Current Projects
Ursula Sherman Village
Most recently, BOSS has been developing Ursula Sherman Village—a Live, Work, Learn, and Heal environment with multiple levels of housing and program services serving ages 1 to 100. We are currently raising funds for the final phase, Ubuntu Center—more new housing and activity space for skill-building classes and computer labs for both adults and children. Once complete, the Village will provide a rich learning environment where families who are new to the program can be mentored and inspired by families who are further along in their progress.
We also deepened the service offerings at our 24-hour facilities, implementing the Wellness & Empowerment Curriculum across all programs—the culmination of BOSS’s 35 years of experience serving the homeless and mentally ill. The Curriculum is designed to create maximum wellness and self-sufficiency for people with mental illness and other disabilities. It focuses on skill-building workshops, peer support groups, and case management that values people’s survival expertise, building on those abilities to develop the new skills needed for living independently in housing. The highly respectful approach includes a Participatory Agreement signed by both participants and staff, with clear expectations for each.
We reached out to new populations affected by homelessness and poverty, including people being released from local jails. BOSS partnered with Santa Rita Jail and the City of Oakland to create programs that helped people prepare for release by seeking education, housing, jobs, and health care. We partnered with the Oakland Workforce Collaborative to provide employment and training services to homeless people and welfare recipients, enhancing the local economy. And we expanded our service approach to the severely mentally ill, working with Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services Agency to help people exiting hospitals and other institutions successfully achieve independent living.
Oakland Task Forces
Since the recent change of administration in Oakland, BOSS staff have participated on several of the new Mayor’s Task Forces, formed to assess community needs and develop plans to meet those needs—Health, Economic Development, and Community Policing.
Ubuntu Center
Ubuntu is the third and final phase in the development of Ursula Sherman Village—the expansion of our shelter in West Berkeley into a multi-tiered housing and skill-building ‘village’ for homeless families and single adults. With funds from the Y & H Soda Foundation and Serendipity Fund, we created designs for Ubuntu Center with our architect and are working with the City of Berkeley to secure the lease and negotiate details of site use. Ubuntu Center will create new housing for 12 single adults and up to four families, plus new classroom and activity space for adults and children.
Transportation Justice
Currently BOSS is working as part of the Transportation Justice Working Group to ensure that bus routes, discount passes and other services which low-income communities need are protected. At the same time we are urging the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission to give high priority in transportation planning to the needs of low-income riders. We are also helping to organize a local bus riders’ union with Urban Habitat.
