Wedgewood Properties Offers to Pay Catholic Charities to Shelter “Moms 4 Housing” and Move their Belongings to New Location Urges Group to Depart Peacefully and Voluntarily From its Property.
UPDATE: It’s Moms 4 Housing and Friends vs. Alameda County Sheriffs. Maybe.
Oakland, CA. — Wedgewood Properties, the company that owns the Magnolia Street home overtaken by squatters Moms 4 Housing today offered to pay Catholic Charities to house them for the next two months so the mothers can find new accommodations as well as pay for their belongings to be moved to a new location.
“We urge the group to leave peacefully and voluntarily. We Moms 4 Housing Court Loss To Wedgewood Properties Predictable; Oakland Should Helpwill pay Catholic Charities of the East Bay, one of the leading providers of homeless services in Oakland, to provide shelter and assistance to the moms for the next two months. In addition, we will pay the charity to have their belongings moved,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for Wedgewood Properties.
The group lost a court case Friday when a judge confirmed they have no valid claim to Wedgewood’s home at 2928 Magnolia St., Oakland. They face eviction by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department in the coming days.
Singer said Wedgewood recognizes and sympathizes with the plight of the homeless and that is why the company is a major contributor to shelter programs, inner-city youth, and the disadvantaged.
“Wedgewood hears and understands what the individuals illegally in its home are saying, but it cannot condone theft,” he added. “We want to help them by offering to pay for shelter and moving through Catholic Charities.”
Wedgewood plans to renovate the home and sell it to first-time homebuyers. The company has an agreement with Shelter 37, a non-profit that helps at-risk youth, to provide jobs and job training in the renovation of this home, Singer said.
“I encourage Moms 4 Housing to peacefully and voluntarily leave the property as quickly as possible so that we can train disadvantaged Oakland youths, give them jobs, and teach them skills,” said James Washington, founder of Shelter 37 and former two-time NFL Super Bowl champion. “The sooner we can get access, the sooner we can put at-risk Oakland youth to work.”
Washington said his organization will work with Oakland non-profits to train the youths as part of the renovation of the Magnolia Street home.