Kelsey Goeres | Alameda Post | November 16, 2023
City officials and police officers shared updates and answered questions at a community meeting about the Dignity Village supportive housing complex on Monday, November 13, at Bayport Park on the West End. Dignity Village, which provides interim housing for individuals experiencing homelessness, is located at 2350 Fifth St., adjacent to the College of Alameda.
The common areas of Dignity Village will be available for guests to socialize and access support services. Photo Adam Gillitt.
Assistant City Manager Amy Woolridge, Housing and Human Services Manager Lisa Fitts, and Five Keys President and CEO Steve Good ran the meeting. Five Keys is a nonprofit that manages onsite operations at Dignity Village as well as case management and resident services. Two officers from the Alameda Police Department (APD) were also present to speak on current crime initiatives as they related—or, more accurately, didn’t relate—to Dignity Village. Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft also stopped by for 30 minutes prior to heading out to a Boy Scouts event.
The agenda included introductions, Housing and Human Services report, APD update, Dignity Village/Five Keys Schools & Program overview, and questions. While all of these areas were touched on during the meeting, several vocal community members interrupted the flow of the agenda to ask questions that, as Woolridge said, may have been better suited for an APD Community Beat Meeting. As such, the meeting took on more of a question-and-answer format.
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