Intertribal Friendship House saved by community support & action! (4/6)

WHO: The Intertribal Friendship House
WHAT: IFH will be hosting a Community Feast and Celebration
WHEN: on Friday, April 06, 2007 at 7pm
WHERE: 523 International Blvd. Oakland CA
WHY: To express appreciation to the community for its prompt
mobilization and grassroots fundraising to help "save the legacy" of
this historical, urban Native landmark.

Oakland, California - The Intertribal Friendship House (IFH), recently
under the threat of being lost forever, was saved by intergenerational
community effort. IFH was recently threatened with being placed on the
auction block by the Alameda County Tax Assessor's office. "We are
pleased to announce that we have sufficiently raised the funds to pay
the taxes and protect IFH and the Urban Native community from yet
another encroachment on Native American territory - a tale very
familiar to our people" states George Galvis of IFH. The planned
auction of IFH was only brought to our attention a result of
developers who were interested in purchasing the property. Only very
late in the process was IFH was contacted by Alameda County about the
auction. Nevertheless, this 'crisis' culminated in the mass
mobilization of the Urban Native Community and our allies in forming a
committee consisting of bay area community members on a volunteer
basis to formulate a recovery plan and working towards a long term
sustainability strategy. In just a little over a month, we raised over
$30,000 to save Intertribal Friendship House.

We are now going through a strategic planning and organizational
development process to plan for the future of IFH, so that we can
build on the legacy, move towards self sufficiency in order to avoid
this and other future crisis and continue to serve the Bay Native
Community for generations to come. As we become living testament to
the threats that are hanging over the heads of working class people
who find their own legacy under threat, and the love for the places we
have made into popular landmarks via a commitment to serving the
people, we extend our gratitude to the community at large, allied
community organizations and city officials who answered the call of
the people to preserve and integral part of Oakland's history and
future vision.

We look forward to gathering with all of our relations, friends, and
supporters on Friday, April 06 at our community feast to celebrate and
honor this important victory and look towards the future of our
younger generations and they're development.

All our relations.