HOPE Collaborative

The HOPE Collaborative envisions vibrant Oakland neighborhoods that provide equitable access to affordable, healthy, locally grown food; safe and inviting places for physical activity and play; sustainable, successful, local economies—all to the benefit of the families and youth living in Oakland’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.

HOPE addresses health inequities in Oakland’s most vulnerable neighborhoods through three overarching frames: The first frame is civic and economic community ownership, which encompasses the food systems frame and the built environment frame. HOPE selected these frames through participatory assessment and consensus-based priority setting driven by neighborhood residents, key stakeholder organizations and institutions, with the participation and support of local government. We approach this work through advocacy, engagement, and research strategies for all three frames. These complimentary strategies leverage the collaborative role. The community ownership frame represents the critical theory of change that drives HOPE. Structural inequities and social determinants of health that most severely impact Oakland’s vulnerable youth and families can change only when the people living under those conditions have both civic and economic ownership of the resources and decision-making processes that impact everyday life. HOPE will achieve community ownership through the following strategies:

(1) Community ownership of assets and resources required for basic needs.

(2) Community engagement including youth engagement, community relationships, outreach and advocacy.

(3) Capacity building, with education, mentoring and training for self-reliance, business skills, media training, food and nutrition.

(4) Education for urban agriculture and healthy eating

(5) Economic ownership including financial incentives and opportunities for locally-owned businesses; integrated ownership infrastructure and models for Oakland flatland residents; and a land tenure strategy for land acquisition and management for urban agriculture, community gardens, and rural farmland preservation in rural areas for production serving Oakland.