Transcripts For SFGTV Government Access Programming 20240714

Are very important. We need to know our right. And to keep reporting the immigrant vote. Thanks to these fund, and you all, the supervisors, and our Community Organization we can continue to preserve our sanctuary city. With our values, of our sanctuary city. Thank you. Tran16 next speaker please get good afternoon my name is amy lynn im a i am here today to advocate for the budget allegation at 250,000 each year for the next two years to get over the course of the week last week, we have witnessed how an unsettled administration terrorizes and attempt to disrupt peoples daytoday life and make them feel unsafe going to and getting their children to. Moments like this remind us why the work to empower and affirm immunity members that they belong here. They have right in their access to basic services is not jeopardized speak misinformation. I work with a cord group of undocumented parent and empower them to understanding their rights as migrant and as parent two kids in the School District to get have long face challenges advocating for the cells on their children. Act this way participation is enabled by this elaborative work to educate, empower and mobilize communities and for them to meaningfully participate in the communities they love and belong. Please continue to advocate along side immigrant families and ensure the funding info to emigrant collaborative for us continue to work a long time migrant the travel time. Good morning supervisors, i am here in support of the immigrant voting collaborative area we began in may 2018 to inform immigrants of their rights and the risk associated with non it is an voting on school board elections. Since that time we have look into over 6000 Community Members who are impacted by noncitizen voting. We work with the department of election to ensure implementation is accessible, and community friendly. Flying in the face of the tran 50s San Francisco is hitting setting nationwide president. Not necessarily on allowing noncitizen to vote, but how we implement noncitizen voting. There are several cities and municipalities that have reached out to us in their eyes on severances will in terms how we roll out the initiative. The outright attack on immigrant communities, the collaborative are part of the broader safety net of services that San Francisco provides to its immigrant Community Members. As immigrants are under siege, we need to be prepared and we need to inform Community Members of their rights and the risks. As the voters declared in november 2016, that they want immigrants on noncitizen to be able to vote in school board election. The school the city of San Francisco has a responsibility, which means fully funding the immigrant collaborative at 250,000 a year for two years to get San Francisco needs to stand wrong and not just with our words, but our actions and resources to fully fund the collaborative. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors area and give her your time. I am the director of Youth Development at the youth council. I managed the asian Youth Prevention Services program. It began in 1987, a consortium of asianpacific islander associations including j cyc community center, and the vietnamese Youth Development center. We are proud to have been a pioneer for sub abuse prevention versus for the community not only in San Francisco, but across the country. As we face an increasing number of low income ati families in the city, i am asking you to support 240,000 to restore the much needed services to the citys most vulnerable children, youth and families area thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors and members of the committee. I am one of the Program Managers area do we have a partnership with asian Youth Prevention Services and i come here today to request review of the budgeting process for the asian youth Prevention Service for the year of 2,0192020, and also which should be allocated to the department of children youth and families. Sorry. We asked that you acknowledge [inaudible] the one that will be impacted by this funding would be our families and the student. Which api students make up 40 of the district the islander committee has been riddled with violent, Mental Health issues and drugs. [inaudible] we are taking positive steps in the right direction by not only supporting our youth and helping families, stronger connectedness in the families, more support around Family Communication and building up their families in our communities. And also with our culture. We know some of the values that we possess in our culture will help out our young youth. [inaudible] i know that is one of the bigger things. By restoring the services or our community it would build skills, leadership skills, communication, Mental Health awareness to better help our communities and have a better outcome in the future. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors area my name is debbie, i am the associate director for the asian Youth Prevention Services grant at the jeffers unit Japanese Community council. I was a College Intern at a y ps and before that a high school participant. This program has been a part of my life for over 13 years now. The asian Youth Prevention Services graham is much more than just a sub than use prevention program. I cannot put a price on the amount of support i received from account orders and peers as a heist participant. The tools and skills i learned from this program helped me make healthy decisions, and succeed. I believe in this program, that is why am here. I believe prevention work makes a Lasting Impact on a young person. As the cities api population continues to grow, program like the asian Youth Prevention Services provides a safe and welcoming face needed for youth from our most honorable communities. I hope that many more young people will be given the opportunity to be a part of the grant. And on their behalf i am urging you all to support the full amount of the asian Youth Prevention Services request area thank you for your time. