners, OHA continues to develop solutions that help families achieve lasting housing stability. But local partnerships alone cannot meet the need. Sustained federal investment remains essential.

Housing is more than shelter. It is the foundation upon which people build healthy families, pursue opportunity, contribute to their communities and create brighter futures.

This August, each of us has an opportunity to help protect the stability that thousands of Oakland families depend on. Through NAHRO’s August Advocacy campaign, it takes less than three minutes to contact your members of Congress and urge them to protect the federal housing investments that keep families safely housed.

Today, Ericka Parker is passionately paying it forward, helping other Oakland families pursue the opportunities that continue to change her own life. Her story reminds us that housing assistance isn’t simply about getting through a difficult moment — it’s about creating the stability that allows families to rewrite their future for generations to come.

Housing is about more than a roof overhead. It is the foundation for stronger families, healthier communities and a stronger Oakland. Together, let us support the federal investments and regulatory flexibility that make affordable housing possible, so every family has the opportunity to build a stable future and a place to call home.

Patricia Wells is executive director of the Oakland Housing Authority.