Flicker Bird Homes Team To Receive Helen Waukazoo Spirit Award
On November 20th, Native American Health Center will honor the Flicker Bird Homes project team with their Helen Waukazoo Spirit Award at the organization’s annual gala. Themed “Sustaining the Circle,” NAHC’s 2025 Gala will celebrate the organization’s 53rd year building healthier, stronger, more culturally connected families as well as mission-aligned peers. The event calls the broader community to “project and nurture what is sacred, and honor the collective strength that allows our health center to adapt, endure, and thrive through the most uncertain times,” including marking the mixed-use Flicker project’s near-completion. Team honorees include executive/design architect PYATOK, developer Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, general contractor Nibbi, and clinic interiors designer SmithGroup.
“To bring this vision to life, we consulted with Ohlone, Pomo, and other California Native Tribal members, and sought broader community engagement. Their insight, stories, and guidance shaped everything from the building’s name to its architectural design, public art, and cultural features.
NAHC
Located at 3050 International Boulevard in East Oakland, Flicker Bird Homes will include:
- A 14,000-square-foot ground floor community hub featuring expanded dental services and a large cultural community center to support the Fruitvale neighborhood, accommodate an estimated 20,000 annual visits and generate 52 long-term jobs.
- Seventy-six affordable homes for families and individuals earning 20-60% AMI. The residents will be supported by common amenities and services offices; a community room, laundry, and staff offices within close proximity to each other and adjacent to a 12,000-square-foot all-ages courtyard. Amenity adjacencies will help foster community and facilitate indoor-outdoor activities such as gardening, farm-to-table cooking classes, community meals, and children’s activities.
- Large-scale artwork and ornamentation inspired by Native traditions and the Fruitvale neighborhood. Interweaving colors and materials mimic basket weaving, while the clinic’s storefront canopy recalls the flicker feathers used in many Indigenous Californian headdresses. Two multi-story mosaics by local artist Amend depict Ohlone traditions and practices that remain vibrant and alive today.
“NAHC’s Cultural Committee intentionally guided the vision for this building to have a strong California Native focus, recognizing the importance of honoring the original stewards of this land,” NAHC noted in its naming announcement in June. “To bring this vision to life, we consulted with Ohlone, Pomo, and other California Native Tribal members, and sought broader community engagement. Their insight, stories, and guidance shaped everything from the building’s name to its architectural design, public art, and cultural features.”
“The name Flicker was chosen to honor the California Native peoples whose lands we are on, who have long used feathers from the Northern Flicker bird in traditional regalia and headdresses. These feathers are deeply meaningful, representing strength, continuity, and spiritual connection.” The project, NAHC continues, is “a symbol of transformation, cultural resilience, and our deep respect for the Native peoples who have stewarded this land since time immemorial. With guidance from California Native communities and cultural leaders, this building was designed not only to serve—but to celebrate.”
“We’re excited that through our newest site, we will address three of the most critical needs our community is facing: dental care, affordable housing, and access to safe spaces to gather, learn, and celebrate our cultures together,” adds NAHC CEO Natalie Aguilera.
Based in Oakland, Native American Health Center is one of the oldest and largest Urban Indian Health programs in the United States, providing medical, dental, behavioral health and social programs at sixteen locations and 53 Head Start programs across the Bay Area. The organization has steadily grown its client base in the Fruitvale neighborhood and will greatly enhance its community services through the new Flicker Bird Homes location.
The late Helen Waukazoo, wife of NAHC founder Marty Waukazoo, in the 1970’s founded the Friendship House Association of American Indians, a San Francisco-based residential alcohol and drug treatment center – part of the couple’s joint lifetime commitment to help the Bay Area Indigenous community thrive.
Flicker Bird Homes anticipates resident occupancy before the end of 2025, and full opening in early 2026.
