Officials, such as assessor howard chu, and ta collector, ad norman yee and supervisor stefani and supervisor fewer, we are so excited to get this done together. Every 10 years the federal government puts together a census to count everyone and to make critical decisions about our future. Yet the hard work happens in our local communities right here on the ground. This time we know that it will be harder because the census is digital. And so we must bridge that digital divide. Some people discrust government, distrust government, so we must work with organizations such as the institute and selfhelp for the elderly to educate them and inform the community on why it matters that we get counted. Lets face it, San Franciscoians, many of us live in apartments and s. R. O. S. And folks are just plain busy and may not get around to being counted. So we have to remind them why it matters to be counted in this census. Mayor breed and Speaker Pelosi are here today because they know just how important this work is and how much it matters. Thank you and thank you for being here today and thank you for the work that you will do to make sure that everyone is counted and now it is my pleasure to introduce celine kinelli to kick us off with the star spangled banner. Oh, say can you see by the dawns early light so what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh, say does that starspangled banner yet wave oer the land of the free and the home of the brave [applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, london breed. [applause] mayor london breed well, first of all, thank you so much, celine, for that beautiful, beautiful song, honoring our country, honoring the amazing citizens of San Francisco. I am really excited to be here today to kick off s. F. Counts, especially because we have our fearless leader, speaker nancy pelosi, in the house. [cheers and applause]. Let me tell you, this woman i mean, just to watch what she does in washington, d. C. , defending our city, doing everything she can to support us, but also to move this country forward, it is absolutely incredible. And no matter what shes doing in washington, d. C. , she always finds time to show up for us, whether its resources, whether its her time, her staff has been absolutely incredible. And we are so grateful to have her here today. And we also need to talk about the importance of making sure that our communities are counted. And no one knows how important that this is more than Speaker Pelosi, especially because we want to make sure that we have representation in congress. We want to make sure that when shes fighting for resources, for housing, for homelessness, all of the things that shes continuing to do, that San Francisco gets its fair share. And it takes a lot of work. Its not easy, clearly. Its not easy with what she is fighting against now in washington, d. C. And i think thats why people here in San Francisco, they understand the importance of the census. But dont always trust government. I will tell you that it was a challenge often times to get my grandmother to fill out the form. She was concerned that people would be all in our business. Im sure that many of you probably hear that some of your family members, i dont want government all in my business. And the fact is that we have to do a better job of reaching out to our communities, of really helping to educate people about what the census is actually meant to do under the law. The goal is to draw congressional lines and to look at the number of people within those congressional lines. The goal is to make sure that every person is counted and this statistical information is used for allocating resources and doing great things for our city and our communities. And i know that theres a lot of fear out there, especially with our immigrant communities. But that battle was won to make sure that people still feel safe and comfortable with providing information on the census and knowing that they will not be targeted. And so we have put together a comprehensive plan with a number of trusted communitybased organizations to reach out to communities, whether its in spanish or cantonese or mandarin to make sure that we are communicating, to make sure that we are working with people and trying to as naomi kelly, our city admi minadministrator saids first time that the census will be submitted online. Theres a lot of work that we need to do but we have been getting ready for this for some time. And i am really confident in a number of the organizations here who regularly work with members of the community to outreach and to do whats necessary to get the job done. And so im going to be counting on the people who are here, who may not be affiliated with the organizations, to encourage our family members, to encourage your neighbors to do outreach. Because we want to make sure that every Single Person in the city and county of San Francisco is counted. How we generate revenues in order to help address many of the challenges, especially around housing and homelessness, has everything to do with making sure that we get our fair share from washington, d. C. And we need to make sure that our speaker has the ammunition she needs to do just that. And that includes making sure that every Single Person is counted. [applause] so we got our work cut out for us, folks. Shes doing her part for us in