‘Food is love’: After closing its winter homeless shelter, Oakland’s St. Mary’s Center tried something new
The West Oakland organization hopes its emergency services can still lead to more homeless people getting a hot meal and housing.
Natalie Orenstein
Natalie Orenstein reports on housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. Natalie was a Berkeleyside staff reporter from early 2017 to May 2020. She had previously contributed to the site since 2012, when she started as an intern. Orenstein covered a range of beats for Berkeleyside, focusing primarily on education. Her 2018 three-part series "Beyond the Buses" explored the legacy of Berkeley’s historic voluntary school integration, earning her the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal’s long-form storytelling award and a finalist position in the Education Writers Association National Awards for Education Reporting. Orenstein's reporting has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the J Weekly, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and elsewhere. Natalie is a proud Berkeley native and only strayed from the Bay Area once, to attend Pomona College.
Articles by Natalie
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Alameda County decides not to count homeless population this year
COVID-19 risks have prompted a year-long delay in the point-in-time homeless count, a “crucial data source.”
Local frontline health workers talk about why they’re saying yes to the COVID-19 vaccine
Alameda County health providers and emergency responders share how it feels to be first in line, and how the community can think about the vaccine’s safety.
Clean water is elusive for those living in homeless encampments. Is there a solution?
Unhoused residents and their supporters want the East Bay Municipal Utility District to expand water access for camps.
No more gas stoves? Oakland unanimously votes to ban them in new buildings
The law, which will come back for final approval Dec. 15, requires only electric infrastructure and appliances in newly built homes, restaurant and shop buildings, and offices.
Funds for Alameda County’s COVID-19 hotel shelter program are dwindling
It’s unclear what will happen to the 1,200 people currently housed in the hotels once funding runs out.
From the archives: How did Kamala Harris’ Berkeley roots shape her?
Long before she was the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris was a resident of the Berkeley flats and a student at Thousand Oaks.
Berkeley nonprofit puts finishing touches to colorful ‘tiny house village’ for youth in Oakland
It’s been a long road for Berkeley’s Youth Spirit Artworks project, which could house 22 homeless youth starting in the fall.
Are you unhoused in Oakland, Berkeley, or Emeryville? Caltrans might owe you money
Homeless people whose belongings were confiscated by Caltrans can file a claim under a new settlement. Here’s how.
Alameda County to lease 2 hotels in Berkeley for homeless housing
As many as 60 people from Berkeley will now move indoors from shelters or tents.
East Bay teens talk pandemic, protests and the people in their lives
Eight teenagers in Oakland and Berkeley talk about how they’ve had to adapt after the shutdown upended their social lives and support systems.
Community leaders, including some doctors, say Alameda County might be reopening too fast
“We’re watching a future disparity in the making,” said one doctor pushing for more transparency.
Oakland’s old Lake Merritt Lodge will become a COVID-19 homeless shelter
Advocates hope Alameda County will buy other empty buildings to become housing for unsheltered Oaklanders, too.
Advocates push back on plan to spend parks and homeless services funds on Oakland police
The decision on how to spend Measure Q funds comes as activists are calling on local governments to “defund the police.”
BUSD prepares for ‘distance learning’ in fall, creating child care concerns for some families
The Berkeley School Board on Wednesday approved a general planning framework as the district gets ready for 2020-21.
