Workforce Highlight: Domonic at Community Foods Market

Community Foods Market (CFM) opened its doors in June 2019 after a decade-long effort to address the food access needs in West Oakland. In addition to food justice, this noteworthy grocery store is dedicated to the recruitment and retention of employees from the community they serve.

Earn2Learn graduate Domonic, pictured in front of Community Foods Market.

Sharing in both values and commitment to the wellness and empowerment of the communities we serve, AHC partnered with CFM again this summer as a worksite for our Earn2Learn program. Earn2Learn intends to connect local youth with Oakland’s medley of businesses, providing training in workplace readiness, self-confidence, and career projection, all with the ultimate result of employment.

Since 2014, AHC has guided 134 youth into positions within our network of Oakland business partners. Participants have expressed that Earn2Learn helped them gain essential hours of job experience, granting access in the future to positions with varied skill sets and experience requirements. Domonic was one of many youth participants to receive paid mentored training and subsequent work that built a solid foundation for navigating a workplace.

For four days a week, Domonic would wake up at 6am to shower, eat breakfast, and take the bus to arrive in time for his 8am shift at CFM. As an entry level grocery stocker, his learning curve was steep. During a worksite program check-in, one supervisor mentioned that Domonic "had a lot of potential and showed good character", and was working consistently to improve his area of focus: communication skills.

Domonic was receptive to the feedback, and would demonstrate measurable improvements in his performance towards the end of the program. During his last week, Domonic asked his supervisors if he could be officially hired. They said yes, and now Domonic begins work at 5am, four days a week, still dedicated to his work at Community Foods Market.

Domonic’s journey to employment at CFM demonstrates how a combination of community resources and mindful business practices continues to be a necessity within West Oakland, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. As CFM profoundly states: “Our vision is to become an empowering, inspiring and transformative place to work for our employees and to enable them to feel a sense of purpose in their work. We strive to create a workplace environment where our employees are empowered to make a difference and are continuously developing and improving themselves.”

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Shaping The Future: The Importance of Creative Education

Women’s history month is a wonderful time to look back and reflect on the immeasurable accomplishments that women have made throughout the years to reshape culture and society as a whole. From breaking the glass ceiling to being role models for young girls, there are countless empowering women that deserve the spotlight for their vision and dedication that have resulted into lasting positive impacts in today’s world.

Meet Dr. Ida Oberman 
Dr. Ida Oberman is a powerhouse Waldorf schools advocate and the Executive Director and Founder of the Community School For Creative Education (CSCE) in Oakland. Dr. Oberman has supported thousands of young minds through culturally rich, holistic education. Based in the United States, Ida Oberman is a Dutch-born woman who attended a Waldorf school in Germany, an experience that has left a profound impact on her to this day. Waldorf education, also commonly referred to as Steiner education, is an educational system that revolves around developing children's intellect, artistic, and practical skills through holistic means.

Waldorf schools were also co-ed, which was somewhat unique for the time. For
Dr. Oberman, being able to experience this advanced education influenced her dynamic perspectives on education and allowed her to truly grasp the power that art had at healing the world. 

Upon moving to Germany when she was nine years old, Dr. Oberman’s parents enrolled her in a Waldorf school primarily because they discovered that it was a place that was more tolerant of non-German speaking students. She enjoyed every moment of learning and developing through art, music, and building relationships that fostered leadership skills. Furthermore, Dr. Oberman accredits her 3rd-grade teacher and mentor, Hanna Lindengert, and the founding principal of Urban Waldorf School Milwaukee, WI, Dorothy St Charles, for being key women who have helped shape her into the woman she has become today. 

Ida Oberman in her home town of Tübingen, Germany, preparing to move to New York City for her first teaching job, 1984 (top left) - Hanna Lindenberg & Ida Oberman, Stuttgart, Germany - Dorothy St. Charles, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Community School for Creative Education Journey 
Upon graduating from school, Dr. Oberman chose to migrate to the United States to earn her Ph.D. Here she learned English as a foreign language and leveraged her previous holistic education foundation to succeed in her advanced career objectives. She always knew that the inspiration she received from her Waldorf education would translate into her opening a school someday. In fact, this was the beginning of a 20-year planning journey to make that blueprint vision a reality. But Dr. Oberman did not just plan to open a Waldorf school; she aimed to break away from the private sector and bridge the path to make this type of education available to everyone, launching the first-ever urban public Waldorf School in the world. 

