People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO) is a multi-ethnic, multi-issue community organization with more than six hundred low to middle income member families from across Oakland. Our mission is to build the capacity of our members to participate in the economic, social, and civic decisions which affect our lives. PUEBLO is affiliated with the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO).We began in 1989 when a group of parents, concerned for the health of our children, urged Alameda County health officials to take action to stem a measles epidemic threatening to sweep through Oakland. As a result of our efforts, area clinic hours were extended, aggressive public outreach began to increase awareness of the epidemic and to get people into the clinics, and 30,000 youth and adults received measles vaccinations.

That year, with the help of the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO), our multi-ethnic group founded the Campaign for Accessible Health Care. Our original group had 100 members, a small office in North Oakland, and a vision of bringing immigrants and non-immigrants, parents, grandparents, and children into a powerful advocacy organization for low-income communities.

In 1990, our group changed our name to People United for a Better Oakland to reflect our commitment to organizing across a broad range of issues and constituents. Following a 1988 California Department of Health Services study which documented elevated blood lead levels in two of every five children in East Oakland, PUEBLO focused its attention on childhood lead poisoning. PUEBLO members and allies drafted a model for a community-based lead poisoning prevention program that included comprehensive multi-lingual education, lead clean-up, and case management services. After two years of community education and organizing, the County of Alameda and City of Oakland adopted PUEBLO's proposal, resulting in the creation of the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (ACLPPP), the first such program in the Western United States. The program's services reach more than 20,000 people each year. PUEBLO received national attention for our "Get the Lead Out" campaign and we still hold a seat on the ACLPPP oversight board today.

In the last four years, PUEBLO has forged agreements with Oakland's two largest industrial sources of airborne lead to reduce or eliminate their emissions. In 1993, an agreement signed with the American Brass and Iron Foundry ended airborne lead emissions of 800 pounds per year into East Oakland. In 1996, PUEBLO signed a similar "good neighbor" agreement with the Owens Brockway Glass Company, eliminating lead emissions in excess of 1,200 pounds per year into Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood.

In addition to lead issues, PUEBLO has organized to improve access to health services. In 1992, PUEBLO members worked with the local County health care facility, Highland Hospital, to increase translation services for thousands of non-English speaking patients. The effort brought together service providers and health care advocates across eight different language groups to resolve a significant gap in the provision of services to low income communities. In 1993, PUEBLO worked with the Oakland Unified School District, parents, and students to identify and reduce barriers to free and reduced meals programs in the public schools.

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