This SPARCC case study highlights how the Bay Area for All (BA4A) collaborative, brought about policy change and equitable community development through community-centered work, ultimately improving the Bay Area’s housing crisis.
BA4A, a collaborative table formed under SPARCC, consists of various coalitions and organizations that shared expertise and resources to advance the “3Ps of housing” (preserve existing affordable housing, produce more affordable homes, and protect tenants of color) across four Bay Area cities: San Jose, Oakland, Concord, and Vallejo.
Check out the case study here.
From the outset, BA4A allocated the majority of SPARCC funding to expand community-based organizations’ capacity to center tenant voice and build community power. BA4A fostered grassroots partnerships, and together they achieved housing and tenant protection policies and improved local development policies.
Their impact extended beyond policy change as they: secured commitments from major technology companies to build affordable housing, supported innovative capital projects, and influenced financial institutions to shift power to marginalized communities.
This case study describes these policy and capital projects and explores how they leveraged the community land trust (CLT) model to ensure permanent affordability and community control. It also features examples of how BA4A worked with community development financial institutions to support small projects and encourage increasing comfort with community ownership.
BA4A’s story demonstrates how a committed community-driven initiative can transform community development to build equitable, inclusive, prosperous communities. Their work offers valuable insights and lessons on the transformative impact of SPARCC in the Bay Area.