It did take a village. I was really lucky when i was 14 years old to get an internship. The difference that it made for me is i had a job, but there were other people who didnt have a job, who, unfortunately, needed money. And they were shown to commit illegal acts to get money. That is what i want to prevent. [ ] today we are here to officially kick off the first class of opportunities for all. [applause]. Opportunities for all is a program that mayor breed launched in october of 2018. It really was a vision of mayor breed to get to all of the young people in San Francisco, but with an intention to focus on young people that have typically not being able to access opportunities such as internships or workbased learning opportunities. Money should never be a barrier to your ability to succeed in life and that is what this program is about. Theres always these conversations about young people not being prepared and not having experience for work and if they dont get an opportunity to work, then they cannot gain the experience that they need. This is really about investing in the future talent pool and getting them the experience that they need. It is good for everyone because down the road we will need future mechanics, future pilots, future bankers, future whatever they may be in any industry. This is the pipe on we need to work with. We need to start developing talent, getting people excited about careers, opening up those pathways and frankly giving opportunities out there that would normally not be presented. [ ] the way that it is organized is there are different points of entry and different ways of engagement for the young person and potential employers. Young people can work in cohorts or in groups and thats really for people that have maybe never had job experience or who are still trying to figure out what they want to do and they can explore. And in the same way, it is open for employers to say, you know what, i dont think we are ready to host an intern yearround are all summer, but that they can open up their doors and do site visits or tours or panels or conversations. And then it runs all the way up to the opportunity for young people to have longterm employment, and work on a project and be part of the employee base. Something new, to get new experience and meet people and then you are getting paid for it you are getting paid for doing that. It is really cool. I starting next week, i will be a freshman. [cheers and applause] two of the things i appreciate about this program was the amazing mentorship in the job experience that i had. I am grateful for this opportunity. Thank you. Something i learned at airbnb is how to network and how important it is to network because it is not only what you know, but also who you know to get far in life. During this program, i learned basic coding languages, had a had to identify the main components and how to network on a corporate level. It is also helping me accumulate my skills all be going towards my College Tuition where i will pursue a major in computer science. For myself, being that i am an actual residential realtor, it was great. If anybody wants to buy a house, let me know. Whenever. [applause] it is good. I got you. It was really cool to see the commercial side and think about the process of developing property and Different Things that i can explore. Opportunities for all was a great opportunity for all. We were aiming to have 1,000 young people register and we had over 2,000 people register and we were able to place about between 50 and did. We are still getting the final numbers of that. Over several weeks, we were able to have students participate in Investment Banking they were able to work with our team, or technology team, our engineering 20 we also gave them lessons around the industry, around financial literacy. There are 32,000 young people ages 16 and 24 living in San Francisco. And imagine if we can create an opera skin it just opportunity for all program for every young person that lives in public housing, affordable housing, low income communities. It is all up to you to make that happen. We have had really great response from employers and they have been talking about it with other employers, so we have had a lot of interest for next year to have people sign on. We are starting to figure out how to stay connected to those young people and to get prepared to make sure we can get all 2400 or so that registered. We want to give them placement and what it looks like if they get more. Lets be honest, there is always a shortage of good talent in any industry, and so this is a real great career path. For potential sponsors who might be interested in supporting opportunities for all , there is an opportunity to make a difference in our city. This is a really thriving, booming economy, but not for everyone. This is a way to make sure that everyone gets to benefit from the great place that San Francisco is and that we are building pathways for folks to be able to stay here and that they feel like they will belong. Just do it. Sign up for it. [ ] [ ] i wanted to welcome everybody i am going to do an abbreviated version of the agenda, so speakers, please cut your time. And once this is over, we will go upstairs. You will see the building, and you will be invited for some appetizers and we will continue to have our speakers upstairs. So it is with great honor and pleasure, and im very humbled to stand here in front of all of you guys to say that we are here [speaking spanish] there are so only people to think. I dont have enough time to thank everyone but i wanted to start off by thinking mayor breed for her support and through all of our ordeal. The