I am NOT an attorney. This site is intended only to share my pro-se experience in hopes it may help other tenants in similar situations to mine.

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You do not have to do this alone

An eviction is not just paperwork. It got into my sleep, my health, and my sense of who I was, and there were stretches where the case felt smaller than the fear of it. I got through it. I believe you can too.

Please call someone. Call even if you do not feel like it, even if you think it is not bad enough yet, and even if you are certain no one can do anything. Talking to a person changes what you are able to carry.

Housing, rent help, shelter, food — 211 Alameda County
Call 211 1-888-886-9660
Free and confidential, 24 hours, over 300 languages, and a real person answers. You can also text your zip code to 898211, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm Pacific. Verified against 211 Alameda County
If you are struggling, or you are not safe
Call or text 988
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Free, confidential, 24 hours. Verified against 988lifeline.org
If you served in the military
Dial 988, then press 1
The Veterans Crisis Line. You can also text 838255. You do not need to be enrolled in VA benefits or VA health care. Verified against veteranscrisisline.net

Why there are two numbers for 211. Dialing 211 routes you by your phone’s area code, not by where you actually are. If your cell number came from another county or another state, or you are calling from a work phone or an internet line, 211 can connect you to the wrong county or fail to connect at all. That is a miserable thing to run into when you are already frightened. 1-888-886-9660 goes straight to Alameda County, 24 hours a day. If 211 gives you the wrong place, hang up and call that instead. You did nothing wrong and you are not out of options.Verified against 211 Alameda County, which states to use the toll-free line from outside the county or when 211 fails from a cell, VoIP or office phone

East Bay lifelines

Every number here links to the source it was checked against, so you can confirm it yourself. Intake capacity and hours still change constantly. Call more than one.

Housing & HMIS access

211 Alameda County 211 or 1-888-886-9660 Operated by Eden I&R. 24 hours, free, confidential, 300+ languages. Text your zip to 898211, Mon–Fri 9am–4pm PT. Coordinated entry, shelter, rent help, food. Verified against 211 Alameda County FAQ
Insight Housing (510) 649-4965 Formerly Berkeley Food & Housing Project. 2855 Telegraph Ave, Ste 601, Berkeley. Emergency shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing, outreach, food. Verified against insighthousing.org

Veteran programs

Swords to Plowshares, Oakland (510) 844-7500 330 Franklin St, Ste 100, Oakland. Free one-time consultation with their attorneys, any era, any length of service. Verified against swords-to-plowshares.org
Operation Dignity (510) 287-8465 318 Harrison St, Ste 302, Oakland. Veteran transitional housing. Non-veterans can call the same number, though their non-veteran housing is very limited. Verified against operationdignity.org
National Call Center for Homeless Veterans 877-424-3838 24 hours, 7 days a week, for housing assistance. Verified against va.gov
VA Oakland homeless triage (510) 453-8478 21st Street VA Clinic, Oakland. Verified against va.gov

Crisis support

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988 Free and confidential, 24/7/365. Chat at chat.988lifeline.org. Verified against 988lifeline.org
Veterans Crisis Line 988, then press 1 Text 838255. Free, 24/7, and no VA enrollment is required. Verified against veteranscrisisline.net
TTY users Dial 711 Telecommunications relay service. Verified against 211 Alameda County FAQ

Every number on this page was confirmed against the linked source in September 2026. If one has stopped working, please tell me at info@empoweredtenant.org so the next person does not hit the same wall.