The West Oakland YMCA, where People’s Grocery’s administrative offices are based and where we operate several programs, recently received increased funding through Proposition 49 for its after school programming and enrichment services. (Prop 49 more than quadruples funding for after school programs, through the After School Education and Safety program, from its current $121 million to $550 million.) With this increased funding the YMCA is expanding its staff in order to met the demands of their larger after school enrichment services.

This is an excellent opportunity for the YMCA and for the children and youth of West Oakland. However, the trqade off for the YMCA’s program expansion is that People’s Grocery has to move out in order allow space for the Y’s new staff. We were given notice that we must vacate our administrative office by January 1, 2007. This is very short notice and we are working hard to find another location in West Oakland.

We are also trying to turn this sudden challenge into an opportunity to find an improved office location that can enable us to meet our own expansion needs. We are also trying to take advantage of this move to find a location that can acomodate a storefront, in addition to an office space, that we can run our grocery store out of. This would enable us to save cost through a single location for both purposes and to build momentun towards our goal of a full-service grocery store by securing and operating out of a transitional, interim location.

The support from the community in facing this challenge has been great. I have already received over 20 suggestions of ideas for possible locations. Through our public request for help in resolving this need we have also come into contact with a city planner who works for the City of Oakland who has offered to help us find a location for our full-service grocery store. This individual has alot of resources and contacts to offer and will make a big difference in our progress towards our vision. It’s ironic that sometimes through a great challenge even greater opportunities can emerge.

We are still looking for a short-term office locaton for 1-2 years. If you know of any locations in West Oakland that would be suitable for an office please let us know. Below is a short list of the ideal features that a new office would provide us. Thank you for your help.

Office Features Desired:
800 - 1,200 Square Feet
Located in West Oakland
Central and visible location
Accessible by public transportation
Windows and natural light
Ample storage
Sufficient parking
Garden space and/or yard
Kitchen
Possible retail storefront combination

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 15th, 2006 at 4:46 pm and is filed under People's Grocery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.