board of supervisors, where here today. Supervisor walton, safai, supervisor ronen, they all have been instrumental in the support of us, the save the building coalition, the partners of the consortium, mehta, jamestown, i wanted to thank san ruiz for doing the lastminute last minute negotiation when i gave up. I want to think i want to thank so many people. You are welcome here. This is a place where we are organizing, and forever we will carry that legacy of advocating for the citywide. Thank you for joining us today. I wanted to bring up our mayor to give us a few words. Thank you mayor breed. Thank you, tracy. First of all, theres nothing like having a place in your community to call home. When i grew up in the Western Addition with the africanamerican culture complex , those were the places that were safer we had an opportunity to be part of some amazing programs. And m. Lvs has been that Community Space for over 40 years here in the mission. It started with the help of my Mothers Union and the labourers and the work that they have done [applause] to open the doors of opportunity for people who need a place to go to feel safe and feel secure and develop the skills and develop the language and do so many amazing things, but most important, to have a community. This place represents so much, not only to this community, but to this city. And so theyre what it wasnt even a question as to whether or not we needed to make sure that we provided the necessary money to help secure this facility. It was not even a question with any member of the board of supervisors. It wasnt even a question with the officials who work for the city. It was really about what the community wanted and deserved deserves to have in this neighborhood. [applause] i want to start by thinking Assembly Member david to who you all know came together with the folks from mehta, Mission Neighborhood center and jamestown and through that, those discussions early on, we developed this consortium which stayed consistent and persistent in its pursuit to get the job done, led by this incredible lady here, tracy brown, and the work that she did. [applause] it was absolutely amazing. And so to all of the folks in the community, you made this happen. You came together. You put aside any differences, any issues with the sole purpose of ensuring that this facility is here now and for generations to come, roberto. For generations to come. So i am so honored to have played a very small role in supporting these efforts. Im looking forward to seeing the Culinary Program grow. Im looking forward to the tutoring and a lot of the other things that you have done and will continue to do for so many people who would need the programs and operate right here. So thank you for this great opportunity. But before i walk off because tracy told me to keep my comments to a minimum, i just want to really recognize the work of tracy brown, especially, and myrna melgar, who first of all, two phenomenal women who are relentless in their pursuit to take care of their community. I just want to present a small token of appreciation for the work that you all did to make this possible. In bureaucratic years, i actually said this happened fast once we got going. Faster than most things happen in San Francisco because we understand the importance. These two ladies were instrumental in making sure it got done. On behalf of the city and county of San Francisco, thank you for your work, your tireless commitment to the community, and everything that you have done and continue to do to be such a blessing on so many lives in our city. Thank you so much. [applause] okay. Thank you. Thank you for coming. I also wanted to shout out the chef who prepared things upstairs. The staff of oewd, you are amazing. Thank you for believing in us and also to our legal team. Victor marques is here and the staff of the legal team. Thank you again. Now i wanted to bring up david to. Good afternoon. Are we ready to celebrate . All right. This is a very special day. Thank you for being part of the community that made it a special day. We are on hallowed ground. It was in this spot 51 years ago that latino immigrant workers came together and said, we need a place to call home. I know we have a lot of labourers here. This is also a space where we are under a guardian angel. Her name is russ audio. Name is rosario. We can feel her. Because of her and because of all of us who are here and part of that spirit, we carry on. It was a couple years ago that if you Community Leaders came to me and said we want to you to be part of a movement. Tracy brown, all of you saved mlvs. There are so many folks who i know have already been recognized and i want to thank the mayor of the mission for recognizing so many of these folks. Let me take a moment and recognize another person who play recognizes a bit of an unsung hero. I remember you night after night after night, along with mike, the board, so many of you who are part of this and angels often come in three, as the charlies angel movie tells us. There are three organizational angels that came together with their leaders. Jamestown, led by mirna, thank you. Saintlouis is led by our m. N. C. Led by sam or wheeze and we have louise here from mehta. You came together in a way when i was frankly asked for those who are possible. It took a village. It took not just Community Leadership and nonprofit leadership, but it took a mayor and an oewd department the said, yes, we will put our money where our values are. Thank you. Thank you, mayor breed. It also takes the private sector i know we have representatives. Thank you so much for a four and a half Million Dollar loan to