Datasets:

---

Recag

/

Rp_CommonC_298

like 0

ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Owner-offers-to-pay-for-housing-to-get-homeless-14968216.php\nOakland property owner offers to pay for housing to get homeless women out\nBy Anna Bauman\nUpdated 3:11 pm PST, Sunday, January 12, 2020\nDominique Walker (left) and Tolani King have been occupying a home on Magnolia Street in Oakland for months.\nPhoto: Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle\nWedgewood Properties said Saturday it would pay for temporary housing and moving expenses for a group of homeless mothers who have been living in one of the company’s vacant Oakland homes for nearly two months.\nThe offer came a day after an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled that the group, called Moms 4 Housing, could not legally live in the home at 2928 Magnolia St. and would be evicted by the Sheriff’s Office within days. The women said Friday they planned to stay, despite the eviction order.\nMoms 4 Housing said in a Saturday tweet that Wedgewood’s offer to pay for housing was engineered to make people believe the company is not a “corporate villain.”\nOakland Homeless Mothers\nJudge rules homeless mothers must leave vacant Oakland home\nMothers who took over vacant Oakland home plead case in court\nHomeless mothers call on SF leaders to increase funding for families on streets\n“Wedgewood hired a million-dollar PR firm to spin the M4H issue for them. Think of all their work through that lens,” Moms 4 Housing said. “Think about how many homeless children could be housed with just the money they’re spending trying to turn the public against Moms 4 Housing.”\nDominique Walker, 34, moved into the home Nov. 18 with her 1-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter. She was joined by other members of Moms 4 Housing, a coalition of homeless and marginally housed mothers in Oakland who are advocating for housing as a human right.\nWedgewood said it will pay Catholic Charities of the Easy Bay to house the mothers for two months while they look for new housing, according to a statement from Sam Singer, a spokesman for the real estate group. The group would also cover the expense of moving the women’s belongings. He did not say what the cost would be.\n“We urge the group to leave peacefully and voluntarily,” Singer said.\nWedgewood plans to renovate the home and sell it to a first-time home buyer, Singer said. The company will employ at-risk youth to help with the renovations in order to give them job training.\nThe battle between Moms 4 Housing, Wedgewood and county officials highlights the escalating homelessness crisis in the Bay Area. Oakland’s homeless population rose 47% between 2017 and 2019. The city’s per capita homeless rate tops those of San Francisco and Berkeley.\nAnna Bauman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @abauman2"