What's at stake?

The Bay Area’s vast array of environmental, cultural, and economic resources makes it one of the country’s wealthiest regions.  Low-income communities and communities of color have played a vital role in building the region’s strength and power, but these same communities have been historically denied access to its economic, social, environmental and political opportunities due to racism and exclusion from decision-making arenas.  As a result, low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately burdened by unsafe and unaffordable housing, lack of access to health care, failing public schools, inadequate public transit, toxic environments, and dead-end jobs that don’t pay a living wage.  

These economic, social, and environmental inequalities are unraveling the fabric of the region’s most vulnerable communities. The impacts are deep and far-reaching.  Increasing numbers of working people cannot afford to live in the Bay Area, young people are more likely to end up in prison than in college, and seniors are left to choose whether to spend their limited resources on housing, food, or health care.  As people move farther from employment opportunities, mobility and child care needs become more difficult to meet, social and cultural connections are severed, environmental damage intensifies, and people find themselves increasingly isolated from their families, friends and support services.

If  we fail to build our collective power, the economic, environmental, and social threads of the Bay Area’s low-income communities and communities of color will continue to unravel. We cannot afford to let this happen. The region cannot thrive if economic, racial, and environmental inequalities are allowed to fragment and destabilize our communities.

Like all living systems, the Bay Area’s strength and power is rooted in its diversity–social, economic, environmental, and cultural. Low-income communities and communities of color have made immeasurable contributions to the region and must continue to do so. To protect and strengthen the diversity of the Bay Area, we must promote a regional equity agenda that allows all communities to reach their full potential.