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, supervisors. Thank you so much for having this opportunity for us to provide public comment. My name is lori, and i am the health and Wellness Program manager at the vietnamese Youth Development center. We are also a heart of the asian youth inventions services consortium. I am here today to speak on behalf of not just the contortions, not just the organization that i work for, but as a southeast asian, one youth in such high risk, as well as on behalf of the youth that we serve here. Growing up as a cambodian immigrant, in a town where we were almost always forgotten about. I somehow miraculous the made it out of the juvenile Justice System runs. I made it out of avoiding teen pregnancy. I graduated high school. I cannot speak on behalf of my peers without the same scenarios. Many of them are now grandparent. They are in the prison and the juvenile Justice System for their children, and so, so many southeast asians have fallen through the cracks, and growing up, there were not any program that offered services prioritizing asian youth. Services that are not only culturally responsive but linguistically. I cannot trust the power to be able to provide Prevention Services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for our young people, in navigating a city that is so new to them, and with pressure from society, and parents, and schools. I can speak to the power of the return on this invest. I urge you to please consider our request. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon supervisors, my name is cindy tran. Im a supervisor at the asian Youth Development center. I want to become behalf of the youth that i work with. Being a part of the rh1 we do a lot of programming with Community Health programs to get and to get accepted into Great Schools and colleges and create their own journeys. But, this is like having these services gave them a stepping down to be exposed to how to become a Community Leader. These Immunity Health Readership Program give them the ability to talk and share it dances living in the tenderloin, growing up as an immigrant and also being a part of a low income working class background. Things that they can share with their ears and build community with. I feel like these pogroms, right, not only do they help them navigate life also feel more confident with them else. In addition to that, learn about the history, and how to gauge a better environment for the community. Throughout these program i have my youth conduct interviews with Community Members, and they have done Great Community organizing work area i am so proud. However, we have been working under to be intentional with this work we do with our youth, knowing they are the future, i believe i really hope that you support this to provide more funding for our consortium in order to to need to do this work area thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Good afternoon everyone. Im a family educator from the youth center. We collaborated with the rh1 consortium to provide Substance Abuse and resilience. Over the years, providing services to multilingual families our consortium has received recognition for achieving youth and families throughout sentences go. Serving populations including api low income families, immigrant and families surrounding Mental Health issues to get the asian Youth Prevention Services has under age drinking among api, strength and bond and families to learning inventive parenting skills area for an, many of our immigrant families fill disconnected and have issues communicating with children growing up in the United States get bringing parents on their children closer and strengthening the relationship. Asian Youth Prevention Services was not an available resource it would be a devastating loss in our community. For us to continue to providing this critical service, we are here to ask the board of supervisors to support the asian Youth Prevention Services consortium, 240,000 in the budget. Thank you so much for your time. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is vanessa reynolds. I am representing the Theater Center which is the bay areas premier lgbt q plus petersons 1881. I am here today to respectively asked in addition to all of the important issues put before you today that you add Art Education to your priorities get the theater has brought free health and wellness education plays to students, in the San Francisco unified School District for over 30 years. At that time, they have served over half a Million Students as an inch addition of San Franciscos health curriculum. Youth aware serves are the 19,000 k12 students annually and supports teachers and administrators by reinforcing the health curriculum. This program is part of us these requirement under Education Code 519344 hiv prevention education, including a section about body image, gender, and sexual orientation. Its offered at no cost to all participating San Francisco schools read we served 14,00769 student during 84 shows up 49 was in the sf ufc. On the importance of diversity to the cities next veneration area please help us create a more effective sentences will [inaudible] you so much for your time. Yay technology. I am Jennifer Walsh and im the abilities integrator for the Community Living Campaign Area at the Community Living campaign we help build this wheels and tools needed to have a good life. We create community all around temperance is the in unique ways. We believe everyone has their own gift with the out works of neighbors and friend to communities so they can be there for each other, plus have fun and be more active together. To have the ability to give back to our community. The community has to be physically, emotionally and psychological. We are beginning with physical act as. All about making simple issues fixable by shining light on them so people can have the power to fix them. While our new campaign is eating construction areas more accessible for more abilities, we are targeting the block between mission and market. Everyone is welcome to our next meeting on july 9 at 12 pm teen 63 mission, fifth floor. