Hello fellow Oaklanders,

Join us tonight for our virtual Town Hall at 6 p.m. on my social media channels Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , and YouTube (with closed captioning). The dial in number is (669) 900-6833, 413825986#

As always, you can submit your questions right now in advance by clicking here .

This week we will discuss food insecurity and its impact on our vulnerable populations – particularly our seniors. We’ve invited an expert, Kim McCoy Wade , Director of the California Department on Aging, who can share resources for both those who need help accessing food, and those who want to help address the problem.

We will also learn about what's being done right now locally to expand testing and contact tracing in our community -- the factor that will determine when we can return to work and reopen businesses.

We’ll be joined by Dr. Stephen Parodi , the lead physician for Kaiser Permanente’s national coronavirus response, to talk about the massive effort to increase testing in the East Bay.

Additionally, we will hear from Dr. Nicholas Moss of the Alameda County Health Department, who can speak to the efforts to dramatically scale up contact tracing in the coming weeks.

I will also answer your questions about the city’s response, so please submit all your questions by clicking here . 
On Thursday at our Town Hall we announced the launch of the region’s first Racial Disparities Task Force to do two things: Address COVID-19 impacts on people of color and vulnerable communities right now, and to write new state laws to reduce racial health disparities of the future.

I’m joined on this mission by three co-chairs: Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan ; Asm. Rob Bonta ; and Dr. Tony Iton of the California Endowment (pictured above). Inaugural members include Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Supervisor Keith Carson , and Jane Garcia, CEO of La Clinica de La Raza .

To read more about the task’s force’s work, you can click here , or watch interviews from our appearances on Ch. 7 and Ch. 4 and Ch. 2 .

You can also check out last week’s Town Hall here , where Dr. Iton gave an overview of racial disparities and COVID-19 and the real challenges we face, as well as some strategies to make lasting change.

Next week we will announce the task force’s first public hearing.
This week we delivered grants to 90 micro-businesses across Oakland through our Oakland COVID-19 Relief Fund. Longtime residents like Keishna and Eugene of Keishna’s Kiddies Corner in East Oakland (click to watch video of their story ) received $5,000 to keep their daycare open for the children of some of our most essential workers – our healthcare professionals, our police officers and firefighters, our grocery store clerks.

The financial lifeline to Keishna and Eugene was made possible by Oaklanders and philanthropic organizations who have given generously to the Oakland COVID-19 Relief Fund .

But our needs far outpace our resources.

Now, along with my fellow mayors across the country, I’m calling on the federal government to include our most vulnerable micro-businesses in the next stimulus package. We know the first stimulus overlooked too many of our local entrepreneurs, and now we want to ensure the people who make Oakland unique – like Keishna and Eugene – get the resources they deserve.

To read more about the recipients – and ways you can help – please click here .

Be well, and hope to see you at the Town Hall tonight,

Libby