I was recently in Oakland researching an aid organization called Youth ALIVE for the next issue of NEED Magazine. One of the programs that Youth ALIVE runs is called Caught in the Crossfire. In this program, aid workers, called intervention specialists, mentor young gang members and other at-risk youth to try to save the lives of young men and women by preventing violence. One day I accompanied intervention specialist Tina Johnson into the hostile streets of East Oakland.

While I drove with Tina to the house of one of her young clients, she told me about Alina. Alina is 16 years old and goes to Castle Mont High School. She had been having trouble in school, and after several behavioral issues, was referred by the school to Tina for some personal help. Tina found out that Alina had been placed in the remedial learning class in grade school; however, when she moved on to high school, her records were either lost or ignored and she was placed in standard classes where she was woefully behind the other children. Struggling and confused, Alina began to feel hopeless, and in Oakland hopeless youths can see gangs or prostitution as a way to meet their needs. Tina also discovered that Alina’s situation at home was falling apart.

Alina and her sister Jasmine outside their home. Photo| Steve Floyd When we pulled up to Alina’s house, Stephanie, Alina’s mother, came out to greet us. Stephanie is a mother of 14. She lives with her husband and all her children in a small, rundown old home in East Oakland. “This house is a mess,” she exclaimed when asked about her home. She pointed out spots where the ceiling leaked and where mold collected on the siding. Stephanie’s husband sat on the trunk of his car next to us. “We’ve got dead rats in the cabinets, … and in the bedroom, it’s got so much moisture in the walls that [the drywall] fell off, and you can see the bathtub and feel the wind [coming through the wall],” he said. As they spoke about the horrific state of the house they were renting, I could see in their eyes that they were very worried. Alina stood behind her mother holding her baby sister, Jasmine, and listening closely to everything that was said.

I learned that from the moment that Alina’s family moved into that home, their landlord had mistreated them. Stephanie’s husband had offered to fix some of the most dangerous and decrepit portions of the house if the landlord would cover the costs; and when the landlord refused to pay, Stephanie’s family refused to pay rent. Then, they had an Oakland official come and inspect the house to try to force the landlord to make the house more habitable. That’s when the landlord began harassing their family and going through their mail. “She called us devils and all that … [and] she called my kids bastards,” Stephanie said. Then, her husband explained, “She’s basically slandering our name all across town. … [We] are putting [our] best foot forward, and all we been running into is, like, slumlords. … When you’ve got a lot of kids, they just throw us anywhere, and then their demand is that they ain’t gonna fix nothing, … so they try to take full advantage.” Stephanie spends all day trying to take care of her children, and her husband works an evening security job, so they have little time to deal with a landlord set on pushing a poor family around. Just days before we arrived, they had gone to court over the house, but Alina’s parents, ignorant of the legal system, didn’t understand how to present any of the evidence that they had collected. Stephanie and their family are currently in the process of being evicted from their home. “We battle these people [and the] emotional strain they put on our family. We just want to be properly heard,” Stephanie’s husband said.

Tina and Stephanie review eviction papers. Photo| Steve Floyd A child who is already at a disadvantage in her education cannot possibly learn when her home life is filled with anxiety. There are plenty of people waiting to kick families when they are down, especially in Oakland. “There are a lot of heinous, dark, ugly aspects about Oakland,” Tina observes. I could tell that Tina genuinely cared about helping Alina. Tina works very hard to help Alina get what she needs, from counseling to clothes for gym class. Alina is improving in school, but really helping Alina means helping her family.

It is very difficult for Tina to know how to help a family in such dire straits. If you have suggestions as to how Alina’s family can find a place to live and grow, please email them to adam@needmagazine.com, and I will see that they get to Tina and the Youth ALIVE staff. Look for more information about Youth ALIVE and the amazing things they are doing for Oakland youths in the upcoming issue five of NEED Magazine.

Youth ALIVE! Oakland
3300 Elm Street
Oakland, CA 94609
Phone: 510-594-2588 ext 300
mail@youthalive.org

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