![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Activist group Moms 4 Housing wins right to stay in Oakland house, protests Bay Area housing crisis
February 8, 2020
A group of homeless mothers called Moms 4 Housing reached an agreement with Wedgewood Properties on Jan. 20 to buy the Oakland home they had illegally occupied from Nov. 18 to Jan. 14. Their fight to stay in the vacant house drew national attention to the housing crisis in the Bay Area.
Watch their movement here.
After hundreds of people protested the mothers’ eviction on Jan. 14, the owner of the house, Wedgewood Properties, agreed to sell the house to the Oakland Community Land Trust, a nonprofit that will rent the house to the mothers at an affordable price.
Oakland deputies arrived to evict the mothers before dawn on Jan. 14, arresting two of the mothers and two of their supporters in front of a crowd of protestors.
Moms 4 Housing formed to protest the fact that tens of thousands of Bay Area homes are bought up by developers and left empty amid growing rates of homelessness.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are an estimated 46,000 vacant homes in the Bay Area, with 5,898 of these houses in Oakland.
“The intention was not to get this house,” organizer Carroll Fife said in a speech to supporters after the mothers’ eviction. “The intention was to spark a movement.”
Fife is the director of social justice nonprofit Alliance for Californians for Community Empo
werment (ACCE), which had been helping to provide the mothers with legal support to contest their eviction.
One of the mothers, Dominique Walker, moved into the vacant house with her two young children on Nov. 18 after struggling to find affordable housing in Oakland for eight months. Other moms soon joined her, prompting Wedgewood Properties to sue.
Though a judge ruled against the mothers and ordered for their eviction on Jan. 10, Moms 4 Housing refused to leave.
“We’ve been organizing and movement-building ever since [Nov. 18], and this movement is continuing to grow,” Walker said to Harker Aquila. “We weren’t planning on the judge ruling in our favor. We understand that the system isn’t set up to protect us, it’s set up to protect the wealthy.”
Many people who came out to protest the mothers’ eviction had experienced homelessness themselves. Oakland has seen a 47 percent increase in homelessness in the last two years according to a report by Everyone Home, a community organization working to end homelessness in Alameda County.
“I grew up here in Oakland all my life. I’m 40 years old. I’ve never seen this many homeless people out here in my life,” Andre Burton, a supporter of Moms 4 Housing said. Burton has been living with his great-aunt or on the street since being evicted from his Oakland apartment on Dec. 19.
Though Wedgewood Properties agreed to sell the house, Moms 4 Housing said their fight for affordable housing is not over. They will continue advocating for housing as a human right.
For more on the housing crisis in the Bay Area, check Harker Aquila and the next issue of the Winged Post, out on Feb. 20.