Dr. Oberman became committed to bringing Waldorf education to society using the
public-school model so every child can have the education they deserved regardless of their economic status.

With this as her cornerstone angle, along with her tenacity and resilience, Dr. Oberman worked diligently with Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) since 2008. OCO convened a vast range of community leaders, public officials, educators, and parents helping to launch CSCE in 2011. This was a euphoric moment in her life that she simply describes as ‘incredible.’ 

CSCE Impacts 
Fast forward to today, Dr. Oberman takes immense pride in being able to provide children and youth with a Waldorf education that engages the whole child- head, hands and heart. To date, CSCE has built countless leaders such as Chiara Parks, who won the 2021 International Black Youth Techathon Education Series at age 11. Dr. Oberman is a creative fundraiser, and has formed a monumental intercultural network locally, state-wide and internationally. Some of those partners include The Alliance for Public Waldorf Education, Envision Learning Partners Bay Area Performance Network, BELL Learning, and the Alameda County Food Bank. Dr. Oberman also is a key ally with AHC, and together we have helped empower young minds through integrated arts education. According to Dr. Oberman, “Through art we grow into our true humanness in deep relationships with others. We are so thankful for our deep partnership.” 

Dr. Oberman is undoubtedly an educational advocate for all people, regardless of gender, race, or religion. But as a woman herself, she is exceptionally proud of how much opportunity has risen for women today and what they have accomplished from generation to generation. Now that she is established in her career, she finds great joy in being a mentor to others. She also understands the importance of  educational systems that allow young girls to capitalize on their strengths so they can live their lives to the absolute fullest and leave their own lasting marks that influence positive, global change.

"Education lays the foundation for a girl’s future" - Ida Oberman.

Super Heroes in Progress

We are more than halfway through the Super Heroes project at AHC. Students have been studying social justice issues that are important to them, and designing life-sized self portraits that relate to their cause. Each painting exists not only as an art piece, but as a call for social change.

The finished pieces will be on display at our upcoming ArtEsteem Exhibition on May 18th. The annual ArtEsteem Exhibition is always one of our highlights of the year. You can see the full details on our event page.

ArtEsteem instructor Justin Mullon teaches some basic illustration techniques.

BAYCAT Filming at AHC

We loved having our friends from BAYCAT at AHC this morning! BAYCAT is a nonprofit based in San Francisco that provides media education and jobs for youth of color. Their mission is to end inequality and racism through the art of storytelling.

This morning they interviewed AHC co-founders Kokomon and Aeeshah Clottey for a documentary on food justice in black communities. We will keep you posted about it’s release date!

pictured: AHC co-founder Kokomon Clottey

pictured: BAYCAT staff

pictured: AHC co-founder Aeeshah Clottney

MBK Rising! Mural Launch

Lead Mural Artist Andre Jones (pictured on the left) was more than excited to have the likes of Mayor Libby Schaaf (pictured in the middle) and longtime community champion and AHC Executive Director Amana Harris (pictured on the right) by his side on his co-designed works of art.

This year just keeps on glowing for the city of Oakland and AHC. MBK Rising!’s successful launch marked another joyful experience to our 2019 as we completed two inspiring murals on the lively walls of Martin Luther King Jr’s Elementary School. Both murals focus on the importance of learning and education that are best achieved when working together as a community.

Dedicated to bringing art back into the STEM model, MLK Elementary School Principal Ms. Groves joined forces with the talented and experienced mural artist Andre “Natty Rebel” Jones and AHC Executive Director Amana Harris to add some life back into the school atmosphere.

Principal Groves (pictured on the left) poses proudly with Councilwoman Barbara Lee (pictured on the right).

The sun covered us all morning into the afternoon as we painted our hearts out for the community and for the MBK Rising!. We left no stone unturned and no (designated) wall unpainted-- and that’s exactly how we planned it to be.

- February 20th, 2019

ABOUT MBK:
In 2014, President Obama launched My Brother’s Keeper and issued a powerful call to action to close opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color. The initiative sparked candid dialogue and action around the country to help more of our young people reach their dreams, regardless of their race, gender, or socioeconomic status.

Featured artists (Tim Bluitt and Isabel) share a few smiles and pointers with the Honorable Mayor Libby Schaaf.