Moms Booted From Home That Wasn't Theirs Get Good News

Nonprofit land trust to buy Oakland residence from developer, let homeless evicted families back in
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2020 8:43 AM CST
Homeless Moms Kicked Out of Calif. Home to Move Back In
Dominique Walker speaks during a press conference outside the house in question in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2020.   (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group via AP)

The homeless moms who were booted from a vacant residence in Oakland, Calif., will soon be able to call it home again. The members of activist group Moms 4 Housing had been served an eviction notice by Wedgewood Inc., a developer that specializes in flipping houses, and last week, sheriff's deputies converged on the property to make sure the women left, an event that resulted in four arrests. NBC Bay Area now reports Wedgewood will sell the home to the nonprofit Oakland Community Land Trust, which will allow the evicted moms to move back in. The developer will also give the city, land trust, or other community organizations first dibs on all of the other homes Wedgewood owns in the city. Before the public outcry over the story, Wedgewood had refused to make a deal with the activist group.

Wedgewood had purchased the home at a 2019 foreclosure auction sale for $500,000; per a statement from the office of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, the home will go for "a price not to exceed the appraised value." "We are not here to condone unlawful acts, but we are here to respect them and to passionately advance what inspired them," Schaaf said at a Monday presser. NBC notes the headline-making incident underscores California's issues of high housing costs, homelessness, and lack of affordable housing. "This is what happens when we organize, when people come together to build the beloved community," Dominique Walker of Moms 4 Housing said Monday in a statement. At a news conference in front of City Hall, Walker said that "housing is a human right," adding, "We will not stop organizing until all unhoused folks have shelter," per KTVU. (More homeless stories.)

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