washington, d. C. So lets do our part for her and all of the people that we care about in this city by getting the word out now. So without further adieu i want to bring to the podium our amazing and fearless leader, speaker nancy pelosi. [applause] thank you very much, madam mayor. Arent we proud of our mayor, london breed . [applause] congratulations, madam mayor, on your inauguration. Thank you for being the fierce fighter that you are for San Francisco. Our mayor came into office and not only in just being mayor but into office with an idea, a vision, for yo for our city, frr own experience she knew what the challenges were and are. And our mayor came in with a knowledge, a knowledge of how to get things done and a plan to do so. And she has, again, because speaking from her own experience, shes connected so well with all of the people of our city, recognizing the beautiful diversity of San Francisco. I always say the beauty is in the mix and, mayor, youre an absolute reflection of that beauty of leadership, brilliance and respect. Thank you, madam mayor london breed. [applause] its wonderful to be here with so many members of the official family of San Francisco. And of our state. And also just everyone is part of the family when we talk about the census. We want everyone to be counted. And the mayor mentioned how important it was, and i want to thank you for your leadership in this initiative. And to naomi, thank you for yours as well, and carmen and annie, and annie and i have been working together for like 40 years. She still looks the same, but i dont know how. She still has that energy. And mario paz, thank you for your leadership. Good samaritan Family Resource center, a perfect name for all of this. Because one of the fears that people have about the census is wellfounded because this administration wanted to have a Citizenship Question on the census. In total violation and defiance of what our founders had intended in the constitution of the united states, that everyone would be counted. So, madam mayor, im going to talk about your grandma saying that she didnt want government in her business, from the standpoint of immigration thats a real and a legitimate fear. Thats why we fought so hard and working with some of the groups and with our own standing in congress in the Supreme Court to win that case in the Supreme Court. [applause] and even after the case we later learned the intention, the political intention, that was there to have a Citizenship Question so it would have an impact on politics. Yes, it does have an impact on how Many Congress people from a certain state come to washington, d. C. But as the mayor indicated, and naomi alluded to, this is about meeting the needs of the american people. Meeting the needs of the american people. And all the ways transportation, housing, food, whatever it is why the numbers are an imperative for how the resources will flow. Shameful that people would say that we dont want to know our numbers. But San Francisco can be a model, not only for ourselves, but also to the bay area and lets say that we want every person in the bay area counted and every person in california counted because that is really one of the targets of the administration. Now i know that in the 1990s and you can remember this one there was an assault on our immigration system. And they would go to the schools to see the little children, and the children, they thought that an official was coming theyd run and hide. And we were trying to get, you know, more food in the schools and the School Lunch Program and all of that and we were trying to document the need. But these children would run and hide if they thought that an official was coming because they were not fully documented. Thats not the point. The point is that if youre here, you should be counted. And dont think that because if you may not be documented that youre any less important in this count. Believe in you believe in you youre being counted is not only good for you, but it strengthens the entire community. What the mayor said is very, very important. People may there may be fear of technology or the government and this or that, but the Community Groups who have standing not only standing officially, but standing with people, culturally, linguistically and geographically, appropriate and familiar, have a big role to play in making sure that everyone knows how important he or she is. So that everyone is counted. This is the life blood of america. Who we are as a people. Some people may have a fear of how that is changing. We think that is the beauty of our future. And, again, any obstacles must be removed and thats why we were very proud in the fight we had to fight to get over to 7. 