August 3rd, 2017

The money has been transferred, the documents have been signed, and Shadetree is now safely in the hands of its residents.  Please join us in a collective sigh of relief as we set our eyes on a brand new future for "the Jewel of Oakland."  This has been a long and circuitous journey.  To say the least. 

We would like to send a very special shout out to Donna Smithey, who has been our navigator and our fearless captain, showing us what is possible and ensuring that we get to our destination on time.  Donna, you are a wonder to behold. 

To our vast community of supporters- you are the wind in our sails.  Your generosity gave us the strength to carry on, financially and mentally, and we aim to make you and Oakland proud.  We thank you from the top to the bottom of our hearts.

Also, a shout out to maritime-themed metaphors—without you we'd be speechless.

We're hard at work now with the big transition but an appropriate celebration will be announced when the time is right.  For those still looking for a way to support our cause, we will begin renovations in the near future and are still accepting donations towards that effort if you would like contribute or offer skills and services as we get things ship-shape around here.  Finally, we will begin telling the story of this process in the near future here on this site, so keep an eye out for that.  Our goal is for SHADE to become an educational beacon of hope for tenants who's homes are threatened.  We will be illuminating the ins and outs of this improbable task so that success stories such as ours become more commonplace, rather than an exception to the rule, in the years to come.