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors im here to talk about the housing for the homeless, for families, for use, for elderly and disabled. Be sure that we get housing for all of these categories, okay . In support of. Thank you. Good afternoon, i am a member of senior and disability action team. I am here to request support for the budget, that is the senior operating city submitted by supervisor tran11. Also the Senior Housing subsidy. Thank you. [speaking native language] good afternoon my name is guadalupe a. Thank you for giving me a few minutes of your time. I am here because i am supporting the fight for the sub the. This fight is for us to have a better life. About 1. 5 years i was evicted. [speaking native language] and its really hard after living in in place for 14 years, and paying rent, that actually i was merely able to afford. Speak because [speaking native language] i know how a person suffers because we dont want to leave from a city that we made our city. [speaking native language] i know in your hand, lays a big responsibility. To take Big Decisions for the city. Okay, let me. I hope you guys continue to support, and guide you to make the best decision so you can continue to help us with subsidies to make our life better. Because [speaking native language] i know there is a lot of asked today, and i regard i pray god that he will enlighten you so you can make the best decision. Thank you. Hi. Good afternoon. My name is mina, on the interim executive director of the San Francisco Suicide Prevention. The only 24 hour crisis hotline in San Francisco. We literally save lives through the hotline, manned by a staff and 200 volunteers that dedicate over 200 hours per year to answer san franciscans in crisis area San Francisco is an unusual city and out the Golden Gate Bridge also lives here. It really attracts the highest suicide rate in the western hemisphere because of that. As i walked into the 57yearold agency i saw that our building was at risk. Which would mean the collapse of a or City Infrastructure for Mental Health. We were funded, over 25 years ago to receive about 2000 called. In reality we are receiving 70,000 calls a year. As the city has grown, and as Suicide Awareness has really used area we receive about 580,000 from the city currently and it has remained flat for the last 25 years to get i discovered while fundraising has been robust math organization, we really need to offset the Operational Foundation of the organization that has been compromised and not sustainable for over five years. Our call center is jimmied together. We really want the board of supervisors, today, to know that we know the city is reasonable. We have had multiple conversations with the department of health. With a lot of the leadership transition we have not had much leverage increasing the base. I want you to know that to 35 of our callers are homeless or at high risk of eviction. 20 of our callers thank you. Next speaker. Hello, my name is robin and i might isolate count or at San Francisco Suicide Prevention. In 1. 5 years i have taken 681 calls from people contemplating suicide. This is a story for my first volunteering, donating the rest of a young girl just 18 years old. She said she did not want to be saved, but just wanted somebody to talk to. Within 10 minutes, i was able to connect with her will to live, and get her to collaborate in her own rest. Something that our lien specialized in in one i kept her talking while we collaborated with San Francisco though dispatch and we tried to collaborate for paramedics to arrive on site. This was difficult as she was wondering the street lost and confused rate it was hard to pinpoint her exact location. 45 minutes went by and she continued to take those because she thought nobody cared enough to come. Ultimately we were able to find her, and save her life. This is a much closer call than it needed to be. Our 20yearold technology, and limited staffing slowed our ability to identify her location and relay that critical information to dispatch. With proper funding, we would be able to update our core infrastructure. Enable a higher level of ordination with the city, during complex rest like these to get those Emergency Services and have a collective duty to do all that we can for this young woman, who has her whole life ahead of her and the many others like her. I look forward to you supporting San Francisco Suicide Prevention by fully funding our request. Thank you. My name is amelia, on the Development Coordinator with San Franciscos Suicide Prevention. I first came to in 2016 because i had my own asked answers with a suicide. I attempted suicide as a teenager in high will, definite undergrad in college. I struggled with over the decades that i grew up with very strict parents who emigrated from mexico. Traditional values taught me to work hard to try to pull myself rate even though they loved, they did not teach me how to take care of myself. I know within communities of color, Mental Health can be extremely stigmatized. More so than the general population. And so, at times, i felt exhaust, defeated. I am here, i lived. I ended up calling a Crisis Center the next time i felt overwhelmed. I realize that people were out there who cared. People like us here. They wanted to help, and offered support and ultimately that is what got me through. Now i want to be that person for especially to include in their budget two expiring programs from our members which include Language Support Services for the tenderloin Arab Community which will serve over 100 middle women, and the Asian Youth Services which will serve over 