5 billion more for the census so that the resources that were necessary were there. [applause] so this is the enabler of it all. This is the liberator. This just cuts everything free to say im as important as anyone else. And i will be counted. And this San Francisco committee for total counts can be as i say a model to others. But isnt that just like San Francisco, to be a model to others in terms of the respect that we have and the dignity and work of every person. [applause] and were proud of our leader mayor breed for making this a priority. Thank you, madam mayor, for making this such a priority, because everything depends on that count. Again, people just have to know how important they are, each and every one of them. So i thank each and every one of you for what you are doing in this regard. Dont give them a victory. They want to scare people into not being counted. Dont give them a victory. Give yourself a victory by being counted. Thank you all very much. Thank you. [cheers and applause]. Thank you so much for standing for me. [laughter]. Welcome, everybody, and good morning, my name is carmen chu and i serve as the San Francisco assessor. Many of you associate the work that i do to make sure that we bring in the resources that San Francisco needs to do all of the work that we are trying to accomplish here. But today instead of talking about money, which the census does have a connection to money and, believe me, for every Single Person who doesnt get counted, San Francisco loses out. But i come here to talk to you as a daughter of immigrants and the importance of coming out for the census. You know, nancy pelosi spoke earlier very eloquently about the effect on our immigration system and how it is that our immigrant communities are feeling under attack. I will tell you that there is no more important thing to do than to make sure that we say we will be counted and we dont care what youre doing. Were not going to let fear drive us. When we think about all of the communities who have come before us, my parents included, many of the people who have come before you, your families and your mom and dad and your aunt and uncle and grandfather, so many of them took the brave step to come to the united states. They came here perhaps under duress and they came here perhaps because they were fearful of what they had to face in their own countries. But they came here because they believed in a better future. They came here because they believe that when they set their foot down here they would be counted, that their dreams mattered, that they mattered. And thats what this census is about. Its about making sure that all of our families, every single one, whether youre documented or not, whether youre big, youre small, youre rich or poor, that you get counted. And when we think about all of us in this room and what were doing here, you all woke up early this morning to come here and i know that perhaps you came to see the mayor, and shes amazing, and perhaps you came to see our speaker, shes also amazing. But the reason that you came here is because you knew that each one of you has a responsibility and a role in making sure that we have a complete count here. And so as much as we have all of our wonderful nonprofits who are going to do as much as they possibly can to get out the word, as much as we know that theyre going to go out there and to have ads and talk to our Community Members, truthfully, the way that we get counted is when each one of us takes initiative. When we each go back to our homes and we make sure that we count our families, when each and every one of us go back to our communities and help our grandparents, our parents, our aunties and our uncles who cant use the computer and we help them to get counted. So call this a call to action, make sure that you get counted. Lets make sure that we raise our voice when we are faced with a decision to hide as immigrants or to stand up and to say that we should be counted, lets stand up and be counted in San Francisco. [applause] now id like to introduce annie chung, someone who has been a fierce leader for not only our immigrant communities but many of our seniors in San Francisco. Annie chung. [applause] good morning, everyone. So im joined today by my colleague and my cochair of the San Francisco complete count committee, miss andrea short. And can all of the members please stand up, please, along with our census attendees today. [applause] so, thank you. So we are the people of San Francisco. The 2020 census is our opportunity for our Diverse Communities to participate and fight for our fair share fight for the resources and the political representation. For too long and especially in the past few years, communities of color, the poor, seniors, youth, people with disabilities and other underserved groups have been left out. Left out of the housing and economic opportunities, resources and the political process. My group selfhelp for the elderly and our seniors, serve the seniors across four bay area counties. We have a huge and a growing senior population. And we have at least our seniors are at least 150 below the federal poverty line, many of our seniors. Our seniors rely on federal dollars to support our housing and our health care and our news programs and our social services. They have contributed economically to the city and county of San Francisco, and have the right to participate. Each person who participates in the upcoming census will bring enough federal funding to support 222 meals for us, so lets be counted. In 2010, San Francisco was the only county i count in californo reach a goal for the census. Because every community partnered with the immigrant affairs, and with the city and with all of the other partners to bring the census to our neighborhoods and our communities. Thanks to the Community Partners here today and the leadership of our city, we got the job done. This time around will be harder. The mayor and Speaker Pelosi said it, but we can do it again. Thats why were so