After more than a decade serving as Assistant Director at OPDC, Elly Fisher is moving on to a new chapter in life. She reflects back on some of the highlights of her time spent in Oakland.
I’ve been at OPDC for 12 years, just about to the date. What a wonderful honor it has been to help grow this organization and neighborhood, and work with the neighbors, staff, and partner organizations. My role as Assistant Director started out quite undefined which gave me the opportunity to dive into a number of challenges and opportunities.
OPDC is 40 years old this year! Our core values of connecting community members, and creating affordable housing and homeownership opportunity remain. When I started, we did very little community organizing; under Wanda’s leadership we now have organizers working with community leaders, a community plan, a voice in development projects, and the Oakwatch code enforcement program.
We have close relationships with our tenants and top-notch property management in-house. This year we added supportive services to ensure that our tenants are connected to resources. We’ve added two buildings with 54 units to the portfolio and renovated most units. My favorite (and pet project), Oakland Affordable Living, is now stable and fully occupied. To have completed a $16M Low Income Housing Tax Credit project as a mid-sized CDC is a feat and a great asset for the community.
We’ve consistently worked to increase home ownership and keep subsidy dollars in the neighborhood. At first we did this with a rent to own program; we then improved upon our strategy to build a Community Land Trust. I’m proud of our land trust model because it meets Oakland’s needs to maintain homeowners and the opportunity for existing homeowners join the trust.
It was fun to have played a part in building the Oakland 2025 Plan, the Oakland neighborhood partnership program, the Oakland landlord alliance, the Susan Hicks memorial bike lane, the Oakland Furniture sale (remember that?!), and so many other projects. There is always much to be done in Oakland, but we consistently demonstrate that we can all work together and hold each other accountable for the benefit of all the residents.
It’s my sincere hope that my departure creates space for new voices and energy within the organization. There are movements afoot for seriously evaluating how we engage with all residents and ensure that the organization reflects our diversity and inclusion values in all of our staff and activities. These efforts in conjunction with our strong and effective programs will continue to build a better Oakland and help neighbors thrive.
I’ll miss working with you all and wish you the very best!
Elly Fisher