Post Type
Peninsula Interfaith Action v. City of Menlo Park and Menlo Park City Council
About the Campaign
In 2012, Public Advocates successfully negotiated with the Menlo Park City Council to meet the city’s share of the region’s affordable housing needs, extending the opportunities that come from living in a healthy neighborhood with good jobs and schools to the city’s disenfranchised lower-wage workforce. The agreement paves the way for over 1,000 new affordable homes in this Silicon Valley community.
We and our community partners continue to discuss Facebook’s growing role and impact in Menlo Park. So far, our negotiations with Facebook have yielded a few commitments: among them, to work with local job training organizations, add a summer intern program for local youths and coordinate quarterly career trainings in East Palo Alto and Belle Haven; promote community volunteerism internally at Facebook; create a local community fund and contribute $500,000 to it; and assist with affordable housing initiatives in the region.
Monitoring and implementing the commitments made by the Menlo Park City Council and Facebook will take additional work and persistence. We and our partners are ready to do our part to create a more affordable, equitable and sustainable city.