HUD Acting Secretary visits Oakland, encourages continued coordination

OAKLAND, Calif. - U.S. Acting Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman paid a visit to Oakland, in response to an invite by leaders from the city’s Chamber of Commerce. Todman said she was eager to see the federal government’s investments at work.

"It takes more than hope and vision to build housing, you need the resources to do it," said Todman. "HUD is all about bringing those resources."

Todman participated in a roundtable with business leaders, members of nonprofit organizations and other groups working to solve the city’s housing crisis. They met at Casa Arabella, an affordable housing complex in the Fruitvale district. The complex and its residents benefit from federal funding and vouchers.

"It’s an amazing affirmation that Oakland is important," said Patricia Wells, the executive director of the Oakland Housing Authority. "It shows that we’re an important city and what we’re doing here is worthy of the highest level of leadership in our country."

The acting secretary also met with a new resident who is a formerly homeless veteran. Oakland’s latest ‘point-in-time’ count shows 5,490 people are living in the city without a permanent home, a 9% increase from 2022, but a smaller jump than previous years. Todman pointed to millions of dollars HUD has provided to Oakland for community development and for resolving encampments. But, she said, more could be done with even more resources.

"We have great ideas, sometimes our friends in Congress don’t always agree with us on how many resources to put forth towards those ideas," said Todman. "So, we continue to work with them to get the funding we need.

The high cost of housing has become a major issue for voters in the race for the White House. HUD and Todman’s future work will be defined by whomever by the next president. "I’ve been in the housing business for about three decades," said Todman. "I’ve never seen this level of intensity around an issue that so many of us have worked on for so many years."

Roundtable participants said they’re getting creative, including working with faith-based groups and other non-profits to build more housing. According to the state’s new housing mandates, the city has set a goal of building 26,000 new units in eight years. Todman said it will take these partnerships and an all-hands-on-deck approach to continue to tackle the crisis. 

"Government is doing exactly this: we’re building sites like this; formerly homeless veterans that live here now that were on the streets," said Todman. "I want folks to hear there’s hope, there’s people who continue to fight for them."