Maria Sanchez is an Oakland resident and a true Fruitvale living legend. For the past 30 years, she has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Latinos living in the Fruitvale District in Oakland. People that know Maria and know her work refer to her as “Fruitvale’s Mayor.” As The Unity Council’s Business Improvement District […]
News
What do Moms Say about Head Start?
Before Maria enrolled Vicente her three-year-old son in the Cesar Chavez Head Start Program in Concord, she was apprehensive about kindergarten. Vicente first language is Spanish, and he rarely interacted with other children. After just a couple months of being enrolled in the program, Vicente was exposed to many games and activities that allowed him […]
Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Policy Brief by UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative
UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Initiative (LPPI) conducted an empirical analysis of the Fruitvale Village in Oakland, California, a multi-dimensional Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the city’s largest Latino neighborhood. LPPI assessed various aggregate census tract socioeconomic outcomes to evaluate changes for those living within the Fruitvale Village TOD compared to those living in similar communities in […]
Over 200 People Attend the Groundbreaking of Casa Arabella
On Friday, March 2nd Bay Area leaders and community members gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of Casa Arabella, the largest affordable housing project in East Oakland. The event speakers included Rosy Davalos, Board Chair at The Unity Council; Mayor Libby Schaaf of the City of Oakland; Councilmember Noel Gallo of the City of Oakland; Wilma […]
A Dreamer’s Story
Clara is a 24-year-old Family Advocate at De Colores Head Start & Early Head Start, a preschool for low-income families in the Fruitvale neighborhood in Oakland. Clara is one of the 800,000 DACA recipients that were able to go to college, work and fulfill their dreams thanks to their temporary legal immigration status. Clara, like […]
Head Start Program: Annual Report 2016-2017
The Unity Council serves 187 Early Head Start children, and 180 Head Start children throughout our Concord and Oakland grantee-operated programs. The 2016-2017 school year was the third full year of operation for the Concord programs. We have two child care partners in Concord. Concord Child Care Center, a NAEYC Accredited program, serves both Early […]