be part of this. Let me just say and conclude with three brief opera observations. It takes a village. It takes all of a sudden together. This is how it gets done. The second thing i want to say is at a time when our latino community, the immigrant communities are under assault from a socalled occupant of the white house and from economic forces that are looking to push us out, we have to stand up. We have to come together in coalitions with families to say, we are not going away, we are here to stay and no one is kicking us out. [applause] but the final thing i want to say is, what is so important for all those here is we know this is a building, this is an institution where tens of thousands of immigrant families and workers are kids and kids are going to walk through. And because of the work were doing here, we are going to be raising not just the next mayor of the mission, but the next supervisor of district nine, the next Assembly Member representing eastern San Francisco, and some day, long after mayor breed is gone, we will elect a mayor of San Francisco likely from a community that was nurtured by mlvs. That is why this is so important this is why im honored to be part of it. Longlived mlvs. [speaking spanish]. [cheers and applause] thank you to the mlvs board. I know some of you guys are just arriving. I wanted to also shout out my family for putting up with me during this year, and now i wanted to bring up supervisor hilary ronen who has supported our Capacity Building for the past few years. Without her, we really could not have survived this ordeal. Thank you, supervisor ronen. [applause] this feels so good, doesnt it . This is truly nothing short of a miracle. Aside from the money that david was talking about, for those of us who took a look at the tangled legal mess that this building was in, i didnt know how we were going to get out of it. I honestly didnt. I had just come into office when this whole thing exploded and bob and some of the mlvs board came to me and said, we have asked david to help us try to figure this out. And i said please, do. Keep talking to him because i have no idea how to fix this mess. But what happened is we got together, or i should say some of the strongest and fiercest and sometimes the most difficult personalities in the mission [indiscernible]. [laughter] [applause] they even brought in victor marques. They got together and stuck it out together to unravel this nightmare that had happened. And if it wasnt for their tenacity, their willingness to stick it out when times got tough, because yes, times got tough and number number of times , without the support of mayor breed, we didnt hesitate for a second and said, im here for you, im with you, ive got you, none of this would have happened. It is part miracle and part a testament to the strong leadership that this community has. And their tenacity and unwillingness to give up until there is justice for their community. Congratulations. I couldnt be more proud of you all. [applause] and victor wanted me to correct the record and say the bank of San Francisco, not the bank of america. [laughter] and i, too, have the certificate for the two organizations that are currently occupying this beautiful and historical building. I will give this to tracy. She will probably want to say it is someone elses responsibility now. [indiscernible]. [applause] okay. Lets move quick here. I wanted to introduce the Jamestown CommunityCenter Executive director me or no melgar. She is here representing the consortium which we share. I also just wanted to shout shot out dr. Garcia who serves on my board. I wanted to bring them up. [cheers and applause] thank you for being here with us to celebrate this historic occasion. I feel so honored to be part of this club. It is amazing. I want to recognize firstly our mayor. [cheers and applause] many folks dont know, but it was her brainchild that jamestown get involved in this. That this collaboration of agencies could save this building with the citys support not only was it her idea that jamestown move here and get involved with this, but she also but the citys money behind it. Making sure we saved this Important Community assets. Thank you for your vision. And also for your commitment to keeping our community in place and our cultural and Nonprofit Institutions strong. I also want to recognize the individuals who put this together. First to tracy brown. [applause] her persistence, her tenacity, or leadership and commitment to the community has led not only to the success of mlvs, it is on a different foot know because of you, but also to the success of this collaboration. Tracy, i have always admired your vision of one mission and of latino unity and collaboration. These are the fruits of your labor. Thank you very much. And thank you to michael and santiago. It is your intelligence, your connections, your keen strategic mind and your longterm planning that has led us to the anchoring of the Mission Neighborhood centers is one of our most Important Community institutions in the mission. And today we celebrate your legacy, your contribution to the reclamation of this space, but also to your support of others, especially me and tracy. Thank you for doing that. Thank you for your support of others in the community. Also thank you to since about to for all of your work that you put in this deal. [applause] and for being here for mlvs when they needed you. And last, and certainly not least, i want to express my vast appreciation for luis and also to caroline. Luis has led the Mission EconomicDevelopment Agency through a transformation from a Small BusinessDevelopment Support nonprofit to a National