grateful that Speaker Pelosi and mayor breed are here today along with all of our city and state leaders and taking time out to make the 2020 census a priority and to encourage and to inspire us today. We have to get this job done for the people of San Francisco. And for our communities. Every San Franciscoian has a responsibility to stand up and to be counted by participating in the census. Our seniors, our youth, our families, all count on us. We are depending on each other. Thank you. [applause] and im to introduce mario paz, my good friend. The vice chair of the immigrant rights commission. Thank you. [applause] thank you. Good morning, everyone. And i first would like, again, to thank our fearless leaders, mayor london breed, who is a fearless leader for our city. And our fearless leader for our country, nancy pelosi. Speaker, thank you. [applause] california is home to over a quarter of the nations immigrants and over a third of San Franciscos populations are immigrants. Nearly half of our city speaks a language other than english at home. We know that the 2020 census is going to be hard for immigrants, communities of color, people experiencing homelessness, and many of our residents who lack access to technology and services. But in San Francisco, our communities have always shown courage and resiliency. And as a city i know that were going to come together and were going to make sure that everyone gets counted. An undercount would have consequences for the next decade. Although the Citizenship Question is off the questionnaire, the antiimmigrant rhetoric continues and all of this will have a Chilling Effect on participation. Especially for undocumented and other immigrant groups. Researchers predict that the 2020 census could lead to the worst undercount of black and latino people in the u. S. Since 1990. We cannot let this happen. And let me say this again we cannot let this happen. [applause] we are going to roll up our sleeves, were going to work hard each and every day because at this time right now there are thousands of children sitting in our classrooms with hopes, dreams, for a better future. And we cannot let them down. And so i ask every and each and every person here to begin to roll up your sleeves, talk to your friends and neighbors and colleagues, strangers. We are going to Work Together for San Francisco is going to be the leader in this country to make sure that no one is left behind in this country. Thank you. [applause] and i would like to now please welcome adrian palm, the executive director of the office of Civic Engagement and immigrant affairs and the leader who is leading the census efforts in San Francisco. Thank you, adrian, for all of your leadership. Thank you, everyone. [applause] thank you. Wow, theres a whole lot of awesome power in this room, isnt there . Thank you all for your leadership and your inspiration. You know, we live in extraordinary times that require a sense of purpose and fearlessness and thankfully we have an incredible we have incredible people power, political will, and the ability to make positive change. We also have the most awesome and the fierce mayor and speaker of the house. [applause] you have heard many reason yes the 2020 census is so important to our city, to our region and our state. There are nearly 900,000 people in San Francisco that need to be counted by the u. S. Census bureau. Each person who participates in the census translates to 2,000 in federal funding each year. Thats more than 17. 6 billion coming to our neighborhoods and our communities over the next decade. We need that money for schools, libraries, roads, nutrition, and most of all Affordable Housing. We have a lot of work ahead of us as you have heard to overcome all of these barriers to make it possible for every person to participate, to motivate our residents to fill out their online census form as soon as it goes live in midmarch. Since last fall, all of our Community Grantees and the network of partners, labor, arts and education and city partners, have been getting the word out that the census is coming. Thanks to our art in action and their coalition of local artists who have started taking over the streets, the San Francisco campaign, s. F. Counts, will be infused with creativity and art that reflects all of our diverse people. Every library, Deacon Center and every social service site and interface will have information and inlanguage referral to help our residents to participate. And this is not just about San Francisco, as you have heard our speakers say. The a partnership with the whole bay area and the state of california and the entire country. A quick shoutout to the california state select committee on the census, the california complete count, and the Community Affairs and our state assembly and Senate Offices and the u. S. Census bureau who are all present in the house. For many, the 2020 census will be the very first step to Civic Engagement and exercising their right to participate. So who matters in this census . Everyone matters. We look forward to working with all of you, and it wont be easy, but we will get the job done together. I want to thank you very much. This concludes todays press event and please enjoy the reception and the event here. Thank you very much, everybody. 