One Group Bringing Many
Together to Help the
Homelessness Of Albany
By Jeannie Howard
With a shared belief that all residences of
Albany have a right to a place to live
within the city, the Diverse Housing
Working Group (DHWG) has been advocating
for the creation of low, moderate, and no income
housing within the city. This consortium is a mix
of business organizations, churches of varying
denominations, and individual residents, as well
as a handful of dedicated volunteers, all working
together to educate the community and bring
needed changes to the housing situation in Albany.
“It is really great that all these organizations, that
sometimes might not agree on many other issues,
got together to figure out what we can do for
people,” said Allen Cain, communications director of
DHWG.
Since the formation of the group nearly five
years ago, it has made tangible change and progress
54 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM APRIL 2018
Jennifer, Allen, Julie, Jim,
Elsbeth and Nancy
is the resources available to those experiencing
homelessness. During the drafting of the city’s
housing element report, which occurred close to the
time the group was formed, according to Cain, for
the county of Alameda and the state, the DHWG
was able to have a lot of influence. “Our group
started sitting in on those meetings and started
to advocate that the city actually start doing its
fair share serving people who were experiencing
homelessness,” he said. “We continue to monitor the
city on their housing element; really just holding the
city’s feet to the fire on their promise.”
Additionally, through their advocacy, the DHWG
was able to push the city to open the Community
Resource Center, which is located at the Albany
United Methodist Church Community Hall. The
achievement that Cain described as being the
“crown jewel” of the DHWG’s efforts is the shower