A mother without housing is a mother without her child.

Ain’t I A Mother, Too?
May 10th 6-8 pm
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 9th St, Oakland, CA 94607 

Register for this Free Event HERE!

Are you outraged by family separation at our Southern border?

Are you aware that family separation is happening right here in the Bay Area?

Did you know that lack of housing is often the greatest barrier to a mother’s reunification with her child(ren)?

We are asking for the tech industry’s help!

The tech industry has been blamed in large part for the rent increases and displacement of people seen recently in the Bay Area. While we cannot minimize the wonderful contributions that technology has given us in the advancement of our healthcare, science, and educational systems, we know that modernizing and upgrading efficiencies have not served to help everyone, as they should.

While many applaud and appreciate the innovations of modern society, we know that our society has failed to keep up with adequate housing supply to meet the needs of the people. This is why our coalition is looking to change the narrative and engage with this promising sector to innovate, not eliminate, the most precious relationship on earth – that between a mother and her children. The first step to protecting this relationship is housing.

Unbeknownst to many members of the public, women who have children in the child welfare system are losing their parental rights for lifebecause in the Bay Area housing is becoming more of a luxury than a basic human right. Meanwhile, our court system requires that mothers find and sustain housing before they can reunify with their children. Due in large part to this requirement, there are over 28,000 children currently waiting for reunification with their mothers. Leaving those children to wait is certainly a cruel jest as it is no secret that the housing their parents are required to obtain does not exist. The extreme shortage of “low income” housing is well documented with the latest data revealing that there are only 34 units for every 100 persons in need. This is cruel and unusual punishment.

Technology and data analysis systems are helping us to center the voices of the marginalized, build community power, and connect in ways we’ve never seen before. We owe this progress to the technological advances and tools made for everyday people, used creatively by organizers and advocates. It is our hope that technology can help us to overcome this issue of family separation, and be harnessed to keeping families together instead of facilitating their separation.

We are building an interdisciplinary team of innovators from various fields including law, technology, social work, community organizing, urban development, and education. This team will reimagine our housing deficit and the various social services that rely on this system to develop local and state advocacy efforts. Please join us for this thought-provoking conversation and to be a part of the solution! We encourage you to attend our “Ain’t I A Mother Too!” symposium being held on May 10th from 6-8pm at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.