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. [ ] welcome, everyone. And thank you so much for coming and i am Claire Farley and the director and a Senior Advisor for mayor breed and tony newman, and today we are gathered on this historic day to open up San Franciscos first trans home for transand nonconforming adults in San Francisco. [applause] and its such an honor to work for a city that continues to celebrate but also to do the work to make sure that our Community Gets housed. Without housing, without housing we will not be able to help our communities thrive. Every one of us need to come together to be a part of this solution and st. James and larkin street are doing that today. Thank you. [applause] so first we have honored guests with us today and ill turn it over to her. And mayor breed has led the effort and she made 2. 3 Million Investment into transhome which includes this opening today which is going to be 13 folks housed and 55 folks to receive subsidies for folks who are low income and she spearheaded with the community and the office and tony and were so honored to have a mayor that continues to commit and really work to make sure that everyone in this city can thrive. So please welcome mayor breed. Mayor london breed thank you for joining us on this historic day. When i first became mayor in San Francisco and met with the folks in my office, many of the department heads, i made it clear that equity would be at the top of our agenda in everything that we do. We need to change the culture of San Francisco and not just talk about the problems that exist, but actually to make the kinds of investments that will deliver real results. And it comes from my own experience of growing up in San Francisco in the African American community, living in poverty, and waiting for something to be done. We know what the data says, but we dont always make the right investments that ensure the results that are going to change the lives of the people that we want to serve. And so when i met with the transadvisory committee and we talked about the challenges that continue to persist around the opportunities for grants and the Arts Community and opportunities for housing and opportunities for programs and other services, the discriminatory practices that exist with Job Opportunities that they seek, the challenges with our Homeless Population and learning that people who are part of our transcommunity are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness than anyone else in this city, i knew that it was important to not only listen and hear what they had to say, but to invest ar resources in tryino make sure that we can change what those challenges are for the better. And so im so grateful to be standing here with Claire Farley who is the director of the office of transgender initiatives for San Francisco, because she has brought so many people together and to come up with incredible solutions. And is the reason why we have invested in this past years budget, thanks to the supervisor of this district and others, supervisor peskin, 2. 3 million for this initiative of transhome s. F. And this is one of the first, most incredible projects that we are cutting the ribbon on today that will provide safe Affordable Housing for people who are experiencing homelessness. And so it is so great to be here today. And i really want to thank tony newman because tony newman [applause] and shes a force and is committed to this work and she has hit the ball rolling with staffing up and working with folks in the community and making it clear what was needed, which makes it easier to provide the funding right to the places where we know that its needed the most rental subsidies and wraparound support and services and making sure that we have the right people in place to get the job done so that we can get people off the streets and to get them into housing. So thank you so much to tony and the work that you do, to the Mayors Office on housing and community development, and to the coalition, to larkin street and Youth Services and especially to the San Francisco transadvisory committee who i have mentioned before the work that they continue to do to make sure that we call attention to all of the inequities and the various city departments as it relates to funding and how it needs to change to make an impact on the lives of people who are a part of this Amazing Community and a true important part of San Francisco. So i want to thank. Our young people, as well as reaching the thousand new shelter beds which is such an accomplishment and thank you so much for your leadership to make that goal happen. Also i want to recognize our commissioners who are in the house today as well as our department heads, dr. Colfax from the d. P. H. And others, leadership at mohcd for their support and really making sure that these programs get funded and that theres equity continuing throughout the work. And as well i want to welcome the District Supervisor aaron peskin. Thank you so much. [applause] thank you. I think that everything has been said but not everybody has said it. In addition to our d. P. H. Director grant colfax i want to acknowledge and to thank the director of our department of building inspection, tom hooey. Thank you to larkin street and thank you to st. Jerusalems and to the office of transinitiative incentives and the Mayors Office of housing and community development. I am here to give a district 3 