As the Trump administration continues to test the restraints on the executive branch of American government, citizens on the state and local levels are beginning to feel a squeeze as much-needed funds and services are being placed in jeopardy. Now more than ever, people need to be informed on the organizations coming together to provide relief, education and training to offset the chaos descending from above. Oakland’s Care 4 Community (C4C) is a good place to start.
Headed by Nicole Dean and Viviana Nance, C4C provides support for various local causes and underserved communities. When Trump cut funding in Oakland for violence prevention programs in July 2025, C4C advocated for resourcing neighborhoods versus divesting from community to invest in policing, supported the successes of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention and responded to 911 calls regarding nonviolent crimes with community-based services including mental health crisis intervention.
When Oakland restarted the city’s homeless encampment sweeps at the start of May 2025, C4C worked to improve conditions at encampments, converting abandoned and dilapidated homes to affordable housing; passing tenant-protection measures and measures to allow tenants to purchase the homes in which they live; and funding the creation of temporary, transitional safe spaces for people without housing.
Far from being a reactionary organization, C4C is proactively in the streets of Oakland on a daily basis, not only providing services and advocacy but knocking on doors to advocate for policies and politicians it feels have Oakland’s safety and success in mind.
“Care 4 Community really came out of a lot of years of grassroots organizing in Oakland, including the Moms for Housing occupation on Magnolia Street in 2019,” Dean said. “A lot of us were part of the committee that really helped back up that occupation and held it down for 59 days. We were canvassing the neighborhood before, during and after the occupation itself, and then when Carroll Fife ran for office, we were door-knocking for her every week.
“After we won that election,” Dean added, “Community Ready Corps (CRC) basically sat us down and said, ‘Please don’t stop door-knocking. Now that we’re going into the belly of the beast, we need to keep building the movement.’ We’ve been door-knocking every week since 2020. When it’s not election season, we’re asking people what they care about and how we can help.”
C4C was instrumental in getting Barbara Lee elected as Oakland’s mayor. Its canvassing and door-knocking efforts galvanized working-class East and West Oakland, otherwise known as “The Flats,” and countered misinformation being spread about both Lee and mayoral candidate Loren Taylor in the Oakland Hills.
“Taylor had been campaigning early and continuously since 2022,” Nance said. “In 2022, he won the hills. That was his base in 2022, and remember that he lost by a really thin margin that year. He almost had it. When I talked to voters in the hills, people would self-identify as progressive Democrats and thought ‘these are two progressive Democrats and I’m going to vote for the young guy that’s going to bring the new energy and that’s going to get stuff done.’
“And I would ask them, ‘Why do you think that Loren Taylor will get things done? I can tell you that Taylor didn’t get anything done when he was a council member,’ Nance continued. “The only piece of legislation that he got passed was the encampment management policy, which was a failed, unenforceable policy.
“A lot of people in the flats already knew about Taylor and remembered him from his term in council. People in the flats wanted to know who was funding him and were happy that Barbara Lee was running.”
As C4C’s website states, “Progressive electoral candidates often say ‘the fight’s not over on election day,’ but the powerful movements that propel progressive candidates into office tend to go dormant between election cycles. C4C is bucking that trend by building a civic engagement machine that operates 52 weeks a year, every year, to advance a transformative political agenda in Oakland”—in doing so, it is creating a replicable model for increased participation in local governance.
C4C is currently taking applications for its Summer Organizing Fellowships beginning in June. The organization needs people 15 years old or older to knock on doors, talk with neighbors about local issues, gather community concerns, and help plan rallies and community events. These are paid, part-time positions and an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to get involved in countering the assault on the rights and will of the people in Oakland and all over the country.
“We don’t just door-knock,” Nance said. “We organize neighborhood meetings where we teach people how the local government works. We also do service days where we clean up parks and get in contact with elders that need somebody to help them clean out their garage. It’s nice vibes over at Care 4 Community. It’s very warm, fuzzy stuff. We would love to have you all join us.”
