Side note:
Soft music plays.
On screen:
This video opens with an aerial view of a city block with modern apartment buildings and stores. Then, an older woman with short silver hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Arabella Martinez, Co-founder, The Unity Council.
Arabella Martinex:
If you can see the invisible, you can do the impossible. And when I think about the Transit Village, that's what I think.
On screen:
A montage shows a rapid transit train passing along a bridge over Fruitvale Village, a vibrant town center with plazas, palm trees, and mosaic murals.
Arabella Martinex:
Everybody used to tell us, “This is impossible. How can you do this? You can't do this.” We kept saying, “No, no, we're going to do it.”
Text on screen:
Fruitvale Transit Village. Seeing the invisible for Oakland, California.
Logos:
- J.P. Morgan;
- Chase;
- and the Chase octagon symbol.
On screen:
A man with salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Chris Iglesias, CEO, the Unity Council.
Chris Iglesias:
The Unity Council started back in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, advocating for basic needs with the city.
On screen:
Film footage from the mid-twentieth century shows:
- civil rights protesters, some carrying signs;
- a vacant lot;
- (and) neighbors in an economically disadvantaged community.
Then, a silver-haired man with a beard speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Jim Mather, Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer, BRIDGE Housing.
Jim Mather:
It was formed really in response to the long-term disinvestment. They were very visionary in seeing what it would take to revitalize the Fruitvale neighborhood.
On screen:
A woman with brown hair and brown eyes speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Cécile Chalifour, Managing Director Community Development Real Estate, JPMorgan Chase.
Cécile Chalifour:
They were created by the community, for the community, and literally everything they did and have done is related to them.
On screen:
A montage shows Mr. Iglesias speaking with three colleagues in a small conference room.
Cécile Chalifour:
The cost of housing is particularly high here. The Bay Area is almost like the epicenter of a crisis we see nationwide.
On screen:
An aerial view shows the city of Oakland with miles of surrounding neighborhoods. Then, Mr. Iglesias speaks to us:
Chris Iglesias:
For a long time there, was always kind of a mystery about who lives in affordable housing and what does it mean and why is it so important. Well, the pandemic showed why it's so important: we need to have our essential workers close to the Bay.
On screen:
A montage shows:
- apartments in the Fruitvale area.
- healthcare workers, educators, and laboratory technicians.
Chris Iglesias:
And that's what affordable housing is: it's housing for essential workers that are vital parts of the community, next to transportation, close to schools. And that's exactly what you have here with Casa Sueños.
On screen:
At a plaza, in Fruitvale, a brightly colored directory stands near a small business. Mr. Iglesias speaks with Mr. Mathers and Ms. Chalifour outside a building with a sign reading "Casa Sueños."
Chris Iglesias:
We are part of a TOD (a Transit-Oriented Development), one of the most famous ones in the country, the Fruitvale Transit Village.
On screen:
A sign on a restaurant reads "Wahpepah's Kitchen." Then, a woman with pulled-back black hair speaks to us from an office.
Text on screen:
Chef Crystal Wahpepah, Owner, Wahpepah's Kitchen.
Crystal Wahpepah:
It's a huge honoring being in the Fruitvale area and especially when you're born and raised and you care so much about this community, sometimes you have to dig deep and look under the layers, but you'll find nothing but beauty. So that's why Wahpepah’s Kitchen is right here in the heart of Fruitvale.
On screen:
A montage shows Chef Wahpepah:
- slicing vegetables in her kitchen;
- and standing next to murals of Native American art in her restaurant.
A montage shows Fruitvale's colorful multi-cultural themed murals, which include portraits and a hummingbird. Neighbors shop at an outdoor farmer's market.
Chris Iglesias:
The Village is really, I think, a hub for, also for community engagement and community resources. The exciting thing is that we have owned, in partnership with the City of Oakland, an abandoned Masonic Temple for 20 years.
On screen:
A montage shows a spacious hall (with high ceilings and large columns) undergoing renovation.
Chris Iglesias:
We finally turned it into a New Market Tax Credit deal in partnership with JPMorgan Chase.
On screen:
Wearing hardhats, Mr. Iglesias walks through the renovation site with a JPMorgan Chase executive. Then, that man speaks to us.
Text on screen:
Jalen Marable, Vice President, New Markets Tax Credit, JPMorgan Chase.
Jalen Marable:
New Market Tax Credits are a federal tax incentive that was created to stimulate private investment in distressed communities. And so on the ground floor, you're going to have the Fruitvale Public Market, which is a small business incubator that has 8 to 10 small businesses. And then on floors two and three, you're going to have a combination of coworking space for small businesses, entrepreneurs – a lot of which are minorities – and then also you'll have their small business assistance center, which will provide technical assistance.
On screen:
Walking through the Masonic Temple building, under renovation, Mr. Iglesias and Mr. Marable:
- walk through a hallway;
- stand on an inside balcony, overlooking a hall;
- (and) inspect a large room with a hardwood floor.
Jalen Marable:
With New Market Tax Credits, we like to provide catalytic impact that's going to stimulate other investments. And so right down the street you have Casa Sueños, which was funded by JPMorgan Chase as well, using low-income housing tax credits. So it was a great story to bring everything full circle.
Side note:
Encouraging music with vocals plays.
On screen:
Aerial views of the Fruitvale area show:
- rapid transit train tracks on a long bridge running parallel to shops and apartments;
- a housing complex with a sunny outdoor plaza;
- and a residential street lined with large palm trees.
Jim Mather:
Bridge is happy to add its financial and technical expertise and capacity to groups like Unity Council. Every project we build, like Casa Sueños, every unit we provide helps a family, helps a disabled person, helps a homeless person.
On screen:
Framed family photos are displayed on a long shelf in an apartment. An elderly mom and her grown daughters sit at a living room table, looking at newspaper articles.
Jalen Marable:
It's going to give small businesses, entrepreneurs, and just general community members access and a place to convene and to call home, display their art, come together, and celebrate.
On screen:
A montage shows Mr. Marable at the renovation site:
- shaking hands with a construction worker:
- and touring different rooms with Mr. Iglesia.
Arabella Martinex:
We just kept at it. This has not been a short-term project. It's not the bricks and mortar that's so important; it's the values, it's the maintenance of the values.
Text on screen:
Fruitvale Transit Village. Seeing the invisible for Oakland, California.
Logos:
- J.P. Morgan;
- Chase;
- and the Chase octagon symbol.
Text on screen:
Learn more at unitycouncil.org.
Logos:
The Unity Council. 60 Years. 1964 - 2024. 60th Anniversary.
Equal Housing Lender.
Side note:
Legal disclosures:
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