welcome. And let me just say that we are delighted, we were delighted to appropriate the funds, and i could not be more proud that this is the first facility and it is located here in district 3. Which has a very proud, long lgbtq history from the black cat down the street to polk street on the other side, this is where it all began in San Francisco. And we are profoundly aware that homelessness is acutely an lgbtq issue. And today we are taking a large step in addressing it and in solving it. Welcome to district 3, to the 13 individuals, i will register you to vote the second you move in. [laughter]. [applause] thank you, so much, supervisor, and thank supervisor mandelman and supervisor haney, they were not able to join us but their teams are here and so thank you so much for your efforts. Before i introduce tony i wanted to recognize the anonymous Building Owner of this property who is renting this space to us and he and his partner are committed to making sure that transhome is a success and that we continue to work to make sure that our communities are housed in the city. And without having such a strong and supportive and inclusive manager of this building, we would not be here today. So lets please give he him a hd and thank them for their support. [applause] so now its my honor to introduce tony newman, shes the director of st. James infirmary and i would like to say that i helped to kind of create the idea, and now shes the mother of the project. So please welcome the mother of transhome, toni newman. [applause] welcome, everybody. Im just so excited to be here today and i want to thank all of the partners here, hugo from the Mayors Office of housing. And we have open house and we have larkin who have been very supportive. And larkin is so supportive to me and st. James and the navigating team of matthew payden and jesse and camden, that have been working day and night to make this available for you. Were excited that st. James can be a leader with larkin. And larkin has been leading the youth for many years. And they have taught us how to do this. And i want to thank my board of directors for coming and i have four board of directors and two will be speaking and now i introduce Akira Jackson did shes here. Shes a sponsor and shes been fighting for housing but i dont think that shes here, so jesse santos is going to come up and to introduce our first resident moving into the house this week. Jesse, and jane, please come up right now. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here and this is a dream for us, for the transgender community. I will introduce jane, the resident in our house and shes a beautiful woman. [applause] hi, i am jane cordova and i was born in central mexico and i came here when i was 16 years old and i grew up in l. A. And eventually made my way to San Francisco, which is i live here for 10 years. And i went to new york and we stayed there for another 10 years and im very happy to be back in this city where our community has the most resources and im very happy to be here and to have a place finally to call home. Thank you. [applause] id like to call up joquaim and jane, come on up. [applause] hi, thank you for coming, im joaquin ramora and im here where i proudly serve as a board member and as an advocate for Harm Reduction and transsupport in the greater bay area. Thanks to mayor breed and our transhome and everyone else who helped to make this project come together. Today we can celebrate that our transhome is a step in the right direction for the city of San Francisco. This ensures that transgender people have an opportunity to become successful in our society. Stable housing is fundamental to creating access to resources for survival. Our transhome will provide this foundation to create a support system for those living on the margins within our city. Excuse me. Members of our community are constantly faced with unjust incarceration and poverty and constitutional and emotional violence. Some encounter even more severe consequences and our transgender sisters of color are experiencing hate crimes and murders on a daily basis and this goes unnoticed. The society must understand discrimination based on race and gender presentation. We must continue with this momentum and inspire more programs for the needs of our community. Its our Due Diligence as transpeople to ensure that the issues are confronted and change. We need companies and foundation and government to commit to advocating for transgender causes. Our transhome will provide the opportunity to not only recover and survive but to thrive and survive the Power Members to become leaders and role models. And protecting our Community Members and we are shifting the narrative away from being defined by our margins and barriers towards being defined by successes and positive impacts on the world. The housing crisis in the bay area has become recognized as an ongoing issue and despite this were continuing to demonstrate that theres ways to empower and to support our communities with pride. I feel proud to know that San Francisco is a place of historical resistance and refuge for people of all walks of life and that we continue that resistance by uplifting our marginalized communities. Thank you. [applause] id like to take a second to acknowledge Akira Jackson who is unable to be here today. Id like to thank her