Harrison Heroes: We Are Neighbors Together
Oakland, CA 2025-26
We Are Neighbors Together [WANT] is a multimedia community storytelling project in Oakland, CA that addresses the complex intersections of neighboring, gentrification, and community bonds particularly for those facing food and housing insecurity. Through video recorded conversations, interactive mobile video presentations, public mural installations and community celebrations, [WANT] elevates often unheard voices about displacement, resilience and transformation.
We’re recording Harrison Hotel community stories through a residency at the Oakland Lowdown (Fall 2025 – Summer 2026), a community journalism-art space in a storefront at the Harrison Hotel, one of Oakland’s last Single Room Occupancy (SRO) buildings. The Harrison Hotel provides permanent, supportive housing for those who have experienced extreme housing insecurity. We’ve recorded powerful stories folks of all walks of life, including Black Panther Party members, have been formally incarcerated, those who identify as LGBTQ+, live with disabilities, and are immigrants. We’ve been meeting with Harrison staff and residents to record their wisdom, life lessons, and transformations.
[WANT] window installations have included community celebrations featuring video stories and warm meals/fresh produce provided by the Self Help Hunger Program. The large window murals will be permanently installed at the Harrison Hotel. [WANT] empowers Harrison residents to share their experiences, fostering agency, hope, and healing across mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions.
As a LifeLong Medical case manager shared with us, “The wellspring of care emerges through curiosity”. From intimate recordings to celebratory gatherings, these stories ensure every neighbor is seen, heard, and supported.
The Harrison: We Are Neighbors Together was generously supported by the Oakland Lowdown & The Zellerbach Family Foundation.
see also
The Island: We Are Neighbors Together ➜
HEAR HERE Community Billboard Truck ➜
