The Phoenix, a 100-percent affordable housing project in West Oakland’s Prescott neighborhood, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony in November 2025. The four-story project—developed in partnership with the City of Oakland, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC), and Abode Housing Development (Abode)—is intended to serve unhoused individuals and low-income families, and consists of 100 units of modular housing ranging from studios to two-bedroom apartments.
“These new homes prove that affordable housing is about justice,” Mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement released the same day. “To the families who will call The Phoenix home—you belong here, and we fought to keep it that way.”
But for months after the ribbon cutting, The Phoenix remained closed due to ostensible delays with the property’s inspection, and the unhoused families who had signed leases and paid deposits continued living outside. As they waited for news of an official move-in date, many were subject to continued encampment evictions conducted by the City of Oakland.
Stephanie Kimble, a single mother of a high school honors student, is one of those residents. Kimble was first matched with The Phoenix in June 2025 through Alameda County’s Coordinated Entry system—a county-wide program that facilitates permanent supportive housing placements for people experiencing homelessness—but due to her status in the system, she was unable to apply for alternative housing services.
“Because I am marked as permanently housed in the county’s system,” Kimble said in a written statement, “I have been declined services including shelter.”
Kimble and her daughter have lived in several vehicles and RV trailers over the past year. During that time, she says five of their live-in vehicles were towed by the city’s Encampment Management Team, and in August, they were robbed at gunpoint for their 9500-watt generator. Left in housing limbo and subject to violence and displacement in the streets, both Kimble and her daughter have experienced significant impacts to their physical and mental health.
Her daughter, who lives with autism, was at one time non-verbal and struggled with her studies. But after discovering dance, she has seen great improvements in her grades, has danced with both the San Francisco and Oakland ballets, and was accepted into the 2026 John Cranko School Intensive summer program in New York City.
“But we cannot afford for her to go,” Kimble continued in her statement. “Our money has been used on propane, tows, citations, hotel rooms, and pumping black water out of our trailer. She is in complete regression and going backwards…has days where she is completely non-verbal again and her grades are declining. Instead of talking about college and where she wants to go to school, every day is focused [on] where [we] sleep tonight.”
Kimble’s health has also been impacted by the delays. First diagnosed with cancer in 2012, she has received chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy treatments for tumors that have metastasized throughout her body. Her doctors had scheduled surgery to remove the tumors once they had shrunk to an operable size, but due to the precarity of her living situation, she has had no choice but to skip recent treatments. The planned surgery has since been postponed.
“Being able to continue these treatments and get surgery was dependent on being in permanent housing,” Kimble said. “I’m getting farther and farther from the life-saving surgery I need.”
On February 10, tenants and advocates held a press conference outside of The Phoenix to demand accountability, transparency, and immediate intervention for families impacted by the move-in delay.
According to a press release issued by the Housing & Dignity Project—a local collaborative of homeless advocacy organizations—EBALDC told advocates that the City of Oakland had not completed inspections on the property, but partnering service providers had been told that delays were due to copper wiring being stolen from the building. The Housing & Dignity Project reached out to on-site security to verify these claims, but were told no break-ins have occurred on the property, and copper wiring remains intact.
John Janosko of Wood Street Commons, who collaborates with the Housing & Dignity Project, did not mince words in the press release, asserting clear demands for accountability and action.
“For the past month, [advocates] have been communicating with the developers, the management company, and the city to do something,” Janosko said. “We are demanding that the city, the county, the developers, and the management company get it together and fix this immediately. We are putting the red ribbon back up at The Phoenix Apartments, because it should have never been cut.”
The press conference did not fall on deaf ears, and received an immediate response from Jonathan Russell, Director of Alameda County Housing and Homelessness Services.
According to the Housing & Dignity Project’s follow-up press release on February 11, Russell—who attended the conference—informed attendees that nine unhoused families would receive long-term shelter offers that will not expire until The Phoenix officially opens.
In addition to the interim shelter offers, EBALDC and Abode donated a total of $10,000 to support the nine families as they begin the shelter intake process, including hotel vouchers and funds for Uber rides to appointments. Alameda County is working to secure a safe parking site for the families’ live-in vehicles.
“We are so grateful Mr. Russell worked a miracle in 24 hours,” Needa Bee, a member of the Housing & Dignity Project, said in the press release. “We are also grateful to EBALDC and Abode for…rectifying this situation, and making sure our families are immediately off the streets. We need more happily-ever-afters like this.”
According to the Housing & Dignity Project, there is no set date for The Phoenix’s official opening. Once the initial nine families have secured long-term shelter placements, the advocacy group plans to continue their coordination with co-developers and the county, ensuring that the remaining 91 households approved for tenancy at The Phoenix are “supported, safe, and stabilized” as they wait to receive house keys.
“When the apartments open, this newly formed partnership will work together to have a second ribbon cutting,” the press release reads. “A celebration that [includes] all 100 families moving in.”
Bradley Penner is the Editor and Lead Reporter of Street Spirit.