leadership, without her we wouldnt be here today. And st. James is honored to be part of this project connecting folks. Thank you connecting folks with the services and homes that our community needs. We look forward to continue to fight for the rights of our community. Thank you. [applause] well, thank you all so much. And now were going to move the podium and cut the ribbon. One, two, three,. [applause] thank you all so much. When i look at an old neon sign thats working or not working, i feel the Family Business that was in there. Since 2009, citywide, sf shines, has supported businesses and sites like the ones that receive new neon signs. You know, sf shines is doing an amazing job to bring back the lighting and the neon glow of San Francisco. Sf shines is such an amazing program, and i cant think of another program in another city that gives matching gunned funds to store owners, mom and pop owners, and if theyve got a neon sign, theyve really got a great way to advertise their business. This is a continuation of the sf shines program. Focusing other neon signs is relatively new to us. Of the seven neon signs, weve invested about 145,000. A good quality sign costs more, but it lasts infinitily longer. As opposed to lasting five years, a good neon sign will last 15 to 20 years. In San Francisco, the majority of neon signs are for momandpop businesses. In order to be able to restore these signs, i think it gives back to your community. Part of the project has to do with prioritizing certain signs in the neighborhood based on their aesthetics, based on their current signs, and base on the history. In the time that weve been here, weve seen a number of signs restored just on eddy street. There are a number of signs in the tenderloin and many more that are waiting or wanting to be restored. I have worked with randall and al, and weve mapped out every single one of them and rated them as to how much work they would need to get restored. That information is passed onto sf shines, and they are going to rank it. So if they have x budget for a year, they can say all right, were going to pick these five, and theyre putting together clusters, so they build on top of whats already there. A cluster of neon signs is sort of, i guess, like a cluster of grapes. When you see them on a corner or on a block, it lights up the neighborhood and creates an ambient glow. If you havy got two of three of them, youve created an atmosphere thats almost like a movie set. Some of the hotel, weve already invested in to get those neon signs for people to enjoy at night include the elk hotel, jefferson hotel, the verona, not to mention some weve done in chinatown, as well as the citys portal neighborhood. We got the fund to restore it. It took five months, and the biggest challenge was it was completely infested with pigeons. Once we got it clean, it came out beautiful. Neon signs are often equated with film noir, and the noir genre as seen through the hollywood lens basically depicted despair and concentration. You would go downtown and see the most recent Humphrey Bogart film filled with neon in the background. And youd see that on Market Street, and as Market Street got seedier and seedier and fewer people continued to go down, that was what happened to all the neon strips of light. The film nori might start with the light filled with neon signs, and end with a scene with a single neon sign blinking and missing a few letters. One of my favorite scenes, orson welles is chasing ririt Rita Hayworth with neon signs in the background. I think what the office of economic and Workforce Development is very excited with is that well be able to see more neon signs in a concentrated way lit up at night for visitors and most especially residents. The first coin laundry, the elm hotel, the Western Hotel are ones that we want to focus on in the year ahead. Neon signs are so iconic to certain neighborhoods like the hara, like the nightcap. We want to save as many historic and legacy neon signs in San Francisco, and so do they. We bring the expertise, and they bring the means to actually get the job done. People in tenderloin get really excited as they see the signs relit. As youre driving through the tenderloin or the city, it pretty much tells you something exciting is happening here. Knee an was created to make the night more friendly and advertise businesses. Its a great way of supporting and helping local businesses. Theres so many ways to improve public safety. The standard way is having more eyes on the street, but theres other culturally significant ways to do that, and one those ways is lighting up the streets. But what better way and special way to do that is by having old, historic neon signs lighting up our streets at night and casting away our shadows. When i see things coming back to life, its like remembering how things were. Its remembering the hotel or the market that went to work seven days a week to raise their money or to provide a service, and it just it the meeting will come to order, welcome to the february 13th meeting of the neighborhood and services committee. Our clerk is john carroll and i want to thank matt ignao and corwin cooley. Please ensure youve silenced your phones. Any documents to be included as part of the file should be included to the clerk. Items will appear on the
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