As the board and trustee presidents, each holding a handle on a pair of oversized scissors, snipped the thick purple ribbon in two, applause erupted from the audience standing on the sidewalk along International Boulevard in East Oakland. The newly-renovated and expanded East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) was officially open, and Regina Jackson, its president, wanted to be sure the occasion was commemorated.

“Did we get that shot?” said Jackson to a few reporters and staffers wielding cameras. “I’ve learned one thing about this community and that’s that you have to memorialize every major moment.”

EOYDC serves students in East Oakland with free after-school programming. It was founded in 1973, officially opening in 1978. The existing facilities recently underwent renovation as well as the construction of over 6,000 square feet of additional space including an art and ceramics studio, an Apple Mac lab, a rooftop deck and an exercise studio where dance, yoga and martial arts classes are held.

Read the rest of the story by Katherine Rose at Oakland North.

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