Leader in the work for the civil and economic rights for latinos. They have been at the forefront of unapologetically Holding Ground for our community, for our culture, for our people, with a community that we created thank you for your vision and for your support and for your incredible leadership. [applause] and also to caroline, whose hard work was with serious diplomatic skills and have enabled not just this acquisition, but the development of the Community RealEstate Development and savings the home of thousands of latinos in this city and stabilizing nonprofit space here in the mission, which we definitely need. Now to the crew. I want to thank kelly, karen at community vision, thank you for all of the time, energy, and support in technical assisted opportunities and investment you provided for this collaborative and also through your stewardship with the nonprofit investment fund. You made magic happen. Thank you. And also to stefani for shepherding jamestown and the consortium through all the technical issues. Last but not least to walking, to the incomparable josh, for all of your support and assistance. [speaking spanish] thank you to Patrick Valentino for your support, advice, and also for pushing us. Thank you so much. And i would lastly like to thank the bank of San Francisco for stepping up. [applause] for providing the financing that we needed to support this effort thank you for being truly a San Francisco bank and for the access and personal attention you provided. Also thank you to cars a permanente for providing the funding thank you to Kaiser Permanente for providing the funding to complete this. We are so grateful for the support. I will leave you with this from my people. [speaking spanish] thank you. [applause] i am going to have my closing remarks. I wanted to shout out our building people. And all the people who have invested in us. Lets get to the ribboncutting. I have someone from mlvs. Lets do it holding one side and someone from jamestown holding the other side. This is a nontraditional ribboncutting because in the mission, we cant just do one person, can we . We are going to all come together to do this. Thank you again to all the mission. I will call up the Consortium Members and call up the mission leadership, the save the building committee, and anyone else who feels invested. Please come up. We will be cutting this ribbon all together. Supervisors, please join us. Board of education, thank you for joining us today. Come on up. [indiscernible] community, anybody who wants to come up here. [laughter] five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] im rebecca and im a violinist and violin teacher. I was born here in San Francisco to a family of cellists, professional cellists, so i grew up surrounded by a bunch of musical rehearsals an lessons. All types of activities happened in my house. I began playing piano when i was 4. I really enjoyed musical activities in general. So when i was 10, i began studying violin in San Francisco. And from there, i pretty much never stopped and went on to study in college as well. Thats the only thing ive ever known is to have music playing all the time, whether it is someone actually playing next to you or someone listening to a recording. I think that i actually originally wanted to play flute and we didnt have a flute. Its always been a way of life. I didnt know that it could be any other way. Could you give me an e over here. Great. When you teach and youre seeing a student who has a problem, you have to think on your feet to solve that problem. And that same kind of of thinking that you do to fix it applies to your own practice as well. So if im teaching a student and they are having a hard time getting a certain note, they cant find the right note. And i have to think of a digestible way to explain it to them. Ee, d, d, e. Yes. Then, when i go on to do my own practice for a performance, those words are echoing back in my head. Okay. Why am i missing this . I just told somebody that they needed to do this. Maybe i should try the same thing. I feel a lot of pressure when im teaching young kids. You might think that there is less pressure if they are going on to study music or in college that it is more relaxing. I actually find that the opposite is true. If i know im sending a High School Student to some great music program, theyre going to get so much more instruction. What i have told them is only the beginning. If i am teaching a student who i know is going to completely change gears when they go to college and they never will pick up a violin again there is so much that i need to tell them. In plain violin, it is so difficult. There is so much more information to give. Every day i think, oh, my gosh. I havent gotten to this technique or we havent studies they meese and they have so much more to do. We only have 45 minutes a week. I have taught a few students in some capacity who has gone on to study music. That feels anaysing. It is incredible to watch how they grow. Somebody can make amazing project from you know, age 15 to 17 if they put their mind to it. I think i have 18 students now. These more than ive had in the past. Im hoping to build up more of a studio. There will be a pee ono, lots of bookshelves and lots of great music. The students will come to my house and take their lessons there. My schedule changes a lot on a daytoday basis and that kind of keeps it exciting. Think that music is just my favorite thing that there is, whether its listening to it or playing it or teaching it. All that really matters to me is that im surrounded by the sounds, so im going top keep doing what im doing to keep my life in that direction