As climate change drastically upends our daily lives, promoting peaceful cohabitation, conflict resolution, and cooperation will be essential for humanity’s survival. To this end, the Oakland Peace Center is dedicated to community building through the work of its 30+ community partners, whose programs support nonviolent communications, mental health, healing, and community-based conflict resolution. At the Peace Center, the various organizational partners offer a variety of services including therapy, meditation, youth workshops, and immigration services.
Founded at the First Christian Church of Oakland on MLK Day ten years ago, the Oakland Peace Center has taken a unique approach to promote resilience. Beyond just maintaining supplies of emergency resources, their connections have given them the ability to promote resilience on a daily basis and strengthen their community before a disaster even hits.
There are many elements of the Oakland Peace Center which distinguish it from other resilience hubs. Their most unique elements are their partners. In total, there are ten in-house partners and more than thirty-five external partners who work closely with the organization. Through these, the Center shines. Acting as an intermediary, the Peace Center excels at coordinating resources and expertise to promote nonviolent conflict resolution and provide assistance to vulnerable community members. Some of the organizations include East Point Peace Academy, which offers conflict resolution training to the general public and prisoners, the Niroga Institute which teaches trauma-informed mindfulness practices at Oakland schools, and Project Darreis, which provides basic needs in an effort to curb violence. By themselves, these organizations provide vital services to the community, but with the assistance of the Peace Center, they are able to break out of their silos to collaborate with other organizations and find creative ways to build resilience.
Another central element of these organizations, and the Center at large, is their focus on promoting equity and supporting marginalized communities. This can be seen in their agreed-upon values where they recognize the persistent legacy of slavery and commit themselves to always center racial equity in their work.
The Oakland Peace Center stands as a model resilience hub thanks to their extensive disaster preparations, relationships with their community, and their efforts to fight climate change. In the event of a disaster, the facility will be prepared thanks to their regular evacuation drills, designated meeting places, and supplies of essential resources. Currently, they have enough food and water to supply thirty people for over a week, a reserve of bunk beds and sleeping bags, as well as go-bags that contain feminine hygiene products.
To ensure that nobody is left behind in the event of a disaster, one of their most important roles as a resilience hub is to stay connected to the community that they serve. As an organization whose primary purpose is networking, the Oakland Peace Center is perfectly situated as an intermediary in their community. Through their partners, they are able to identify those who need the most assistance and connect them with resources. When one partner is working with someone who needs mental health counseling, they are able to work with another partner who provides these services. Finally, the Center has been making efforts to combat climate change. This is mainly done through partners such as The Sunflower Alliance, Urban Releaf, and the Alliance for Climate Education. These community organizations work with the Peace Center to educate the community about climate change and fight for climate justice. Recently, they have been retrofitting the facility with sustainable appliances such as energy-efficient lights and low water usage faucets and toilets. One area of potential growth for both disaster preparedness and fighting climate change is switching to renewable energy and expanding backup power options.
In the near future, the Peace Center plans on adding solar panels as a form of renewable energy, as well as adding backup power in case of power shutoffs. The Center is also looking to build up a larger network of volunteers to assist them in their endeavors and to create a list of people’s skills so they can better assign people to various work projects
If you wish to help them promote nonviolence and create a more equitable and resilient future, you can click the link below.
https://www.oaklandpeacecenter.org/volunteer