HomeMy WebLinkAboutcommunity-presenters-d3-community-meeting-11-5-25-1-Mark Sinclair
Dignity Village Resident Advisory Board and HCH Consumer/Community Advisory Board
Community Presentation D3 Measure W/Home Together Community Meeting 11/5/25
Hello my name is Mark Sinclair, I want to mention briefly how I
became homeless, I contracted long-term COVID and was hospitalized
for 14 months in two different hospitals. I lost my company and
house, and was discharged from the hospital to a church warming
shelter where I was fortunate enough to move into Alameda’s Dignity
Village in May of 2023, and I still reside there.
During my stay at Dignity Village I had the pleasure of being elected to
the Resident Advisory Board of Dignity Village. I’d like to thank the
City of Alameda for providing me with a bathroom, shower and small
private place to live. During the 26 months I’ve been there, I’ve seen
three different nonprofits operating the shelter program. The first was
terminated due to unlawful behavior by staff; the second nonprofit
did not have the capacity to operate the project; and the third one
came in January of 2025. They’ve made changes, some positive, but
we still have some issues. I’d like to list some of the key challenges:
• First of all the RAB has not met with the City of Alameda since last
September.
• Nutritious meals: food preparation, quality and availability of food has
been a constant problem, especially on weekends.
• Access to basic toiletries and hygiene supplies like toilet paper has
been an ongoing issue. We get one roll of toilet paper each, weekly.
• Since August we haven’t had wifi/internet access on site. I’m actively
looking for a job.
Mark Sinclair
Dignity Village Resident Advisory Board and HCH Consumer/Community Advisory Board
Community Presentation D3 Measure W/Home Together Community Meeting 11/5/25
• Like I said, the City hasn’t met with the RAB since August; the city said
if there’s an issue we should only fill out grievance forms which will
eventually make its way to the city.
I have learned a lot as a resident, a board member, and now a
member of the Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless
Consumer/Community Advisory Board, and I would like to share my
input to the County and Supervisor Tam. These are my key messages:
• Oversight and Accountability: I strongly urge the County to authorize
and carry out a department and staff for shelter and homeless
services OVERSIGHT. Regardless of funder, whether county, city, or
whoever, there must be funding accountability. Are basic standards -
food service for example – adequate and being met? Are residents
getting the services and support they need? How are we measuring
success?
I’d like to invite the County to our site to visit – drop in and experience
breakfast – because the City of Alameda staff havn’t been on the
property in over two months.
We all contribute hard-earned tax dollars County and cities to provide
the basic decent human right to housing.
• Skilled Service Providers: We need service provider staff that are
well-trained and well supervised, who are compassionate, flexible,
and supportive of residents, and who listen to residents.
• Resident Advisory Boards: We strongly need elected RAB members in
shelter programs. Our RAB is made up of the people who know our
needs best – ourselves. Resident advisory boards should be
supported and strengthened, because strong resident governance will
Mark Sinclair
Dignity Village Resident Advisory Board and HCH Consumer/Community Advisory Board
Community Presentation D3 Measure W/Home Together Community Meeting 11/5/25
strengthen us all and make this hard work easier for staff and
residents.
• Ongoing Support and Community: Getting “housing ready” is hard
work for staff and shelter residents! We need to support folks in
getting their basic life skills learned, with appropriate housing
placements, and building community, and moving in help.
At the end of the day, we all need to support our nonprofits, we need
to be involved in our communities, and we all need to be able to help
people in need, to access the services they need.
As a county or cities, we must ensure that funds are spent responsibly,
effectively and accountably. We can and should do better. As a
member of the RAB and the CCAB, I expect to keep working towards
this goal, long after I am permanently housed on my own.
Family Bridges (Tien Nguyen and Johnny O’Brien) Community Presentation D3 Measure W/Home Together Community Meeting 11/5/25
• Letting lived experience be the guide and co-creating a safe space for conversations
to happen; we don’t assume we know what is best, rather we co-create solutions
with people living it every day.
• Equipping staff with empathetic skills and competencies to foster trust and
relationships
o It’s about more than training, it’s about heart. Building empathy takes
practice. We can do that through role-playing real moments from the streets,
sharing what worked and what didn’t. It’s about listening with patience, giving
ourselves an empathy band-aid when needed, and remembering that every
interaction matters. A competency framework helps us stay grounded. It
outlines what we need to know, the skills to build, and how to show up with
compassion for the people in our own community.
• What we have observed as direct service providers on the streets
o We feel the struggles of those we serve
o We often question ourselves about doing “enough”, because when you see
someone who is suffering and you feel powerless to help, it starts to eat at
you internally (Vicarious Trauma). It’s important to remind each other of the
impact we have had, that consistency, presence, advocacy, transparency
about systems and compassion have made a difference for those we have
connected with and the trust it has built.
o Our experience of encampment sweeps is that it has created cracks in trust.
Telling someone to move across the street for 72 hours is not a solution, we
need whole person care. Wrap around services for those in need, I’m talking
about housing, food and water, mental health, substance use treatment,
documentation, compassionate care that helps people move beyond
survival.
o We have heard and seen how bias in the community has created moral
judgments about our unhoused neighbors. In the past two years we have
worked to raise bias awareness around unhoused, and justice-impacted
community members. Role modeling for community members what it means
to be compassionate and curious about our unhoused neighbors stories, so
that we can lift the bias that exist in our community that hinders people from
making connections. Our community mediators are in the work to put
themselves out of work. So that community members can learn and have the
skills to de-escalate and connect with their neighbors.
What happens when we come together to face our challenges?
When we truly see one another beyond the labels, beyond
appearances?
Family Bridges (Tien Nguyen and Johnny O’Brien) Community Presentation D3 Measure W/Home Together Community Meeting 11/5/25
When we choose compassion over fear?
• Thanks we appreciate having this opportunity to be here, hoping we can share this
50 second video with everyone, to show some of the Collaboration that is happening
in Oakland to support our Unhoused community members.
Cathy Ralph and Kim Vanderheiden Braided Bridge/Home Bridge Connect
Community Presentation D3 Measure W/Home Together Community Meeting 11/5/25
County Measure W Conversation
1. Building Community
a. Not helping people towards independence. Importance of interdependence for
surviving, safety, thriving, and freedom. (Kim)
b. Community with the unhoused, but also with the housed to help people
understand – being a bridge. Bring people on ride-alongs, turn into more help,
expands overall community. (Cathy)
c. Personal relationships (Kim)
2. Role of the housed in the ecosystem of supporting unhoused voices and experience
a. We’re followers, facilitators, allow people with lived experience to guide us
(Cathy)
b. Bringing stability into chaotic, unreliable situations. For example, running a
weekly meeting, holding space. (Kim)
c. Speak to the council, write letters politicians, administrators, newspaper, anyone
who is not seeing what we’re seeing and needs to, advocacy (Cathy)
d. Importance of witness
3. Standards and Accountability of Service Providers
a. As followers, we learn that people have not been treated with accountability and
respect.
b. Service providers need to hire people with lived experience when possible. Have
people with lived experience train people without.
c. Retrain staff or replace them if they cannot treat unhoused people well.
d. Pay a living wage
e. External complaint and abuse process that holds providers accountable.
4. Strong Recommendations for Measure W:
a. Funding structure that enables people with lived experience to lead (Cathy)
i. Start up fund allows purchase of liability insurance
ii. First payroll
iii. Startup equipment
iv. On time regular payment going forward, not reimbursement, no games
with funding.
b. Enable communities.
i. Cob on Wood
ii. Actively feed neighbor support rather than feeding people’s fears