Transform Helps Affordable Housing Residents Get Moving

For the past two years, Transform has contributed our community engagement expertise and knowledge of pedestrian and bike safety to Oakland Making Moves, a project spearheaded by Alameda County Health’s Nutrition Services Team. The goal is to support affordable housing sites to explore safe routes to healthy neighborhood destinations. 

Recently, our work culminated in the creation of an older adult pedestrian safety curriculum. We also had the privilege of piloting the presentation at three affordable housing sites in East Oakland: Lockwood Gardens, Lion Creek Crossings, and Madison Park Apartments. The curriculum aims to remind the audience about general pedestrian safety tips. Most importantly, it facilitates a conversation that unearths the opportunities and barriers seniors face in pursuing a healthier lifestyle. The course offers participants a chance to start connecting with one another through shared experiences and leaves folks with the opportunity to identify and rally around collective safety concerns. 

I presented at Lockwood Gardens, and I’ve been reflecting on the factors that contributed to the success of this presentation. It’s clear that the time and effort we invested in building trust, both leading up to and during the session, were critical. With the exception of Lion Creek Crossings, where we’ve done extensive engagement with residents on another project, Transform had not met the communities at the sites before our work on Oakland Making Moves. We understand the importance of dedicating resources to meaningful community outreach, preparation, and relationship-building to connect with people and deliver a message they can hear. 

A constant learning process

Several lessons emerged from our work on Oakland Making Moves that can help guide and strengthen future engagement.

Partner with trusted community representatives

We were fortunate to work alongside Alameda County Health staff, who have been building strong relationships at each housing site for more than two years. Through the Oakland Making Moves project, they’ve hosted regular activities, such as group walks, that bring residents together. Thanks to their groundwork, Transform was able to enter as both a credible partner and a friendly face. 

Center the collective wisdom in the room

The curriculum was designed to encourage participation, and we took several steps to help people feel safe sharing their thoughts and contributing to the conversation. From the start, we acknowledged that everyone has valuable insights to offer about pedestrian safety. We also set clear expectations that while not every concern could be addressed immediately, all input was important and would be revisited later. To demonstrate our commitment to follow-up, we documented every comment on chart paper so participants could see their feedback being captured in real time. Throughout the presentation, we built in multiple opportunities for participants to speak up, ensuring their voices were woven into the discussion. Everyone appreciated being listened to.

At Lion Creek Crossings and Madison Park Apartments, we faced the added challenge of a language barrier. With the help of a translator, we were able to communicate effectively with Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking residents. However, it was clear that Transform’s depth of engagement at Lion Creek Crossings was the key to bridging the language barrier. Our prior, deep engagement with this community through Know How to Go played a key role in fostering trust and connection, allowing the conversation to flow more naturally despite language differences. Even with the language barrier, folks had a lot to share about how they get around and the challenges they face.

Share food to build connection and comfort

Sharing food is more than a gesture of hospitality. It’s a powerful way to build connections and create common ground. Having food at our presentations helped foster trust and made conversations feel more open and natural. We were fortunate to have the flexibility to purchase food from a variety of local vendors, working closely with Alameda County Health staff to ensure our choices aligned with their health messages and reflected the preferences of the residents. For example, we served tamales at a lunchtime presentation and pastries, fruit, and coffee at a breakfast session. Residents at both meetings expressed their appreciation for the food, underscoring how something as simple as a shared meal can strengthen relationships and engagement.

And people appreciated it even more when we handed out reflective pizzas as a fun item and an example of ways to stay visible and safe.

Looking to the future

The main accomplishment from Oakland Making Moves is that we were able to bring to light the opportunities and real challenges these communities face in using active transportation. 

When asked why they don’t walk or roll, participants gave these reasons:

• BART being unclean
• Unclear mobility devices on bus
• Safety (in the streets)
• Violence, crime
• Kids biking on the sidewalk
• Past accidents
• Trauma
• Crime
• Drivers and walkers looking at their phones
• Language barrier communicating with drivers

When we asked about safety concerns, community members told us:

• People on bikes
• Signage
• Dirty streets
• People on headphones

Each issue points to new opportunities: to educate bike riders and pedestrians about sharing space; work with BART on station cleanliness, as outlined in our Ride Fearlessly report; help vulnerable community members develop strategies to keep each other safe in their neighborhoods; and much more. As we close out this project, we’ve given Alameda County Public Health a new tool to help people stay active, and we’ve built a bit more of our roadmap for future projects and policy initiatives to bring even more life, joy, and safety to Oakland streets.

Thank you to the Alameda County Public Health Department for supporting this crucial program.