450 students. We hope that the board can restore these two programs. Thank you. Chair fewer thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is sarah wong. Im the executive director of Community Youth center, c. Y. C. Today, i would like to request the supervisors to consider funding the program at San Francisco International High school. This is a school where it has about 360 students are 100 new immigrant students who reside in the United States less than four years and only english learners. The students have a high need for connective services, and also tutoring and other support, so we really hope we can have this funding as we support students from San Francisco International High school. The other school i want to bring to your attention is African American middle school. We only funded for to serve 153 students, so were serving 53 more students every day because of the need of the school, with almost 50 of the students receiving free and reduced lunch and about 56 of students more that need service there. We also would like to expand our current senior martial arts training program. [inaudible] chair fewer thank you. Next speaker. So the Domestic Violence consortium is here to the city has made a great investment over the years, and it is deeply appreciated, but to keep the services and staff at the ready, we are going to need more investment. I know that 1. 3 sounds like a lot, but we are here representing 39 programs, some of which you will hear from today. Thats only 39,000 per program. Several communities are so at risk. We are so concerned about our transgender sisters. Please continue the citys commitment to saving lives in San Francisco. We have reduced homicides. When i started, it was 10 or 15 women and sometimes their children per year, now, 1 or 2 are still tragedies, but its a reduction. Help us keep this trend going. Continue to support these services. Theyre vital. People are counting on them. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is ben, and today, im speaking on behalf of the Chinese Culture center in above of art and culture. The Chinese Culture center is a supporter of the asian culture. The Chinese Culture center is art and Culture Center of our community. Our survey shows that most of our visitors earn 40,000 or less annually. They have never been to the opera, ballet, symphony or other programs, but they do come to enjoy world class performances at the chinatown festival and dancing on waverley. This turns the underutilized spaces in our community into livly music and dance halls that bring free, unique and diverse programming to the more than 26,000 lowincome and underserved individuals and their families who might otherwise not have access to these kinds of high quality performances. We therefore ask for investment in the Chinatown Community for the chinatown musikfest value and dance Music Festival and dancing on waverley. We want to thank you and thank you to the community for listening to this. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is Alicia Justin cook, and im a victim rights attorney of the cooperative restraining order clinic. We assist Domestic Violence and sexual Abuse Victims to keep themselves and their children safe. I know that youre already aware of the connections between Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and homelessness. Domestic violence is a contributing factor for 1 in 4 homeless women. Domestic violence victims suffer from homelessness because they may have flee. Their abusive partners may force them to quit their jobs or their physical or Mental Health issues resulting from the Domestic Violence may led to loss of employment. Unfortunately housing and stablity in turn puts survivors at risk for more victimization. Homeless women experience much higher rates of special assault than women with housing, and when there is no safe place for a survivor to go, theyre more likely to return to the partner who perpetrated the violence against them. Im confident that San Francisco can become a model for how to effectively address homelessness. We are grateful that as you address the issue of homelessness, you will continue to consider how the citys Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault agencies are also addressing this issue. We appreciate your continued budgetary support as we Work Together to support the most vulnerable members of our community and to keep Domestic Violence survivors and their children housed in safety and stability. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is mary rivers, and i am here representing district 6 and tenderloin. I address my comments to all of you. In regards to the new city budget we are asking you to support job readiness and Tech Training programs that are offered in the tenderloin and soma. We offer this to all city residents. Our programs are rarely funded and sometimes overlooked in this process. We operate at minimal budget and can only serve so many people. The rest of the money comes out of our pockets or the remainder of the people we need to serve just go unserved. Without additional funding for workforce development, we cant support programming in our organizations and our neighborhoods. Our organizations help residents and provide Wraparound Services and resources but at a minimum level due to resources. Were helping them find jobs and get healthy and thriving in their own neighborhood. We need your help. We cant do this alone. Homelessness is a huge program in San Francisco and we need others to get jobs to provide for their families to ghet the off the streets. This funding is crucial to help us meet our goals and we ask you for funds to help us end homelessness. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors. My name is lucio rivera, and i would like to thank you, but i would like to thank Hillary Ronen for her fight to save the restaurant temple, and thats what im speaking out for. Some of us, we dont have anyplace else to go when it comes to the mission district. Weve got a place right there where we call home. And if the red building goes away, there goes our place, our sanctuary, a place we can go and feel safe. Since 2006, this organization has been right there, as Spanish Speaking monolingual immigrants, asylum seekers. Where are we going to go . As crazy as it sounds. Weve only got two places to go another one that i forget, which is latinas in action. But the point is very simple. This is our house. We go there from monday to tuesday to be a family because sometimes we dont have no family around us, so i think its time to put culture, to put community, and legacy of our money. Save the red stone temple. Thank you. Good afternoon members of the board of supervisors. My name is mario paz. Im the director of the Family Resource center. I serve on the planning and action committee, but im also a member of the Family Resource alliance, its an alliance of 26 Family Resource Centers Across the city of San Francisco, and im chairman of the immigrant rights commission. I think you heard from some of our families earlier how important it is to support programs for our families with children. Immigrant families put their hopes and dreams into their childrens future. Its important that we support these programs across the city so immigrant families can continue to live in the city and continue to thrive. I want to thank president yee in particular for being a champion in Early Education in San Francisco. We know its the best investment we can make. Please support that. The second biggest challenge for families after housing is the cost of child care, so please continue to support that. Last, id just like to say as vice chair of the immigrant rights commission, youve heard a lot of issues of our immigrant communities. Theyre under attack, theyre under a lot of fear. This is the time for us to standup for our San Francisco values. Im very proud of this city and you to being champions of immigrant rights in approximate our community. Thank you, supervisors. Thank you for listening to us. Im juneau dumas. Im here to speak on behalf of the Family Resource alliance. Im the parent of a daughter with significant disabilities, and she has a fine life because she has access to services. I was not born knowing how to Access Services for her. I learned how to Access Services through the Family Resource center. Families must have access to information, education, and support to help their Children Research their potential. Think of it as a gathering place, whether it is in a specific neighborhood around a specific issue, like disabilities or homelessness or Domestic Violence. Families need Family Resource centers to learn how to parent and build their skills. Research shows that families who thrive are core communities who thrive. You have lucked out. You have 26 amazing Family Resource centers who can help you create a thriving community. Theres just a little challenge. San francisco is costing more and more while at the same time an organization like support for families is literally serving thousands of families every year, hundreds more than last year, and hundreds more than the year before. We need realistic Financial Support to keep moving forward. Help us help you, support your amazing f. R. C. S. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors. I am here on behalf of the Family Resource initiative. My name is isaiah palmera, and a parent of three children. My baby is a cancer survivor. Chemo has caused a lot of intellectual delay and disabilities. Family resource has helped me navigate resources, education and just my own advocacy for my own children. They have amazing staff who are also parents with children who have special needs. It is so key and vital for me and other families that are like mine. It is so hard to see the staff that are there and to be retained because of the living increases of wages of housing and all that. However, we know that with increase in funding to these 26 resource centers, we know that they can continue serving our families. Thank you for these allocated funds, and god bless for all that you do. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors, and thank you for working through lunch. My name is diana pang, and i am born and raised in San Francisco. I work at Chinatown Community center, and we are excited to share and empower with our arab and muslim members in the student. I want to tell you about and thank you for your continued support of the arab Mothers Community e. S. L. And Life Skills Program that is freetor everyone operating as a t. L. In district 6. In a little bit, you will hear a bit from arab mothers who are community partners, service providers, educators, advocates, talking in solidarity about this. So today, id really urge you to support and continue supporting, fully funding this incredibly life changing program. This budget is approved by the a. P. I. Council and the budget justice coalition. And i want to thank many of the board of supervisors who are doing so. For close to a decade, this class has operated on a bare bones budget, and we are every single day, youll see 50 immigrant refugee women in hijabs, mostly arabic, and shuffling their kids through the maze of open air drug dealing, and feces. This is a space with complimentary child care and culturally empowering Arab Community engagement. Whats significant is ive not seen anything like it. The class am i up . [inaudible] ill continue where she left off. My name is kate robinson. I run the Safe Passage Program through the Tenderloin Community benefit district, and today im here to support full funding of the womens e. S. L. Class out of 201 turk. I worked for chinatown c. D. C. As Resident Services coordinate i dont remember at 201 coordinator at 201 turk for many years and recognized that this program which was once part of the Arab Community center which no longer has programming, about