Village Centers create a spirit of community. They offer an outlet for creativity and cultural expression, for individual and collective action. Guided by community building principles, they capture the spirit of traditional villages while embracing the diversity of cultures and family structures still forming today. Neighborhood stakeholders form a governing council. Program and service providers collaborate to integrate services and programs.
Centers organize extensively in the community for on-going community participation.
Centers support the learning of other Village Centers and related efforts. Centers participate in a city-wide governance body. To date, six Village Centers are funded and operational in Oakland. These six Village Centers have accomplished a variety of outcomes including offering the range of activities described above and developing the new relationships outlined above. Many of these Village Centers have received funding from these sources, and other similar collaboratives not formally recognized as Village Centers have received funding as well.