eight years ago, the funding was lost for this program through a. C. C. And witnessed what it looks like when a Community Comes together to retain a service that really benefits the community. It was chinatown c. D. C. , and one of the organizations you will hear about after that kept this class going to bridge the divide from lowincome families to city college. Weve seen the success of this program, bringing over 20 women from this class to being students at free city college. When you look at this program, you would think its a fully funded operation. Its really a labor of love and deserves that funding to be a full operation. Thank you. Hello. Good afternoon. My name is bashar, and im originally from yemen, and i now live in the tenderloin neighborhood. I fully support this class for arabs mothers. This class was crucial for me because i would walk down the street without knowing how to communicate with people. Its opened a lot of opportunities. For example, i have met facetoface with the people i need to talk if i have problem without interpreter. Second, i have i know how to find a Good High School for my daughter. Third, i was a volunteer at Tenderloin Community school to help translate for arab mothers, and finally, i feel strong in this class and happy to learn more. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is awa, and i am originally from yemen. Now i live in tenderloin. I am a mother of three kids. I support fully funding this class for arab mothers. This class is important to me because first it has improved my english. Second, they teach me money things about my life. For example, how i can vote and understand the important issues like what a proposition is, and why they are important in our life. Housing. Another example is how i can find a good school for my kids. Third, i was able to become a Community Leader and learn how to teach parents about strengthening sons. I help teach this class for 14 weeks and made money. Finally, i helped teach the on people about the school board and how to vote as a noncitizen, so this class is important to us. Thank you so much. Hi. Good afternoon. My name is shaina. I am originally from egypt, and i live here in San Francisco in downtown San Francisco. And i support the e. S. L. Class arab woman class. We need your support. The class needs more teachers. The class youre not just learning english, its help us for us as a woman. It help us communicates as a people. Okay sorry. And we need more support because we are in this class learning how to use our voice. We didnt have enough education before, and now, we can communicate with people. And for my personality a, meeting with mr. Matt haney to discuss my housing problem, and now i can communicate with people very well than before. Thank you for your support. Please keep this program and free child care for us. Thank you. Hi. My name is abda. Im speaking on behalf of mr. Sal devine. This class is important to me because it helps me to speak english, so i was able to take the class which are all in english for child care. Also, this class helps me to get work in child care, and this class helped me to open my first bank account. Im proud to join this class. Actually, this class very important for arab mothers, not only english but also life skills. Please support funding the women e. S. L. And life skills class for arab mothers. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is christine cordero, and i am the founder and teacher of the arab mothers and Life Skills Program in tenderloin. I thought it would be really important for several of my students to come up and address you to show you this program really works. I cant tell you how proud i am of them and how much progress theyve made over these years. The goal of this program is really not just to be a bridge to city college but to be a bridge to other learning and to become confident, contributing members and citizens. As i said, theyve come so far, and in addition to you know, to english, many people ask, why dont these students just go to city college . For two reasons. One, we provide free child care, which is really important. Secondly, in addition to the child care, this has a live skills component, which city college doesnt really have. And even though many of the women have gone on to city college, they come back for the life skills component because english is more than language. Its really important to become culturally competent and linguistically competent, and i think these women are a testimony thats possible. Secondly, the goal of the program is to have them become confident young women, and fourth, to become contributing citizens so they can help their communities become Even Stronger and more integral part of this community. Thank you for your attention, and we support fully funding this program. Thank you. Good afternoon, supervisors. My names rachel chen. I also work for china down c. D. C. Im here today to support the e. S. L. Class because i think the class is really important to the community. I think for most students, this is the only class they had attended since coming to the u. S. , and for most of them, its the firstclass and the First Education theyve ever received in their whole lives. For example, the teachers that teach this program, its not just an e. S. L. Program but its a culturally sensitive onestop Services Program so that students can obtain information to community, understand their rights and really, like, get connected with their community and also get Supportive Services from us. And as an immigrant and also english learner, i have faced the same challenges as most of the students and, you know, coming to the u. S. With really limited english, feeling isolated and really have a difficult time adapting to american culture. So i think today is really inspiring to see that many of the students have achieved many milestones. Theyre today able to speak and write english, really participat